Secrecy Is the needful Lubricant of Democracy

Secrecy is the necessary lubricant of democracy. That's how Issa Sikiti da Silva of Bizcommunity phrases the South African government's stance on the competing protection of facts Bill, or the Secrecy Bill, depending on what side you're on.

Mr da Silva has covered the progression of the Secrecy Bill since it was first mooted and has some interesting, pertinent things to say on the matter. He also has a turn of phrase that makes one think he is resigned to a long, hard battle. He's not the only one; Right2Know is an organisation that was established in August 2010 specifically to fight the Secrecy Bill and all that it implies. After an initial flurry of operation that included protest marches in varied cities colse to the country, the organisation was disturbingly silent, but instead of disappearing quietly into the night, it has simply been preparation for the next phrase.

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On 8 December, Right2Know and it's assortment of concerned parties held a meeting in Johannesburg to discuss its plans for 2011. Attendees included representatives from Unisa, Wits University, Foundation for Human Rights, Media Monitoring Africa and the Anti-Privatisation Forum.

In an description about the event, da Silva cites Ayesha Kajee, relaxation of Expression compose (Fxi) director, who said, "People like us who lived under the apartheid regime know how risky secrecy bills are and how they have been used to conceal petty and major things like corruption, classifying medical records if your relative dies and things like running the Ccb and so on. So we have to be very specific not to once again try to open the door to this Secrecy Bill."

This has been the original argument against the bill all along. It is too reminiscent of the apartheid government for it to conscionable. The current government has protested against the comparison, but it doesn't seem to have much to say about comparisons to other countries with tyrannical media laws, such as North Korea, Cuba, China, Zimbabwe and Myanmar. But maybe our officials would find such comparisons complimentary rather than critical, given their repeated efforts to defend and befriend these nations.

Other criticisms have been levelled at the bill's vague definitions of terms such as "national interest", "commercial information" and "national security", as well as "acts of violence" and "information peddling".

Those who are opposed to the bill are prepared to take the fight all the way to the top, which means the Constitutional Court. Gabriella Razzano who is at the forefront of Right2Know's campaign said, "The citizen's right to passage is entrenched in the Bill of proprietary and the Promotion of passage to facts Act creates a presumption toward openness in all matters. The [Secrecy] Bill says the opposite."

The Anc-led government probably didn't think so at the time, but the protection of facts Bill could be the particular most foremost piece of legislation the country will ever face.

Secrecy Is the needful Lubricant of Democracy

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