NATIONAL MIMIMUM WAGE

• The National Minimum Wage Commission has gazetted a notice calling for written representations on possible adjustments to the national minimum wage. The Commission will consider them before it publishes its annual report and recommendations for this year’s review.

 

SMALL SCALE FISHING

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has issued a media statement:
  • noting a Western Cape High Court ruling setting aside the 2016-2019 process of awarding small-scale fishing rights in the Western Cape, and
  • confirming that:
    • the process of verifying, registering and categorising stakeholders as small-scale fishers will be ‘re-run’, and that
    • ‘ultimately’ rights will be allocated to the small-scale fishing sector in that province.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATIONS

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has gazetted a notice:
  • calling for public comments on plans to adopt the national web-based environmental screening tool for identifying ‘areas of very high, high, medium and low environmental sensitivities on a particular site’, and
  • referring stakeholders to the screening tool website for further information.
• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has also issued a Government Gazette notice calling for input on plans to exempt solar photovoltaic facility development and expansion activities from the requirement to obtain environmental authorisation.

 

RENEWABLE ENERGY

• The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has issued a Government Gazette notice amending its April 2022 request for proposals from independent power producers for Bid Window 6. The amendments:
  • increase to 4 200MW the new generation capacity to be procured, made up of:
    • 3200 MW wind energy resources, and
    • 1000 MW solar photovoltaic energy resources.

 

RADIO FREQUENCY SPECTRUM

• The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies has called for public comments on a draft policy intended to
  • ‘promote long-term public interest derived from the use of spectrum as a finite natural resource’, noting that spectrum policy:
    • ‘is used to co-ordinate national spectrum management approaches to support the rollout of communications networks for socio-economic national development’, and
    • ‘derives its enabling principles and guidelines from:
      • the 2016 Integrated ICT White Paper, and
      • the 2010 national spectrum policy.
• According to a media statement from Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni:
  • in continuing to facilitate the efficient utilisation of spectrum, government will ensure that South Africa benefits from the latest and most advanced technologies, including 5G:
  • ‘the adoption of more advanced technologies for economic growth must be matched by a deliberate programme to retire old technologies’ so that more spectrum becomes available for high-speed broadband
  • to that end a 2G and 3G network ‘sunset’ is proposed to free up more spectrum for 5G and future developments, and
  • a draft roadmap for 4G and 5G which will be finalised in consultation with the regulator and mobile network operators, among other things aimed at facilitating universal broadband access, especially in ‘rural and remote areas’.

 

FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE

• The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has gazetted a notice:
  • repealing measures introduced on 18 August 2022 affecting the movement and slaughter of livestock, and
  • prescribing the measures now in force, some of which are province-specific.

 

Prepared by Pam Saxby