Venues for NCOP POIB public hearings in Gauteng tomorrow

The Gauteng Right2Know Campaign is urging members of the public to attend the NCOP hearings, to ask tough questions of the parliamentary representatives present, and demand that the NCOP returns the bill to the national legislature such that it can be rewritten in order to protect the right to access information and include explicit provision for accountability, transparency and social justice.

While the Gauteng R2K Campaign welcomes the NCOP's programme of public engagement around the bill, it is of the opinion that "they do not go far enough in creating a forum for taking into account serious misgivings about the bill which have been voiced loudly by many residents of poor communities, NGOs, unions and the media since the bill was first tabled in parliament in 2010."

According to R2K, although many improvements to the bill have been made since then, there remain several serious problems with the bill as it stands. The campaign has therefore prepared a briefing document that spells out what is wrong with the Secrecy Bill, and outlines the questions that it believes all concerned members of society - and in particular members of the public attending the NCOP hearings - should be asking of the government.

For more, read the Resources section on www.r2k.org.za and download the R2K briefing document.