Secrecy Bill and the Constitutional Court

Just before the second reading vote on the Protection of (State) Information Bill on Tuesday, 22 November 2011, leader of the Democratic Alliance in Parliament Lindiwe Mazibuko urged MPs in the ruling party not to vote for it.

"If passed, this bill will unstitch the very fabric of our Constitution," she said. "It will criminalise the freedoms that so many of our people fought for. What will you, the members on that side of the House, tell your grandchildren one day?"

The ANC's single-party majority saw the bill steamrollered through by 229 votes to 107 (with two abstensions).

...Not surprisingly, the chairman of the ad-hoc committee on the POIB and ANC MP Luwellyn Landers says he is confident the bill is constitutional as it stands.

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