Adv. Anton Alberts: FF Plus MP said;
The Freedom Front Plus will in terms of Section 80 of the Constitution be referring the Information Bill to the Constitutional Court due to the lack of the inclusion of the “public interest” defence. It is of the utmost importance that the defence to reveal information due to a public interest should be included in order to give proper credence to the right to information in terms of Section 32 of the Constitution.
“The principle is of so much more importance to reveal the corruption in government, given the corruption plague which has become endemic to the ANC government. It however appears now that the Bill will be accepted without the inclusion of this defence and that is why the FF Plus will be making use of Section 80 in order for the Constitutional Court to decide whether the exclusion of this defence is constitutional or not. We believe that the exclusion of the defence gives too much power to the government to classify information as confidential and will therefore not withstand the test of constitutionality. The Constitutional Court will also possibly be able to further define the defence of “public interest”, which is also found in the Media Code of Conduct, in order for it not to be abused. It is important that a good balance is established between what the public may be allowed to know and what is in their interest and when the state and individual’s rights are essentially being infringed upon. In this the Constitutional Court could play a big role,” Adv. Anton Alberts, the FF Plus’ parliamentary spokesperson on Communication said.
