Hon Chairperson and members, maybe we should note that the Performers' Protection Act that is at present applicable was adopted in 1967 and this Act is meant to provide economic rights and moral rights for actors. This is critical because the performer who is central to the success of any fixation in audiovisual works or sound recordings is usually exploited in the process or his or her performance and very often treated unfairly. We do not have to go far; we have our mother of music in the continent, the ambassador of South Africa, Mama Miriam Makeba, who has not been protected. The target group of this Bill
therefore is to provide actors, musicians, dancers or other person who acts, sings, delivers, declaims, plays in, or otherwise performs literary works, musical works, artistic works, dramatic works, or traditional works. Hon Khawula, traditional works. We noted that the challenges that this Bill is trying to address has plagued our country for centuries and therefore we as members of the select committee, particularly those in the ANC, who bring this to you with the full support of those members that were in the meeting, wants to say that, these atrocities that we are talking about must be addressed. The Bill seeks to address the challenges from an outdated Act. It became effective - this outdated Act of 1967 - before television existed in South Africa, and is not aligned to global trends and developments as well as other global treaties.
We have had the effective participation of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, CIPC, and also the Copyright Tribunal in the development of this legislation. So, once again, as members of this Fifth Parliament, we are not only looking at producing legislation but also looking at the implementation possibilities of the Bill. The CIPC and the Copyright Tribunal gave us the assurance that they will make sure that it happens. With our ratification of the Beijing Treaty this Bill offers great opportunities for South African performers. We have a big problem with collecting societies in our country. I shared
with members of the committee how on Human Rights Day last week Thursday I visited a Mr Santu Mofokeng. He is sitting in a wheelchair and his collecting society has done him in. And he is but one of many actors that not only die - hon Rayi - as paupers but attempted to take their own lives because they are not protected. As this Parliament we are saying, that time is over. We are providing protection to those who contribute towards the culture of our society, those who through music make us happy; those who through their performances on television screens and in movies lift us up with our children. Therefore, we want to conclude by saying to this House that we have looked thoroughly at the content of this Bill and we are excited about what is contained in it. I therefore thank you for the opportunity to request that we vote in favour of this Bill. I present it on behalf of the select committee Chair. Thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Declarations of vote:
Hon Chairperson, hon members, fellow South Africans, the DA acknowledge that there is a great need to update legislation regarding the rights of performers especially taking international developments into consideration, this Bill is not in a condition to be passed and enacted. Rushing through legislation for incentives should
not be the objective but should rather be properly considered and passed in the national interest. South Africa should seek a Performers Protection Act that parallels the Beijing Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, WPPT. This Bill is will not meet these benchmarks. The Beijing Treaty and the WPPT cover equitable remuneration for performers.
This Bill undermines and possibly removes the freedom of contract to the disadvantage of both the performer and producer, also making it incredibly difficult for producers to make investment decisions. The Bill challenges contractual freedom: the key content of the agreements will be largely determined by the Minister, leading to heightened investor anxiety as producers will not have freedom to construct contracts in accordance with the will of the parties. Sections of the Bill make rights of authors inalienable, and so watertight, that the rights cannot be used resulting in producers becoming more selective and contracting only with top calibre or "safe" talent, thereby reducing opportunities for other new artists. While this Bill is progress in the right direction, it is not enough to achieve the goals of its intended purpose. This Bill gives the Minister and government too much power when it comes to the relationship between an artist and their producer. While this Bill is progress in the right direction, it is not enough to achieve the goals of its intended purpose. This Bill
gives the Minister and government too much power when it comes to the relationship between an artist and their producer.
The DA understands the hardships faced by performers and artists and why they feel this Bill should be supported. However, history has proven that supporting a bad Bill can have consequences in the future. The DA would rather wish to bring forward the private member's Bill that would address the matter of royalties. It is because of the rushed and sloppy nature of this Bill's legislative process, among many other factors, the DA cannot support this Bill. I thank you Chairperson.
