Members of the South African parliament yesterday were almost certain to pass what is officially called the Protection of State Information bill, otherwise known as the “secrecy bill.”
The African National Congress (ANC) says it needs to update apartheid-era legislation safeguarding “valuable information by all organs of state” and has been emboldened by the revelations of wrongdoing at the News of the World and the crisis of press regulation in Britain.
However, opposition parties, civil society groups and the media warn of an existential threat to freedom of expression, a pillar of the progressive Constitution drawn up under former South African president Nelson Mandela. The Congress of South African Trade Unions, usually an ANC ally, claims the bill puts too much power in the hands of government.
Critics donned black and staged protests at the ANC’s downtown Johannesburg headquarters during morning rush hour yesterday, saying the bill was open to abuse because officials can broadly interpret its “national interest” justification for keeping information secret.
An editorial in the bestselling Sunday Times said: “The South African public will be deprived of the vital oxygen of free information.”
Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu yesterday urged lawmakers to reject the bill, saying: “The Protection of State Information is not only flawed, it is insulting to all South Africans to be asked to stomach legislation that could be used to outlaw whistle-blowing and investigative journalism.”
“This is not to suggest that those presently holding the reins of power intend to use the legislation to muzzle anyone or to cover anything up,” Tutu said. “But, equally, there are presently a sufficient number of investigations [to the credit of government] into alleged corruption by members of this and previous governments to warrant treading with extra care.”
A war of words has raged between the two camps for more than a year. On one level, the vigorous debate suggests a teenage democracy in rude health. On another, the anger and insults have exposed an ugliness within South Africa’s body politic.
The ANC has dominated party politics for 17 years, gaining almost double the votes of all its rivals combined. The media enjoy probably greater freedom than any other country in Africa and is seen by some as an unofficial opposition. South Africa’s energetic and vocal civil society movements are seen as vital in providing checks and balances to the distribution of power.
The ANC is now attempting to muzzle the press, critics say, so the powerful can line their pockets with impunity. The new laws would make it a crime to leak, possess or publish information deemed classified by the government, with whistleblowers and journalists facing up to 25 years in jail.
A government source told the Guardian recent events in Britain had given the ANC confidence to override the storm of opposition.
“Phone hacking showed that not even Britain can make press self-regulation work,” he said. “We find it very telling that no South African editors have come out and said they never hack phones.”
The bill is likely to be steamrollered through parliament, although it must then go to a national council of provinces and survive court challenges, before being signed into law by South African President Jacob Zuma.
Activists have vowed to fight to the bitter end, with the Right2Know Campaign organizing pickets around the country yesterday.
The National Press Club urged protesters to wear black clothing or a black ribbon or armband on “Black Tuesday” — the name of the campaign refers to Black Wednesday on Oct. 19, 1977, when the apartheid government banned two newspapers and 19 black consciousness movements after the death of activist Steve Biko.
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