Concerns raised that spy bill could infringe on work of SABC journalists

CAPE TOWN - Civil society groups have raised the alarm that SABC journalists could face undue security vetting from the State Security Agency (SSA) if provisions of a new intelligence bill are not tightened up. 

The General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill is currently before the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for a second round of public consultation, in a race against the clock to finalise it before the end of this parliamentary term. 

Despite the National Assembly making several changes to the bill in efforts to protect the public, intelligence watchdogs believe they've found a loophole that could infringe on the work of journalists at the public broadcaster. 

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Previously known as national key points, the buildings of the public broadcaster are deemed critical infrastructure under an act of law. 

Under the spy bill, individuals who need to have access to areas designated as critical infrastructure will be subjected to vetting. 

Glasgow University professor of digital society, Jane Duncan, said the spy bill should explicitly exclude SABC journalists from security clearance tests on media freedom grounds. 

"We don’t want those tests to be used in an attempt to try and compromise those journalists' confidential sources of information." 

Intelwatch’s Heidi Swart agrees.

"We would really like this bill to make explicit that security competence tests must not be misused to interfere with the journalistic integrity of the SABC." 

Intelwatch is proposing a separate vetting department within state security to deal with the backlog.