The ANC has also dumped a clause that sought to criminalise the publication of information related to the functioning of security agencies such as the National Intelligence Agency.

At a meeting to resume deliberations, the ruling party yesterday introduced three crucial amendments to the "secrecy bill" such as the deletion of a line that would have made the bill trump the Promotion of Access to Information Act, a sub-clause widely branded as unconstitutional by bodies such as Cosatu and Freedom Under Law.

Presenting the proposals before a multiparty ad hoc committee that is processing the bill in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), ANC MP Sam Mazosiwe described the proposed amendments as a "major leap forward".

"We are tabling an amendment that excludes municipalities to classify documents. we are saying that this a major leap forward to what we originally had. We believe that take into account the views of the public and also the views of the committee in so far as making sure that our democracy prevails in all of our activities," said Mazosiwe.

He said the ANC has also decided to scrap the contentious section 49 of the bill, which sought to prohibit any disclosure or publication of matters relating to the state security bodies.

"We are proposing that this proposal be deleted completely from the bill. We are a democracy - we have to make sure the bill we are passing is also in conformity with our democratic values, ideals and so on."

But Alison Tilley of Right2Know said while the deletion of section 49 was a "significant gain in terms of transparency", she was worried that the ANC was still not prepared to budge on the calls for the inclusion of a public interest defence clause in the bill.

Opposition MPs welcomed the ANC's proposed amendments, saying "they were a major step in the right direction".

The amendments were agreed to in behind-closed-door discussions between the ANC and a small group of MPs from the DA, Cope and the IFP.

The bill was passed by the National Assembly in November last year during a sitting in which almost all opposition MP voted against the bill while some ANC MPs abstained.

The NCOP's ad hoc committee has a deadline of September 30 to report back to Parliament's second chamber before the secrecy bill can be finalised.

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Thu May 23 15:09:52 SAST 2013 ::

Aug 30, 2012

januswanus

Free at last, free at last, God almighty free at last.
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Aug 30, 2012

Sinudeity_

Voetsek secrecy bill.
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Aug 30, 2012

RobinH

Janus. Not quite yet, Boet. Still one or two contentious issues that need to be looked at. But it is a step in the right direction. One immediately placed in question with the news of the reappointment of a convicted fraudster in KZN. This drums home that any guarantee or promise from the ruling party is worth less than the paper it was written on.
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Aug 30, 2012

CYBORICO

good step in the right direction, a secrecy bill is needed, whatwe dont need is its abuse or having clause that can b misused for purposes of hiding corruption.
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Aug 30, 2012

Mrazane

Let us scrap the whole thing, I think we have wasted enough money on this bill to build at least 10 RDP houses. My question still remains what has necessitated the proposal of this bill, other than a blanket to cover corrupt activities.
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Aug 30, 2012

CYBORICO

@Mrazane
there is lots of weak people out there, certain information needs to be kept from the public for the sake of stability, or while solutions r being seeked.
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Aug 30, 2012

RobinH

Why does a nation with transparency in government entrenched in its constitution need a secrecy bill at all. What we rather need, and with great urgency, is politicians with integrity. Then the "need" becomes even less defensible.

Cyborica: "certain information needs to be kept from the public for the sake of stability," My God, That statement could have come straight out PW Botha's mouth! Or Goebbels'.
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Aug 30, 2012

CYBORICO

@robinH
if nations like america had no secrecy acts they will never be where they are, the succesfull countries all ahve their secrecy acts in place, the difference is that this were implimented whithout the public speculating that they r there to hide corruption. the fact that SA and the gov are corrupt doesnot mean we dont need the bill. the gov should have engaged everyone(opposition and other stake holders) in drafting of the bill. Currently it has clause that seem to give too much decition making power to people or organs of the state that might abuse the classification of information. Thats what most of the opposition were against from the begining, those in the known know that it is a neccesary thing, its just that those that agreed on it are beeing seen as using it for other purposes than the protection of sensitive state data
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Aug 30, 2012

CYBORICO

@robinH

so robin you really believ that the american went to afganistan with all the fire power just to look for a terrorist leader and a number of his gang members?(america has highly trained special forces who could have taken out this terrorist withouth invading the whole of afghan) do you belive also they went to Iraq because they believed sadam was developing nukes?(two teams of experts sent by the UN went there and came back saying there were no nuke projects but the mericans still invaded iraq) the real reasons r in some clasified document sowhere in nomen's land.

This is the stuff that u dont tell the public, otherwise people will stop paying taxes if your honest reason is against what they believe, think about this a bit open minded and stop making everything about the anc.
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Aug 30, 2012

CYBORICO

@robinH

another example will be will you make public the information provided by the state spies? has any stae confirmed to have spies in other countries? clasified stuff boeta otherwise someone will drop a nuclear war-head right on top of you
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