The campaign against the current tabulated form of the proposed Protection of Information Bill peaked at the end of last week. The ANC finally realised how silly it might look in the long-run and joined the united push for a postponement on its signing. Desmond Tutu is now rallying us all to get behind our freedom too.

The great thing about the highly esteemed Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is that when he speaks, you listen. Everybody listens.

He did recently voice his disapproval of the bill, but speaking via a recorded video played to academics and civil society groups that met at a Right2Know campaign meeting in Cape Town last night, Tutu reportedly said it like it is: unconstitutional.

This bill undermines the constitutional values of transparency.

One of the fundamental reasons these groups, journalists, South African business elites and members of the general public are up in arms is that the bill has the potential to kill whistle-blowing in South Africa – effectively a muzzle on freedom of expression, which is your constitutional right.

Yesterday, Pick n Pay chairman Gareth Ackerman said the bill will have a direct impact on foreign investment in South Africa, and constitutional law professor Pierre de Vos again expressed his dismay saying access to information remains critical for everyone:

If you do not have the information you cannot make the decisions about what kind of person you are, how to live your life and you do not have the dignity guaranteed by the constitution.

We hold international events of significance quite regularly; we’ve had our fair share of world cup events too. Trevor Manual might even be the next head of the IMF.

It does indeed look a little silly to go back in time and live in a secret society of hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

[Source: EWN]