Tag: public participation

The South African Constitution envisages public participation in the formulation and adoption of public policy. Government claims to consult the public through the participation process, but recent events have confirmed that it effectively ignores public input and regards it with contempt.

We have published the draft .za registry and registrar licensing regulations that provide details on the requirements to be met by registries and registrars to be licensed, the steps to be taken when applying for the renewal of the license, and how to address contraventions of the license conditions.

The Copyright Amendment Bill has caused great uncertainty in South African and global artistic and creative markets. The bill has gone through many revisions and attracted widespread criticism. Today, it awaits and has been waiting for President Ramaphosa’s signature for months. But the whole activity must be restarted due to government’s mishandling of the public participation process. If this is not done, the bill will lack the legitimacy that every government policy requires, particularly from the relevant constituency – in this case, innovators.