LAND REFORM

• Possibly with the intention of extending the deadline by another week, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development re-gazetted its 17 November 2023 notice calling for public comments on draft regulations under the Upgrading of Land Tenure Rights Act, 1991. Once in force, the proposed new regulations will set out the procedures to be followed when applying for the conversion of a land tenure right into an ownership right.

 

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

• The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa gazetted a notice:
  •  announcing its intention to conduct an inquiry into the effects of loadshedding on the electronic communications, broadcasting, and postal services sectors, and
  • calling for public comments in response to a short list of questions published as an annexure to the notice.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment gazetted several notices.

• Two call for public comments at unusually short notice on proposals for exempting certain activities from environmental authorisation requirements. These proposals are made in the context of ongoing efforts to streamline the environmental impact assessment process in the context of developments in energy generation, transmission and distribution technology, as well as grid infrastructure. The activities concerned and draft norms are associated with the development and expansion of:
  • battery storage facilities, and
  • solar photovoltaic facilities.
• Another notice calls for public comments on the proposed extension of transitional arrangements in the 2015 financial provisioning regulations – expressly referring to the holders of offshore exploration and production rights. The notice appears to supplement one issued in September, when the deadline was extended to 19 February 2024.
• Meanwhile, the deadline for public comment on a draft food waste and loss reduction strategy originally published in September 2023 has been extended well beyond the original date, which was 19 October 2023.
• A notice issued for information purposes only alerts stakeholders to the status of two marine species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), each of which is a popular food source:
  • the requiem shark (harvested for its fins) assumed protected status on 25 November 2023, with the result that trade in this family of species will be closely controlled; and
  • the sea cucumber will assume protected status on 25 May 2025, when similar trading conditions will apply.
• Another information notice alerts stakeholders to exemption application requirements relating to the use of Dechlorane Plus and UV-328, which are persistent organic pollutants listed in Annexure A of the Stockholm Convention. Their production and use is prohibited other than in certain circumstances for which the parties concerned are required to register.

 

STATE CAPTURE

• The Presidency published a second report on progress with implementing recommendations emerging from the Zondo Commission of Inquiry. Among other things, the report:
  • highlights the significance of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Amendment Bill now before Parliament, which is expected to strengthen the NPA’s capacity to deal with state capture and corruption, and
  • lists several other Bills some provisions of which are intended to contribute significantly to curbing corruption and related activities.

 

GREYLISTING

• National Treasury issued a media statement on the latest international Financial Action Task Force (FATF) communication, which:
  • acknowledges the significant progress made in addressing ‘technical compliance deficiencies’
  • points to the need for more interventions to correct ‘effectiveness deficiencies’ flagged in an action plan agreed with the FATF at the beginning of 2023, with compliance deadlines, and
  • notes that the authorities will be expected to demonstrate that the improvements made are sustainable before the FATF reconsiders a change in the country’s status.

Prepared by Pam Saxby