Mr Speaker, when President Zuma returned this Bill to Parliament because the National House of Traditional Leaders had not been consulted, the portfolio committee did not take the President seriously. It took no leadership to ensure that proper consultation with traditional leaders on this Bill took place. Instead, the committee used a two-year-old letter as evidence of consultation.
This is the Bill that the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Trade and Industry's Regulatory Impact Assessment and the world's intellectual property rights community say cannot be implemented. The Bill further undermines existing copyright, trademark, patent design, performance and film protection rights.
Minister Davis himself is quoted as saying, as recently as 2 April, that the DTI is having "a thorough relook" and that he was unable to give any comfort that this IP policy will be coming out soon. It is bizarre that it is before Parliament today. This bad law will not protect traditional knowledge - but the DA's Traditional Knowledge Bill will. President Zuma should return this bad law once again and compel Parliament to do the right thing. [Applause.]