RENEWABLE ENERGY

• Government Communications has issued a media statement providing:
  • background information on recent amendments to the April 2022 request for proposals from independent power producers for Bid Window 6, and
  • insights into the processes entailed.

 

POSSIBLE GREY-LISTING BY THE FINANCIAL ACTION TASK FORCE

• Speaking at an investment conference hosted by Rand Merchant Bank, Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola outlined interventions already under way to prevent being grey listed. They include:
  • high-level actions taken by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)
  • the establishment of a mutual legal assistance forum underpinned by a tripartite agreement between the NPA, the Financial Intelligence Centre and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigative Unit (Hawks) to fast-track criminal and financial investigations into money laundering matters, and
  • the following strategic legislative amendments to improve anti-money laundering laws:
    • the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill, which was tabled last month and is now before the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance
    • draft amendments to Financial Intelligence Act Schedules 1, 2 and 3, which are now before the NCOP Committee on Finance, and
    • an unexplained wealth order pilot programme being piloted by the Financial Intelligence Centre in several government departments, as well as in law enforcement and prosecution agencies.

 

CONSERVATION

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has issued a media statement and Government Gazette notice extending the deadline for public comment on:
  • the draft White Paper on the conservation and sustainable use of South Africa’s biodiversity, and
  • the draft game meat strategy.
• The department has also issued a media statement on measures in place since 1 September 2022 with the aim of protecting South Africa’s major penguin colonies. They follow ‘prolonged negotiations with ... seabird conservation groups and ... pelagic fishing industry representatives’. Until 14 January 2023:
  • ‘defined areas’ around Dassen Island, Robben Island, Stony Point, Dyer Island, St. Croix Island and Bird Island are ‘closed to commercial fishing for anchovy and sardine’, and
  • ‘purse seine fishing is ... not permitted in False Bay’.

 

MOBILE BROADBAND ACCESS

• The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa has gazetted a notice extending the deadline for input on last month’s information memorandum, in which plans for a second phase of the licensing process are unpacked.

 

LOCAL GOVERNMENT: ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE

• The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs has called for public comments on a draft standard municipal by-law intended to:
  • ‘facilitate the rapid deployment of electronic communications infrastructure’, and
  • ‘ensure uniformity’ in the context of related ‘competencies, laws and developmental obligations’.

 

EXPANDED PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMME

• The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs has called for public comments on a draft policy intended to redefine and refocus the programme noting:
  • South Africa’s deep-rooted structural unemployment
  • sluggish economic growth
  • the limited employment opportunities for programme participants upon exit, and
  • the need to identify ways in which the expanded public works programme can contribute creatively to a sustainable solution to the post-Covid-19 pandemic challenges of economic recovery and reconstruction, bearing in mind that public employment programmes are:
    • ‘short-to-medium-term interventions ... intended to address seasonal and cyclical challenges’ and
    • not intended to provide a sustainable solution to unemployment or to permanently perform certain functions within the broader economy.

 

COMPETITION COMMISSION: ONLINE INTERMEDIATION PLATFORM MARKET INQUIRY

• The Commission has issued a media statement calling for stakeholder input on findings and recommendations in Chapter 2 of a provisional report published in July. The statement refers expressly to:
  • short-term accommodation providers
  • hotels
  • activity providers, and
  • travel service providers.

 

Prepared by Pam Saxby