Carte Blanche, M-Net's brilliant and longrunning weekly investigative magazine show is coming out in the strongest possible terms against South Africa's draconian, anti-constitutional and anti-democratic Protection of Information Bill.
South Africa's parliament will be voting on Tuesday on the controversial Secrecy Bill to curtail media freedom in South Africa that will severly hamper the rights of South Africans to information, limit freedom of speech in South Africa and prevent journalists from finding and reporting the news and providing the public with all the facts and information.
Carte Blanche - presenters like Derek Watts, Chantal Rutter, Devi Sankaree Govender as well as journalists and producers of the show has filmed and now appears in a brand-new public service announcement.
''We the journalists of South Africa believe the Protection of Information Bill is a threat to our constitutional right of access to information and freedom of expression, and hence the lifeblood of our democracy,'' says Derek Watts as the Carte Blanche team stand together.
''Should the National Assembly adopt this Secrecy Bill and president Jacob Zuma sign it into law, they'll be directly responsible for the erosion of openness, transparency and accountability in South Africa,'' says Chantal Rutter.
''As journalists we are dedicated to serving the public interest by helping to hold those with power, to account,'' says Devi Sankaree Govender. ''Regardless of any law, we remain duty bound to protect whistleblowers who help us expose wrongdoing in the public interest.''
Says Derek Watts in the public service announcement: ''We commend and support the Right to Know campaign and all democrats who oppose the Protection of Information Bill.''
ALSO READ: Derek Watts of Carte Blanche gives his editorial opinion on South Africa's Secrecy Bill: ''The first stage of turning South Africa into another state where media freedom is extinguished.''
