ZONDO COMMISSION OF INQUIRY RECOMMENDATIONS

• Parliament has published presiding officer speaking notes prepared for a recent media briefing on progress made in implementing Zondo Commission of Inquiry report recommendations affecting the institution itself.
• According to the notes, Parliament has developed ‘a comprehensive implementation plan structured around four key focus areas’:
  • oversight and accountability in general
  • oversight of the executive’s response plan
  • monitoring Parliament’s implementation plan, and
  • reforms to strengthen Parliament’s constitutional mandate.

 

NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE

• The Department of Employment and Labour has issued a media statement:
  • reminding employers of exemption provisions in the National Minimum Wage Act, 2018, and
  • drawing attention to the procedures to be followed when applying for an exemption.
• When applying for an exemption, an employer operating a business is required to provide:
  • ‘full financial statements’ for the two years preceding the application
  • ‘current year predictions’, and
  • ‘such other information that may be needed, as prompted by the exemption system’ (in that regard, the statement expressly refers to ‘depreciation, finance costs, operating expenses, tax and dividends’), and
• A domestic employer applying for an exemption is required to provide details of annual household income and expenditure, along with related information.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has gazetted packaging design guidelines intended to promote a sounder understanding of:
  • the environmental implications of packaging design decisions
  • the circular economy, and
  • combinations of packaging and print materials that facilitate recycling and waste prevention.

• The Department has also issued a media statement on a recently gazetted presidential proclamation announcing the commencement of most sections of the National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Act, 2022. This is noting that:
  • provisions affected by a 26 June 2023 Constitutional Court judgment have not been operationalised, and that
  • according to the judgment, Parliament failed to fulfil its constitutional obligations in respect of public participation, specifically regarding the definition of certain types of waste.

 

AGRICULTURAL PESTICIDES

• The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has called for public comments on proposals for prohibiting the use of pesticides containing chlorpyrifos and/or cartap hydrochloride. Both have negative implications for human health.

 

SCRAP METAL

• In the context of its Steel and Metal Fabrication Masterplan, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has called for public comments on proposals to extend by a further two-to-five years a 2013 policy directive on scrap metal exports.
• The directive:
  • is temporarily suspended to curb spiralling metal theft and concomitant damage to essential infrastructure
  • has been reviewed and extended several times
  • is intended to support local mills and facilitate beneficiation, and
  • requires scrap to be offered to local manufacturers at discounted prices before being exported.

 

BROADCASTING

• The 1999 regulations on advertising, infomercials and programme sponsorship have been repealed and replaced.
• Recently gazetted with a reasons document outlining the process of arriving at this decision, the new regulations follow an inquiry begun in March 2021 and are expected to ensure that:
  • viewers are protected from ‘excessive advertising’
  • advertising, infomercial and programme sponsorship is clearly distinguishable from normal programming
  • broadcasters adhere to ‘limits on advertising and infomercials’ and that
  • their editorial independence and control over programming is maintained.

 

ONLINE MARKETING

• The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has gazetted a notice granting the Competition Commission until 31 July 2023 to complete its market inquiry into online intermediation platforms.
• According to a media statement on the latest of three deadline extensions granted this year, their purpose has been to allow the Commission ‘a reasonable period to further consider’ its final report, including proposed remedial actions and other recommendations.

 

Prepared by Pam Saxby