By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Fikile Mbalula says, they will advise president Cyril Ramaphosa not to sign the Copyright Amendment Bill.
The bill was introduced to Parliament by the Department of Trade and Industry in 2017 in order to modernise South Africa’s copyright laws, which had been in place since 1978.
Opposition parties have, however, have protested against the bill and artists have also said the proposed legislation would weaken copyright regulations and harm their livelihood.
Mbalula and other senior ANC members were at a sub-committee gathering of the ANC with the creative industry on Saturday.
“We will advise the president not to sign the Copyright Amendment Bill in doing so we are enjoined by the letter from Yvone Chaka Chaka to the president that explicitly states the same that is pending through consultations,” he said.
Mbalula said the bill in its current form needed more consultations and this includes the view of people in the creative sector.
“We cannot afford to go ahead and promulgate a price of legislation that one party believes it is grossly unfair it is our considered view that non but the creative sector can best tell what is in the interest of this broad field,” Mbalula said.
Mbalula reminded those gathered at the meeting that South African artists had played a big role in the struggle for freedom.
He reminded the artists that they were important in ensuring the continuing growth of South Africa’s democracy and diversity.
“You carry on your shoulders the burden to define our unique identity and culture as a nation,” Mbalula said.
South African courts have decided that intellectual property rights, including copyright, are considered as property, and that a copyright exception is an expropriation of property. Legislating a new copyright exception therefore has to be justified under the Constitution’s Bill of Rights.
South Africa is also a party to international treaties that have South African copyright recognised in most other countries of the world and vice versa. These treaties have basic principles that a member state’s copyright exceptions must meet.
Mbalula also said the governing party is confident in its bid to have the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party deregistered as he took a swipe at former president Jacob Zuma.
The ANC and MK are embroiled in a legal battle, with case set to be heard by the Electoral Court, sitting in Bloemfontein, this coming Tuesday.
In their court papers, the ANC has contended that the MK’s logo resembled the ruling party’s former armed wing, uMkhonto weSizwe, which was disbanded in 1993.
The MK party’s registration as a political party was approved by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) last year, but the ANC has argued that the process was unlawful.
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