The media house wanted access to an internal report by Andries Nel, which had investigated the so-called brown-envelope scandal that saw two Cape Argus journalists allegedly taking payments (if indirectly) from then Western Cape Premier (and now South Africa's ambassador to the US) Ebrahim Rasool - in return for favourable media coverage.
Independent had applied for access to the information under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) and, in his judgment, Judge Bernie Griesel wrote that Independent have presented a compelling case in support of their claim for access to the document. However, he noted that not all the information contained in the Nel report (dubbed the "Rasool report"), may pertain to the brown-envelope scandal, he therefore ruled that the court be granted a full copy of the report, so that it can decide whether all, or part, of it should be released to Independent Newspapers. Cape Argus executive editor Gasant Arbader told iMaverick that, overall, he was pleased that the court had found in Independent's favour. "We will be satisfied with receiving the content of the report only pertaining to the brown-envelope saga," Arbader said.
While it looks like PAIA will be respected in this particular case, Murray Hunter, the national coordinator of the Right2Know Campaign, has misgivings about the way PAIA is handled by government - "PAIA is meant to ensure that citizens get access to information; (but) it's often used by government departments simply as another obstacle to access to information," Hunter said. In addition, the Protection of State Information Bill, in its current form, trumps PAIA, meaning that information classified under the so-called Secrecy Bill will not be accessible under a PAIA application - even if it otherwise fulfils all the requirements necessary for it to be released.
Read the full article on www.dailymaverick.co.za.
