267south Africa Adv

NEWS LESSONS / South African lawmakers approve ‘secrecy bill’ to protect state / Advanced • P H

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S I T E© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2011

South African lawmakers approve ‘secrecy bill’ to protect state

Level 3 Advanced

1. A __________________________ subject, opinion or decision is one that people disagree about or do not

approve of.

2. __________________________ are decisions not to vote in an election or meeting.

3. A __________________________ is someone who reports dishonest or illegal activities to the press or

ofcial organizations.

4. __________________________ is unkindness and showing a strong feeling of wanting to hurt someone.

5. __________________________ is another word for a law, or a set of laws.

6. __________________________ is the political system that existed in the past in South Africa, in which only

white people had political rights and power.

7. __________________________ information is ofcially secret and allowed to be known by only a few people

connected with the government or armed forces.

8. __________________________ is a situation in which someone becomes involved in a particular issue,

problem, etc. in order to inuence what happens.

9. __________________________ are changes made to a law or an agreement.

10. A __________________________ is a public statement in which someone criticizes someone or

something severely.

11. __________________________ is an honest way of doing things that allows other people to know exactly

what you are doing.

12. __________________________ is a strong feeling of anger and shock at something that you feel is wrong

or unfair.

1. Who are Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Jacob Zuma?

2. What does ANC MP stand for?

3. What is the long walk to freedom?

Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text. Take note of their stressed syllable (in

bold). Then fnd them in the article to read them in context.

amendments condemnation outrage inter vention

classied apar theid controver sial maliciousness

legislation transparency abstentions whistleblower

Key words2

Warmer 1


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Level 3 Advanced

South African lawmakers approve

‘secrecy bill’ to protect state

ANC majority vote pushes controversial bill, which

could outlaw whistleblowers and dilute public

interest rights, to upper house

David Smith in Johannesburg

22 November, 2011

A controversial law to protect state secrets has

been approved by South Africa’s parliament,

despite objections from Archbishop Desmond

Tutu, rights organizations, and a group

representing Nelson Mandela.

The African National Congress (ANC) majority

ensured that 229 MPs voted in favour of the

Protection of State Information Bill, with 107 votes

against and two abstentions.

Llewellyn Landers, an ANC MP, said the bill would

not have a public-interest defence clause because

“it would do irrevocable harm to the state and the

people of South Africa if a court should nd that a

whistleblower was found to have given information

not out of public interest but out of maliciousness”.

But rival MPs united against the “secrecy bill”,

legislation that critics argue is the rst piece of

law-making since the end of apartheid to

dismantle a part of South African democracy.

The law would make it a crime to leak, possess

or publish information judged as classied by

the government. Whistleblowers and journalists

could face up to 25 years in jail if found guilty of

such action.

In a rousing speech from the oor on Tuesday,

Lindiwe Mazibuko, Parliamentary Leader of the

opposition Democratic Alliance, warned: “This bill

will criminalize the freedom so many of our people

fought for.

“What will you, the members on that side of the

house, tell your grandchildren one day? I know

you will tell them that you fought for freedom. But

will you also tell them you helped to destroy it?”

In a rare political intervention, the Nelson Mandela

Centre of Memory issued an “expression of

concern” about the bill and proposed four

amendments. Mandela, 93, has always remained

loyal to the ANC, and has almost never intervened

since stepping down as the country’s president.

Tutu said: “It is insulting to all South Africans to be

asked to accept legislation that could be used to

outlaw whistleblowing and investigative journalism

… and that makes the state answerable only to

the state.

“Please hear the warnings of the academics, civil

society leaders, labour representatives, media

corps, and legal and constitutional experts. This law

will do our people and our country a disservice.”

When the bill was passed, editors in the

parliamentary public gallery walked out in protest.

There was swift condemnation within South Africa

and abroad.

The Times of South Africa on Tuesday carried

a black front page with the headline “Not in our

name,” and a statement signed by 15 national

newspaper editors.

