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On Tuesday 18 February 2011 the Parliamentary Committee considering the draconian Protection of Information Bill - the Secrecy Bill - is scheduled to begin its' work for the year at 9h30 in Committee Room S12A, NCOP Wing of Parliament. The Right2Know Campaign is mobilized and ready to challenge the passing of the Bill, which will extend a veil of secrecy over society in a manner reminiscent of our apartheid past.

While some amendments have been made to the Bill, there is still much in the current draft that is cause for concern. The Parliamentary Committee has removed references to commercial information from the Bill. However, they have not produced a sufficiently clear and acceptable definition of "national security". Nor have they limited the scope of the bill to core state bodies in the security sector. The Bill still criminalizes the legitimate disclosure of secrets in the public interest and applies extreme penalties for any unauthorized disclosure to society at large. There is also no provision in the current draft for an independent body appointed by Parliament to be the arbiter of decisions about what may be classified as secret - currently the highest level of appeal is the Minister of State Security (who is in the business of keeping secrets).

The Right2Know Campaign will continue to fight to bring the Secrecy Bill in line with the South African Constitution. We are committed to defending South Africa's hard won democracy, which includes an accountable, open and responsive government necessary to meet the basic needs of our people.