State owned media is a recipe for dictatorship

(Dan Calderwood, News24)

The South African Protection of State Information Bill, formerly named the Protection of Information Bill and commonly referred to as the Secrecy Bill, is a highly controversial piece of proposed legislation which aims to regulate the classification, protection and dissemination of state information, weighing state interests up against transparency and freedom of expression



As a journalist the information bill will be detrimental in carrying out the duties of media houses. The South African Constitution stipulates that media houses are there as a watch dog over our government and to deepen democracy.


State owned media is a recipe for dictatorship that has been witnessed in China, Zimbabwe and North Korea. State owned media can be used for propaganda by government, that we have witnessed in the world in countries like Venezuela, United State of America, Zimbabwe, North Korea etc. media house and media reporting should be free, out of the hands of government to fulfil its primary objective on behalf of all South Africans and be an objective voice to the voiceless.

(Dan Calderwood, News24)

Media Houses are the eyes of the South African Society, we as journalists choose what is the best news for the people of South Africa. There is no way that society can be informed about critical happenings of society except via news rooms. Such a role cannot be fulfilled with State officials threatening reporters for revealing information that is classified on grounds of public interest, there will be serious series of limited access of information.

Some studies saw Mali and Ghana as countries with more media freedom than South Africa. South African media should be self regulated; secrecy bill will infringe South African reporters to information accessibility. It is the journalists that know exactly what is in the public interest. Attention has been drawn to the severe penalties included in the bill for leaking documents, which entail jail terms of up to 25 years.


Senior state incumbents represent the people of South Africa therefore should enforce public beliefs. There are s many organizations forming part of the South African society opposing secrecy bill, that should be valued by government. The Right2Know campaign (a coalition of nearly 400 civil society organisations and community groups), Congress of the South African Trade Union, opposition political parties in South Africa, SANEF (South Africa National Editors’ Forum); the Nelson Mandela Foundation, as well as international advocacy organisations such as Committee for the Protection of Journalists and Human Rights Watch. The Senate of the University of the Witwatersrand issued a statement identifying how the bill would pose "deep threats to fundamental principles" enshrined in the constitution, impacting democracy in South Africa by undermining access to information and freedom of speech.