The African National Congress (ANC) bowed to pressure on the Protection of Information Bill on Friday and promised major concessions to bring the legislation in line with the Constitution.
The ruling party agreed to restrict the power to classify, which it had previously sought to extend to all organs of state, to bodies dealing directly with security and to scrap mandatory prison sentences for leaking secret information.
“We believe, and this is a formal proposal from the ANC, that the scope of application of the Bill must be drastically reduced in so far as it applies to the authority to classify information,” ANC MP Luwellyn Landers said.
“The minimum sentences in the Bill, we propose be removed,” he added of the provision widely seen as a threat to the media and whistle-blowers.
The ruling party also agreed to appoint a retired judge to review classification, allowing independent oversight rather than leaving all power in this regard with the state security minister.
The concessions address three of the main objections raised to the Bill by activist, academics, journalists and former ministers in the biggest outcry triggered by legislation since the end of apartheid.
Landers, who has led the ruling party’s arguments in the committee drafting the Bill, spelled out the ANC’s revised position a day after Parliament extended the deadline for the completion of the Bill by three months.
Serious concern
He said the rethink was a reaction to serious concern expressed by senior ANC members and civil society in the past six weeks.
“It was everybody, Luthuli House, NEC [national executive committee] members, civil society, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Cosatu.”
Landers revealed that a member of the ANC’s NEC, whom he did not name, had told lawmakers in no uncertain terms to go back to the drawing board.
“He said, ‘What the hell are you doing?’. It was strong language, I’m toning it down.”
He said the ANC had heeded calls that the Bill could be used as a tool to cover up corruption.
“We want to state in very clear terms this morning that we are concerned about the possible abuse of the provisions of this Act for the purposes of hiding corrupt activities.”
He said the Bill should be redrafted to ensure those who abused it to this end would suffer strong sanction.
“So we must do everything possible to ensure that we put in the Bill provisions that not only penalise stringently any such attempt, but methods that could be used to prevent that.”
Apartheid-era state secrecy
Opponents of the Bill had termed it a return to apartheid-era state secrecy and vowed to refer it to the Constitutional Court for review.
Up until now, the ANC’s response to the threats has been that chief state law adviser Enver Daniels was satisfied the Bill would pass constitutional muster.
“It is not enough for Enver Daniels to come before the committee to say it is constitutional. I believe, every single clause in this Bill, we have to ensure that it meets that requirement,” Landers said on Friday.
Opposition parties welcomed the concessions, but added concerns remained, including the need to consider a public interest defence to protect the press and whistle-blowers.
“It is a vindication of the parliamentary legislative process in which we talk till we hear each other. It is good news indeed,” Democratic Alliance MP Dene Smuts said. — Sapa