What happen to our freedom of speech and expression, and free access to information? Do we want to confess the notion that history repeat itself? What type of society do we want to build (a democratic and informed society or society that lives under a dark cloud, where we see our leaders hide information)?
A south Africa has moved from an apartheid error to a democratic society (some they have even went further to say democracy alone is not enough and there is a lack of Civilocity- Civilocity is a form of government where people watch a ruler entirely. Meaning that people are able to watch all of the activities of a leader 24/7 & the president is able 2 share information with its followers frequently). A healthy state or government is the one that build learning, sharing and informed society, it should be transparent enough, accountable, build open society and provide free access to information, and also allow freedom of expression and speech.
Media has payed a vital role to provide access to information and exposed corrupt officials and government leaders, by doing so they inform society about the actions of our government leaders. Our society is faced by leaders who are hungry to pay themselves in the expense of ordinary citizens. For example, why do we have to have leader’s who owned company(s) and spontaneously are expected to deliver service delivery to the communities?
The Protection of Information Bill is a drafted Bill that is intends to replace Protection of Information Act No. 82 of 1982. According to the Protection of Information Bill “Any Head of the state (the Minister) has to classify information and may be classified as confidential, secrete and top secret”. Anyone who publishes classified information may face an imprisonment for a period of 25 years. Let the government shelve the protection of information bill and do its job by focusing on enhancing service delivery. Democracy works if information is freely accessible.
Published: By_Edgar Mokoena 17.08.2010
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