In this letter to South Africa’s National Assembly, one of South Africa’s two Houses of Parliament, EIFL expresses concern at apparent delays in the adoption of the Copyright Amendment Bill (CAB). EIFL urges the committee in charge of the bill (Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition) to do all in their power to avoid delays in the processes required for adoption of the Bill. 

EIFL participated in consultations on the CAB organized by the National Assembly in 2020, 2021 and 2022, supporting provisions that enable digital preservation, online education, the making of accessible format copies for people with print disabilities, and other public interest activities. In this letter EIFL commends extensive public consultations and reviews of the bill, but also observes that South Africa’s pre-internet Copyright Act, 1978 is one of the oldest copyright laws in Africa. While other countries are modernizing their laws for the digital environment, South Africa is being left behind.