Defence clause 'in secrecy bill crucial'

Considerations about a public interest defence have been incorporated into the Protection of State Information Bill, an official said yesterday.

"This argument that the public interest has not been taken into consideration is incorrect," said Dennis Dlomo, coordinator of intelligence in the national intelligence coordinating committee.

"the lifeblood, the oxygen that drives our democracy is the free flow of information," Dlomo said during a discussion following the Percy Qoboza memorial lecture in Pretoria yesterday.

Delivering the lecture earlier, former press ombudsman and director of the Press Council Joe Thloloe said there would still be space for press freedom even when the bill became law.

"Is the Protection of State Information Bill a threat, or does it mean the end of media freedom as we know it now? The answer is no. We have a constitution that protects us.

"In this one round in parliament we still have lots of fighting space until we get to the Constitutional Court."

He said all that media industry roleplayers and many South Africans wanted was a public interest defence clause included in the bill.

"We're asking for one small item - that there should be a public interest defence built into the bill.

"We believe that the onus to prove public interest will be on the person claiming he did whatever he did because of public interest.

"That decision, on whether it is in the public interest, should be taken by the courts, not by politicians, not by bureaucrats.

"That is all we are asking for and we find it difficult to understand why that wasn't inserted when the bill was sent back to parliament," he said.

The Qoboza memorial lecture is held in conjunction with the University of South Africa. Qoboza, an outspoken critic of the apartheid government, was detained without charge as editor of The World and Weekend World. Later he served as editor of The Post and Sunday Post, and City Press.

Earlier this month, lobby groups said parliament's plan to review the bill in two days made a mockery of its duty to correct the highly contentious draft law.