New South African law to stifle media

ILikeBananas

A new law has passed the lower house in South Africa

What is in the 'secrecy bill'?

• The bill would give the state the power to classify documents as secret in the "national interest"
• "National interest" defined very broadly, critics say, and could include reports about government corruption and human rights abuses
• Jail terms of up to 25 years for anyone in possession of classified documents or harbouring state secrets
• No public interest clause
• Citizens and journalists treated as foreign spies if found in possession of information deemed a state secret

Archbishop Tutu has come out strongly against this bill which he sees as a return to the apartheid era controls on media. Opponents see it as an attempt by the ANC to stifle stories relating to corruption amonst their senior members.

The BBC's Karen Allen says the bill's critics see it as an assault on a vigorous media, which has drawn attention to allegations of corruption by senior ANC officials.

President Jacob Zuma's spokesman Mac Maharaj has recently filed a lawsuit against South Africa's Mail and Guardian newspaper - preventing it from publishing information linking him to a controversial arms 1999 deal.

The South African media broke the story using secret documents, but under the new law, journalists and their editors could face stiff jail sentences for similar disclosures, correspondents say.

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All major newspapers are opposed to this law.

I believe that this bill shows the utter arrogance of the ANC. They believe that since they are the party of liberation they have free rein to do as they please. South Africa needs a strong media and a strong opposition for the good of its people. Laws like this though put it more in the company of Russia and China. I'm just sorry that Nelson Mandela is still alive to see this.

anymore

It is sad given that South Africa once promised to be a shining beacon for the whole of Africa.

Fr Tod Umptious

No real surprise

All part of the slow but inevitable journey to becoming the new Zimbabwe