Information Bill ‘not in SA’s interest’

The following article was published on line by the East Coast Radio.

Critics of the widely debated Protection of Information Bill say they will continue to petition so that it is not signed into law in its current form.

Newswatch has been speaking to the Right2Know Campaign after it emerged late yesterday that the ANC will try use its majority vote in the committee which is discussing the bill, to force through unpopular clauses.

The so-called “Secrecy Bill” has been widely condemned as an attempt to muzzle the media and curtail criticism of the government.

The ruling party says it can’t allow debate on the bill to continue forever.

But campaign spokesperson Murray Hunter says they will continue putting pressure on the committee to extend the deadline for discussion on the bill.

“June 24th is when they intend to finish this, and there is absolutely no way that they can resolve the issues with this bill in that time, and now it seems that they are ready to just rush it through using a vote – rather than applying their minds and using discussion.”

Hunter says once the committee finishes its work on the bill, it then goes to the National Assembly for a vote.

“Before we need to talk about what is going to happen when this becomes the law, we need to talk about what can we do to prevent it from getting to that stage, I think now is the time that South Africans have to come together and say with a united voice that this law is not in the interests of the South African people. It’s a threat to all the democratic freedoms that we fought very hard to secure.”

Source: East Coast Radio