Cape Town - South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) and Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Justice on Wednesday agreed to adjourn their talks on the proposed Protection of Information Bill pending further consultations.
A SANEF delegation, led by its chairperson Mondli Makhanya, and veteran journalist Raymond Louw, earlier objected to a call from members of the committee to have journalism legally defined in order for journalists to be exempted from the provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Bill on the grounds that this would require registration of the media.
A section of the bill seeks to exempt journalists by virtue of office, employment or profession. But during the hearing on Wednesday, SANEF said while it did not "totally" object to the exclusion of journalists, it remained concerned pertaining to certain aspects of the clause.
Louw pointed out that placing journalists on a register, as it may be required, could lead to dangers for the profession as reporters can be easily be removed from such a register and thus prevented from practicing.
The Protection of Information Bill has been met with mixed reactions since law makers brought it to the public forum. Through the Bill, the state wants to regulate the protection of certain information from "destruction, loss or unlawful disclosure" and to repeal the Protection of Information Act of 1982.
In its submission, SANEF stated that it was concerned about several aspects of the Bill, one of them being "a contravention of the Constitution in respect to the balancing of rights when measured against the freedoms of expression clause."
But the ANC's John Jeffrey argued on Wednesday that the Bill was not about the media and its primary aim was to protect sensitive state information. "The Bill, as it were, is very reactive. It's not proactive so journalists will still be allowed to do their work, stories will still be published," he said.
SANEF said it will be meeting with the Press Council to determine a way forward on the matter.
