“Whistleblowers need more protection, say ‘secrecy bill’ opponents”
From Business Day’s coverage of our march to the President on International Right to Know Day:
Interest groups and political parties reiterated their calls for amendments to the “secrecy bill” on International Right to Know Day on Friday, calling for increased protection for whistleblowers and for government to commit to transparency.
Last month, the African National Congress (ANC) made some key concessions on the Protection of State Information Bill, including limited protection for those disclosing classified information, if it uncovered criminal activity.
The controversial bill has been widely criticised for its failure to protect journalists and whistleblowers with the use of a public interest defence clause, and for its hefty jail terms for those who disclose classified information.
On Friday, the Right2Know Campaign held pickets and marches in Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town and delivered a list of demands to President Jacob Zuma at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, while a joint opposition party meeting against the bill was held in Pinetown.
Right2Know spokesman Dale McKinley said in Pretoria the country was facing an “ever increasing climate of secrecy”.
The list of demands delivered to Mr Zuma included a call for government to “make good on its promises” to set up a whistleblower protection fund, and the reinstatement of whistleblowers who were either suspended or dismissed for speaking out against abuse of power.
“Mr Zuma should immediately and publicly commit to refer the Secrecy Bill to the Constitutional Court before signing it into law,” Mr McKinley said, adding that government should acknowledge its failure to promote access to information, while all political parties needed to make their sources of funding known.
Mr McKinley said the bill could set a precedent for the implementation of secrecy bills in other African countries.
“We have a continental obligation to make sure the bill does not go through,” he said.
Representatives from the Presidential Public Liaison service and hotline received the list of demands outside the Union Buildings, saying Mr Zuma could not receive them himself as he was “held up in another meeting”.
The list would be taken to the private office of Mr Zuma, they said.
Greenpeace Africa campaigner Ferrial Adams said in Pretoria on Friday the secrecy bill “must be scrapped”, and its implementation would be “a sign of an unhealthy democracy”.
Source: BDLive.
