Series of bills highlights why South Africans need to be vigilant against the steady encroachment on free speech.

There are four bills in parliament that are, directly or indirectly, hostile to freedom of expression. The nature, poor drafting and hostility of these bills towards our rights says a lot about the state of our government and its political intentions.

These four bills are just some of a wide range of threats to free expression highlighted in a report released this week by the Campaign for Free Expression. Titled “The Landscape is Darkening”, it points to “several worrying trends, including the impact of systematic corruption and maladministration, a negative approach to rights in legislative proposals, and how violence, including targeting killings, is used to limit free expression”. ..