Sowetan writes that the planned extension of labour rights legislative protections to include creative industry workers is a long overdue process that we must all welcome. On Monday, we reported that labour and employment minister Nomakhosazana Meth has already gazetted her intention to deem all performers in the advertising, artistic and cultural activities as workers entitled to full protection under SA labour laws.

Under this plan, creative sector employees will be entitled to a minimum wage, compensation for injuries and disease and other labour relations conditions including overtime pay guaranteed for all other workers. If the proposal passes legal muster after 30 days of public comment as stipulated in the Government Gazette, performers will also be entitled to annual sick and maternity leave as well as severance pay.

This move is not only groundbreaking in protecting workers in the sector from exploitation but equally significant in building a better society where artists and actors are valued.

Art was one of the tools used during the Struggle to defeat the apartheid system which suppressed books, music and theatre performances. A new democratic SA did not only offer hope to artists that their rights would be protected but also gave rise to expectations of equal treatment and support from the government in building a new society.

Bountiful stories of artists dying as paupers and being exploited by their employers who profit from their artworks have been told in the past 30 years of democracy. These artists were exploited because of insufficient legislative interventions to regulate the industries that perpetuated their misery.

For years to now, the SA Guild of Actors has been advocating for rights of actors to fair working conditions and the right to fair compensation. Unfair labour practices do not only affect artists themselves but also the livelihood of their families.

As a just society, we are complicit in their exploitation if we don’t raise our voices where we see injustices being committed. A democratic government carries even a bigger responsibility in ensuring that rights of artists which are also protected by the constitution are respected through enacting laws that makes it a crime to violate them.

To give effect to our hard-earned democracy and freedom, we must support any move aimed at recognising the rights of all in the arts, culture and heritage sector who contribute immensely to the development of our country. The proposal for reform of labour regulations to include artists and actors therefore deserves our solidarity and embracing.

Ref: Sowetan