NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PASSES INFO BILL
25 April 2013
The Office of the ANC Chief Whip welcomes the passing of the Protection of State Information Bill by the National Assembly today, 25 April 2013. The Bill will now be sent to the President to be signed into an Act of Parliament.
The passing of this Bill today is a culmination of over five years of work by the two Houses of Parliament. Extensive public consultation with a wide range of representatives of our society, public debates and robust engagements amongst political parties have taken place on this Bill since it was first tabled in Parliament in 2008.
All of the 51 clauses of the Bill have been thoroughly and carefully examined during at least 65 meetings held by the National Assembly (NA) Ad Hoc Committee on the Protection of State Information Bill, and over 40 committee and public consultation meetings conducted by the NCOP's Ad Hoc Committee on the Protection of State Information Bill. This brings the number of meetings held over this Bill to over 100, which makes it probably one of the most consultative Bill since the advent of democracy in 1994. Hundreds of amendments, over 800 of them, have been made on this bill - which makes it a complete redraft of what was originally tabled in Parliament five years ago.
We appreciate the effort, dedication and remarkable devotion with which our members in the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces steered this Bill to the quality draft it is today. We remain unshaken in our conviction that this Bill will pass the constitutional muster.
Update:
TECHNICAL GLITCHES REGARDING CHIEF WHIP'S VOTE
25 April 2013
Due to the technical problem with Parliament's voting machines, the system erroneously recorded the Chief Whip of the African National Congress, Dr Mathole Motshekga, as having voted in the negative during the voting session on the Protection of State Information Bill. Parliament has since swiftly rectified the error and the minutes of today's sittting will reflect that he has indeed voted in the affirmative.
Statement issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, April 25 2013
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