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29 July 2015
The South African Right2Know Campaign and several other civil society organization have questioned whether the South African government is qualified to be the next leader of the Open Government Partnership. “We call upon the South African government to either demonstrate a commitment to the realization of a genuine state-civil society partnership that takes the OGP […]
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13 May 2015
The South African government appears to be making plans to implement the so-called Secrecy Bill. President Jacob Zuma has delayed signing the controversial legislation for 18 months, but a recent news report said State Security Minister David Mahlobo has been drafting regulations to implement the Protection of State Information Bill. The report by Andisiwe Makinana […]
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18 February 2015
By Candice Bailey The author is a journalist with Corruption Watch. This article first appeared Feb. 16 in The Star. Reprinted with permission. Johannesburg – When the Gauteng High Court granted civil society campaigners Right2Know access to a list of the country’s national key points, the award was lauded as a victory in the battle for […]
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4 February 2015
Government compliance with South Africa’s 15-year-old Promotion of Access to Information Act is in a “sorry state,” according to one summary of a recently released “shadow report” by the PAIA Civil Society Network. “Its findings show that while patterns of compliance are not as dire as has been the case in recent years and there have […]
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22 January 2015
The South African Police Ministry will drop its objections to disclosing a list of National Key Points. A South African court in December gave the ministry 30 days to make public the list of places designated by the government as being of key security importance. (See previous FreedomInfo.org article.) The ministry has decided to withdraw […]
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24 December 2014
A South African court has given the Ministry of Police 30 days to make public a list of National Key Points, places designated by the government as being of key security importance. The South Gauteng High Court Dec. 1 decision says the government’s justification for withholding these records amounted to “platitudes and a recitation of […]
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2 December 2014
The Supreme Court of Appeal Nov. 26 ordered steel producer ArcelorMittal SA to hand over environmental information to Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance (VEJA), an alliance of five environmental organizations. The unanimous court rebuked ArcelorMittal for its initial handling of the requests for information under the Promotion of Access to Information Act. The court in its […]
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1 October 2014
The Right2Know Campaign in South Africa Sept 28 called on President Zuma to refuse to sign the controversial “secrecy bill” that has been on his desk for 316 days and questioned the government’s leadership role in the Open Government Partnership. The Right2Know Campaign also urged Parliament to revoke the apartheid-era 1982 Protection of Information Act and to write a new classification […]
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25 September 2014
By Catherine Kennedy and Piers Pigou Kennedy is the Director of the South African History Archive. Pigou is a member of the SAHA board of trustees. This commentary was published first on Sept. 23 in The Mail and Guardian. As information activists around the world mark International Right to Know Day on Sunday, there seems […]
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10 September 2014
“Access to information mechanisms are failing” in South Africa, according to a new report by the Right2Know Campaign. Using the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) “often proves to be a frustration that is symptomatic of resistance to openness from information holders,” according to “Secret State of the Nation” for 2014. Monitoring indicates “that […]
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20 December 2013
Compliance with the South African access to information law has “decreased from the already worryingly low levels of compliance,” according to a new report. The 2013 “shadow report” was issued by the PAIA CSN, the civil society network that monitors the Promotion of Access to Information Act. “Only 16% of information requested was released in full […]
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13 November 2013
The South African National Assembly Nov. 12 adopted a revised Protection of State Information Bill. The controversial bill was passed on a vote of 225 to 88. It will now go back to President Jacob Zuma for his signature. In September, Zuma referred the bill back to the assembly, citing two sections of the bill […]
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12 September 2013
South African President Jacob Zuma Sept. 12 referred the controversial Protection of State Information Bill back to the National Assembly to address constitutionality issues. “It is my opinion that the bill would not pass constitutional muster,” he said. Zuma’s move was welcomed by critics, who see it as another chance to amend the bill, but […]
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11 September 2013
South Africa’s national action plan as a member of the Open Government Partnership has been only partly completed, focused on easy goals and did not adequately involve civil society, according to the report on an independent evaluator. The report is the very first one done under the OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism and was prepared by Ralph Mathekga […]
