There was a huge turnout for a public hearing on the Protection of State Information Bill at the Bloemfontein Town Hall, in Mangaung, on Tuesday.
People started filing into the old town hall an hour before the 9.30am start.
Everyone at the entrance received a copy of the bill and by the time the hearing started the town hall was full.
Another public hearing was being held in Phuthaditjhaba, in Qwaqwa, on Tuesday.
Hearings, organised by a parliamentary ad hoc committee, also took place last week in Gugulethu and Thembalethu, in the Western Cape, and in Mthatha and Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape.
Among the Mangaung attendees were many people wearing yellow ANC T-shirts. Opposition party members in party colours such as the DA’s blue were also present.
The bill is intended to control the way information is shared or classified.
Media houses are concerned that it does not allow for a defence of public interest relating to the possession of documents that are classified. – Sapa