As nationwide meetings on the Protection of State Information Bill culminated in the Northern Cape this week the residents of Kuruman pleaded for more education on the Bill and more time to get to grips with it.
There was robust participation at Ga-Segonyane Community Hall in Kuruman, where local residents at the smoothly-run meeting appealed for more awareness campaigns and public education workshops to help them make informed inputs on the proposed legislation.
Mr Russell Thabakeng said he appreciated the platform created for citizens to make inputs but door-to-door campaigns around the province to educate people about this Info Bill would have helped even more.
Mr Thabakeng said he wished the MPs could have come earlier to ensure that people were conversant with the proposed law in order to ensure thoughtful submissions.
This was also echoed by another resident who said the government was failing to listen to their service delivery challenges but now expected them to input on law-making processes. Some participants like Mr Nelson Hardy expressed gratitude to Parliament for the platform afforded to residents to be part of the legislative process.
“It’s the first time we have had this kind of opportunity to make our voice heard on law-making processes before they get passed by Parliament and signed by the President. Most processes are initiated and finalised within Parliament without thorough public consultation,” he said.
He said the meeting had been held at short notice and he agreed with some speakers that the process should have started with workshops at various municipalities.
A member of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) ad hoc Committee on the Bill, Mr Johannes Gunda, blamed political parties for not getting information to their members, some of whom complained that they had never heard of the Bill before. He said Parliament had announced the process through various media and communication channels but it was the duty of all political parties to inform people, including their members, and get them to participate in the public hearings.
“As the leaders and representatives in the Parliament, we have the responsibility to cascade the information down to our constituencies about the processes of Parliament. But most people knew as early November last year (2011) that this ad hoc Committee would be going to provinces to meet with members of the public for their input on this legislation,” he said.
Final public consultations are scheduled to be held in Parliament before the deliberations by the NCOP on the Protection of State Information Bill in April.
