The Protection of Information Bill Will Make Corruption Easier!

We wholeheartedly endorse the position of our federation COSATU in criticising the current state of the Protection of Information Bill. We are also alarmed that the ANC Parliamentary Caucus is using its majority to ensure that no significant improvements and safeguards against abuse of the bill are being taken into consideration.

Many other organisations supporting the growing Right to Know Campaign have eloquently outlined what the implications will be for civil liberties and accountability if the Bill is passed, and we are grateful to them for bringing this to the attention of the South African public, but we also believe that for those of us in the municipal sector, there are particular concerns. SAMWU has been in the forefront of fighting corruption at municipal level, and long before it was politically acceptable to do so.

Many of our leaders at local level were vilified, often victimised, and some physically attacked for courageously exposing corrupt practices. Despite the threats to their livelihoods and reputations, many of our comrades persisted because they felt that it was not just a crime in the strict sense of the term, but because corruption has been a decisive factor in thwarting effective service delivery to many of our most impoverished communities.

We remain immensely proud of all of our members who have taken such a stand, and who have contributed substantially to awakening Government to launch an explicit and thorough anti-corruption drive.

But our members were only able to expose the crooked tenderpreneurs, the rampant cronyism, politically convenient manoeuvring and nepotism by having access to documents, and being able to use them to alert greater authorities that malpractices were being committed.

If the Protection of Information Bill goes ahead, it will not only enable a whole range of municipal documents to be classified as secret, but will also serve to protect those who are misusing their positions for private  and nefarious gain. Furthermore, once classified, anyone found in possession of the classified information will be liable for prosecution! In other words, if a municipal employee discovers corruption taking place, and seeks to report the matter, they will not only be deemed to have exceeded their powers, but could be dismissed, and if they publicly disclose the documents, can be prosecuted. Whistle blowers and concerned citizens will be criminalised.

Comrade Jacob Zuma said during his election campaign walkabouts in poor communities that he now understood what the service delivery protests were really about. Our people become most frustrated and angry when the information that should be made available to them to make informed decisions is denied or hidden away from them.

Those engaged in the hundreds of service delivery protests that continue to take place every year state time and time again that an absence of information about the services that they should be receiving, and stonewalling by the authorities when they are not delivered, fuels their anger more than anything else.

If this bill is passed in its current form, there are likely to be more service delivery protests not less. There is likely to be more corruption not less, and there is likely to be more disenchantment with our democratic society and its institutions. This is bad news for our still fledgling democracy, and for accountable and responsive local government.  Our society needs more empowering information, not less!

We believe that this bill is ill considered and undermines the parts of our much heralded constitution. Section 32 of the Constitution states that everyone has the right of access to (a) any information held by the state and (b) any information that is held by another person and that is required for the exercise or protection of any rights. Furthermore, Section 16 states that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom of the press and other media.

In the interests of our democracy, and the freedom of our people to access information, and use it to ensure that their rights are protected, this bill must be stopped in its tracks.

The Parliamentary Caucus must stop and listen to what civil society is saying, and engage them to find a democratic solution to the challenges they believe the current and inappropriate bill will address. Failure to do so will be a serious disservice to the people of this country.

Statement issued by SAMWU's International Officer Steve Faulkner, June 3 2011

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