Secrecy laws planned for South Africa fundamentally threaten free speech and investigative journalism, and could have a chilling effect on the rest of Africa, a united front of human rights lawyers, newspaper editors and Nobel prize-winning writers have warned in interviews.
The protection of state information bill — nicknamed the “secrecy bill” — envisages draconian penalties of up to 25 years in prison for whistleblowers and journalists who possess, leak or publish state secrets. It has been described as the first piece of legislation since the end of apartheid in 1994 to undermine South Africa’s democracy.
Opponents of the bill fear that, with South Africa often regarded as a beacon of democracy and freedom on the continent, it could be used as an excuse by repressive African regimes for renewed crackdowns on journalists and activists.
Among those to attack the proposed legislation is J.M. Coetzee, a Nobel laureate and double Booker prizewinner, making a rare public intervention.
“The legislation is transparently intended to make life difficult for pesky investigative journalists, and generally to save incompetent or corrupt bureaucrats from being embarrassed,” Coetzee said in an e-mail. “Its sponsors have very likely been emboldened by the push that has taken place all over the Western world since 2001 to erect a wall of secrecy around the more dubious actions of the state, and to make it a crime to breach that wall.”
Coetzee joins fellow Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer in calling global attention to measures they believe are calculated to help the government conceal evidence of corruption.
Gordimer, whose books were banned under white minority rule, said: “It is quite obvious why this bill has come about — the government is making no attempt to hide the truth that its intention is to aid the cover-up of corruption.”
“I wrote during the apartheid regime and I fought against the apartheid regime. Three of my books were banned. What we are doing now is going back to apartheid censorship under a new guise,” she said.
Today, South Africa boasts arguably the freest press in Africa, with no shortage of revelations about shady deals or satirical cartoons lampooning politicians’ foibles. Freedom of expression has been protected under the constitution. But opponents of the bill believe the gains of the last 18 years are under threat and warn that the rest of the continent is watching.
Andrew Feinstein, a former African National Congress (ANC) member of parliament whose exposure of a corrupt multibillion-pound arms deal might have resulted in his prosecution under the new laws, said: “I think for many countries in Africa the comparison is always made with South Africa as this bright shining star of democracy. If that comparison no longer holds, it lets a lot of other countries off the hook.”
Nic Dawes, editor of South Africa’s Mail & Guardian newspaper, said: “We’re already hearing from people elsewhere on the continent that their politicians and government officials are saying to them: ‘You see, they’re even doing this in South Africa, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be doing it here.’ That’s one of the most dangerous things about the bill: the excuse it will give to other countries elsewhere in the region, that had been opening up, to begin to tip in the other direction. It’s really very disturbing.”
South Africa is feeling the repercussions of the phone-hacking saga, Dawes added.
“Almost every time that I have a discussion with someone about either the protection of state information bill or the ANC’s proposals for statutory media regulation, the British phone-hacking scandal is brought up as an example of why these kinds of moves are necessary,” he said.
The governing ANC defends the bill as a necessary update to laws made 30 years ago during apartheid. The party claims it will tighten national security and is not aimed at the media. The bill is under review by South Africa’s parliament and, following pressure from activists, has already been subject to many revisions.
However, hopes of a climbdown on the bill were dashed on Wednesday when the state security department rejected amendments proposed by the ANC. Dennis Dlomo, the department’s acting director-general, rejected calls to limit the power of the ministry to delegate classification powers, reduce penalties and limit the heavy onus placed on the accused.
In response Alf Lees, an MP for the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, asked: “The department surely does not want to create the impression that it wishes to protect alleged criminals or punish those who earnestly expose corrupt and criminal behavior?”
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number