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The National Press Council's likening of the scheduled democratic and constitutional process in Parliament this week, in which the draft legislation on the Protection of State Information would be put to vote, to the infamous 1977 Black Wednesday, is nothing short of a reckless hyperbole aimed at peddling misinformation and distorting history.

For the record, the Bill is scheduled to be voted on only on Tuesday, not Wednesday as announced by the Council.

However, it should be stated that comparing a purely democratic and open parliamentary process to one of the darkest days of apartheid rule points to an unfortunate failure to contribute constructively and offer valid arguments to the public discourse on the Bill.

Those who are familiar with the historical facts of Black Wednesday will find such comparison not only an irresponsible act of protest, but also gravely senseless. The reality of South Africa's vicious history should teach all of us never to campaign in a manner that trivialises the deep pain and suffering experienced by the majority of our people.

It is an insensitive attempt at agitating emotions and altering the history of our nation. The only result this unfortunate comparison and the planned campaign, in which people are urged to dress in black, will achieve is to dilute the real history of the Black Wednesday and insult the victims of apartheid's barbaric laws.

Contrary to the misinformation being peddled by the Press Council, this government will never, and has no intention to, ban torture or murder journalists. Our Constitution protects and provides for the freedom of the media, freedom of expression and access to information. The draft Bill in its current form has been through 123 amendments and encompasses views from a wide range of stakeholders in our society ensuring that it encourages free flow of information in line with the Constitution.

The Bill is firmly in line with the international best practice in established democracies such as the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom. These countries have all rejected the public interest defence in their legislations due to the serious threat to security of their states. Any serious country will not compromise the security of its citizens for the sake of a scoop for the media. It is inevitable therefore that we would question the motives of those who are calling for South Africa to become the only country in the world to have this clause in its legislation, and place the safety of its people in jeopardy.

As we have said before, this Bill will never be used to conceal corruption, malfeasance and related criminal acts. If anything, the Bill protects those who blow the whistle on corruption as it is aligned to the Protected Disclosures Act. It also encourages access to information as it provides for even faster turnaround times for applications related to information that exposes imminent and serious public safety risk or substantial contravention of, or failure to comply with the law.

The National Press Council and other interested parties still have an opportunity to contribute qualitatively to the Bill’s process. Should the National Assembly vote in favour of the Bill on Tuesday, such will not mean the end of its processing by Parliament. The Bill will still have to go through another House of Parliament, the National Council of Provinces, for further processing. For this reason, we will continue to engage and consider views on this Bill.

The Council's plans, in which a democratic and open parliamentary process would be declared Black Wednesday by having people dress in black, are tantamount to staging a parody of one of the saddest political events of our history.

We believe this is blatantly insensitive and a distortion of history.