Three media institutions expressed concern on Wednesday that Parliament’s home affairs committee chairperson Patrick Chauke might fast-track the draft Films and Publications Amendment Bill.
The South African National Editors’ Forum, the South African chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa and the Freedom of Expression Institute issued a joint statement in this regard.
The organisations said they were shocked by reports that Chauke was planning hearings on the Bill soon so that it could come before Parliament within the next three months.
This was contrary to the promise made by Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad, as well as Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and her deputy Malusi Gigaba, that there would be extensive consultation with stakeholders before the Bill was presented to Parliament.
”It also conflicts with the decision to set up technical committees to investigate ways in which the ministry’s aims could be met without undermining constitutional guarantees of press freedom,” they said.
The media had vigorously protested at the Bill’s first draft last year, pointing out it that introduced the prospect of pre-publication censorship, which was counter to the media freedom guarantees in the Constitution.
The Bill would also have raised practical difficulties for the distribution of newspapers, and there had been no consultation with the media beforehand.
”The media organisations believe that the Bill should be withdrawn and a consultative conference be held to discuss how the ministry’s objectives, which are directed at eliminating the dangers of child pornography, can be achieved.
”The media has also noted with deep concern the statement reported in the Sunday Times that … Gigaba remains convinced that the media has to be regulated to limit child pornography and the exposure of children to pornography,” they said.
They pointed out that there was no record of newspapers or news broadcasters having displayed child pornography, or exposed children to pornography, and cautioned the deputy minister that attempts by the state to regulate publication constituted censorship and an offence against the Constitution.
Since the meetings with Pahad and the Home Affairs Ministry in October last year, there had been no attempt to set up a consultative process with the media.
The three organisations called on the ministry to institute an immediate comprehensive consultation over the Bill’s provisions, preferably with the Bill withdrawn, so that the discussions were not constrained by its provisions. — Sapa