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“The controversial Bill on the Protection of Information will most probably not only be disputed in the Constitutional Court but will on a technical point be referred back to Parliament,” says Dr. Corné Mulder, the Chief Whip of the Freedom Front Plus.

“The special ad-hoc committee which is at present deliberating the bill in Parliament and preparing it in terms of the rules to present it to Parliament is at present functus officio and therefore no longer exists. The mandate of the ad-hoc committee which is considering the Bill lapsed on 28 January and the deputy speaker’s extension of the life of the committee contravenes the rules of Parliament. That means that a committee which no longer exists is continuing with its work. It will furthermore mean that the ad-hoc committee will be introducing an amended bill to Parliament which is ultra vires,” Dr. Mulder added.

Without even going into the merits of the controversial bill, the Constitutional Court will most probably will, as a result of this basic technical oversight by the ANC government, declare this legislation unconstitutional. The irony is that the ANC’s senior leadership in Parliament had been warned about it last Wednesday, but did not heed the warnings at all.

The FF Plus finds this action of the ANC unacceptable and will continue to oppose the passing of this bill.