Following Idasa's oral submission to Parliament on 21 July on the Protection of Information Bill, PIMS gave the Ad Hoc Committee a further written submission which addressed the likely impact of the bill on parliamentary oversight. PIMS noted that existing legislation, such as the Privileges and Immunities of Parliaments and Provincial Legislatures Act, 4 of 2004, renders MPs immune from prosecution for any disclosure of classified information that would otherwise be considered a criminal offence in terms of the proposed bill. However, PIMS submitted that the bill was nevertheless likely to constrain the representative and oversight functions of MPs, specifically by imposing extra burdens and limitations on those who wish to legally retain and use classified information in the course of their duties. Possible risks for MPs would involve an exacerbation of the already indirect and indistinct relationship between the public and MPs, prohibitions on the role of free media, growth in speculation and rumour and an over-reliance on the information given by the executive and other administrative branches of the government.

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