GOVERNMENT GAZETTE UPDATE

• The eGazette is now fully functional and offering an improved service.

 

GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

• The South African Government website ‘documents, latest’ section has been updated to include all missing February 2022 Government Gazette notices.

 

COVID-19 TAXI RELIEF FUND

• Qualifying taxi operators now have until 11 March to apply for a once-off R5000 allocation from the fund. This is noting that:
  • the criteria to be met by taxi operators seeking assistance from the fund were relaxed on 2 December 2021, and that
  • the allocation is an assistance measure and not intended to compensate successful applicants for:
    • loss of income during the State of Disaster, or
    • the cost of complying with cleaning and sanitising requirements.

 

REFUGEE AND ASYLUM-SEEKER DOCUMENTS

• The validity of asylum seeker permits and refugee status documents that have expired during the Covid-19 State of Disaster has been extended to 30 April 2022.

 

BAN ON THE SALE OF PETROL AND DIESEL IN CONTAINERS

• A notice gazetted on 25 February repealed regulations introduced on 16 July 2021, during the unrest.

 

CONSUMER COMMISSION

• Proposed amendments to the code of good practice for dealing with complaints about consumer goods & services industry suppliers have been released for public comment. Among other things, once in force the amended code will:
  • no longer apply to automotive industry suppliers, and
  • will have implications for:
    • governance
    • internal dispute resolution involving the ombud and industry members
    • the ombud accounting authority, and
    • penalties.

 

JUSTICE

The Office of the Legal Services Ombud was operationalised on 1 March by presidential proclamation in the Government Gazette.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REGULATIONS

• Regulation 39(2) as it was before an 11 June 2021 amendment has been reinstated. This is noting that:
  • Regulation 39 deals with ‘activity on land owned by persons other than (the) proponent’
  • public consultation requirements under the National Environmental Management Act were not met before making the now-withdrawn amendment, and that
  • it is not clear how many times (if at all) Regulation 39(2) has been amended since the original suite of regulations was published in December 2014.

 

DIGITAL MIGRATION

• The 21 March analogue switch-off date has been gazetted in anticipation of ending South Africa’s ‘dual illumination’ period.

 

ANALOGUE TELEVISION IMPORTS

• The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has called for public comment on a proposed new directive intended to:
  • prevent South Africa from becoming a dumping ground for cheap imported analogue TVs, which could further delay:
    • the digital migration process, and
    • access to high-demand radio frequency spectrum that will become available when that process is concluded.

 

FINANCIAL SECTOR

• The Financial Sector Conduct Authority has called for public comments on a draft strategy for promoting financial sector transformation.

 

• The Financial Sector Conduct Authority has also called for public comment on a draft standard on the requirements to be met when providing a benchmark. The proposals are unpacked in an accompanying statement of need.

 

• A new Financial Sector Conduct Authority determination has been issued on permissible deductions from collective investment scheme portfolios.

 

• The Accounting Standards Board has called for public comment on conceptual framework update proposals with implications for preparing financial statements.

 

• The deadline for public comment on three sets of Johannesburg Stock Exchange proposals has been extended. These proposals take the form of:
  • draft amendments to the listing requirements for actively managed certificates
  • a discussion document on cutting red tape, and
  • draft amendments to rules and directives on equities rules, unpacked in an accompanying explanatory memorandum.

 

FILMS AND PUBLICATIONS AMENDMENT ACT

• The Act came into effect on 1 March by presidential proclamation, among other things:
  • potentially reducing children’s exposure to disturbing and harmful content, especially:
    • online, and
    • by way of social media platforms, and
  • introducing new governance and institutional arrangements.

 

Prepared by Pam Saxby