ABSTRACT

BOX 12.9 DEVELOPING A POLICY ON ACCESS AND BENEFIT-SHARING IN SOUTH AFRICA: POLICY RESEARCH AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Rachel Wynberg

South Africa is one of few countries in the world to have engaged in a comprehensive policy-planning process prior to the development of access legislation (Swiderska, 1999). This experience has allowed stakeholders the chance to reflect and debate policy and legislative options, and the opportunities and constraints of different approaches. In addition, it has provided opportunities for democratic policy-making and an invaluable meeting ground for the sharing of values between the diversity of South Africa’s people (Fakir, 1997). Critics, however, point to the fact that consultation has slowed down and frustrated bioprospecting initiatives, a reproach bolstered by the absence, to date, of any legislation to regulate access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing.