Natural scientists in South Africa could be imprisoned for up to a year for failing to register with a government-backed regulatory body, according to proposed legislation that is to go before South Africa's parliament. Under the terms of the proposed law, it will be mandatory for some scientists to register with an existing body called the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP). SACNSP was set up in 2003 and all natural scientists in the country were meant to have registered with it, but many never did. 'Our goal is not to be gatekeepers, but to professionalize the natural sciences through registration and regulation,' SACNASP's acting chief executive Matshidiso Matabane told Nature. 'It is our obligation to not only protect the profession itself, but the public and the environment,' she added. The proposed legislation states that it aims to 'protect and promote the public interests by regulating the conduct of practising natural scientists' and 'to...
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