The latest bills submitted to Parliament by the ANC government, the Copyright Amendment Bill (No. 13F of 2017) and the Performers’ Protection Amendment Bill (No. 24F of 2016), are nothing less than a continuation of the systematic assault on private property rights in South Africa.
TLU SA warns in the strongest terms that these bills, under the guise of so-called fair use and protection, are in fact designed to nationalise intangible assets such as copyright and intellectual property. This is a clear extension of the ANC’s National Democratic Revolution, first proclaimed in the Freedom Charter of 1955 and implemented step by step ever since, from the expropriation of water rights in 1998, to the nationalisation of mineral rights in 2004, and now the Expropriation Act of 2025.
This Act has already been referred by President Cyril Ramaphosa to the Constitutional Court to determine whether it aligns with the Constitution. This is not a new issue, as various stakeholders have already made submissions to highlight the unconstitutionality of certain parts of the Act. A ruling is currently awaited, and we trust the court will act in the best interest of the country and its communities.
TLU SA appreciates those who have already raised their voices, while remaining fully aware of the ANC’s broader plans to implement the so-called National Democratic Revolution through such legislation.
“These are not isolated efforts, we clearly see the ANC’s strategy, an ideologically driven attempt to bring all forms of property under state control,” says Prof. Andries Raath, regional manager of TLU SA Free State. “The fact that no proper socio-economic impact assessments have been presented for these bills points to a deliberate attempt to obscure their implications.”
The proposed amendments to copyright legislation include so-called “fair use” provisions of authors’ work, a vague and broadly interpretable concept that would enable third parties, including the state, to access and use authors’ work without compensation. This is a direct violation of international treaties such as the Berne Convention, to which South Africa is a signatory.
“When the state grants itself the right to use creative work on a large scale for its own benefit without compensation, it is nothing short of expropriation without compensation,” says Raath. “The result is that creators of intellectual content, authors, musicians, playwrights, are stripped of their right to earn a living and to contract freely.”
This trend also has serious implications for organised agriculture. Texts produced and published by farming organisations, often at great cost, may now potentially be used and sold by third parties without consent or compensation. This means the intellectual labour of agricultural interest groups can be hijacked to the benefit of those who contribute nothing to productive content.
“We are witnessing the consequences of a socialist system being implemented, where productivity is punished and unproductivity rewarded,” warns Bennie van Zyl, general manager of TLU SA. “What began with land is now extending to the intellectual creations of individuals. Today it is copyright, tomorrow it will be trademarks and patents.”
TLU SA firmly believes in the protection of private property rights, whether tangible or intangible. These rights form the cornerstone of a healthy economy, of entrepreneurship, and of freedom. The organisation will continue to defend this foundational right through its Charter for the Protection of Private Property Rights.
“In a free market economy, there should be space for creation, earning, and progress, not for levelling confiscation by the state,” Raath concludes. “South Africa is not a testing ground for a socialist rewriting of property rights.”
What will it take for the ANC to realise that true economic progress is not achieved through ideologically motivated redistribution plans, but through an understanding of how wealth is truly created? Wealth creation is a process that requires accountability, the implementation of proven economic principles, and a policy environment that fosters growth. Instead, they are gradually dismantling the country’s capacity. In doing so, they are undermining the very foundation on which a sustainable future for South Africa must be built.
