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The Democratic Alliance in the Northern Cape recorded our dissent to the Performers’ Protection and Copyright Amendment Bills last week.

When the Portfolio Committee on Finance, Economic Development & Tourism met to decide whether to give a mandate to the Northern Cape’s delegate at the National Council of Provinces to support or reject the legislative amendments, we raised our concerns. We believe that our artists and creators are worthy of stronger protection, in line with international best practice. This is particularly important for a culturally rich province like the Northern Cape, with its unique Nama and San languages.

Neither of these bills will meet this intended goal and instead fail to represent the best interests of artists and creators properly. The Copyright Amendment Bill, for example, still does not have a proper Socio-Economic Impact Assessment System to calculate what impact the bill will have on different industries.

We commend the Western Cape Provincial Parliament for giving their delegate a strong mandate to reject these bills. The negative impact on artists and content creators with the proposed amendments to legislation is significant and we should not be forced into adopting substandard proposals simply because the end of Parliament’s term is drawing near.

Issued by Fawzia Rhoda, MPL - DA Northern Cape Provincial Spokesperson on Finance