Info bill meeting postponed due to bickering

The following article was published by the Eyewitness News

Chairperson of the AD HOC Committee on the protection of information bill Cecil Burgess said they hope to finalise the legislation before the 24 June Parliamentary deadline.

The controversial legislation, which will govern the rules around classifying state information for national security reasons, is still causing fireworks.

On Tuesday a meeting of the committee was postponed as African National Congress and opposition party MPs struggled to understand each other.

Disagreements over which organs of the state should be allowed to classify information are also continuing as clause by clause voting gets underway.

Burgess eventually adjourned the meeting asking those bickering to meet in a bid to better understand one another’s’ point of view.

“People continue to repeat themselves and it is not helping the process. We are listening to the same things over and over and I don’t want it to create animosity in the meeting. So I’m trying to manage the thing as best as possible,” he said.

The clause by clause voting is set to continue on Thursday.

Source Eyewitness News