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26 April 2013
South Africa’s National Assembly April 25 approved a modified, but still contentious, Protection of State Information Bill. The bill, three years in the making, passed on a vote of 189-74, with one abstention. Opponents have long indicated that they will test its constitutionality in court and reiterated their intention to do so. “The fight is […]
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23 April 2013
A modified version of the Protection of State Information Bill appears on the verge of passing in South Africa. The National Assembly may take up the bill April 25 following the April 22 approval by an ad hoc committee. The committee endorsed amendments made by the other body of parliament, the National Council of Provinces. […]
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20 March 2013
Opponents of the Protection of State Information Bill in South Africa are hoping to use a procedural complication to thwart action on the controversial bill, according to an article in The Independent. Opposition parties recently asserted that the legislation must revert to square one because it was incorrectly labeled as not affecting provincial governments. The […]
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1 March 2013
Final action on the “secrecy bill” in South Africa has again been delayed. The ad hoc committee of the National Assembly has been given until June 20 to finish its work on the Protection of State Information Bill, which would regulate the classification of state information. The most recent action on the bill was its […]
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10 December 2012
A new “Information Regulator” to be created in South Africa will oversee the access to information law as well as a new data protection law, fulfilling a long-running goal of access to information activists. The development comes in the context of data protection legislation approved by the Parliament and expected to be signed into law […]
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6 December 2012
By Nelago Amadhila Amadhila is a political analyst with the consulting firm Political Analysis South Africa, which published this synopsis on Dec. 6. Reprinted with permission. The ANC drove final amendments to the Protection of State Information Bill through the National Council of Provinces on Thursday 29 November 2012. The amended bill was adopted by […]
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30 November 2012
A committee of South Africa’s lower chamber of Parliament Nov. 29 approved the committee report on the controversial protection of state information bill by a vote of 34-16. The action by the ad hoc committee of the National Council of Provinces came despite protests from opposition member and by protesters in the streets. The amended […]
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23 November 2012
An ad hoc committee of the South African Parliament has approved the secrecy bill, setting the stage for expected passage the National Council of Provinces and the National Assembly in the upcoming weeks. The committee Nov. 21 dropped a controversial provision that would have made the new law override the Promotion of Access to Information […]
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16 November 2012
Nov. 21 could be the date for a South African parliamentary committee to vote on the controversial secrecy bill, which has been revised again with the removal of several previous concessions. The reversals, which have drawn objections from the bill’s critics, would retain certain stiff penalties and drop language guaranteeing that the protection of state information bill […]
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2 November 2012
South African State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele Oct. 31 opposed several amendments made to the Protection of State Information Bill that critics have said were improvements to a still flawed bill. He called for the parliamentary committee working on the bill to reinstate a five-year prison sentence for those who disclose classified information. Cwele also […]
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20 September 2012
Negotiations are entering the final stages as the South African National Council of Provinces Ad Hoc Committee on the Protection of State Information Bill continues to work on the the bill. Critics last week charged, however, that the ruling African National Congress backtracked on several promised modifications to the “secrecy bill.” The Committee Secretariat prepared a […]
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7 September 2012
The RighttoKnow Campaign in South Africa has urged the Ad Hoc Committee on the Protection of State Information Bill (NCOP) not to rush action on the secrecy bill and to address seven areas of concern. The Sept. 5 letter acknowledges “the stand the above-mentioned committee has taken against the State Security Agency and other securocratic […]
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29 August 2012
The ruling African National Congress in South Africa said Aug. 29 that it would make several concessions concerning the controversial proposed secrecy bill. One change will ensure that the bill will not trump the Promotion of Access to Information Act, a potential outcome considered unconstitutional by critics. The ANC also agreed to drop Section 49, […]
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23 August 2012
This statement was issued Aug. 24 by the South African Right to Know campaign. It summarizes RTK’s remaining issues with the secrecy bill. On Wednesday 28 August, the Protection of State Information Bill (the Secrecy Bill) enters the final stages of Parliamentary deliberation. A recent Parliamentary programme has the Secrecy Bill scheduled to be voted […]
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6 August 2012
