South Africa's Government Sucks

Oh, wait. I'm not allowed to say stuff like that anymore. Or at least not for very much longer. This Tuesday, 22 November, the Protection of State Information Bill was passed. This means that the government will soon be able to hide information from the public in order to regulate information regarding the state. So, limiting freedom of speech essentially.

This one takes the cake for not learning from previous mistakes. I mean, seriously? After going through Apartheid, our still-developing democracy is going to be undermined. South Africa seems to have a history and a habit of not heeding the majority of public opinion (again, exhibit X - the Apartheid era). So many people have gone against this bill, calling it Black Tuesday. This is taken from the previous Black Wednesday in Apatheid where certain newspapers, organizations and people were banned.

That's not the only parallel to be observed. Part of being free is being able to say what you want about anything (as long as it's not blatantly offensive to any individual or group). Especially regarding the government. The government is voted in by the people. Thus, the people deserve to know what the government is up to. If the government is able to hide whatever they wish from the public, it disallows for constructive critique and scrutiny.

It is already not that easy to keep up with all the political riff-raff that goes on. With certain knowledge being withheld, corruption becomes far easier. Public figures will be able to get away with murder (or take another 3 wives) without the media being able to report it.

In all fairness, the bill says that it works in favour of "national interest". But let's be serious. Nation interest is dependent on perspective and is too vague. That's a nice, big loophole to jump through. And public figures like Malema are well trained (jump, deny, deny, accuse, jump).

It's been shown that satire can expose injustices in government. Just earlier I was watching V for Vendetta (2005), and I was shocked at what I saw. I saw a translation of a future in South Africa where the government controls all through falsehood and omitting vital information. Satire often keeps the government under wraps, especially cartoons. Zapiro's way of illustrating government failures and shortcomings is comprehensible, humorous and true.

But this Act will see the end of that. Is this the freedom that thousands died for? Some freedom. Limited. Controlled. Corrupt.