SAMWU is worried that the Protection of Information Bill will disadvantage whistle blowers and workers who are fighting corruption tooth and nail. We are also concerned that the bill is now set to go before the National Assembly and then the National Council of Provinces, before it is sent to President Jacob Zuma to be signed into law. The Bill is not ready to be signed into law and is set to negatively impact the noble fight against corruption.

For those of us in the Municipal sector, there are particular concerns. SAMWU has been in the forefront of fighting corruption at Municipal level, and long before it was politically acceptable to do so. Many of our leaders at local level were vilified, often victimised, and some physically attacked for courageously exposing corrupt practices. Despite the threats to their livelihoods and reputations, many of our comrades persisted because they felt that it was not just a crime in the strict sense of the term, but because corruption has been a decisive factor in thwarting effective service delivery to many of our most impoverished communities.

We remain immensely proud of all of our members who have taken such a stand, and who have contributed substantially to awakening Government to launch an explicit and thorough anti-corruption drive.

But our members were only able to expose the crooked tenderpreneurs, the rampant cronyism, politically convenient manoeuvring and nepotism by having access to documents, and being able to use them to alert greater authorities that malpractices were being committed.

If the Protection of Information Bill is signed into law, it will not only enable a whole range of Municipal documents to be classified as secret, but will also serve to protect those who are misusing their positions for private and nefarious gain.

This is the battle that all affiliates in COSATU must engage in. We are calling on all COSATU affiliates to act to ensure that the Secrecy Bill does not become law and that this should be done in the interest of the public and in the interest of enhancing service delivery to communities.

Statement issued by Tahir Sema, SAMWU National Media and Publicity Officer, November 21 2011

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