South Africa, a founding member of the Open Government Partnership and a member of the Steering Committee, has yet to approve its national action plan, the cornerstone commitment document for OGP members. Last September, South African President Jacob Zuma joined leaders from the other eight founding OGP members to announce their action plans in New […]
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30 July 2012
By Caroline Stone Stone is an Advocate, Bar of England and Wales, specialising in public and employment law and was a Legal Resources Centre intern, Cape Town, in the Autumn of 2011. This article has previously been published on Constitutionally Speaking and Legalbrief Today. Progress at last? When two Nobel Laureates, an eminent constitutional lawyer […]
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13 July 2012
A top official for Moody’s has cautioned that passage of the South African secrecy bill could affect the country’s credit rating. The comments were made in an interview by Kristin Lindow, Moody’s senior vice-president and regional credit officer for Europe and Africa and subsequently confirmed for FreedomInfo.org by a Moody’s official. Although South Africa’s current […]
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21 June 2012
Approval of the controversial South African secrecy bill has been postponed again. With Parliament heading into recess, the National Council of Provinces extended until the end of September the reporting deadline of the committee examining the bill. Recently,, state security officials have objected not only to the bill, but to amendments proposed by members of […]
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15 June 2012
Passage of the so-called secrecy bill in South Africa has been delayed amid what observers describe as disagreement within the ruling African National Committee. In addition, more international criticism of this bill surfaced this week. The National Council of Provinces ad hoc committee reviewing the Protection of State Information Bill on June 13 cancelled further […]
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8 June 2012
The South African Department of State Security (DSS) on June 6 objected to including a public interest defense in the secrecy bill being considered by the Ad Hoc Committee on Protection of State Information Bill (NCOP), according to a detailed summary and minutes by the Parliamentary Monitoring Group and media accounts. The DSS expressed concern that the […]
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14 May 2012
The ruling African National Congress in South Africa has proposed modifications to the controversial Protection of State Information Bill, but critics say they do not go far enough. The Right2Know Coalition that opposes the “secrecy bill” on May 11 called the ANC proposals “a small but important victory” but added that “the moment for celebration […]
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3 May 2012
The South African Right2Know coalition May 3 objected to plans by a parliamentary committee to consider the controversial Protection of State Information Bill in two sessions rather than the planned seven. Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer, who has opposed the bill before, recently argued that it sh0ud be “rejected in its entirety” in an article, “South […]
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16 March 2012
After initially having been excluded from the witness list, the South African Right2Know Coalition has been invited to testify before a legislative committee considering the Protection of State Information bill. The committee relented following objections by opposition party representatives on the panel and added the coalition to the list of 18 witnesses who will give […]
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9 March 2012
South Africa’s National Council of Provinces on March 6 agreed to a resolution extending until May 17 the reporting deadline of the ad hoc committee dealing with the Protection of State Information Bill. The ad hoc committee’s initial reporting deadline was April 8. The delay would put off potential adoption, widely expedted, until after the meeting of […]
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2 March 2012
This report was prepared by the National Working Group for presentation at the 2012 Right2Know National Summit March 3-4, 2012 in Johannesburg. 1. INTRODUCTION It is a mere 18 months since the launch of the Right2Know Campaign at the end of August 2010 in Cape Town. It a remarkable short period of time our campaign has […]
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19 January 2012
The National Council of Provinces has announced plans to hold public consultations on the Protection of State Information Bill in all nine provinces. The NCOP’s 15-member ad hoc committee is considering the bill following its passage in 2011 by the National Assembly. The NCOP’s committee is chaired by Raseriti Tau. The first hearing is Jan. […]
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12 December 2011
The civil society members of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee Dec. 12 issued a statement critical of South Africa for its current efforts to pass a bill designed to protect government information that has been widely criticized as a “secrecy bill.” A broad South African civil society coalition, the Right2Know Coalition, had urged the […]
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2 December 2011
What to do about member countries that backslide on transparency will be discussed Dec. 6 by the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee, with the backdrop being South Africa’s plan to adopt what critics call a “secrecy bill.” At least one commentator, with strong links to the OGP, has called on the nine representatives of civil […]
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22 November 2011