Human Rights Watch, in New York, described the

move as “a blow to freedom of expression and

democratic accountability’.

Daniel Bekele, the group’s Africa Director, added:

“The manner in which the government pushed

this bill through parliament, as well as the secrecy

embedded in this legislation, send very worrying

signs about the government’s commitment to

transparency.”

The Helen Suzman Foundation expressed

outrage at the vote. “This marks a low point

in South Africa’s transition to democracy. It

represents a signicant step backwards in the long

walk to freedom to which so many South Africans

have devoted their lives.”

The group Media Monitoring Africa said it had

noted the decision with deep regret and warned

that it would be bad for South Africa and its

international reputation.

The bill will now move to parliament’s upper house

before going to the President, Jacob Zuma, to be

signed into law. It could face a challenge in the

constitutional court.

© Guardian News & Media 2011

First published in The Guardian, 22/11/11

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Find the information3

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Level 3 Advanced

Answer these questions according to the information in the article.

1. Which political party is in power in South Africa?

2. What will the new law do?

3. Why won’t the new law contain a public-interest defence clause?

4. Which groups and organizations have condemned the bill?

5. Why is Archbishop Desmond Tutu against the legislation?


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Match the words on the left with the words on the right to make collocations from the article.

1. state

2. irrevocable

3. public

4. rousing

5. investigative

6. newspaper

7. public

8. democratic

9. international

10. constitutional

a. reputation

b. speech

c. court

d. secrets

e. interest

f. journalism

g. editors

h. harm

i. gallery

j. accountability

Collocations4

Use collocations from task 4 and key words from task 2 when giving your opinion and discussing

the questions below.

• How do you think the introduction of this new bill will affect South Africa’s international reputation?

• The word freedom appears many times in the article. What does freedom mean to you?

a. Complete the names of the groups mentioned in the article.

b. Find out more about one of them and give a three-minute presentation on the group or organization.

Discussion5

Webquest6

1. the African ____________________ Congress

2. the Nelson Mandela Centre of ____________________

3. Human ____________________ Watch

4. the Helen Suzman ____________________

5. ____________________ Monitoring Africa


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Level 3 Advanced

KEY

1 Warmer

1. Nelson Mandela (born 18 July, 1918) served as

President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999 and

was the rst South African president to be elected

in a fully representative democratic election. Before

his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid

activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the

armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC).

Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many

of these years on Robben Island. Following his

release from prison on 11 February, 1990, Mandela

led his party in the negotiations that led to

multi-racial democracy in 1994.

Desmond Tutu (born 7 October, 1931) is a South

African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose

to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent

of apartheid. He was the rst black South African

Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa and primate

(bishop) of the Church of the Province of Southern

Africa (now the Anglican Church of Southern Africa).

Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

Jacob Zuma (born 12 April, 1942) is the President

of South Africa, elected by parliament following his

party’s victory in the 2009 general election. Zuma

is the President of the African National Congress

(ANC), the governing political party.

2. ANC MP = African National Congress Member of

Parliament

3. It is the title of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography.

2 Key words

1. controversial

2. abstentions

3. whistleblower

4. maliciousness

5. legislation

6. apartheid

7. classied

8. intervention

9. amendments

10. condemnation

11. transparency

12. outrage

3 Find the information

1. the ANC

2. protect state secrets by making it illegal for anyone

to leak, possess or publish classied information

3. because some whistleblowers may reveal

information with malicious intent, and so do

irrevocable harm to the state

4. the Democratic Alliance, the Nelson Mandela

Centre of Memory, The Times of South Africa,

Human Rights Watch, the Helen Suzman

Foundation, Media Monitoring Africa

5. because it could be used to outlaw whistleblowing

and investigative journalism, and make the state

answerable only to the state

4 Collocations

1. d

2. h

3. e/i

4. b

5. f

6. g

7. e/i

8. j

9. a

10. c

6 Webquest

1. National

2. Memory

3. Rights

4. Foundation

5. Media

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