Info bill may be delayed: Mantashe

The tabling of the Protection of Information Bill may be delayed, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said on Monday.

"It is not a question of putting it on ice... there may be a delay," he said.

He would not confirm news reports that the bill would be withdrawn as a result of a decision taken at the ANC's weekend national executive committee meeting.

An official announcement would be made later in Parliament.

He said it was a "difficult bill" and that the media and Sanef (SA National Editors Forum) were exaggerating it by calling it a media bill.

It was actually a security bill, Mantashe said.