NATIONAL SKILLS AUTHORITY

• The Department of Higher Education and Training has called for public comments on a set of draft regulations that, once in force, will empower the Nationals Skills Authority to investigate complaints about Sector Education and Training Authority governance and administration, including:
  • the unjustifiable exercise or abuse of power
  • improper conduct
  • delays in performing a necessary function
  • the improper or unlawful enrichment of an entity’s accounting authority, and
  • an entity’s poor performance.
• The new regulations will also apply to any other entity established under the National Skills Development Act, 1998.

 

MINE CLOSURE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has called for public comments on draft amendments to the mine closure financial provisioning regulations, which prescribe the requirements to be met for environmental management, rehabilitation and remediation.
• The regulations include a transitional period applicable to the holders of mining rights and permits obtained under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002, before the regulations were gazetted in November 2015.
• It is proposed that, until 19 February 2024, the holders of such rights and permits should be regarded as having complied with the necessary requirements.

 

SCRAP METAL EXPORTS AND PREFERENTIAL PRICING

• The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has gazetted a notice calling for public comments on proposals for a nine-month extension to a policy directive issued in November 2022. The directive prohibited ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal exports and suspending related preferential pricing arrangements until 30 May 2023.
• The proposed extension was prompted by feedback on the impact of regulatory amendments intended to curb copper and ferrous metal theft, thus reducing concomitant infrastructure damage. While incidents of both have been reduced, they remain unacceptably high.

 

ONLINE INTERMEDIATION PLATFORM MARKET INQUIRY

• The Competition Commission is now expected to have completed its inquiry by 30 June 2023. This was announced in a Government Gazette notice published on 19 May 2023, when the most recent deadline extension expired.
• Launched in May 2021, the inquiry has focused on online services:
  • intermediating transactions between business users and consumers, and
  • generating transactions leads.
• These include foreign-based platforms with an economic impact in South Africa – even if they do not have a physical presence in the country.

 

RULES BOARD FOR COURTS OF LAW

• The following amendments to court proceedings rules will come into force on 19 June 2023:
  • Amendments to the Supreme Court rules, focusing on attorneys’ fees.
  • Amendments to the High Court rules, among other things affecting:
    • expert opinion summaries
    • interdicts against immovable property, and
    • tariffs and fees.
  • Amendments to the Magistrates’ Courts rules, affecting:
    • subpoenas, and
    • tariffs and fees.

 

SPATIAL PLANNING AND LAND USE MANAGEMENT

• The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has gazetted draft norms and standards for public comment.
• Reflecting national policy on wise land use in a developmental state – and noting the requirements of the 2013 Act – the intention of the proposed new norms and standards is to assist the authorities in their efforts to:
  • promote social inclusion, spatial equity and desirable settlement patterns, and
  • ‘differentiate between areas, needs and types of land use where appropriate’.

 

Prepared by Pam Saxby