ANC poised to press on with secrecy bill
The following article was published in the Times Live
‘If there is no consensus we will vote .’ Less than a week after the local government elections, the ANC has already dusted off the controversial Protection of Information Bill.
The ruling party said yesterday that it could not allow debate on the bill to continue forever, sparking heated exchanges in parliament.
ANC MP Cecil Burgess, chairman of the ad hoc committee drafting the bill, said contentious clauses would be put to a vote if the committee failed to agree.
“If there is no consensus, we will vote on the matter and move on,” warned Burgess, in an apparent threat to use the ANC’s majority to force the bill through.
The bill, proposed at the ANC’s Polokwane elective conference in 2007 along with the idea of a media tribunal, has created concern that the ruling party is intent on curtailing media freedom, particularly that of the print media.
Last year, the SA National Editors’ Forum and other media freedom organisations, addressed parliament on the dangers of the bill.
Opposition parties said yesterday they were prepared to fight the ANC.
Burgess said there was no way parties would reach 100% consensus on everything. “The ANC is digging its heels in on the basis that we cannot find support for that in international best practice.”
Burgess told MPs the law already protected whistleblowers who made public classified information to expose crime.
The ANC had held to the position that journalists did not need the same level of protection as ordinary citizens as anyone with damning information should approach the police, not the media.
The DA’s Dene Smuts said the ANC was trying to create a document to systematically exclude opposition views. She said it was evident that the ANC was not really clear on its position on the bill as it could not even argue its points concisely.
“It is very discouraging. The ANC’s position is inconceivable and not always comprehensible. What makes it problematic is that the ANC doesn’t know what it wants, ” said Smuts.
She said opposition parties argued politely and in good faith, but the ANC resorted to insults. They would continue to argue on a constitutional basis as the public had a right to information.
Sanef media freedom committee deputy chairman Raymond Louw said: “We don’t know what alterations have been made. When we see it we will consider it and protest if necessary. We will most likely protest as I don’t think they have met our demands.”
Louw said the forum was at odds with the excessive and sweeping powers the legislation would give State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele.
It was also too broad and would give government officials the power not to disclose what type of information or documents they deemed to be secret state information, he said.
The ANC yesterday agreed to provide opposition parties with a list of its proposals today. Discussions about the bill will continue tomorrow.
ANC MPs can outvote their opposition colleagues on a range of issues in the draft law, which has been dubbed the secrecy bill by rights campaigners.
These include whether all state organs would have the right to classify information and whether the bill should contain a special defence to allow journalists – who face prosecution and lengthy prison terms for publishing state secrets – to argue that they did so in the public interest.
Burgess said the time had come for the opposition to accept it would not persuade the ANC to include a public-interest defence as its research showed this was not common practice around the world.
The IFP said the public-interest defence was far more widespread around the world than the ANC would admit.
Deadlines for finalising the bill have come and gone since last year, when it sparked a national outcry.
It was condemned by academics, activists, journalists and former cabinet ministers as an attempt to muzzle the media and curtail criticism of the government.
In response, the government agreed to remove provisions for information to be classified in the “national interest” or for commercial information to be kept secret.
Critics say that the bill remains unconstitutional.
If passed in its current form it is likely to be challenged in court, they say.
Source: Times Live
