Key-points application in court

THE RIGHT2KNOWCampaign (R2K) and the SA History Archive were to argue today in the high court in Joburg for the police to reveal South Africa’s national key points.

“We believe this basic transparency is an important step in countering the uncontrolled secrecy and potential abuse of South Africa’s ‘national security’ policies,” R2K spokesman Murray Hunter said.

The organisations wanted the list of national key points in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act.

National key points are protected from being photographed or identified as a key point and are understood to include military installations and services or factories considered strategic.

In 2012, a request was made to the police for the list of key points, but it was refused.

“An internal appeal to the minister of police upheld that refusal; in addition to broad security concerns, the minister cited the need to consider the privacy of private companies who are protected by the act,” Hunter said.

Civic organisations had complained that the secrecy surrounding national key points had been used to undermine the right to know and to protest in public spaces.

“The act has been infamously invoked to justify the controversial R230 million upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s personal home in Nkandla, and to hamper efforts to bring the scandal to light.

“We maintain that the blanket secrecy over which sites have been declared national key points has helped officials and politicians to use and abuse the act to undermine our constitutional rights,” Hunter added. – Sapa