Legislative Programmes for Social Development, Home Affairs Health Departments: briefing

The Department of Social Development envisages to have the following Bills tabled and/or finalised in Parliament during 2003:

1. National Development Agency Amendment Bill - Section 75 Bill;
2. Relief Funds Bill - Section 75 Bill
3. Older Persons Bill - Section 76 Bill
4. Social Assistance Bill - Section 76 Bill
5. South African Social Security Agency Bill - Section 75 Bill; and
6. