Civil Aviation Amendment Bill [B 44 – 2018]

The Portfolio Committee on Transport invites you to submit written comments on the Civil Aviation Amendment Bill [B 44 – 2018].

The Bill seeks to amend the Civil Aviation Act, 2009, so as to:
amend existing, and insert new, definitions;
▪ rectify references to certain Ministries and Government Departments;
▪ amend Chapter 4 of the Act so as to make provision for the operational independence of aircraft accident and incident investigation;
▪ rectify the provision regarding the establishment of the South African Civil Aviation Authority;
▪ give the South African Civil Aviation Authority environmental protection oversight function;
▪ do away with the requirement for the development of a corporate governance plan;
▪ make provision for an employee of the Department to be a member of the Civil Aviation Authority Board;
▪ amend the provisions relating to the appointment and removal of the Commissioner for Civil Aviation and matters related to his or her functions and responsibilities;
▪ amend the provisions relating to the performance agreement between the Minister and the Aviation Safety Investigation Board;
▪ clarify the provisions dealing with conflict of interest;
▪ provide for the designation of the Chairperson of the National Aviation Security Committee and matters connected with the operations of the Committee;
▪ delete the provisions dealing with compliance notices;
▪ amend the provisions dealing with appeals;
▪ authorise the Minister to issue exemptions and to prescribe additional offences and additional enforcement mechanisms;
▪ extend the powers of the Minister to make regulations;
▪ move the procedures for the establishment of consultative structures to the regulations;

Comments can be emailed to Valerie Carelse at [email protected] by no later than Wednesday, 15 January 2020

In addition to the written comments, please indicate your interest in making a verbal presentation to the Committee

Enquiries can be directed to Valerie Carelse on tel (021) 403 3272 or cell 083 709 8445

The closing date for submissions is 15 January 2020.

Issued by Mr MJ Zwane, MP, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Transport

Background
The Civil Aviation Act, 2009 (Act No. 13 of 2009) (‘‘the Act’’), provides for the establishment of the Aviation Safety Investigation Board, a juristic body vested with the powers to investigate aircraft accidents and incidents in South Africa. The Act also establishes the South African Civil Aviation Authority, an authority vested with the powers to promote civil aviation safety and security. The Act was enacted in 2009 to consolidate the various pieces of legislation dealing with the regulation of civil aviation which existed at the time. Following the implementation of the Act it became evident that certain provisions thereof were hampering the full operation of the Act. Most provisions of Chapter 4 of the Act were never promulgated due to various reasons, one of which was the practical difficulties in the establishment of the entity, the Aviation Safety Investigation Board, which is established by the Chapter. As a result of this, the full establishment of the Aviation Safety Investigation Board was never achieved.