R2K campaign voted newsmaker of the year
2012-12-06 16:01
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R2K campaigners gather in front of Parliament ahead of a vote on the secrecy bill in the National Council of Provinces.
Johannesburg - The Right2Know campaign has been voted Johannesburg
Press Club 2012 newsmaker of the year.
"It's a victory for people's power," Right2Know
(R2K) Gauteng spokesperson Jayshree Pather said on Thursday, accepting the
award at Wits Business School, in Johannesburg.
"What lies ahead is, I think, many other struggles
and as Right2Know we're committed to... eternal vigilance," she said.
Johannesburg Press Club chairperson Mixael de Kock said
the R2K coalition, comprising more than 400 organisations with 30 000 members,
had "relentlessly pursued the public’s right to understand the full scope
of the Protection of State Information Bill... and how it would impact the
media and every citizen of this country.
It had shown "extraordinary courage, commitment and
consistency" in ensuring the issues it tackled received news coverage.
"Access to information, as well as freedom of
expression and association, are hard-won rights which are enshrined in the
South African constitution.
"These values were continuously reiterated, restated
and reported by the coalition," he said.
Pather said every single committee meeting in Parliament
had been full to capacity with R2K people monitoring "every single step of
the way what happened with the secrecy bill".
The amended protection of state information bill, known
as the secrecy bill, was adopted by 34 votes to 16 by the National Council of
Provinces at the end of November and will go back to the National Assembly in
the new year, where it is likely to be passed with ease by the ANC majority
At the time, R2K and opposition parties vowed that, if
this happened, they would ask the Constitutional Court to overturn the
legislation,
Pather said when R2K started two years ago, it was
considered at best alarmist and at worst, a traitor.
"Right2Know has been accused of being
counter-revolutionaries, agents of western imperialism..., but the reality is
all that we've achieved in the two years has been achieved, really through the
tireless and selfless energy, passion and commitment of hundreds and hundreds
of people," she said.
"I think what we've seen unfold... has proven that
we've been right to say there's a real threat to our democracy, that there's an
increasing veil of secrecy descending upon all aspects of our lives....
"I mean it’s unbelievable, and much of it we don't
even know, but what we've seen again is the increased attack on civil
society."
She said mainstream civil society organisations were now
being accused of many of the things only Right2Know had been accused of in the
past.
"... Organisations that are working to support the
state in a range of different areas are now being attacked because we're
independent, because we're critical."
The award was for a strengthened civil society, said
Pather.
"It's to acknowledge the work of all of these
organisations, who work against great odds, under very difficult circumstances
and so it's a very important... thing for all of civil society."
Other nominees for the award were Public Protector Thuli
Madonsela and her team, and Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
A Special Mention Award was made to Madonsela, who
received the newsmaker award in 2011, for being the second person ever to be
nominated twice in consecutive years. The other double nominee was former
president Nelson Mandela.
- SAPA
