NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

• The National Planning Commission published two documents on its 10-year review of progress made in achieving National Development Plan (NDP) targets:
  • the review findings, and
  •  a ‘call to action’, intended to:
    • ‘rekindle the hope … captured in the NDP’ when it was launched in 2012, and
    • ‘correct’ South Africa’s course in ongoing efforts to accomplish what was envisaged at the time.

 

COURTS OF LAW

• The Presidency gazetted remuneration and allowance adjustments retrospectively in force from 1 April 2022 and affecting:
  • Constitutional Court and other judges, and
  • magistrates.

 

CAPTIVE LION BREEDING AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment called for public comments on draft regulations proposing a ban on new facilities involving the capture and containment of live African lions in various forms of controlled environment.
• According to a media statement on what is envisaged, the draft regulations were developed in the context of plans for phasing out the captive lion industry, in keeping with:
  • the White Paper on the conservation and ‘sustainable use’ of South Africa’s biodiversity, and
  • recommendations in the 2021 report on trade-in and the management, breeding, hunting and handling of elephant, leopard, lion and rhino.

 

BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment gazetted a biodiversity management plan for the Southern Ground-Hornbill.

 

MERGER CONTROL

• The Competition Commission called for public comments on draft amendments to its merger control public interest guidelines. According to the media statement announcing this, once finalised the revised guidelines will clarify the status of public interest assessments in the context of provisions in the Competition Amendment Act, 2018.

 

Prepared by Pam Saxby