Citizens also at risk from secrecy bill

The following article was published online by The Mercury

THE PASSING of the Protection of State Information Bill will not only affect the way journalists work, but could also infringe on citizens’ rights to information, says Professor Anton Harber.

Speaking during a seminar on the bill held at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Howard College yesterday, the Wits University journalism professor said journalists should educate people about how the bill would affect the dissemination of information to them.

He said the media had done well in opposing the bill, but still needed to help the public understand that it was not only a threat to journalists.

“It is not just a battle for journalists and the media to do their job; it is a battle for citizens to be empowered by information and be able to assert their rights and aspirations. It is not just a battle for freedom of speech, but a fight to ensure our democracy is an open, participative and collaborative one, rather than a top-down authoritarian one,” he said.

The controversial bill is set to go before the National Assembly and then the National Council of Provinces before being sent to President Jacob Zuma to be signed into law.

The chairwoman, UKZN’s Professor Ruth Teer-Tomaselli, said the existence of the bill was not the greatest problem, but the lack of clarity about its effect.
“It is still unclear how the bill is going to affect us,” she said.

She said there was no clear relation between infringements and penalties in the bill.

The bill would empower the government to classify state information and jail those who revealed such information. Disclosing information deemed harmful to national interests would carry jail terms of three to 25 years, without the option of a fine.

Critics of the bill say it is unconstitutional because it fails to include a public interest defence clause.

Teer-Tomaselli said the bill had been toned down since its introduction, but the proposed media tribunal, which had been put on hold, still posed a huge threat.

Prithiraj Dullay, of the Right2Know campaign, said it was understandable for there to be secrecy on issues dealing with state security, but the bill would go beyond that.

Source The Mercury