South Africa’s parliament Nov. 22 voted to approve the Protection of State Information Bill, moving it closer to enactment and to promised court challenges. The ruling African National Conference pushed the “secrecy bill” through on a 229-107 vote despite defections by several ANC members. The ANC rejected calls to change the bill, which now goes before […]
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16 November 2011
The South African Parliament on Nov 16 began debate on the controversial protection of information. While government ministers called the measure necessary and not aimed at the media, critics said that the government had failed to consult widely as promised and that the bill’s faults remained. A vote next week is expected with court challenges […]
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22 September 2011
South Africa has made eight broad commitments in its Open Government Partnership action plan. South Africa is a founding member of the OGP, officially kicked off in New York City Sept. 20. (See FreedomInfo.org overview.) The 46 countries joining the effort agree to write action plans containing their commitments. The South African plan is less detailed than […]
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19 September 2011
The ruling African National Congress in South Africa has postponed a planned Sept. 20 vote on the controversial Protection of Information Bill. The bill will be finalized by the end of the year, according to ANC chief whip Mathole Motshekga, who said the decision was made in order to get more input on the bill. […]
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12 September 2011
By Ilham Rawoot This author is a journalist with the The Mail & Guardian in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her article was published Sept. 9 in The Mail & Guardian and is reprinted with permission. Once the Protection of Information Bill becomes law, which most likely will be before the end of this year, journalists and members […]
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2 September 2011
Nine countries plus the initial core group of eight have pledged to join the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a U.S. official told FreedomInfo.org Sept. 2, bringing total membership to 17. The nine countries that have sent in “letters of intent” are Kenya, Guatemala, Honduras, Albania, Macedonia, Malta, Georgia, Moldova and Slovakia. More letters are expected, […]
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2 September 2011
A committee of the South African Parliament has passed a Protection of Information Bill. While somewhat toned down from the original proposal offered a year ago, the final version is still considered objectionable by critics and possibly unconstitutional. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) The bill now goes to the whole Parliament, where vote before Sept. 15 is expected. […]
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29 August 2011
Work on the Protection of Information Bill by the South African parliamentary committee is nearing conclusion, with some compromises being made, but the Right2Know Coalition says the bill “still fails the Freedom Test.” Deliberations are expected to continue this week, beginning with debate on whether to allow a public interest defense, a major coalition demand. […]
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25 August 2011
Efforts by the eight conveners of the Open Government Partnership to draft their national “action plans” are slowly emerging, according to a FreedomInfo.org survey. However, in most countries the development of a plan does not appear to involve the wide public consultation called for in the “road map” for OGP aspirants to follow. In the […]
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19 August 2011
A new controversy emerged this week in deliberations over the Protection of Information Bill in South Africa as proponents suggested that the key term “national security” in the bill doesn’t need to be defined. “Which means we’d go from an outrageously broad definition (thus open to abuse) to no definition at all (thus inviting abuse […]
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29 July 2011
Consideration of the controversial Protection of Information Bill (POIB) by a committee of the South African Parliament resumed this week with debate focused on a new definition of national security. The multi-day deliberations this week included an indication that the ruling African National Congress party will “at least consider proposals for extending protection to those […]
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27 June 2011
The Right2Know campaign has welcomed “concessions” from the African National Congress on the Protection of Information bill. One key change would narrow the scope of the bill to apply only to security and intelligence services. Other organs of state could apply for inclusion. Another modification would allow a retired judge to review disputed classification of […]
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24 June 2011
The South African National Assembly has extended until Sept. 23 the deadline for approval of the controversial Protection of Information. The action, as reported in News24, came after an ad hoc committee working on the bill missed its June 24 deadline. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) The Right2Know campaign welcomed the action, commenting, “It is clear […]
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10 June 2011
The ruling African National Congress has delayed a planned June 24 vote in Parliament on the proposed Protection of Information Bill in the face of widening opposition. As reported by Brendan Boyle in The Times: The ANC has buckled to pressure from alliance partners and a former cabinet minister and has extended the deadline for […]
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27 May 2011
