COVID-19

• Gazetted on 22 March and immediately in force, among other things amendments to the disaster management regulations for adjusted lockdown level one:
  • waive the mandatory wearing of face masks in open public spaces on the understanding that a one-meter distance is maintained between each person
  • once again spell out the social distancing requirements to be observed by the owners/management of premises used by members of the public (also affecting employees and customers)
  • require anyone attending a gathering to provide proof of having been vaccinated or recently tested and found to be Covid-19-negative, and
  • continue to prohibit night vigils and ‘after-funeral and cremation’ gatherings.

 

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

• Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has announced several policy changes among other things affecting her department’s finance-linked individual subsidy programme for affordable housing (popularly known as FLISP). From the start of the 2022/23 financial year, the programme will be extended to incorporate several ‘non-mortgage housing finance facilities’. As a result, FLISP may be used in combination with one of the following products and/or situations:
  • ‘housing loans granted or guaranteed by a pension and/(or) provident fund’
  • ‘unsecured housing loans from any registered lender’
  • ‘housing loans granted or guaranteed by a co-operative or community-based savings scheme’
  • ‘in combination with individual own resources or savings’
  • housing loans supported by employer-based schemes, and
  • housing loans supported by permission-to-occupy documents ‘issued by government or (a) recognised traditional authority’.

• The ‘subsidy quantum’ has also been revised, with new thresholds due to come into effect on 1 April. 

 

PRUDENTIAL AUTHORITY

• A draft directive has been released for public comment in anticipation of making it mandatory for all accountable institutions to submit anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing risk returns to the authority on a quarterly basis. All related annexures can be found here.

 

FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE CENTRE

• Industry-specific guidelines for the authorised users of an exchange have been published in the form of a compliance communication intended to assist them in applying a risk-based approach to customer due diligence.

 

INDEPENDENT REGULATORY BOARD FOR AUDITORS

• The board has announced that, on 1 April, the existing disciplinary rules will be repealed and replaced.
• A Protection of Personal Information Act manual has been gazetted.
• Draft amendments to the board’s code of conduct have been released for public comment.

 

NATIONAL TREASURY

• Policy benefit escalations under the demarcation regulations for long- and short-term insurers during the 2022/23 financial year were announced in a media statement issued on 25 March.

 

• A media statement has been issued to explain why certain provisions in the original regulations have been omitted from on the draft replacement regulations recently released for comment.

 

COMPETITION COMMISSION

• Draft terms of reference for an inquiry into the fresh produce market have been released for public comment. The inquiry is expected to explore:
  • value chain efficiency
  • ‘market dynamics’ (including the ‘impact of key inputs for growers’)
  • barriers to market entry by small growers from historically disadvantaged backgrounds (including ‘issues around access to fresh produce markets or retailers through contract farming’), and
  • barriers to market entry ‘in relation to the regulatory environment’.

 

BIODIVERSITY OFFSETS

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has called for public comment on draft guidelines.

 

Prepared by Pam Saxby