Kim Kay, IOL

Protesters gathered outside Parliament ahead of the National Assemblys vote on the proposed Secrecy Bill. Photo: Kim Kay, IOL

Cosatu will go to the Constitutional Court should attempts to amend the Protection of State Information Bill fail, its secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi said on Thursday.

Vavi said Cosatu would call for an urgent meeting with the ANC leadership to discuss the bill.

The ANC had not responded to a letter raising Cosatu's concerns about the bill, he said.

“We will be asking President Jacob Zuma not to sign the bill. We hope we can find one another, but if all fails we'll go to the Constitutional Court,” Vavi told journalists in Joburg.

The scope of the revised bill remained excessively wide, he said.

“It contains numerous provisions that undermine rights of access to information.

“Quite problematically, we note that its provisions state that it will trump the provisions of any other act of Parliament that contradicts it,” he said.

The bill also criminalised the possession of classified information by unauthorised people.

The ANC majority drove the contentious Protection of State Information Bill through the National Assembly on Tuesday, despite vehement protests in and outside Parliament.

The so-called “secrecy bill” was adopted with 229 to 107 votes, and two abstentions, by the 400-member chamber.

There were 34 ANC MPs absent from the National Assembly during the vote.

The ANC said it was convinced that the bill would play a constructive role in South Africa's constitutional democracy.

However, Vavi said there was a need to introduce a public interest defence.

“Cosatu is concerned that relevant provisions in the bill are capable of such broad interpretation that it would have the effect of imposing criminal responsibility on whistle-blowers who disclose information in the public interest,” he said. – Sapa