Doomday

Bing.com

The proposed protection of state information in my opinion can only mean one thing, which is doomsday for aspiring and professional journalist, because it means that our function in the society is going to be jeopardised. The proposed protection means that the society will then not have access to scandalous information that happens within the state and amongst official bodies.

The protection of information can lead to a dysfunctional state because the state will get away with everything and anything, for instance it will disqualify the aim of section 32 which states that everyone has the right to access of information held by the state which is essential for everybody to have access to, and the right to access information held by any person. To have the protection of information proposed will lead to the possibility of preserving state secrets, and the protection of state security to combat crime and enforce the law effectively. That will boil down to the ineffectiveness of the rights, and most importantly of the democracy we so fought for.

Removing the right to information will remove the uniqueness that we possessed as South African; normally such a right is incorporated in the freedom of expression right and it’s not given independent status. In the South African constitution this right is a completely separate entity in this way it serves a reaction to the secrecy which was a feature of the apartheid regime. Freedom of information reflects the need for transparency in government procedures and government responsibility, but with the protection of the information bill all that will have is a fight gone to waste.

With the secrecy bill my future as a journalist is doomed because a journalist function is expose, and be an entity of reliance for the public, with the protection of information every information we get our hands on will have to go through the government for approval and if its information that will retaliate they will dismiss it with immediate effect.