R2K to protest communication rates

CAPE TOWN – The Right2Know (R2K) Campaign is preparing to stage a protest march in Cape Town on Wednesday,calling for more affordable cellphone and internet rates.

This is part of the campaign’s efforts to bring down the cost of communication in the country.

The campaign’s Murray Hunter said, “People have the means to access information but they can’t afford it because airtime prices in South Africa are the sixth highest in the world and those prices were artificially inflated.”

Members will gather at the Cape Town International Convention Centre where they’ll march to Vodacom on the foreshore.

While R2K was instrumental in coordinating efforts to oppose the controversial Protection of State Information Bill (POSIB) Hunter last year said the group’s next “war” is against the high cost to communicate in South Africa.

“There are secret pricing structures that seem to have been created by the majority of the cellphone companies. They are essentially completely exploiting poor South Africans and ensuring that they can’t take part in basic democratic processes.”

The organisation was founded in August 2010 to highlight issues around the so-called ‘Secrecy Bill’, which many believe will allow the state to muzzle the media and hide information from the public.
Committee leader Roeghshida Pasco said they planned to educate the public about the bill.

Earlier in 2012, R2K held candlelight vigils, marches and speeches outside Parliament to highlight their opposition to the bill.

The ruling party believes the bill is necessary.

This article was written by Lauren Isaacs and it was published online by the Eyewitness News on 12 June 2013