The ruling party in South Africa this week resisted changes to the proposed Protection of Administration Bill. The ad hoc committee considering the bill met on May 24 and 26 and voted on amendments. The South Africa Press Association (SAPA) reported: Opposition parties pleaded in vain on Thursday that South Africans were going to rue […]
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22 April 2011
The South African parliamentary committee debated whether the proposed protection of information bill should cover the police and the military before recessing until after the May 18 municipal elections, according to reports on the meeting. “Opposition parties disagreed on whether the bill should apply to police and defence, whose powers to classify information derive from […]
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15 April 2011
The ruling African National Congress in South Africa this week indicated it will not make significant changes to its controversial Protection of Information Bill. “Reading the position paper, it’s clear that the ANC’s position has hardly shifted since the massive public outcry last October,” said Alison Tilley of the Right2Know campaign. Little progress was made […]
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8 April 2011
A U.S. environmental group and partners in Africa have begun an effort to request environmental-related information from the governments of Ghana, Uganda and South Africa, and hope to find new strategies to promote freedom of information reform. The project was announced by the World Resources Institute in Washington, the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) in […]
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23 March 2011
After a two-month procedural delay, the South African parliament has cleared the way for a committee to resume work on the contested Protection of Information Bill. The parliament set a deadline of June 24 for the ad hoc committee to complete its work. In January, opposition party members balked at continuing deliberations without standard procedures […]
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18 February 2011
Masks, a silent protest, a walk-out and rancorous counter-charges marked the week’s activity in South Africa surrounding the controversial Protection of Information Bill. The week ended with criticism of the bill from U2 lead singer Bono. Opposition party committee members charged that the ad hoc committee considering the bill lacked the technical approval to continue […]
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31 January 2011
The ad hoc parliamentary committee working on the Protection of Information Bill has been granted until March 31 to finish its work, officials said Jan. 29. The extension was called too limited by opponents of the bill. The African Christian Democratic Party’s (ACDP) Steve Swart said they need at least another 12 months. “Legislation is […]
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28 January 2011
The South African parliamentary committee working on the controversial Protection of Information Bill will seek more time to work on the legislation, its chairman said this week. Chairman Cecil Burgess said he would ask for an extension of the Jan. 28 deadline. Debate continued in committee Jan. 26 with no amendments being made. The committee […]
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21 January 2011
A South African Parliament committee in the week of Jan. 17 held three meetings to continue its work on the controversial Protection of Information Bill. The committee is expected to keep deliberating on the measure throughout January, and perhaps longer. Although no concrete steps were taken during the three days of discussion, there was considerable […]
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17 January 2011
A committee of the South African parliament on Feb. 18 will continue its deliberations on the proposed Protection of Information Bill. Despite the deletion of some controversial provisions, the opposition led by The Right2Know Campaign is seeking further changes to the bill proposed by the government. One continuing concern is the breadth of the definition […]
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26 November 2010
A South African parliamentary committee will resume work in January 2011 on the controversial Protection of Information Bill. Committee chairman Cecil Burgess said members would reconvene in the second week of January to resolve remaining points of contention around the bill, which would provide for the classification of state information and criminalize the disclosure or […]
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12 November 2010
The chairman of the ad hoc committee in the South African parliament working on the controversial Protection of Information Bill has said Parliament will not likely pass the measure this year, according to media accounts. The committee held meetings during the week of Nov. 8 to consider amendments. One report quoted the committee chairman Cecil […]
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9 November 2010
By Mukelani Dimba Dimba is the Deputy Executive Director of the Open Democracy Advice Centre Introduction When the South African government introduced the Protection of Information Bill of 2010 [B 6-2010] to parliament in March 2010 no one would have predicted that such action would trigger mass-based civil society action that some say has not […]
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29 October 2010
The committee considering the controversial Protection of Information Bill in South Africa delayed the start of its detailed consideration of the bill over a procedural matter as thousands marched in opposition to the bill. Parliamentary action on the bill is expected to resume Nov. 1. The “snag” was described in an Oct. 29 by Thabo […]
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22 October 2010
