/ 28 November 2011

SACP: Secrecy Bill protesters ‘are out to weaken SA’

Protesters against the Protection of State Information Bill are out to weaken and undermine state security, says the SACP in Gauteng.

Protests against the Protection of State Information Bill are out to weaken and undermine state security, the South African Communist Party (SACP) in Gauteng said on Sunday.

“We reject the attempts to entrust the security of the national democratic revolution with the commercial and capitalist private media and elevate editorial supremacy above that of the people represented by their elected representatives,” said acting provincial secretary Jacob Mamabolo.

Civil organisations and the media took to the streets to decry the Protection of Information Bill, which the National Assembly voted in with 229 votes. The M&G takes a look at the protests across the country.

Mamabolo said the party believed that once the Bill became law, it would “consolidate and defend” the national democratic revolution.

He said the provincial branch of the party welcomed the passing of the Bill by the national assembly.

Threat to the public
Earlier on Sunday, the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) condemned the Bill, saying that in its present form it would not only silence the media, but also the public.

“The courts, to a large extent, remain the preserve of the wealthy and most ordinary citizens who become aware of corruption and maladministration will be silenced for life if the Bill goes unchallenged,” said co-chairpersons Nano Matlala and Praveen Sham.

This jeopardised the legal profession as lawyers had the role of speaking for the public and standing up for public interest.

The LSSA said it was distressed and disappointed that the Bill had been passed in the National Assembly last week.

Matlala and Sham said the society would approach President Jacob Zuma to raise its concerns about the present draft of the Bill being a threat to democracy.

‘Undercurrent of fear’
The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba echoed these sentiments in an open letter to Zuma on Sunday.

In the letter, he recalled the “undercurrent of fear running through our lives” during apartheid, and raised his concerns that the Bill could lead to a recurrence of this state.

Both Makgoba and LSSA said they respected that state secrets should be classified, but a public-interest defence clause had to be added in order to protect accountability and sustainable democracy.

Makgoba concluded the letter with: “As a fellow South African and Christian, I ask you not to sign this Bill. Listen again to the cries of your people”. — Sapa

The passing of the Protection of State Information Bill came as no surprise, raising the threat to media freedom. View our special report.