23 June, 2011 – Today the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Law co-convened another focus group on the Protection of Information Bill (POIB). It was a follow-up conversation to the one convened on 8 June, and again brought together representatives of key stakeholder structures of the state and of civil society.
State structures represented were the Department of Justice, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and the National Intelligence Agency. From civil society were COSATU, the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution, the Institute for Security Studies, Khulumani Support Group, Mapungubwe Institute, Media Monitoring Africa, the Open Society Foundation, PSAM, the Right2Know Campaign, SAHA and the South African National Editors Forum.
The Right2know Campaign tabled a written response to the Briefing Document published after the first focus group meeting. This became the basis for a robust discussion which identified key areas of concern requiring further urgent attention by Parliament. The extension to the Parliamentary drafting process was welcomed.