When the ANC suddenly took a decision to halt its plans to have the much-speculated secrecy bill – the Protection of Information Bill – voted into law last week, the entire country breathed a sigh of relief.
Members of the media were at pains trying to reason with the government since the introduction of this matter in the public domain during the past year. Last week some even held night vigils in protest, and marches were organised across the country, including in Grahamstown. Members of the public came out in their numbers in support of the Right2Know Campaign. The media was out in full force. Then suddenly, the ANC National Executive Council (NEC) decided to shelve the matter – even though it was clear that they would get the majority vote.
When the ANC suddenly took a decision to halt its plans to have the much-speculated secrecy bill – the Protection of Information Bill – voted into law last week, the entire country breathed a sigh of relief.
Members of the media were at pains trying to reason with the government since the introduction of this matter in the public domain during the past year. Last week some even held night vigils in protest, and marches were organised across the country, including in Grahamstown. Members of the public came out in their numbers in support of the Right2Know Campaign. The media was out in full force. Then suddenly, the ANC National Executive Council (NEC) decided to shelve the matter – even though it was clear that they would get the majority vote.
Unlike the United States of America, most decisions in South Africa are made by the party as a united front, not individual votes against his/her party's decision in parliament. We still do not know how long our new-found victory as the media and citizens of a democracy will last. It is no secret that some high profile government officials and some cabinet members wanted the Bill to be voted into law. That way any information which might tarnish their images – even if it is deemed a matter of public interest – would have been protected under 'classified' government information.
It is rather unfortunate that in this day and age we have a democratic government that is so opposed to transparency. Word in the street is that some high-ranking ANC NEC members decided to shelve the Bill. Why? We may never really know, but it is believed that some NEC members were unsettled by the fact that the bill may be used to hide information which might be of use to them during their internal political spatters. For now, we wait to hear what the NEC has decided upon, and whether or not the public participation process will take place. We sincerely hope that members of the public will come out in full force and oppose the Bill.
