NON-PROFIT ORGANISATIONS

• The Department of Social Development has issued a notice withdrawing calls for public comment on a draft Non-profit Organisation Amendment Bill. They were gazetted in October 2021 and May 2022.
• According to the notice, sections of the principal statute requiring amendment have been dealt with under the General Laws (Anti Money Laundering and Combatting Terrorism Financing) Amendment Act, 2022.
• The notice makes no mention of proposals in the draft Bill for:
  • establishing an arbitration tribunal for dispute resolution, and
  • appointing a registrar of non-profit organisations.

 

TOURIST TRANSPORT SERVICES

• The Department of Transport has called for public comments on draft amendments to regulations under the National Land Transport Act, 2009, with significant implications for tourism transport service operators. Among other things, it is proposed that:
  • every prospective tourist transport services operator should simultaneously apply for accreditation and an operating license, and that
  • every existing unaccredited operator should ‘apply for accreditation without delay, to avoid being barred’ from providing tourist transport services when the Act’s sub-section 81(1) comes into effect.

 

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC)

• The Presidency has issued a media statement:
  • confirming that ‘South Africa remains a signatory to the Rome Statute and will continue to campaign for (the) equal and consistent application of international law’, and noting that
  • ‘South Africa is considering a legislative amendment that would domesticate the Rome statute so that it reflects all … articles ... including … article 98, (which)… requires a waiver of immunities for persons charged by the ICC from third-party countries where there is no referral by the UN Security Council.’

 

NATIONAL ENERGY ACT

• Chapter 3, section 6, of the National Energy Act, 2008, came into effect on 30 March 2023, by presidential proclamation. Providing for integrated energy planning, section 6 prescribes:
  • the Minister’s annual obligations in that regard, and
  • the contents of each annual plan.

 

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment has issued a media statement announcing the publication of South Africa’s eighth national greenhouse gas inventory report on emissions from 2000 to 2020. It was prepared in keeping with the government’s international obligations as a member of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

 

Prepared by Pam Saxby