After the end of apartheid and the wholly democratic election of a new government in 1994, South Africa was hailed as a beacon for democracy. Its new constitution was even widely celebrated as one of the world’s most progressive. Since then it is safe to say the nation has struggled to deliver on the promises made by its leaders to alleviate the poverty in which millions of its citizens live. Despite these ongoing struggles, however, South Africans have fought vigorously for a more equal and free society and won many battles.

On Tuesday, unfortunately, they lost a crippling one.

With a vote of 229-107, the ANC majority in Parliament passed what’s come to be known as “The Secrecy Bill,” a controversial piece of legislation allowing the state to classify documents as secret in the interest of ‘national security.’ The bill also says that anyone in possession of these secret documents could face a jail sentence of up to 25 years. Even further, the bill doesn’t contain a public interest clause so journalists and whistleblowers have no defense for exposing government secrets, including corruption.

In a country hailed all over the world for its largely peaceful transition to democracy just 17 years ago, this is an unequivocal slap in the face to all who spent their lives fighting for equality and human rights for all South Africans.

Fortunately there is substantial civil and governmental opposition to the bill and this is definitely cause for hope that it will not be signed into law next year as currently planned. Mass protests were staged all over the country on Tuesday, which was deemed “Black Tuesday” by the South African news media and the opposition parties in Parliament are planning to petition the Constitutional Court to review the bill’s constitutionality.

Archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Desmund Tutu summarized the collective feelings of South Africans describing the move by the ANC as “insulting to all South Africans to be asked to stomach legislation that could be used to outlaw whistle-blowing and investigative journalism… and that makes the state answerable only to the state.”

I would argue, however, that the bill is insulting not only to South Africans, but also to proponents of democracy everywhere; and it has to be stopped.

Tags: ANC, Archbishop Desmund Tutu, Democracy, Secrecy Bill, South Africa