Right2Know Gauteng launched, civil society ready to do battle – Bizcommunity.com
Journalist Issa Sikiti da Silva attended our Gauteng launch:
“The launch, well-attended by the members of the public from all walks of life, looks at strengthening civil society in its battle against the government, whose actions have been interpreted as attempting to suppress freedom of expression and compromise the flow of information by enacting the Protection of Information Bill – a law meant to classify all information deemed ‘vital for the security of the state’.
…
Despite the public outrage about the so-called Secrecy Bill, media reports have quoted the minister of state security as saying that the bill was fine, telling civil society, including media analysts and commentators, to shut up and desist making silly comments that are misleading the people. However, Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) director William Bird said: “It is a sad day that the government is lying to us. We know and understand that this is a classic propaganda technique, but we will not be silenced because South Africans are not stupid.”
Gabriella Rozzano, of the SA History Archive, said access to information is not only an elite issue or a media issue, but a fundamental issue for everyone living in society.”
