PRESS STATEMENT from Gauteng Right2Know Campaign
PARLIAMENTARIANS! DO THE RIGHT THING AND VOTE AGAINST SECRECY!
To coincide with the opening of Parliament on 14th February, R2K Gauteng activists will stage a picket against the Secrecy Bill at the Constitutional Court Precinct.
Date: 14 February 2013
Time: 12:30 – 14:00
Venue: Constitutional Court Precinct, JHB
Joubert Street (corner Hoofd)
After more than two years of intensive campaigning and over 30 versions of the Bill emanating from both houses of Parliament, the Secrecy Bill is poised to be passed into law. The Right2Know Campaign returns to our founding statement and concludes that – despite the many amendments we have secured – the Secrecy Bill still fails our Right2Know 7-Point Freedom Test on all counts.
The Secrecy Bill still carries the fingerprints of the securocrats who have remained the ‘hidden hand’ behind this process from the start. The finalised NCOP version criminalises the public for possessing information that has already been leaked, protects apartheid-era secrets, and still contains broad definitions of national security that will in all likelihood be used to suppress legitimate disclosures in the public interest. In short, the Secrecy Bill remains a clear threat to South Africa’s right to know.
Read our full statement on what’s still wrong with the Secrecy Bill here!
For further comment contact: R2K Gauteng spokesperson: Dale McKinley
(Cell: 072 429 4086; Email:dtmckinley@gmail.com)
www.r2k.org.za (Sign our statement) www.facebook.com/Right2Know; Twitter: @r2kcampaign
Join the campaign – SMS ‘TRUTH’ and your name to 31332