In an Idasa seminar with Collins Chabane and other persons of note, he mentioned that other governments are very concerned about South Africa’s ability to secure their information. I had no idea. Of course, we all know about the concern around South Africa’s ability to manage its own information — late registration of births leading to dodgy IDs, leading to dodgy passports, which all ends up in everyone paying for a UK visa.
But that is not what he meant. He meant our ability to manage their information. Is this perhaps the reason behind the Protection of Information Bill? Is the logic that other governments are concerned, so we should double and redouble our efforts to protect our information, and classify everything we can lay our hands on?
This is apparently problematic. I have never been much for keeping secrets, so this is all new to me, but apparently you don’t want a “big tent” problem. What is this? Not the usual keep them in, pissing out scenario, but in fact more a sort of a wedding marquee. The more guests, the more you spend, the more you have to check everyone’s invitation. And the more everyone knows everything, the harder it gets to keep secrets.
And then you have to check that people are not having affairs with glamorous spies, or sending money to odd charities that spend a lot of time in the mountains of Afghanistan. This is expensive. And you have to give everyone a polygraph … don’t ask me, I thought they were discredited years ago. This is also expensive.
And then you have too many people with too much information. Including the nuclear secrets of the UK, or Iran, or whoever else’s secret we keep. If there are embassies out there who have been quietly asking our lot to improve security, please mention that classifying everyone and everything is not a sensible solution. And, while you are at it, ask people to stop wearing sunglasses on TV … makes you look suspicious.
The easy thing to say is ‘it’s too expensive’. The more realistic thing to say is ‘we have no idea how much it costs, but we are not prepared to say’. The honest thing to say is that ‘we have no more money left, because we are paying for five wives, trips aroudn the world and legal bills for dodgy state employees who are corrupt, or criminal’.
But I agree about the sunglasses, very suspicious!
Dear Alison, fair comment. I hope that you’re submitting comment on the Protection of Information Bill to parliament? We need all the leverage we can get, to argue against this in the right forum, as well as against the Media Appeal Tribunal.
The more you classify, the worse it becomes and the leakier as everything gets out of hand. To quote “When first we practise to deceive what a tangled web we weave”. Perhaps if openess and accountability were the norm, things would be simpler!
“This is expensive….”
The expense will be mostly in collecting, classifying, validating and comparing the information. This is tedious and requires manpower.
Could the bill not be a serious attempt to create the 500.000 jobs Zuma promised a year ago??
We have to give the ANC credit for creativity when it is due
)
Since we are on the info topic: Perhaps the Government could give us a few examples of what bits of info that leaked out they would have preferred to keep classified. That would make the whole exercise more understandable. I will not be holding my breath though.
very nice!