ANC pushes for secrecy

The ANC has rejected the idea that all state secrets be automatically declassified after 20 years.

In discussions on the Protection of Information Bill yesterday, ANC MP Luwellyn Landers rejected a provision in the bill that says information may not remain classified for longer than 20 years.

Although the bill also allows for heads of state organs to make a special application to keep the information secret, Landers said the ANC was "uncomfortable" with the idea of automatic declassification, and would not support it.

Premesh Lalu, a University of the Western Cape history professor and director of the Centre of Humanities Research, described the ANC's decision as "very troubling and a cause for dismay".

"Most archives in the world work with a statute of limitation and it is incredibly important in South Africa to have access to documents to write this moment of history," said Lalu.

Many documents from the time of the negotiated settlement in the early 1990s are still classified and need to be declassified for the public to get a full understanding of what took place after the unbanning of political parties and before the 1994 elections, Lalu said.

Murray Hunter of the Right2Know Campaign, which opposes the bill, also slammed the ANC's decision.

"South Africa has already learned the importance of uncovering old state information. There were serious crimes committed in the past. It is very important to have automatic declassification of state secrets after a certain time period," said Hunter.

IFP MP Mario Oriani-Ambrosini said: "If something is so important to be kept secret, yet one cannot be bothered to reclassify it every 20 years, then it can't be that sensitive. You don't leave your jewels out if you care about them."