Statement: R2K observes International Right to Know Day!
On the 28 September 2015 is the International Right to Know Day. The day aims to raise awareness about people’s right to access government information while promoting freedom of information as essential to both democracy and good governance.
The Right2Know Campaign will be hosting events in three major provinces to observe this important day.
R2K’s actions for International Right to Know Day 2015
In KZN, we will be hosting a discussion on Open Government Partnership and there will be a Short Film on Xenophobia. Next month, South Africa is set to take over as the chair of the OGP but as R2K we feel that our government does not live up to the Constitutional principles of openness, accountability and transparency.
In Gauteng, we will be picketing outside the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in Sandton against corporate corruption. Over R300 billion in private money leaves South Africa illegally a year. South Africa remains the most unequal country in the world because the super rich strive for super profits at the expense of the people. The biggest way businesses use secrecy to hide money from us is by not paying taxes and using secret overseas bank accounts to hide their profits. We want to put an end to such corrupt practices.
From 12pm we will march from Wanderers Stadium to the Lonmin offices in Melrose Arch, to demand answers for Lonmin’s illicit profit sharing. Lonmin’s attempts to hide profits of at least R400 million per year between 1999 and 2012 in the tax haven of Bermuda has led to them using claims of poverty to avoid paying workers the demanded living wage of R12 500, and to avoid its legal responsibility to build houses for the mineworkers. So far, out of the 5500 houses needed, they have built no more than three show houses. We will demand answers for the secret profit shifting that is compromising and costing the lives of miners in Marikana.
In Cape Town, we will be picketing to take a stand for the right to protest at the City of Cape Town Offices. The right to organise, protest and speak out is central to all community struggles for social justice. The Regulation of Gatherings Act has become a tool for municipalities to undermine people’s right to protest, which is a basic right rooted in freedom of expression and freedom of assembly – and often officials simply ignore the provisions of the Act.
The City of Cape Town has shown its contempt for the right to protest in the past, by insisting that people must apply for “permission” to protest and putting outrageous limitations on certain protests. Last week, the City tried to stop a Palestinian solidarity protest from going ahead unless it was limited to 150 people. The picket is organised in partnership with the Social Justice Coalition, Equal Education Legal Centre and Ndifuna Ukwazi.
These events are a build-up to the nationwide Anti-Corruption march which will be held on the 30th of September. We urge South Africans to join in support of our efforts towards building a more robust democracy and good governance. Freedom of Information is crucial in challenging bad government, which is often ruled by secrecy. We have the right to know!
