It seems that the ANC has shelved the Protection of Information Bill, which is more commonly known by most people as the Secrecy Bill and one can only hope that this is a permanent decision. Anything that compromises media freedom is not desirable in a young democracy, and is really not necessary or a good idea. Potential whistle blowers need to have some protection in the form of a defence based around revealing information in the public interest, and quite frankly no ruling government party needs to protect themselves against what may be rogue elements in their ranks, who break laws and who need to be reported to the media. Media plays an important watchdog role, and as I have stressed before, I don’t think our media is strong enough in the first place, compared to the British media, and that is without bringing in such a law.