Joint statement on the engagement between Minister of State Security and Sanef on the Protection of Information Bill
12 Nov 2010
South African media will be consulted on the drafting of regulations that will detail the implementation of Protection of Information legislation once the law is finalised.
This was a commitment made by the Minister of State Security, Dr Siyabonga Cwele, to the South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) at a meeting in Pretoria today.
The Minister said editors would be consulted on the drafting of the regulations to ensure that the law is not used to infringe on the work of media specifically.
The Sanef delegation had earlier set out a number of concerns it still had with the Bill, including its view for the need to insert a public interest defence clause on the publication of classified information, and the establishment of an independent review mechanism for the classification and adjudication of information.