Access to information is the cornerstone not only to the functioning democracy but it is central to the enterprise of the university. Higher Education South Africa, as the collective body of leadership in our universities, adds its support to other representative bodies who are calling for further analysis and clarification of the scope and content of the prospective Information Bill.

Specifically, because of the negative way it might impact on Sections 32 (access to information) and 16 (freedom of speech) of the Constitution, the proposed Bill is potentially detrimental to the core functioning of higher education. Without access to information, the process of knowledge generation is hampered, and without freedom of speech, academic freedoms are placed in jeopardy. The chairperson of HESA, Prof Ihron Rensburg, argues that “as it presently stands, the information Bill does not pass constitutional muster and is not consistent with the principle of academic freedom, one of the key cornerstones of the academic enterprise”.