EMPLOYMENT EQUITY

• The Department of Employment and Labour issued a media statement on a series of nationwide workshops arranged to ‘broaden consultation’ on:
  • the Employment Equity Amendment Act, 2022, and
  • proposals for sector-specific employment equity targets outlined in draft regulations first gazetted in May 2023 for public comment, revised and released in February 2024 for further input.
• Not yet operationalised, once in force the amendment Act will:
  • empower the Minister to regulate the setting of sector specific sector-specific numerical targets, and
  • commence section 53 of the principal statute, making an employment equity compliance certificate a prerequisite when tendering for state contracts.

DRUG-FREE SPORT

• The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport Amendment Act came into force on 5 August 2024, when a presidential proclamation to that effect was gazetted. The new piece of legislation aligns the principal statute with international requirements, including the World Anti-Doping Agency code.

ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATIONS

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment gazetted a notice calling for public comments on the latest draft protocol for determining the impact on Cape vultures of onshore wind-generated energy facilities with an output of 20 megawatts or more. This is noting that:
  • the draft protocol has now been revised twice since it was first released in November 2022 for public comment
  • the latest version includes input received on a July 2023 revised draft, and that
  • once finalised, the protocol will apply to facilities to be located on any site identified by the national web-based screening tool concerned as being of ‘very high’ or ‘high’ sensitivity to the potential collision of Cape vultures with wind turbines.

Prepared by Pam Saxby