Hon Chairperson, firstly I would like to indicate that, as a committee, we received a lot of e-mails from the performers who are supporting this Bill and encouraging us to pass this Bill, big documents of e-mails that we received from the performers. There is an actor who acted in Emzini Wezinsizwa, I was disappointed when I saw him in a DA t-shirt. I hope he is watching this debate and see what the DA is saying about them. But I will also further invite the performers of South Africa to go on to page 24 of the ANC manifesto and see what the ANC is saying about creative workers.
Going back to the declaration, the Performers' Protection Amendment Bill is about the performer and his or her right to protection and to
maximise the economic exploitation of the rights provided in the Bill regarding his or her fixated performance. Performers are crucial to the national expression, and they form part of our daily existence. They are part of the fabric of society, its heritage and history. The Performers' Protection Act of 1967 became effective before television in South Africa and it is not aligned to global trends and developments as well as global treaties. The law is more than 50 years old, as the chairperson of the select committee was indicating. The creative industry has become synonymous with the challenges that include unfair contracts, resulting in the continuous signing away of the economic rights by musicians. The performers have not received royalties over time despite the continued use of their performances. For some performers, their rights to have their images represented as they prefer, are violated. The law is not aligned to global trends which impacted on the economic rights they could benefit from South Africa being party to international treaties. Sadly, many of our performers do not reap the benefits that they are entitled and live in poverty despite their fixated performances being repeated on television and even sold overseas to other broadcasters in the audiovisual industry for example.
The content of the Bill, the key features of the Performers' Protection Amendment Bill include the provision for the Minister ... [Time expired.] The ANC supports this Bill.
IsiZulu:
Yebo! Yebo! Yebo! Shayani izandla. [Ubuwelewele.] Sihlalo ohloniphekile, ngiqale ngokusho nje ukuthi ngiyacabanga ukuthi kufuneka simbonge uMtwana wakwaPhindangene. Umangabe abahlonishwa abafana nomhlonishwa u-Makue sebekwazi ukukhuluma kahle kanje ngokuvikelwa kwesintu namalungelo amasiko ethu nezinto zethu kusho ukuthi uMtwana ...
English:
... is a very good teacher, hon Makue, having taught you and for you to speak so well and to make that reference to the IFP, I am very happy.
IsiZulu:
Kodwa-ke okubalulekile ukuthi angisho ukuthi iqembu leNkatha liwusekela ngokugcwele loMthethosivivinyo. Hheyi! Baxhashaziwe abantu bakithi ikakhulukazi kusifundazwe engisuka kusona KwaZulu-Natal. Baxhaphazekile abantu bakithi ikakhulukazi abantu abaxhaphazekile abangamaciko abantu abampisholo ngenxa yokungavikeleki kwamalungelo abo ezinto zabo
abazisungulele zona bese zithathwa ziyohweba ngaphandle zenze izigidigidi. Abahlonishwa uma bengakhumbulu nje ukuthi Imbube ike yadala umdonsizwano ongakanani, hhayi eNingizimu Afrika, kodwa emhlabeni jikelele, isibangwa, kodwa ibe isungulwe ngumAfrika. Isibangwa abangayisungulanga ngenxa yokuthi imithetho ebavikelayo ibingekho. Ngesonto elidlule ngishayelwe ucingo ngumholi waMambazo efuna ukuzwa ngaloMthethosivivinyo ngoba akhathazekile amaciko akithi ngokungavikeleki kwezinto zabo. Ngifisa ukusho-ke ukuthi-ke, baba u- Makue, siyabonga ukuthi nilandele ezinyathelweni zikaMtwana. [Ubuwelewele.] Iqembu leNkatha liwusekela ngokugcwele loMthethosivivinyo wokuvikela amalungelo kanye namagugu namafa abantu bakithi abampisholo. Siyathokoza. [Ihlombe.]
Question put: That the Bill be agreed to.
Bill accordingly agreed to, in accordance with section 75 of the Constitution.