Info bill: Why you should care
2011-11-22 08:40
The protection of state of information bill "is insulting to all South Africans - to be asked to stomach legislation that could be used to outlaw whistle-blowing and investigative journalism... and that makes the state answerable only to the state," Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said on Monday.
Ominous words, and if you want to know why Black Tuesday affects you, that’s exactly why.
Section 32 of our much revered Constitution states, in unequivocal terms, that the public has the right to be informed. YOU have the right to know – and that right is being strangled from all of our grasps.
And that is why you should care.
You want to blow the whistle on corruption? Leak or publish “secret information”? In other words expose corruption? Well, that could cost you up to 25 years behind bars – your motivations will be of little consequence.
The National Press Club, supported by the National Editor’s forum has declared today Black Tuesday. It is a reference to Black Wednesday. Two newspapers were banned on that day in 1977, following the death of black consciousness leader Steve Biko in police custody. Brutal memories of a brutal time in our country’s bloodied apartheid history.
The Right2Know campaign has also planned protests outside of parliament in Cape Town – if you’re in the Mother City, get down there and show your support.
This piece of legislation, should it be passed, will be the most draconian since we won our hard fought democracy on April 27, 1994. And quite frankly, it’s a slap in the face to what South Africans should hold dear.
Your right to know lies in the hands of 400 MPs who will vote yay or nay in the National Assembly from 14:00 today. Let's hope the green button that signals “yes” won’t mark the beginning of our end to the free flow of information.
To learn more about the protection of state information bill, click here.
- Estrelita Moses is Day Editor of News24.com.
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