In a bid to keep a tight rein on the processing of the controversial Protection of State Information Bill in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) the ANC has deployed several senior members to a new ad hoc committee that will work on the proposed legislation.
The council resolved this week to establish the committee after the Bill was passed by the National Assembly and referred to the council for concurrence.
The committee is comprised of 15 members — 10 from the ANC, two from the Democratic Alliance and one each from the Inkatha Freedom Party, Congress of the People and the Independent Democrats.
A source close to the process told the Mail & Guardian that the ruling party had nominated senior MPs, including NCOP chief whip Nosipho Ntwanambi and the NCOP chairperson of committees, Raseriti Tau, to ensure that the party retained control of the political content of the Bill.
Tau, who, it is believed will act as chairperson, is the provincial secretary of the South African Communist Party in the Northern Cape and it is understood that he will challenge John Block — the ANC provincial chairperson in the province — for the chair next year. Ntwanambi is a member of the ANC’s national executive committee and deputy president of the ANC Women’s League.
The source, who was not authorised to comment officially, said Ntwanambi will be the whip of the committee and her deployment will also provide a direct link to Luthuli House. Two other sources said the ANC had not been happy with the handling of the Bill while it was being processed by the National Assembly’s ad hoc committee.
Observers, including Cosatu members and some from the Right2Know campaign, questioned the “juniorisation” of the National Assembly committee and the fact that its major players are mainly floor-crossers to the ANC. The ANC was mostly led by former National Party Cabinet minister Luwellyn Landers and former Independent Democrats leader Cecil Burgess during deliberations on the Bill.
The ANC has made it clear that it is not willing to insert a public interest clause into the Bill but is willing to consider strengthening the public interest override during the NCOP process.
On Wednesday Tau would neither confirm nor deny that he would chair the committee.
The passing of the Protection of State Information Bill came as no surprise, raising the threat to media freedom. View our special report.
