Understanding the impact of colonial legacy on public oversight of digital surveillance in post-colonial SADC countries

The article discusses the impact of various colonial regimes on the failure of public oversight systems for digital surveillance in Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The article responds to the question: How have colonial legacies in different southern African countries shaped their experiences and practices of public surveillance oversight? Drawing on in-depth interviews and textual analysis of historical documents, credible news reports, and policy documents, and utilising Anthony Giddens’ structuration theory, the article's central argument is that the authoritarianism and politicisation of contemporary intelligence surveillance mechanisms have their genesis in Africa’s colonial legacy. This means that the colonial legacy of surveillance intelligence and post-colonial practices are two sides of the same coin. Both colonial and post-colonial architectures are characterised by politicisation and an increasingly hardened authoritarian practice, resulting in the effective attenuation of public oversight of digital surveillance.