ANC does about-turn on secrecy bill

28 July 2011 - 02:28 By BRENDAN BOYLE
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Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi. Picture: TEBOGO LETSIE
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi. Picture: TEBOGO LETSIE

The ANC has laid its cards on the table in the debate on the secrecy bill.

The party has presented a draft definition of "national security" that appeared to reverse some of the concessions made in more than three years of haggling about the classification of state information.

The draft presented by ANC negotiator Luwellyn Landers reintroduced the prevention of "information peddling" and the protection of economic information as reasons to classify state information as secret.

Members of the ad hoc committee considering the Protection of Information Bill did not immediately accept or reject the ANC proposal, but opposition members, working without a copy of the draft read out by Landers, signalled that they saw it as a significant step backwards.

Wrangling over the past year has seen the ANC agree to drop protection of "national interest" and "commercial interest" as reasons to classify information as confidential, secret or top secret.

In a major climb-down on the eve of parliament's July recess, the ANC had agreed also to narrow the scope of the bill, to limit the range of state organisations authorised to classify information, to introduce an appeal body headed by a retired judge and to drop minimum sentences for those who violate the law.

Now the ANC has reintroduced the concept of commercial secrets and the prevention of "information peddling" as justifications for secrecy.

Reading out the proposal, Landers said: "National security means the protection of the people of the republic and the territorial integrity of the republic against a) The threat of use of force or use of force; b) The following acts: i) Hostile acts of foreign intervention; ii) Terrorism or terrorist-related activities; iii) Espionage; iv) Information peddling; v) Exposure of a state security matter; vi) Exposure of economic, scientific or technological secrets vital to the republic's stability, security, integrity and development; vii) Sabotage; and viii) Violence, whether directed from or committed within the republic or not and includes the capacity of the republic to respond to the use of or the threat of the use of force and carrying out of the republic's responsibilities to any foreign country and international organisations in relation to any of the matters referred to in this definition."

Landers, protected by committee chairman Cecil Burgess, refused a request from the DA's David Maynier to explain why it wanted to include economic, scientific or technical secrets, what it meant by information peddling and what it intended in the reference to "exposure of a state security matter".

Siyabonga Cwele, the Minister of State Security, briefed the committee earlier this year on the concept of information peddling and the threat it posed, but did not offer a definition of the term.

The instance of so-called information peddling that the ANC routinely cites is the infamous document known as the "Special Browse Mole Report" which was allegedly concocted by the former Scorpions and deliberately leaked.

The report alleged that Angola planned to give covert support to Jacob Zuma in his campaign to topple then president Thabo Mbeki and seriously embarrassed the ANC and the government.

ANC members defended the reintroduction of the country's commercial interests as a reason to classify information as well as the reference to information peddling, but the parties had not found common ground by the time the committee adjourned for dinner.

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