• ESKOM IS COMMITTED TO TRANSPARENCY AND DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.
• MEASURES TO ACHIEVE GREATER TRANSPARENCY AND DISCLOSURE CAN ONLY BE ENCOURAGED.
• PUBLIC ENTERPRISES OPERATING ON A COMMERCIAL BASIS.
- Role of government in public enterprises.
- Level playing field.
• RECOMMENDATION:
- In the light of the above it is recommended that the definition of governmental body in the Bill should be amended to exclude public enterprises, such as Telkom and Eskom, which are required to be internationally competitive and to operate in a competitive environment.
• TREATING PUBLIC ENTERPRISES OPERATING ON A COMMERCIAL BASIS DIFFERENTLY DOES NOT LIMIT ACCESS TO INFORMATION.
• ANNOUNCEMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY OR ENVIRONMENTAL RISK.
- Understand need for announcement of public safety or environmental risk.
• RECOMMENDATION:
- It may be more appropriate to require disclosure to the responsible Minister who should then decide on the timing and need for further disclosure.
• RIGHT OF ACCESS
- Should ensure that it benefits those it is intended to benefit.
- Should be determined by public interest objective.
• DEFINITION OF RECORD
- Should exclude a record not owned by a governmental body.
• RIGHT TO DISCLOSURE
- The right to publish information should be subject to guidelines.
• PRIVILEGE
- The loss of permanent immunity from disclosure of information that is subject to legal privilege will undermine the proper functional of the legal system and section 35(b) should accordingly be deleted.
[Ed. note: Eskom's submission to the Portfolio Committee on Justice has not been included; only the slide presentation]