The government’s proposed laws restricting the speech of civil servants, NGOs and journalists may be the thin edge of the wedge that threatens freedom in general, says Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon.
In his weekly newsletter published on the DA’s SA Today website, he said it is ”well past time” the African National Congress and President Thabo Mbeki learn to deal with vociferous criticism.
”The most alarming recent example of the ANC’s hostility to free speech was last week’s threat by the government to create new, Zimbabwe-style media laws aimed at clamping down on journalists, NGOs and whistleblowers in the public service.
”The threats came after newspapers carried reports by an NGO, Earthlife Africa, which documented reports about high nuclear radiation levels in the vicinity of Pelindaba.
”President Mbeki called the allegations ‘reckless’ and ‘regrettable’, and Minister of Minerals and Energy Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka warned that the government was considering ‘strengthening the law, so if people make such allegations there is a sanction’.
”Minerals and Energy Department spokesperson Yvonne Mfolo elaborated on the government’s plans this week, announcing that the government will be creating new rules and regulations to gag whistleblowers and the journalists who report their claims.
”Mfolo told reporters: ‘Anybody who could act irresponsibly, making utterances that seek to incite and get people to rise up in arms, causing panic, will be targeted,”’ Leon said.
What was immediately striking about Mfolo’s threat was her use of violent language — as if speaking out were an act of sedition, and whistleblowers a kind of paramilitary force, determined to ”rise up in arms” and overthrow the government by force.
Sinister aspect
A more sinister prospect was Mfolo’s use of conditional language, her warning that ”anybody who could act irresponsibly … will be targeted”.
”In other words, the government is apparently claiming the power to take pre-emptive action against anyone it suspects of being a potential whistleblower. This would allow it to purge the civil service of anyone it doesn’t like, for whatever reason.
”Anyone bold enough to raise legitimate concerns about government policies, and anyone who shows the slightest tendency to think independently, would be at risk of losing his or her job.
”The results would be disastrous, not just for freedom of speech, but for the quality of service delivery in our country,” Leon said.
Rules and laws protecting whistleblowers are key to fighting corruption in any society.
”If the government has nothing to hide, it should welcome transparency. If allegations turn out to be false, the government has recourse to the courts; there is no need for sweeping new laws or regulations.”
Ordinary South Africans already face the threat of public condemnation from Mbeki if they dared to speak out against the government’s policies on Aids, poor service delivery, crime and other pressing issues.
”Now civil servants, NGOs and journalists are being told by the government that they will be made to ‘speak responsibly on sensitive matters’, which means, in effect, not to speak at all.”
The government’s proposals threaten to take South Africa back to the censorship of the apartheid era, Leon said. Media restrictions of even the mildest sort are a grave threat.
”The danger is that the government’s proposed laws restricting the speech of civil servants, NGOs and journalists might be the thin edge of the wedge that threatens freedom in general.
”It is well past time that the ANC and the president learned to deal with vociferous criticism,” Leon said. — Sapa