The South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) says the Protection of State Information Bill is an important piece of legislation, but not in its current form.
President Cyril Ramaphosa had returned the Bill to lawmakers to rework it, citing concerns on its Constitutionality. The Bill is being sent back to the national legislature for the second time after it was initially passed under the administration of former President Jacob Zuma in 2010.
The aim of the Bill, introduced by then State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele, is to protect sensitive State information.
However, Sanef’s Executive Director Kate Skinner says certain aspects of the Bill violate the rights of journalists as well as the public’s rights to information and evidence of corruption and maladministration.
“There are a number of things in the Bill that are really problematic. One of the big issues is the fact there is no public interest dissent. if for instance there is information that journalists get classified information but it is actually really important that the public knows about it is actually in the public interest that they expose that information, report on it at the moment within the bill you can still as a journalist go to jail. What its original intention was every single government will always have sensitive information and so this bill is about basically managing the protection of state information but it’s just done very poorly.”
Sanef welcomes the President’s decision to review the Secrecy Bill
Sanef has welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to have the controversial Secrecy Bill reviewed and aligned with the Constitution.
Sanef says the forum’s key concern is the lack of a public interest defence in the draft law and the review will now allow for this provision to be introduced.
In 2019, Deputy Minister of State Security Zizi Kodwa asked Parliament to reconsider and polish the draft law, which seeks to ensure a coherent approach to the protection of State information and the classification and declassification of state information. It also sets out procedures on how classified documents are to be handled during court proceedings and requires courts to prevent public disclosure of classified documents that form part of court records.
The Bill raised the ire of civil society organisations and opposition parties, who slammed it as undermining South Africans’ right to access information. They also believe it also threatens journalists’ and whistleblowers’ rights.
