Much has been said about the proposed protection of Information Bill (the Bill) that government wants to put in place. There has been a huge outcry from the general lay public, and politicians from opposition parties have also aired their distaste of the bill. The D.A has set up campaigns to rally against the Bill, with peaceful protests taking place and a petition containing over 28 000 signatures handed over to the government. Even Archbishop Desmond Tutu is in support of campaigns that oppose the Bill. But what effect will the proposed Bill have on academic freedom within South African universities? What do the academics of our country think about the Bill and its possible effects on academic freedom?
The core role of higher learning institutions is to carry out research, and present findings to fellow academics, the public and the government. But without clearly defined boundaries, students could land themselves in trouble for reporting on sensitive information with out even knowing that they are over stepping the mark as the bill does not clearly define what information is private and what is fit for public consumption – ok by why? You may want to refer to the Bill here to make it clearer. This is the biggest problem with the proposed Bill, is that no one is exactly sure on what information will be private and what will be fit for public consumption.
The general consensus among the various professors interviewed at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Howard college campus was inline with these sentiments. Rofhiwa F. Mukhundwana said that “The only problem is that the banner of the national interest as provided in the bill is too broad” and that “… one can never be certain of what information is protected and what is free to public access”.
What academic disciplines within the university will be directly affected cannot be fully predicted at the moment. One can only assume that students studying politics and current affairs will be affected according to David Spurrett a professor in the department of Philosohpy. Without clearly defined borders it is almost impossible to predict how far the Bill will affect current studies, and to what extent the Bill will impose self-censorship of students, especially those doing post-graduate research. Mukhundwana also cites that “… both academics and students may be denied valuable data necessary for academic knowledge and social innovation”.
Currently, students enjoy a great deal of academic freedom at this university, and if one looks into the archives and looks at the struggles of the past one will find that it was not long ago that students “had to smuggle around books and ideas that were banned under censorship laws” says Historian Julie Parle.
An interesting point brought up in the interview with Julie Parle is that the right to free speech and academic freedom are, however, not exercised fully by students. This is perhaps worrying as if this really is the case, then the limitation on access to information that the Bill will impose might not even have an effect on students if they are not fully practising their right to free speech and academic freedom in the first place. Is this a sign that the calibre of student is falling or that perhaps there is already some form of censorship in place preventing them from doing so. One can only speculate until a thorough investigation has taken place.
While the University prides itself on so called academic freedom and no academic censorship so to speak of, there have been a few cases recently that could give us an insight as to what it might be like if the Bill is to come into effect. Cases like those of Evan Mantzaris, Professor Nithaya Chetty and Fazel Khan could become the norm at UKZN and other South African Universities if the Bill is passed. In these cases, these former members of staff were fired for basically practising their right to freedom of speech and expression.
For example, their was much controversy after Nithaya Chetty and colleague John van den Berg, also accused of ‘bringing UKZN in disrepute’, published in the press and on the universities “change” listserve comments that “were critical of UKZN vice chancellor Malegapuru Makgoba’s alleged repeated attempts to block from the senate agenda a faculty of Science and Agriculture submission on academic freedom, which refers to a “prevailing culture of incivility and racial stereotyping that further impedes the free exchange of ideas” at the university.”[1]
Unfortunately with the implementation of the proposed Bill, cases like these might become the norm as whistleblowers get axed (and even sent to prison) for reporting on the inefficiencies of management in all spheres of government. Lets hope that this is not the case, and that government will find use in the Bill passed by former president Thabo Mbeki titled “The Promotion of Access to Information Act” which “spells out very clearly which circumstances allow the government to withhold certain classes of information from its citizens”[2].
References
1) http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=16644
http://www.fxi.org.za/content/view/30/1/
2) http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-10-12-we-need-to-know-what-our-government-is-up
http://www.abahlali.org/node/1117
http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=661
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-10-19-more-ignorance-than-resistance
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-09-18-zille-media-tribunal-a-tool-to-mask-corruption
The core role of higher learning institutions is to carry out research, and present findings to fellow academics, the public and the government. But without clearly defined boundaries, students could land themselves in trouble for reporting on sensitive information with out even knowing that they are over stepping the mark as the bill does not clearly define what information is private and what is fit for public consumption – ok by why? You may want to refer to the Bill here to make it clearer. This is the biggest problem with the proposed Bill, is that no one is exactly sure on what information will be private and what will be fit for public consumption.
The general consensus among the various professors interviewed at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Howard college campus was inline with these sentiments. Rofhiwa F. Mukhundwana said that “The only problem is that the banner of the national interest as provided in the bill is too broad” and that “… one can never be certain of what information is protected and what is free to public access”.
What academic disciplines within the university will be directly affected cannot be fully predicted at the moment. One can only assume that students studying politics and current affairs will be affected according to David Spurrett a professor in the department of Philosohpy. Without clearly defined borders it is almost impossible to predict how far the Bill will affect current studies, and to what extent the Bill will impose self-censorship of students, especially those doing post-graduate research. Mukhundwana also cites that “… both academics and students may be denied valuable data necessary for academic knowledge and social innovation”.
Currently, students enjoy a great deal of academic freedom at this university, and if one looks into the archives and looks at the struggles of the past one will find that it was not long ago that students “had to smuggle around books and ideas that were banned under censorship laws” says Historian Julie Parle.
An interesting point brought up in the interview with Julie Parle is that the right to free speech and academic freedom are, however, not exercised fully by students. This is perhaps worrying as if this really is the case, then the limitation on access to information that the Bill will impose might not even have an effect on students if they are not fully practising their right to free speech and academic freedom in the first place. Is this a sign that the calibre of student is falling or that perhaps there is already some form of censorship in place preventing them from doing so. One can only speculate until a thorough investigation has taken place.
While the University prides itself on so called academic freedom and no academic censorship so to speak of, there have been a few cases recently that could give us an insight as to what it might be like if the Bill is to come into effect. Cases like those of Evan Mantzaris, Professor Nithaya Chetty and Fazel Khan could become the norm at UKZN and other South African Universities if the Bill is passed. In these cases, these former members of staff were fired for basically practising their right to freedom of speech and expression.
For example, their was much controversy after Nithaya Chetty and colleague John van den Berg, also accused of ‘bringing UKZN in disrepute’, published in the press and on the universities “change” listserve comments that “were critical of UKZN vice chancellor Malegapuru Makgoba’s alleged repeated attempts to block from the senate agenda a faculty of Science and Agriculture submission on academic freedom, which refers to a “prevailing culture of incivility and racial stereotyping that further impedes the free exchange of ideas” at the university.”[1]
Unfortunately with the implementation of the proposed Bill, cases like these might become the norm as whistleblowers get axed (and even sent to prison) for reporting on the inefficiencies of management in all spheres of government. Lets hope that this is not the case, and that government will find use in the Bill passed by former president Thabo Mbeki titled “The Promotion of Access to Information Act” which “spells out very clearly which circumstances allow the government to withhold certain classes of information from its citizens”[2].
References
1) http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=16644
http://www.fxi.org.za/content/view/30/1/
2) http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-10-12-we-need-to-know-what-our-government-is-up
http://www.abahlali.org/node/1117
http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=661
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-10-19-more-ignorance-than-resistance
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-09-18-zille-media-tribunal-a-tool-to-mask-corruption
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