Johannesburg - The draft Protection of Information bill will make it impossible for whistleblowers to step forward, lawyer and well-known whistleblower Mike Tshishonga said on Wednesday. "In the proposed bill, the government... will have the legal right to raid the homes and offices of any citizen it feels has documents that they should not have, without having to go through the legal channels," he told a seminar on the bill at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).
"If (whistleblowers) are able to collect evidence, where will they go to keep it safe?"
In 2003 Tshishonga exposed corruption in the justice department. Also speaking at the seminar was Professor Tina Uys, of the department of sociology, anthropology and developmental studies at UJ, who addressed the Protected Disclosures Act of 2000.
Shortcomings
It "recognises the role whistleblowers could play in exposing organisational wrongdoing". She said the Act aims to protect employees who wish to disclose irregularity and discourage retaliation by their employers. She analysed three major shortcomings of the Act: "It does not act as a sufficient deterrent to prevent employers from victimising whistleblowers. "The protection offered by the Act... excludes those who commit an offence when disclosing information.
"It does not require independent investigation of the whistleblower's claims." Chair of the International Association of Constitutional Law, Professor Ian Currie said: "What needs to be decided upon (...) is what information needs to be protected for state security purposes (...) and what information needs to be made public."
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Info-bill-to-cripple-whistleblowers-20101013