Cosatu boss Zwelinzima Vavi has pointed the finger at “securocrats” as being behind the Protection of State Information Bill after the trade union federation said it would approach the Constitutional Court if President Jacob Zuma signed the proposed legislation into law.
“If you give them (securocrats) an inch, they will take the whole yard,” Vavi told Weekend Argus, but he was reluctant to say whether one of the aims of the bill was to target trade unions: “I don’t know what is in the minds of these paranoids.”
The National Assembly passed the controversial bill on Tuesday, using the numerical majority of the ANC, with a vote of 229 to 107, even though 34 ANC MPs were absent.
It has since been referred to the National Council of Provinces, which has established an ad hoc committee to deal with it and which must report back early in the new year.
This could effectively open another period of consultation, as was hinted at by deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe on Wednesday when he mentioned the possibility of finding common ground.
However, in the wake of the vote on what was dubbed “Black Tuesday” – an allusion to the apartheid government crackdown on the media in 1977, known as “Black Wednesday” – the DA and others, like the umbrella civil society group Right2Know, have indicated they would challenge the bill in the Constitutional Court.
Meanwhile, Cosatu will also again seek urgent bilateral engagements with the ANC over the bill – despite an initial request three weeks ago having failed to elicit a response.
“We are firmly of the view that some of our original fundamental concerns remain largely unaddressed,” said Vavi.
He highlighted that the scope of the bill was “excessively” wide and that there was “ample space for abuse”. Similarly problematic was the definition of national security.
In addition, there were numerous provisions which undermined access to information, particularly the section that stated the Protection of State Information Bill would trump any other legislation or act of Parliament.
“This would suppress rights of access to information, whether these arise from the Promotion of Access to Information Act or even the Labour Relations Act,” he said.
Of particular concern for the trade union federation was that its officials and advice offices could find themselves criminalised for carrying out their obligations to assist whistleblowers.
Cosatu said it remained convinced there was a need to introduce a public interest defence, the final sticking point for most opponents of the bill after many of their other concerns were addressed through changes to the original draft made under pressure by the ad hoc committee that processed it.
Meanwhile, the ANC parliamentary caucus has established a committee which, from next week, will investigate whether the 34 ANC absentees from Tuesday’s vote had good reasons. All MPs were required to attend.
However, ANC veteran Ben Turok, who also co-chairs Parliament’s joint ethics committee and slipped out of the House ahead of the vote, and Gloria Borman, who abstained, may face further sanction.
Investigations are under way into their statements about not voting – and disciplinary action could be taken. - Saturday Star