What if no one shows up? That was my naïve worry as I walked into a community church with a few other SAMGI members to mediate a forum on xenophobia for foreign nationals. Foreign nationals in South Africa are black immigrants comprised mainly of refugees from other African nations. They have faced hostility and violence from black South Africans since the end of apartheid, with periodic bursts of mass bloodshed. Because the problem is so severe and long-lasting, I was sure that the community was flooded with meetings like ours.

I. Freedom of Information = the right to know

A. Constitution of South Africa and Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) guarantees the people of this republic rights to accessing government and private entity information in order to “ensure accountability, responsiveness, and openness” so that the citizens are capable of making informed decisions on issues which directly affect their lives. The Protection of Information Bill effectively closes down the process of accessing information in direct opposition to the open and democratic society envisioned when the Constitution was certified in 1996.

The Southern African Media and Gender Institute (SAMGI) stands in opposition to the Protection of Information Bill (B6-2010). The designers of the bill have proposed that the function of the bill would re-categorize the classes of information requiring protection, limit unnecessary secrecy, and provide legal penalties for breaches. SAMGI argues that the bill targets for possible elimination the issues relevant to the equality and safety of South African women.