Thuli Madonsela says the new info bill will make her job difficult

The new protection of state information continues to be more and more controversial. Ordinary South African citizens are not the only ones who are unhappy about it. Just to prove that, Thuli Madonsela, Public Protector said on Wednesday, March, 27 2012 that in its current structure, the information bill will trip her up in her job.

Mandosela warns that the Protection of State Information Bill, if not exposed to changes, will make the work of her office difficult to execute.

She said whistleblowers would be discouraged from coming forth with important information about wrongdoing and that her staff would be at risk of being taken to prison for carrying such information.

Like many other people, Madonsela said to the members of the parliamentary that she agrees that there has to be some degree of state secrecy was needed, but said that the current version of the draft law was going to contradict the constitution.

When asked how the bill would affect her office, the Public Protector said “Will I be affected? Yes. Severely,”

She added by saying “We will not be toothless, but we are going to function under more onerous circumstances,”

It appears to be clear that the new Protection of State Information needs to be reviewed. We cannot afford to have a bill that threatens to bring back some elements of apartheid.

The message to the members of the parliamentary dealing with the Bill is simple: The Bill must be changed to fit in the new democratic South Africa.

Are we less informed or do we just don't care?

Ayanda Masondo, 20, a second-year UJ Public relations student from Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal, was found leaning against the door in her room, in the Benjemijn hostel, on the morning of Sunday, 19 March 2012 .

Paramedics were called, but they pronounced her dead at the scene.

Brixton police station spokesman Constable Michael Kgatle said there would be a judicial inquiry into Masondo’s death.

“At this stage an illegal abortion would appear to be the reason for her death. There was a lot of blood at the scene,” Kgatle said.

According to Ayanda’s friends, she had been ill for about a week before she died.

A friend to Ayanda was quoted by Sowetan as having said “She was such a quiet girl. We’re all incredibly upset by this,”

It is heart-breaking for a young lady like her to die while busy chasing her dreams. Adjusting one's life from high school to university is a big deal, any student needs support.

Its disturbing to know that Ayanda would resort to the decision she took when there are support services offered by UJ to help students cope with problems.

The Centre for Psychological Services and Career Development (PsyCaD) is one of the services that are available for students at all four campuses of UJ. The following services amongst others, are offerered by PsyCaD :

• It runs a Peer Buddy group that helps students find their feet at the university;
• It Offers counselling services for students with all kinds of problems, personal or otherwise;
•  PsyCad offers various career services, advising students and linking them with prospective employers;
• It offers highly professional and completely confidential, sympathetic and scientific support.
• And should a student happen to experience a major life crisis, PsyCaD runs a 24 hour Crisis Line that is a phone call away.

Clealy these services are sufficient for students both academicaly and personally. The question I ask therefore is: are students not well informed about these services or are they simply ignorent towards them?

We need a solution for this problem very soon or else we will see many more students with potential drifting away.

From Zero to Hero and then Danger

The 24 year old man who earns a living by selling newspapers just outside one of the most secure jails in SA, Pretoria Central Prison says his life might be in danger.

This comes after he bravely blew the whistle on three inmates, serial escaper Bongani Moyo and co-accused Khumbulani Sibanda and fellow Zimbabwean and suspected robber Themba Dube, who tried to escape from the Pretoria Central Prison yesterday.

In an interview with e.tv news yesterday, the hero said: “I am a Christian; criminals are not good for the society and that’s why I called the security.”

All thanks to the loyal newspaper seller, the three inmates were rearrested and later confronted by the Minister of Correctional Services, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

A link can be made between this story and the ongoing controversy around the new Protection of Information Bill. In case you’ve not read it, simply put, it implies that our journalists, the whistle blowers, whose sole duty is to tell us what’s happening around us will be found guilty for doing just that.

Furthermore, if the Bill is passed in the structure that it’s in currently, it means that people, especially top officials at government level can engage themselves in illicit behavior - and we won’t get to know or say anything about it.

We’ve seen a lot of government officials being associated with corruption, including the President himself.

If the new Protection of information Bill is passed, such things will continue to happen right under our noses!  

Getting ready for Madiba's death





AGED: Father of the nation waves goodbye

   
Former South African leader Nelson Mandela (93) was admitted to hospital on 25th February 2012 after doctors advised specialist medical attention for a long-standing abdominal complaint.

Whenever this happens, I'm reminded of the 'M-project', an alleged project of the SABC to cover the funeral of Nelson Mandela.

On 31 May 2009, Sunday World published an article titled 'Mandla Sells Mandela'.
 
In that article, it was reported that Madiba's grandson, Mandla Mandela had received more than R3 million for the exclusive rights to the old man's funeral - when he dies - to the SABC.

Chief Mandela and The SABC's PR spin doctor, Kaizer Kganyago denied these claims and Kganyago said: ''I'm not aware of any exclusive rights...''

On the other hand, the former president's ex wife, Winnie Madikizela Mandela was also quoted by Saturday Star as having said:

"We know that the SABC has not only drawn the funeral coverage plan, the M-project, we also know that the staff of the SABC involved in the M-project conduct regular rehearsals of the funeral coverage.During recent such rehearsals, one of the employees broke down and cried. This M-project is causing pain to Tata's children, the family deserves respect."

It's important to notice how Madikeza Mandela allegedly kept saying ''we know'', one can ask why she would repeatedly say that if this was all a lie.


The truth is that where there's smoke, there's fire. This naked issue must have started somewhere, I guess the question is where and how? Nevertheless if this is true, then the morality of the SABC must be seriously questioned.

This is not different from saying we're preparing ourselves for Mandela's death, it can't be morally correct to make arrangements and preparations for his death while he's still alive and kicking - eating pap and steak for that matter!


Yes, the poor old man has aged but we shouldn't start predicting when he might take his last breath! leave that to God - He can handle such things much better!