WikiLeaks no security threat: Gov
“Our assessment of the content thereof does not point to any national security threat and we will continue to monitor developments going forward,” said government spokesman Themba Maseko in reply to questions on the controversy.
A note on Wikileaks’ homepage read: “Wikileaks began on Sunday November 28th publishing 251,287 leaked United States embassy cables, the largest set of confidential documents ever to be released into the public domain. The documents will give people around the world an unprecedented insight into US government foreign activities.”
The site offers the user the opportunity to select an event in their country and then search for a mention of the event in the cables.
They date from 1966 to February 2010, and “contain confidential communications between 274 embassies in countries throughout the world and the State Department in Washington DC”.
Over 15,652 of the cables are classified secret, according to Wikileaks.
They claim that they show “the extent of US spying on its allies and the UN; turning a blind eye to corruption and human rights abuse in “client states”; backroom deals with supposedly neutral countries; lobbying for US corporations; and the measures US diplomats take to advance those who have access to them”.
So far, the latest wave of wikileaks mentions South Africa in the context of former president Nelson Mandela being upset at not being able to meet with former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher to discuss her policy of “constructive engagement” in the dying days of apartheid, and discussions on how Mandela would be released from prison, according to Independent Online.
The information, based on cables from US ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell in 2007, also mention an assessment of Zimbabwean leaders Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai and Dell writing that former president Thabo Mbeki was apparently running low on patience with Mugabe when he was trying to mediate a settlement for that country’s political crisis.
Maseko said government had noted the ongoing issue around Wikileaks and considered it a matter of the US foreign policy, for which South Africa had no authority to take action.
“The South African government has not and will not block access to the site.”
Other countries mentioned in the over 250,000 cables include Russia, Argentina, Iraq, Italy, Haiti and Canada.
Sapa was unable to access the documents on the site on Wednesday with a message indicating that the interactive content could not be found.
Wikileaks says it offers a way of anonymously leaking information to its journalists to an electronic drop box or in person “so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth”. They then set about verifying the information.
South Africa is currently in the throes of passing a law that critics fear will allow the classification of more government information than is necessary.
Wikileaks has been cited as an alternative outlet that whistleblowers could use, and an example of the futility of over classification.
In another development, news agencies reported on Wednesday that Swedish police would issue a new arrest warrant for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for alleged rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion.
Assange’s whereabouts were not publicly known on Thursday afternoon.
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