Twenty-three civil society and media organisations are urging Chief Justice Mandisa Maya to consider measures to safeguard against the excessive use of gagging orders imposed on Open Secrets.

The civil society and media organisations wrote to Maya to express concern, urging her to issue guidance to judicial officers reaffirming the presumption of open justice and cautioning against the harmful effects of pre-publication interdicts.

On Monday, Open Secrets issued a statement saying it couldn’t speak on a matter of significant public importance.

“We are not permitted to disclose anything related to the matter including the names of the parties that may be involved. What we can say is simple: efforts to muzzle public-interest journalism endanger everyone’s right to know,” it said.

The civil society organisations want Maya to encourage judicial education on balancing rights to freedom of expression, media freedom, privacy and reputation.

Open Secrets has been prohibited even from sharing the court order or discussing any details such as the date it was granted, the judge who granted it, or the court which issued the order.

“But there can be no mistaking its breadth: Open Secrets is effectively silenced, not only prevented from reporting, but from even explaining why it cannot do so,” the organisations stated.

They said the order undermined South Africa’s constitutional commitment to open justice and the public’s right to know.

“Moreover, the breadth of the order immunises those who seek it, and the court granting it, from scrutiny, and so strikes at the very transparency on which public confidence in the judiciary depends”, write the organisations.

They added that the Open Secrets matter is not an isolated case.

“Reports suggest that similarly sweeping gagging orders are being more frequently sought, and granted, against journalists and civil society actors. If left unchecked, this pattern risks chilling public-interest investigation and eroding public confidence in the judiciary,” they warned.