The Nelson Mandela Foundation hosted talks between government officials, civil society, intelligence agents and academics on the Protection of Information Bill on Wednesday.

"We felt that there has not been enough talking and listening when it comes to this issue," said spokesperson Sello Hatang.

"I think there is broad consensus that we need an act of Parliament to protect state information, but we also need to look at what kind of state we want."

The meeting was co-convened by the University of the Witwatersrand's (Wits) school of law.

The state was represented by the justice department, the National Intelligence Agency, the Inspector General of Intelligence and the South African Human Rights Commission.

The foundation invited State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele and Justice Minister Jeff Radebe, but neither attended.

Dennis Dlomo, who is Cwele's special adviser and is seen as closely involved in the legislative process, did attend the four-hour meeting.

The civil society groups represented included the Right 2 Know campaign, which was born in opposition to the bill, the Freedom of Expression Institute, the Institute for Security Studies, the Open Society Foundation and Media Monitoring Africa.

Hatang said participants agreed that there was a need for further debate, and that there should be a follow-up meeting open to the public.

"There was also agreement that the conversation should be taken to a wider forum by the foundation and Wits," he said.

Opposition to the so-called "secrecy bill" mounted in recent weeks after African National Congress (ANC) lawmakers began using their majority muscle in the parliamentary drafting committee to outvote the opposition on contentious clauses.

The step was read as a sign that the ruling party planned to drive the bill through Parliament before month's end.

It is understood that state representatives told Wednesday's meeting the perception that the bill was being rushed through the legislature was unfounded.

A source said officials also suggested that they may entertain further argument for the inclusion of a clause allowing the airing of classified information if it were in the public interest.

However, the Right 2 Know Campaign's Jayshree Pather said it was hard to tell whether the government was open to amending the draft law.

"There was a willingness to talk and we welcome that, but it is hard to know where things are going because we still need to get to the nuts and bolts of the discussion."

The ANC has so far refused to contemplate the inclusion of a public interest defence for those who risk prison sentences of up to 25 years for publishing secret information.

The lack of such a provision, coupled with prescribed minimum sentences for possessing, passing on and publishing classified information, has resulted in the bill being widely condemned as a threat to media freedom and whistle-blowing.

The ANC's ally, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, released a scathing analysis of the legislation last week.

It warned that the bill would deter workers from revealing corruption, and threatened to refer it to the Constitutional Court.

Cosatu has requested a meeting with the ANC to discuss the bill, but spokesperson Patrick Craven said on Wednesday that no date for talks had been set yet.

The committee handling the legislation has since decided to ask for an extension of its mandate to August.