another employee or officer of the public authority” (Section 17). The Bill goes on to protect such whistleblowers, while also stating that a security or secrecy classification could not, on its own, prevent disclosure of information. The Bill provides for the setting up of a Public Information Commission to oversee the implementation of freedom of information legislation (Part II). The Commission would “act as a conduit for requests for access to information from members of the public” (Section 7), help members of the public to amend or comment on personal information held by public authorities, and to review decisions by public authorities relating to access of information issues. As it stands, the independence of such a Commission, as constituted in terms of the Bill, may not conform to the provisions of the AC Declaration with regards the issue of independence, given that the appointment of members of the Commission would be overseen by an appointments committee constituted by the president. At least one member of the Commission would be a government representative. Part IV of the Bill deals with the obligations of public authorities to proactively disclose information and establish mechanisms for making information available to the public. Part V lays down procedures for accessing information, while Part VI outlines procedures that allow members of the public to appeal against decisions taken by public authorities with regards the release of information. Section 35 gives the Commission authority to enforce provisions of the Act. Electronic Draft Communications Bill In addition to the Independent Broadcasting Authority, Zambia is looking to establish a 34 regulator for electronic communications. The Electronic Draft Communications Bill , which provides for the establishment of this regulator, defines electronic communication as a “means of communication of information in the form of speech or other sound, date, text or images, by means of guided and/or unguided electromagnetic energy”. Therefore, Zambia is separating the regulation of broadcasting from that of telecommunications and ICT services. Section 3 of the Bill states that “this Act shall not apply to those activities which, by virtue of the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act, fall within the jurisdiction of the Independent Broadcasting Authority”. South Africa 1999 Broadcasting Act As in Zambia, all of South Africa’s broadcasters – including the national broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) – fall under the auspices of one broadcasting regulator. Although initially a separate entity, South Africa’s broadcasting regulator (formerly called the Independent Broadcasting Authority – IBA) now falls under the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), which is responsible for regulating both broadcasting and telecommunications. Nonetheless, the role of broadcasting regulation remains the domain of a specific department of ICASA. The South African constitution guarantees the independence of the regulator in addition to the rights of free expression, media freedom and access to information. All three tiers of broadcasting – public, commercial and community – are covered in the one piece of legislation, the 1999 Broadcasting Act. Each sector is addressed one by one in separate chapters of the Act. The section on the public broadcaster (Chapter IV) contains the SABC’s Charter, which spells out the objectives of the corporation (Section 8), as well as its public service mandate (Section 10). Provisions for commercial services provided by the Corporation are separate to its public service mandate. Section 13 of the Act states that the President appoints the SABC’s board members on the advice of the National Assembly. The appointment process requires that there be public participation in the nomination of 34 This case study refers to the 2005 draft of the Zambian Electronic Draft Communications Bill Namibia Media Law Audit – report final draft 43