Clause in info bill 'an invitation to abuse'

With parliament expected to pass the new "secrecy" law tomorrow the Right2Know campaign has warned that a loophole in the bill could present cabinet ministers with wide powers to classify information.

When the cabinet adopted the Minimum Information Security Standards in 1996, ministries were given power to classify documents.

Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande revealed in a recent written reply to parliament that his department had classified 389 documents in the 2009/10 financial year alone.

Of these, 148 were classified "top secret", while another 212 were classified "secret". Only 29 were classified at the lower level of confidentiality.

In another parliamentary reply, Public Services and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi did not say how many documents his department had classified but admitted that he had employed a deputy director of security and 21 other security staff to perform the duties set out by MISS.

In the past MISS guidelines were just government policy, unenforceable by law. But all that changes tomorrow if the Protection of State Information Bill is passed.

The ANC has argued that the new law might reduce the number of documents being classified since only state security organs would be allowed to classify information.

But a controversial "opt-in" clause allows cabinet ministers to get permission from the State Security minister to continue classifying documents.

Right2Know coordinator Murray Hunter described the wide classification powers given to ministers under the MISS as "an abuse of power".

"Unfortunately, the new opt-in clause means that these abuses of power are likely to continue once the new secrecy law is in place" Hunter added.

"This back-door provision undoes whatever progressive changes have been made - and there's good reason to believe that officials who abuse secrecy legislation do so at great financial expense to the people of South Africa, and also at the expense of our freedoms," he said.

More than 17000 people have signed a petition against the new law, and thousands of people led by religious leaders, prominent activists Ronnie Kasrils and Zackie Achmat, and editors marched on parliament to protest against the law on Saturday.