R2K responds to Cwele’s speech to Parliament

In his speech to the National Assembly on Wednesday, Minister of State Security Siyabonga Cwele reassures us that the Protection of State Information Bill (the Secrecy Bill) is now constitutional. However, we have not forgotten that he reassured us that the Bill was constitutional in 2010, before amendments to the Bill even began. It is not surprising that his story has not changed. In the face of sustained public pressure outside Parliament, the Bill has undergone a range of important changes in the past year — however, there is still a crucial distance to go before any such legislation is fit for the people of South Africa.

While the Bill has been referred to an ad hoc committee to deal with largely technical amendments proposed by the IFP, it is clear that parliamentarians are preparing to vote on the Bill without substantial changes. It is crucial that members of Parliament and the securocrats backing this Bill recognise the outstanding demands made by civil society for more than a year. Despite all progressive amendments made to the Bill, the following problems continue to be a threat to our democracy and citizens’ right to know:

• Harsh prison sentences of up to 25 years for disclosing state secrets, with no protection for whistleblowers except in the most minor offences (this is the half-hearted whistleblower protection referred to by the Bill’s supporters in Parliament and the Executive). The “Espionage” and “Hostile Activities” offences may seek to punish those who leak information that could benefit a foreign state or non-state actor — but can still be used against those who leak information to serve a legitimate public good. Even those who harbour whistleblowers may face prison sentences — effectively criminalizing the families of whistleblowers as well.
• Anyone who comes into possession of a state secret faces up to five years in prison if they do not hand the information to police or security services. Thus, ordinary people can be punished for having access to information that was never their responsibility to keep secret. Effectively this law treats ordinary citizens in the same terms that it would treat foreign spies.
• Last-minute drafting by the Parliamentary ad hoc committee ensured that the Secrecy Bill would trump the Promotion of Access to Information Act which aims to promote citizens’ right to know,
• The Bill shuts off the state security agencies from any kind of scrutiny or accountability to the public, with even harsher prison sentences for accessing or sharing information relating to those bodies, and no protection for whistleblowers.
• There is no independent appeals mechanism available to citizens who wish to access information that may have been classified as secret without justification. Though there is a provision for a mostly independent body to review decisions, citizens do not have access directly to it.
  
  

We condemn attempts by securocrats to spin these demands as “nice-to-haves”. It is natural that in a functioning democracy, democratic representatives should be made to feel uncomfortable when they attempt to undermine basic rights like the right to access information, the freedom of expression and right to exercise accountability over government.

It is also worth noting that these are not rights that belong only the media, and it is not the media who constitute the Right2Know campaign — these are the rights of all people; they are rights that are central to all struggles for social justice and they are rights that we will continue to mobilise for!

Ends.

Note to editors: In his address to the National Assembly on Wednesday, Lewellyn Landers (ANC) attempted to rename the Right2Know campaign the “Right2Lie campaign”, saying that a memorandum presented to eThekwini officials recently did not acknowledge amendments to the Protection of State Information Bill. The memorandum Mr Landers referred was a copy of the Right2Know founding statement (launched 31 August 2010) that was handed to eThekwini officials at a Right2Know rally on 5 November to highlight community concerns about the failure thus far to deal comprehensively with all demands by civil society and tens of thousands of South Africans. It is sad and deeply disappointing to see Mr Landers dismiss these concerns with such vitriol – these are the concerns not only of “esteemed members of civil society” as he claims, but of ordinary South Africans representing hundreds of civil society organizations, community groups and social movements across the country. That Mr Landers failed to recognize the memorandum as the Right2Know founding statement shows him to be completely out of touch with the concerns raised about the Secrecy Bill.

R2K is a coalition of over 400 civil society organizations, community groups and social movements, fighting for transparent and accountable government. Over 25,000 people have joined the campaign against the Secrecy Bill. For more information please visit www.r2k.org.za.