DTA wants Bipa to educate the San about laws

The DTA has welcomed the introduction of the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) Bill, saying it can significantly improve the lives of indigenous groups such as the San who use plants such as hoodia and devil’s claw for medicine for an income. The functions of the authority are to regulate and administer the registration of business and industrial property under the applicable legislation.According to DTA parliamentarian Nico Smit the bill can go a long way to ensure the equality of property rights to all Namibians, and he added Article 16 of the Namibian Constitution failed to address the rights of the majority black Namibians. “By 1989, when the constitution was drafted, white Namibians owned virtually all legally recognised property rights, in contrast an entirely separate system of black property rights existed,” he said. According to him, there is still no clarity on whether protection is extended to tribal or communal or traditional associations.“While white inventors enjoyed full access to the system of intellectual property rights protection under the South African system, black inventors, with their own unique and specific experience concerning the land, did not have access to the system,” said Smit. He also expressed concern about the fact that modern medicine and agriculture have turned to indigenous knowledge which does not enjoy the same level of protection as other forms of intellectual property. According to Smit the way black Namibians valued their property made it possible for the law to protect their rights. “To state the matter frankly, these research institutions are essentially stealing and patenting the knowledge of indigenous people. In our own country, the San have raised the issue of biopiracy, and other people from the developing world by western corporations. One needs only to refer to the hoodia plant,” he said. Biopiracy is the practice of commercially exploiting naturally occurring biochemical or genetic material, especially by obtaining patents that restrict its future use, while failing to pay fair compensation to the community from which it originates. According to him a large scientific organisation studied the hoodia plant without the consent of the San people and patented the active elements that are responsible for appetite suppression.Smit added that the royalties paid to the San are not enough and that the San should instead be compensated for their copyright or patent. He therefore urged Bipa to actively create awareness among communities about the nature and provisions of the law, in order to promote the local communities that are keepers of indigenous knowledge. JEMIMA BEUKES

DTA wants Bipa to educate the San about laws

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Namibian Sun 2026-01-12

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DTA wants Bipa to educate the San about laws

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Namibian Sun 2026-01-12

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