South Africa’s minister of state security Oct. 22 defended a controversial Protection of Information Bill, urging a parliamentary committee not to include a public interest defense to shelter whistle-blowers who violate state secrecy. The testimony by Siyabonga Cwele came during his second appearance before the ad hoc committee considering the government-backed bill which among other […]
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18 October 2010
Improved self-regulation by the South African press might mitigate the need for state media controls, a key government official said Oct. 16. It was not clear whether the apparent softening of position on the proposed Media Appeals Tribunal would extend to the controversial Protection of Information Bill, but there were hints of potential discussions on the […]
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14 October 2010
Opponents to the South African government’s proposed Protection of Information Bill (POIB) law staged a march against it Oct. 12, one of numerous protest events held in advance of a further hearing in parliament on the controversial bill. The rally at the Parliament building in Cape Town was organized by the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), […]
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17 September 2010
South Africa’s State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele Sept. 17 proposed a few changes to the controversial Protection of Information bill, but critics called the concessions inadequate. In particular, Cwele said that “broad and vague concepts must be dropped from the body of the bill,” according to a summary of his statement. “In this regard, the […]
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3 September 2010
A spokesman for the South African government said Sept. 2 that the controversial Protection of Information bill will be amended. The comment following a Cabinet meeting came as groups launched a campaign against the proposed law. (See related FreedomInfo.org report.) According to a media account, spokesperson Themba Maseko said the government welcomed the representations received […]
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31 August 2010
Opponents of proposed legislation to scale back the South African Freedom of Information law Aug. 31 issued a civil society statement titled “Let the Truth Be Told! Stop the Secrecy Bill.” More than 180 organizations and 400 prominent individuals such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nadine Gordimer signed the statement, which says, “This Bill fundamentally […]
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13 August 2010
Critics of a proposed South African law on access to information are ramping up their campaign as parliamentary consideration is slightly delayed. More than 100 national and international groups have signed on to a letter being circulated in protest of the bill proposed by the ruling African National Congress. Progress on the initiative, and the […]
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27 July 2010
A government-proposed “Protection of Information Bill” that would prevent the disclosure of information deemed harmful to the “national interest” is being condemned by the media and civil society groups, according to newspaper accounts. The bill will also limit disclosure of state-held commercial information about tender proceedings and the activities of state-owned enterprises. It would establish […]
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12 July 2010
A South African newspaper, the Mail & Guardian, has persuaded a court that the World Cup local organizing committee must provide the M&G with all tender documents pertaining to contracts awarded for the World Cup and the Confederations Cup within 30 days. “M&G editor-in-chief Nic Dawes emphasised that the newspaper was not raining on the […]
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18 January 2008
The Global Transparency Initiative has expressed concern about the decision by they International Monetary Fund to postponement review of the IMF Transparency Policy, originally scheduled for 2008. GTI wrote to IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn Dec. 17 after learning from the IMF’s External Relations Department that the next review of the Fund’s Transparency Policy, originally […]
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28 September 2005
Since 2002, freedom of information advocates around the world have been working together to promote the right of access to information for all people and recognize the benefits of transparent and accountable governments. We use this day as a way to share ideas, strategies and success stories about the development of freedom of information laws […]
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11 October 2003
by Thomas Blanton The International Herald Tribune, October 11, 2003, p. 6 Last month (September 23, 2003), Armenia became the 51st country in the world to guarantee its citizens the right to know what their government is up to. Armenia’s new freedom of information law is the latest outpost of the worldwide movement towards opening […]
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11 October 2002
At its Second Annual Open Democracy Review in Cape Town, ODAC reported that the majority of public servants have not heard of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2000, which came into operation in March of 2001. “We found that 54% of the public bodies we contacted were unaware of the Act, 16% were […]
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17 July 2002
By Mukelani Dimba, Training Consultant, Open Democracy Advice Centre UPDATE – Media Release, 11 OCTOBER 2002 The Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC) today released the results of a study that exposes the government for failing to implement a crucial Transparency Law passed over two years ago. A Landmark Law Opens Up Post-Apartheid South Africa Throughout […]
