“The Performer’s Protection Amendment Bill and Copyright Amendment Bill promised to reform and modernise economic rights for South African actors and together, they would usher in a ‘new dawn’ for the audio-visual industry. The bills are linked for good reason too – while the former bill offers actors the right to earn fair royalties for the exploitation of their work on film and TV, the latter ensures that royalties would be calculated, collected and disbursed by regulated Collecting Societies. But political and commercial interests, represented by international film studios, film producer federations and publishing companies had other ideas…
These entities, together with their South African proxies launched a sustained and well-resourced lobby to derail the legislative process, even threatening to disinvest in the local production industry if the bills were signed into law. Actors were therefore both disappointed and dismayed by the president’s decision to return the bills to Parliament. Disappointed, because we are no closer to reforming the apartheid-era statutes that are still entrenched in the independent film/TV production sector. Dismayed, because it raises concerns that international commercial interests may have far more influence in South Africa’s sovereign law-making processes than they have a right to.
If these international interests indeed exert such a disruptive influence, one may well ask if South African actors would offer a counterweight to this lobby and assert their support for the bills. It would be in the actors’ best interests for the bills to be signed into law, after all. It is the mark of a professional actor never to miss a cue, and through the South African Guild of Actors (SAGA), veteran actors Marah Louw, Thembi Mtshali, Abigail Kubheka, Nambitha Mpumlwana, Adrian Galley, Luversan Gerard and others have launched a well-timed campaign to focus the attention of our lawmakers on the moral and economic rights of actors. This campaign is focussed on the tragic plight of the late actor Henry Cele who portrayed a magnificent ‘Shaka Zulu’ in the 1985 TV series of the same name.
Henry Cele died in 2007, never having earned a cent of the estimated R5 billion the series earned in global revenue. This case of appalling exploitation and cynicism points directly to the need for equitable contracting terms and for fair royalties to be secured in statute and in actor contracts. It is our duty as South Africans who care for our cultural heritage to participate in the #RememberHenryCele campaign. Join us by supporting #FairRoyaltiesNow and #SigntheBills, and let us ensure that Henry Cele is remembered with the honour and dignity he deserves.”
Jack Devnarain, SAGA Chairperson
"It was an honour to have marched alongside the members of Blind SA to the Union Buildings to deliver the memorandum to the President. Sadly it was alongside them in a march that should never have been necessary. It has been said that the measure of a country is in how it treats its most vulnerable members. Each and every South African should be horrified and outraged at the treatment of the visually impaired citizens of our country - #BrailleIsNoCrime"
- Luversan Gerard, SAGA
It is vitally important that we visibly stand together in our pursuit to have both the CAB and PPAB passed through parliament. It is incumbent on the whole creative industry to persuade the portfolio committee to liaise with the NCOP, in order for this process to be finalized.
I think the march showed that we can come together, as communities and creatives, to fight for our rights, and we should not stop putting pressure on parliament until both the CAB and PPAB are passed!
Nambitha Mpumlwana, CEO: Nambitha Projects, Actress and SAGA representative