Re the air-craft monitoring - there is an archaic law left over from the good 'ole days when we had terrorists, commies etc trying to blow things up, so there were very restrictive rules on radio communication. The said prosecution is a real stooopid affair - the person involved was in a sensitive area that he should not have been, monitoring aircraft during a world cup event - when there was a high risk of possible terrorist activity - and gave the officials some lip when accosted - so they got "die moer in" and decided to throw the book at him - so the story goes ...
so yes, once again - according to the law it is an offence to listen to radio traffic on specified frequencies, but thousands do listen to air-craft traffic, it is even publicly broadcast at some airports, and streamed over the internet ....
A bit like swatting a mozzie in the Kruger Park - where it is an offence to kill wildlife !