The leader of Group Three of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Protection of State Information Bill, Mr Tjheta Mofokeng, has commended residents of the Joe Qadi District for showing keen interest in and understanding of the Bill as well as unanimously throwing their weight behind it.
This comes after public hearings into the Bill were held at Barkly East Town Hall in the Eastern Cape today, 2 February 2012, as part of Parliament’s objective of ensuring public participation in the legislation-making process.
Residents of the Joe Qadi District flooded the venue, prompting the organisers to bring in more chairs into the over-packed venue.
An overwhelming majority of the speakers welcomed the Bill, which is now before the National Council of Provinces after it was passed by the National Assembly late last year.
Four members of the 15-member Committee, which was split into three, were in attendance and provided clarity to citizens on the Bill. Following the smooth proceedings, Mofokeng acknowledged the input from the communities in the district.
“We came here only a day after there had been some protests in the town (Barkly East) but the people were very understanding during the hearings. They raised only issues that were relevant to the Bill.
“It makes it easier for us as a Committee to interact with a community that has such a high level (of knowledge) of the Bill. We hope that in other areas that we are still going to stage public hearings there will be the same kind of interest and understanding of the Bill,” he said.
Mofokeng gave the reassurance that the positive views of the community members would be taken into account by the committee. “We will be taking the feedback we got here to Parliament and these views will be considered as we will be deliberating on the Bill,” he added.
The Barkly East public hearing session was one of the three staged in the Eastern Cape today.
Others took place in Mthatha and Port Elizabeth as the Committee visited the second province since the hearings started in the Western Cape on Tuesday.
The Committee’s next destination will be Free State on Tuesday, 7 February.
For media inquiries or interviews with Mr Tjheta Mofokeng please contact:
Elijah Moholola
Tel: 021 403 2311
Cell: 083 981 7770
E-mail: emoholola@parliament.gov.za
Bill gets resounding approval
