Extract from the Human Rights Watch World Report 2011 chapter on South Africa:

Freedom of Expression

Two separate but interrelated developments in 2010 led to widespread criticism and concern that the government is trying to limit freedom of expression. Ahead of its policy conference in September the ruling African National Congress party (ANC) resurrected a 2007 resolution pushing for the establishment of a Media Appeals Tribunal, arguing that media cannot be counted on to regulate themselves, and that "freedom of the press is not an absolute right and must be balanced against individuals' rights to privacy and human dignity."

The ANC's proposal seeks to establish a regulatory mechanism accountable to the ANC-dominated Parliament, which would constitute a back-door path to censorship and suppression of dissent.

On August 4 Mzilikazi Wa-Afrika, a prominent journalist with the Sunday Times who had exposed corruption by officials, was arrested without a warrant by 20 policemen in six vans. He was then taken to a secret location in Mpumalanga and interrogated at 2 a.m. without a lawyer.

The police also searched his home and took notebooks without a search warrant. Wa-Afrika was eventually released on R5,000 (US$725) bail after his newspaper went to the High Court; the charges cited upon his arrest have since been dropped. The incident heightened fears that such politically motivated intimidation of the press could become the norm if the ANC-proposed tribunal is established.

In April 2010 the Department of State Security tabled a draft of the Protection of Information Bill (PIB) for parliamentary consideration. In 2008 Parliament first tabled and rejected the bill-which aims to replace the existing, expansive 1982 apartheid-era law that prevents and penalizes disclosure of state secrets-for being too draconian. Parliament instructed the Department of State Security to revise the bill in line with the constitution. But when it was re-presented in July 2010, offending elements of the bill had been retained and even made harsher.

The PIB currently gives the government sweeping powers to classify information and impose jail terms of up to 25 years for publishing classified information. It sets no limits on which officials or state bodies can classify information, and has no clear criteria for classifying information. The bill also extends the protection of secrecy to commercial entities, exempts intelligence agencies from scrutiny, and imposes serious punitive measures against those who disclose information.

If enacted as currently written, the bill would seriously impede the free flow of information, erode the right of access to information, and violate key constitutional provisions. The Right to Know Campaign, which represents a broad spectrum of civil society groups, has pressured to squash the bill in its current form. Parliament gave the adhoc committee tasked with finalizing the bill until January 28, 2011 to incorporate all inputs and present a final draft.

Source: Human Rights Watch

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