Sanef concerned over cursory parliamentary review of ‘Secrecy' Bill

The SA National Editors' Forum is deeply concerned that the parliamentary review of the Protection of State Information Bill - the so-called ‘Secrecy' Bill - following  its referral by President Jacob Zuma was conducted for an inadequate five hours over a two-day period, October 9 and 10. The ad-hoc committee paid scant, if any, attention  to the real constitutional problems contained in the Bill.

President Zuma referred the Bill back to parliament with a vaguely worded request for two clauses to be reconsidered  because he had reservations that they would not pass constitutional muster. The committee argued about President Zuma's intentions and whether members were required to deal with some small typographical errors in the two clauses. As a result several aspects of the Bill which  journalists and lawyers have strongly objected to, such as the lack of a public interest defence and the harsh penalties which can be meted out to those who disclose classified information, were ignored.

Sanef believes that the Bill required a searching investigation by the committee so that its defects could be rectified especially those lacking clear and tight definitions of what can be classified and by whom as well as attention to the scope of the penalties and the lack of a public interest defence.

Now that the committee has merely corrected the grammar in two clauses in the Bill, Sanef will have no option but to initiate steps to send it to the Constitutional Court for proper review. The ad-hoc committee has missed an opportunity to cure the Bill's constitutional defects.

Statement issued by Mpumelelo Mkhabela, Sanef Chairperson, Adriaan Basson, Sanef Media Freedom Chairperson and Raymond Louw, Sanef Media Freedom Committee - Deputy Chairperson, October 15 2013

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter