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The R2K Silent March in Gauteng on 19 October 2010 PDF Print E-mail
Right2Know Logo Right to Know Campaign (R2K) in Gauteng will be embarking on a silent march on the 19 October 2010 to voice its objections to the Protection of Information Bill (Bill) that is currently before Parliament and the subject of considerable public debate. The R2K Gauteng march will also commemorate, Black Wednesday - 19 October 1977 – when three newspapers were closed, 17 political organisations were banned and many activists arrested. The  R2K would also like to highlight the start of "The Week of Action" - 19th to 27th October 2010 – during which South Africans are called upon to support the campaign by holding meetings, pickets and protests in their communities to defend and uphold the public’s right to know and right of access to information.

R2K is national campaign and joint effort of a large number of civil society organizations, members of the public, students, academics, artist, journalists who have come together in defence of the public’s right to know. The right to know and freedom of expression are crucial to a functioning democracy and entrench the principles of transparency, accountability and openness which underpin our Constitution. 

This campaign was established as a result of the serious concern that has arisen as a result of the tabling of the Bill in Parliament this year. The Bill has been criticised for failing to meet the test of constitutionality. If passed in its current form the Act is sure to undermine the right to know, access to information and free flow of information.   


Our concerns:
The Bill will create a society of secrets:     
  • Any state agency, government department, even a parastatal and your local municipality, can classify public information as secret.       
  • Anything and everything can potentially be classified as secret at official discretion if it is in the 'national interest'. Even ordinary information relating to service delivery can become secret.       
  • Commercial information can be made secret, making it very difficult to hold business and government to account for inefficiency and corruption.       
  • Anyone involved in the ‘unauthorised’ handling and disclosure of classified information can be prosecuted; not just the state official who leaks information as is the case in other democracies.       
  • The disclosure even of some information which is not formally classified can land citizens in jail. This will lead to self-censorship and have a chilling effect on free speech.      
  • Whistleblowers and journalists could face more time in prison than officials who deliberately conceal public information that should be disclosed.       
  • A complete veil is drawn over the workings of the intelligence services. It will prevent public scrutiny of our spies should they abuse their power or breach human rights.

Who will guard the guardians?      
  • Officials do not need to provide reason for making information secret  
  • There is no independent oversight mechanism to prevent information in the public interest from being made secret.       
  • The Minister of State Security, whose business is secrecy, becomes the arbiter of what information across all of government must remain secret or may be disclosed to the public.       
  • Even the leaking of secret information in the public interest is criminalised.       
  • Unusually severe penalties of up to 25 years in prison will silence whistleblowers, civil society and journalists doing their job.       
  • All these factors will limit public scrutiny of business and government, whether through Parliament or journalists. Accountability will be curtailed and service delivery to the people will be undermined.

Our demands:
The Constitution demands accountable, open and responsive government, realised among other things through freedom of expression and access to information. Our elected representatives are bound by these Constitutional values and any legislation they pass must comply with the Constitution. We demand that the Protection of Information Bill - the Secrecy Bill - must reflect the following:        
  • Limit secrecy to core state bodies in the security sector such as the police, defense &intelligence agencies.
  • Limit secrecy to strictly defined national security matters and no more. Officials must give reasons for making information secret.
  • Exclude commercial information from this Bill.    
  • Do not exempt the intelligence agencies from public scrutiny.
  • Do not apply penalties for unauthorised disclosure to society at large, only those responsible for keeping secrets.
  • An independent body appointed by Parliament, and not the Minister of Intelligence, should be the arbiter of decisions about what may be made secret.
  • Do not criminalise the legitimate disclosure of secrets in the public interest.

The silent march will proceed on 19 October 2010 at 12h30pm from outside the University of the Witwatersrand’s Senate House entrance in Jorissen Street to Constitution Hill. Please bring tape along to tape mouths shut!

Ayesha Kajee – Freedom of Expression Institute – 083 5007486
Melissa Moore – Freedom of Expression Institute - 082 924 8268
Siphiwe Segodi – Freedom of Expression Institute – 011 482 1913 or 072 655 4177
Gabriella Razzano - South African History Archive -  082 780 1903
 
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