STATE DATA
Officials sit on vital studies despite the law — and professional nagging
The buzz-word in science policy circles is “evidence-based decision making”. It has become so prevalent that it has even begun creeping into political rhetoric, where it is wielded as a response to poor service delivery and corruption. However, the indispensable part of that — the evidence — continues to be stored far from the eyes of citizens, and even decision-makers within government. That is even more true for scientific reports. This is a story of what happens when you try to access scientific reports when government officials, for reasons of their own, just don’t want you to have them. In theory, South Africans have the right to ask the government for any document or piece of information. There are caveats: the government can’t jeopardise national security or divulge details that are commercially sensitive. Aside from that, as an SA citizen you can ask the government to give you any information, and it must oblige. This right is enshrined in the constitution, nestled between t...
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