Vote set on controversial secrets bill
South Africa needs to update apartheid-era legislation, African National Congress says
Johannesburg: South Africa's parliament prepared yesterday for a vote today on a state secrets bill that critics within and outside the governing party said would smother freedom of expression and make it harder to fight corruption.
The African National Congress (ANC), which holds a majority of parliament's seats, sponsored the bill, making it likely it would become law.
The ANC said South Africa needs to update apartheid-era legislation defining state secrets and imposing penalties for their disclosure. The party bristles at suggestions from critics that its proposal would take the country back to the days of white rule, when the government banned newspapers and punished whistle-blowers to stifle criticism of its policies.
‘Foregone conclusion'
Yousuf Abramjee, chairman of South Africa's National Press Club, said it was "a foregone conclusion" the bill would become law, and legal experts were already preparing to challenge the measure before the Constitutional Court.
"The bottom line is, our rights under the constitution are being infringed," Abramjee said yesterday. He added that journalists planned to wear black to parliament during today's vote to protest the bill.
In June, the ANC backed down on some of its original proposals, responding to months of criticism from newspaper editors, prominent writers, church groups, freedom of expression lobbyists, business leaders and others. Prominent ANC members also have opposed the bill, among them a former state security minister. The changes included removing mandatory prison sentences for possessing and publishing secrets — though reporters and others could still be jailed for publishing information that officials want kept secret. The ANC also agreed to limit the power to classify secrets to state security agencies, and proposed that an independent official review appeals of state security rulings on classified information.
While those amendments were welcomed, the National Press Club was among those calling for more concessions, including a provision allowing those who break the law to avoid going to jail if they could argue they acted in the public interest.
