See you in court, POIB

Siyabonga Cwele : "We are confident that it [the Protection of State Information Bill] has addressed concerns of our people." (Image: GCIS)

For more:

• Mail & Guardian: 'Altered' secrecy Bill passed in Parliament... Let's face it, any ANC MP voting against the bill would be in very hot water, so it's no wonder the bill was passed.

  However, it is more likely than not that the bill's critics - and there are a great many - will take it to the Constitutional Court.

  Yesterday, reports Mail & Guardian, "State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele told MPs the legislation had been significantly altered. 'Today, as we debate to adopt the Protection of State Information Bill during the week of Freedom Day, we are confident that it has addressed concerns of our people.'"

  Cynics might be forgiven for suggesting that the greatest majority "our people" to whom Cwele refers and who would be most relieved at the bill's passing would be those in public service who are directly responsible for the billions lost through sheer fraud, irregular tenders, theft, incompetence, wasteful spending and mismanagement.

• Daily Maverick: How Xpanda's blunder became ASASA's grave mistake... It seems one of the complaints about the Xpanda ad is that the voice smacks of "racist caricaturing. The voice does not pronounce 'madam' in the Model-C inflected tones of educated South Africans. His 'Eeeiiissshhhh' is the guttural drawl..." etc.

  We have all listened to plenty of radio ads apparently aiming to portray any one or a combination of the races doing something or other, and let's face it, the voices are very often hammed up and accentuated. In addition, many adverts, many critics also reckon, are so "politically correct" as to be downright painful. It seems to come with the turf here in SA.

  If we were to believe everything portrayed in adverts, we'd assume that white insurance agents handle Indian clients, black domestic learner drivers could give Schumie a run for his money (and probably almost give their white driving instructor a heart attack as part of the bargain), and a very significant proportion of those stealing electricity are in the leafy suburbs. Oh, and we'd also perhaps assume our kids are very often incredibly tuned up to which plumber is the best to use and what plumber bumbling dad should contact in an emergency.

  Strange, my kids were never like that... They were respectively into surfing and rock climbing. As for plumbing, they didn't know one end of a pipe cutter from the other, and I never once ever heard them tell me that my best short-term insurance deal would only be through Skullduggery, Deceit & Partners Ltd. OK, perhaps there hasn't been an ad dealing specifically with little Johnny giving brain-dead dad sound financial advice - but don't bet that there won't be.

• IOL: Big media not stifling little press: Caxton... Established newspaper outlets are not stifling the growth of smaller upcoming players in the sector. Moreover, according to Caxton non-executive chairman Paul Jenkins, it would be illegal for the established industry to arrange a plan to refrain from a particular market, leaving it for the smaller players.
  That is what the Print and Digital Media Transformation Task Team (PDMTTT) heard yesterday. Your thoughts?