Double blind provision
"Section 23(6) of the Bill makes provision for what we term a 'double blind provision' in terms of which the head of an organ of state in response to a request for a review of the classified status of information is entitled to refuse to confirm or deny whether information exists whenever the fact of its existence is itself classified as top secret. We regard this provision as fundamentally unconstitutional, inviting as it does an element of untruthfulness, equivocation and obstruction of fair and reasonable enquiry. It is virtually impossible to make any reasonable headway in discovering the true state of affairs when such provisions are in operation.
"The construction of this section is such that effectively it allows public servants rights, which are directly contradictory to the obligations that the Bill imposes on all citizens not to provide false information to Intelligence Services. This is not a fair, even handed approach and as such is an unequal handling of the relationship between the state and the individual. We do not believe that this limitation on the right to receive information would stand the test of a section 36 of the Constitution balancing of interest's analysis. This places risk the South Africa being a police and intelligence governed state as opposed to a constitutional democracy."
