An unnamed judge has issued a prepublication gag order against Open Secrets. (Illustration: Lisa Nelson)
Open Secrets, an organisation that exposes economic crimes and human rights abuses, has been issued with a prepublication gag order. This is according to a statement released by the organisation on Monday.
While there have been several such gag orders in recent years, all of which have been subsequently overturned or rendered moot, this one appears to be especially draconian.
The gag order bars the organisation from disclosing anything related to a matter of “significant public importance”, according to Open Secrets. This includes the names of the parties involved. Not even the judge’s name or the court where the gag order was issued may be published.
“What we can say is simple: efforts to muzzle public-interest journalism endanger everyone’s right to know,” said Open Secrets.
Despite the constitutional protection for freedom of expression and media freedom in South Africa, high court judges have issued prepublication gag orders against journalists at least twice this year.
In March, GroundUp reported on a gag order granted by Acting Judge Perlene Bramdhew. The order prevented an IOL journalist and others from making claims about a KZN solar panel company, ARTsolar. These claims suggested the company misrepresented itself by claiming to manufacture solar panels locally, when, in fact, it was importing most of them.
The journalist who was going to report on these allegations was not present or represented in the court when the interdict was granted. This is known as an ex parte order. While we cannot be certain, it is likely the order against Open Secrets was also ex parte.
ARTsolar eventually withdrew the case.
Acting Judge Mpumelelo Sibisi granted a gag order in June against the investigative TV outfit Carte Blanche, which was planning to broadcast allegations of malpractice against a cardiologist, Dr Ntando Peaceman Duze. The order was eventually overturned.
In these cases, the push for prior restraint did not come from government officials, but from private actors.
“In all the above cases, it’s a combination of private sector actors, zealous advocates and magistrates or acting judges with a poor understanding of the Constitution and judicial precedent,” GroundUp editors wrote in a July 2025 article.
Open Secrets urged private corporations and actors to end strategic lawsuits against public participation (Slapps) and intimidation, to disclose information that is of public interest, and respect the watchdog role of public interest media and the press.
There is legal precedent that gag orders should rarely be granted. In 2007, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled the press should not be stopped in advance from reporting a story, unless there are highly exceptional circumstances. This precedent was relied on by Judge Roland Sutherland in the widely publicised press freedom case in which businessman Zunaid Moti tried to stop amaBhungane from publishing about him.
In the 2007 Supreme Court of Appeal case, Judge Robert Nugent stated that “unless the fact-specific circumstances convincingly demonstrate that the public interest is not served by such publication,” a court should not censor the press before publication.
Open Secrets will challenge the gag order with help from attorneys at Power Law Africa, an alliance of public interest law firms.
GroundUp understands that Open Secrets can bring a counter-application within 24 hours, but without further knowledge of the details, we cannot be sure how the process will unfold, or even what stage it is at.
“Open Secrets will not be cowed by attempts to silence our investigations,” its statement read. “If we succeed in this legal challenge, you will be the first to know what we have uncovered.” DM
First published by GroundUp.