01 Mar 2022

The Ministry for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration has started consultations on the drafting of a Freedom of Information law.

Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration assistant minister,  Mr Dumezweni Mthimkhulu said this when responding to a question in Parliament on Monday.

Mr Mthimkhulu indicated that consultations had shown that such legislation would have a direct bearing on other pieces of legislation such as Data Protection Act and National Archives and Record Services Act, which related to access of information held by public authorities to the public.  

“Therefore, a holistic review of what needs to be done to have an effective freedom of information law had to be conducted,” he said.

He also indicated that such law would generally provide for classification of information, access to information and information that the public was prohibited from accessing.

“From the consultations it was also noted that exemptions will include information relating to national security, international relations, prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of offences and/or breaches of ethics of regulated professions, taxation matters, regulatory functions, private advice given in confidence and such other information as may be deemed prejudicial to the protection of society and the rights and freedoms of others, or information, the disclosure of which is otherwise prohibited by law.”

In addition, he said there would be need for an authority that would regulate and administer the functions prescribed by the law.

He added that it was against such a background that the ministry had started the process of drafting instructions and sharing them with all stakeholders, as such envisaged law would necessitate consequential amendments on some legislation to make it effective and not in conflict with any other laws.

“For this reason, we did not, and still do not, want to take a piece meal or rushed approach to this very important piece of legislation. Note, however, that we have made worthy strides pertaining to the Data

Protection Ac,t which is, itself, yet to commence, and work is ongoing to ensure that it commences. I conclude by reaffirming that we will table the Freedom of Information Bill once all the aforementioned pre-requisites have been aligned,” he added.

Meanwhile, the assistant minister re-assured Parliament of government’s high regard for transparency, as a component of enhancing good governance and the rule of law.

“Indeed, a Freedom of Information Bill could contribute to the upholding of this ideal. Such a bill should, nevertheless, be prepared with regard for all other existing legislative instruments,” he said. Maun West MP,

Mr Dumelang Saleshando, had asked when the minister planned to table the Freedom of Information Bill. Ends