ACDP slates ANC Information Bill Committee which excludes opposition parties

ACDP MP and member of the now dissolved ad hoc Committee on the Protection of State Information Bill, Steve Swart, today slated the newly established ANC Information Bill Committee, which excludes opposition parties, as being "unprecedented and unacceptable".

"The ACDP finds the ANC's establishment of an ANC Information Bill Committee to deal with the contentious outstanding issues of the Protection of State Information Bill unprecedented and totally unacceptable.

We have a multi-party democracy consisting of diverse opposition parties besides the ruling party who must be involved in any process dealing with this controversial Bill. The ANC committee will purportedly be responsible for "co-ordinating public engagement with representatives from civil society, non-governmental and community-based organisations and interested individuals on the draft bill." It will also hold public meetings in all provinces "to garner inputs from members of the public."

It is unheard of for one political party to hold public hearings alone on a Bill serving before Parliament, without other opposition parties being present. What is the legal status of this committee? Given that the Bill is still before Parliament, will Parliament bear the costs of this ANC committee?

The absence of opposition parties brings the legitimacy of this whole process into question. Why are opposition parties being excluded? Is it feared that such parties may influence the public to support calls for a public interest defence, or does the ANC itself wish to use these hearings to "sell" the contentious Bill without such a defence. The latter seems more plausible given that the ANC caucus said that it will not consider a public interest defence.

The sensible route would be to establish a new ad hoc Committee to deal with the controversial issues, the most important of which is the absence of a public interest defence."

Statement issued by Steve Swart, MP, ACDP, September 28 2011

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