SMMES AND CO-OPERATIVES

• The Department of Small Business Development has called for public comments on a draft funding policy for small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and co-operatives.
• According to a foreword from Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, once operationalised the proposed new policy is expected to be ‘adopted and implemented by both … private and public sector financiers’. Its purpose is to:
  • ‘deepen access to finance’
  • ‘reduce the level (of) concentration or monopolies in certain sectors of the economy’
  • transform ownership patterns in the economy
  • ‘address … financial literacy challenges amongst small businesses in both formal and informal sectors’
  • ‘advocate for a compliance-light environment for small enterprises’
  • improve co-ordination between SMME funding support programmes, and
  • eliminate … double dipping’.

 

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

• The Department of Police has published a revised version of its 1999 national instruction on dealing with domestic violence. It is not clear if the revised instruction is informed by the requirements of the Domestic Violence Amendment Act, 2021. Most sections of the Act are now in force.

 

INCOME TAX

• National Treasury has issued a media statement explaining that the exemption gazetted on 3 May 2023 applies only when lump sum payments from certain types of retirement funds meet the prescribed new requirements.

 

MAGISTRATES’ COURTS

• The Rules Board for Courts of Law has gazetted amendments to rules regulating the conduct of proceedings in Magistrates’ Courts when mediation is used to resolve a dispute between litigants.
• The amendments will come into force on 9 June 2023, when they will replace Chapter 2 in its entirety, as well as the forms used when giving litigants the opportunity to proceed with mediation.

 

WASTE MANAGEMENT

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has called for public comments on a new set of draft amendments to extended producer responsibility regulations under the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2002.
• Among other things, it is proposed that the pharmaceutical industry should be exempt from extended producer responsibility obligations.
• Once in force, the amendments will also affect the following sectors:
  • electrical and electronic equipment
  • lighting
  • paper and packaging, and
  • some single use products.
• Their purpose is to:
  • clarify certain technical issues in the context of:
    • definitions
    • reporting requirements
    • returnable packaging, and
    • deposit refunds, and
  • strengthen enforcement and compliance measures.

 

Prepared by Pam Saxby