Business Day reports that South Africa’s contentious Protection of Information Bill (aka the Secrecy Bill) has been pushed through parliament due to the ruling ANC party outvoting the opposition on 2 September.
Although the ANC made some important concessions to the bill recently, the absence of a “public interest defence’ clause is of deep concern. This means that anyone found in possession of classified information will face a minimum sentence of five years in jail.
The ANC still insists that the bill is constitutional despite the fact that it severely limits freedom of the press in terms of journalists and other citizens who want to investigate alleged state corruption and abuse of power.
