Govt censors key report
2010-08-23 09:34
Cape Town – The draft Protection of Information Act has not even been passed and already sensitive information is being censored "like during apartheid".
This was what Mike Waters, DA MP and spokesperson for health, said after a report by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) about the suitability of the head of the controversial Frere and Cecilia Makiwane Hospitals in the Eastern Cape, was heavily censored.
Waters only gained access to the report after filing a court application on the grounds of the Promotion of Access to Information Act.
The CSC investigation was requested in 2007 when questions were asked about Luvuyo Mosana's ability to run the two hospitals.
Baby deaths
This came after revelations that more than 2 000 babies were stillborn in these hospitals over 14 years – with 200 cases in that year alone.
It led to a nationwide outcry and caused disagreement in the government of then president Thabo Mbeki. Mosana is still working as the head of these hospitals.
The censored paragraphs deal with Mosana's qualifications in relation to the duties he has as hospital manager.
The report claimed he was suitable for this position, which requires that the candidate has relevant post-graduate qualifications in financial management or economics.
According to Waters's information, Mosana has only qualifications in political science and experience as a councillor in East London.
'Personal'
His true qualifications are still unclear as the paragraphs specifying these have been censored.
The report claimed the appointment committee had found Mosana was the most suitable candidate, although the compilation of the shortlist of candidates was also censored.
According to the CSC, the censored parts were personal information and revealing them would be "unreasonable".
Waters believes this explanation is nonsensical as the qualifications of a hospital manager have direct relation to a person's ability to manage a hospital properly.
"The report is important because it is at the heart of the questions about the disturbing number of babies that are stillborn in the Eastern Cape," said Waters.
"I also don't understand why information about a person who has a public position, is 'personal'. Mosana was in fact appointed as a senior civil servant who uses tax money to render his duty towards the public."
Concerns
Although the matter regarding the so-called Frere babies was upsetting, the censoring of the report raised concerns about what was coming if Parliament passed the Protection of Information act, said Waters.
"What this situation shows, is that the constitutional principles of freedom of speech and transparency have been threatened for some time.
"All that the draft bill has done, is that it has given shape to the ANC's dislike of supervision and accountability," said Waters.
He plans to ask the CSC chairperson, Dr Ralph Mgijima, to make the uncensored report public.