South Africa’s Parliament passes controversial ‘secrecy bill’

Cape Town. South Africa’s Parliament has passed a controversial “secrecy bill”, which activists and opposition groups say will rob the country some of its hard-won freedoms.The country’s legislative body, dominated by the ruling African National Congress (ANC), adopted the Protection of State Information Bill on Thursday after a fierce debate, with 189 votes in support of it, 74 against and one absent vote.During debate in Parliament, both the government and the opposition agreed that the Bill had been “improved” since it was first tabled in the House in 2008. But the Parliament Leader of the Opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party, Lindiwe Mazibuko, continued to describe it as unconstitutional since it would still pave the way for Parliament to meddle in the record keeping by provincial archives.The fact remains that this Bill is still flawed because Parliament does not have the power to legislate on matters which are exclusive provincial competences,” she said. “From the beginning, the Bill ought to have been tagged as a Section 76 bill to allow for proper provincial scrutiny.”The Bill now awaits the signature of President Jacob Zuma for it to become law. South Africa’s Mail & Guardian newspaper noted that Section 79 of the country’s Constitution allows the president to refer the Bill back to the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces for reconsideration.