'Info bill processing is elitist'

Parliament's processing of the Protection of State Information Bill has been "highly [elitist]" and has not sufficiently reflected the views of ordinary citizens.

This was the view of ANC MP Papi Tau, expressed shortly after he was elected unopposed to chair the National Council of Provinces' ad hoc committee on the bill.

The bill was passed last month by the National Assembly despite stiff opposition from several political parties, the media and civil society bodies. They objected to the omission in the bill of provision for a public interest defence for publishing classified information.

Media and other lobby groups are hoping that the committee will be more sympathetic than parliament to their calls for the insertion of a public interest defence.

Tau echoed the sentiments of his ANC counterparts in the National Assembly when he said that the processing of the bill had failed to take into account the views of "the man in the street".

"If you look at the nature and the level of the debate, it has been highly [elitist], it has been a process that has been delinked from the ordinary South African citizen," he said.

"That is where, as the National Council of Provinces, we would want to push our energy towards ensuring that our ordinary people on the ground understand what this piece of legislation is, because there is so much that has been said, there's so many different messages that are being sent to South Africans."

Tau brushed aside concerns that the National Council of Provinces was likely to rubber stamp the bill from the National Assembly without change.

He said the council had a history of sending back bills with significant amendments.

His committee has until the end of April to process the bill.