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 The Bill seeks to address the challenges from an outdated Act. It became effective - this outdated Act of 1967 - before television existed in South Africa, and is not aligned to global trends and developments as well as other global treaties.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: