National Summit Report 2011
As a way to carry forward the struggle aganist secrecy, 62 delegates representing civil society organisations, community groups and social movements from the three provinces gathered together for the Right2know Campaign’s first national summit. The campaign emerged from the summit with an elected leadership and a renewed energy in the struggle against secrecy.
The summit was an opportunity to reflect on the remarkable growth and success of the campaign, but also to take stock of the existing threats to transparency and the free flow of information in South Africa – first and foremost the Protection of Information Bill (the Secrecy Bill) before Parliament.
- We aim to defeat the Secrecy Bill so that all South Africans are assured of their right to know.
- We agreed to expand the scope of the campaign to take on access to information fights beyond the threat of the Secrecy Bill. In the coming months the Right2Know will join other organisations and communities in fighting for information that is vital to their struggles.
- Our delegates adopted a mission and vision statement and a set of guiding principles that highlight the existing culture of secrecy in South Africa.
- Our delegates elected a national committee to drive this fight forward, made up of representatives from key civil society organisations, community groups and social movements from across our provincial support bases. The Right2Know campaign began as a very broad coalition of groups and individuals united against secrecy, and this is not set to change.
The formation of the Right2Know Campaign should serve as a reminder to the ruling bloc that the people of South Africa will not accept laws or practices that undermines our daily struggles for freedom, justice and dignity. We will continue to fight to a society that is open, accountable, participatory and responsive – in other words, a society where everyone has the right to know. Full report can be downloaded below.
