NEWSWATCH: Enver Daniels, the chief state law adviser, maintains in the face of numerous objections that the proposed Protection of Information Bill is not unconstitutional and has also described the objections to it as largely "emotional and hysterical", reports Business Day. Meanwhile, three prominent editors, all of whom spent decades fighting censorship during the apartheid years, have criticised the proposed bill, reports IOL.
(Image source: CitizenBruce, Wikipedia Commons)
For more:
Business Day: Secrecy bill declared 'fully constitutional'... What sort of 'democracy' are we becoming if this bill is adopted in its present form - leading to a strong possibility a journalist could be imprisoned for years for contravening it by writing a story that upsets the government? You can get less for murder!
IOL:Censorship a dark, evil path, editors warn... Harvey Tyson, Rex Gibson and Richard Steyn - who were all in the front line opposing press censorship in the apartheid era - have issued a joint statement in which they state that the ANC and its alliance will be "stepping on to a dark and evil path" if they adopt the Protection of Information Bill and the proposed statutory media tribunal. In so doing, the editors add, the government will undo all the international goodwill this country earned by hosting a successful World Cup.
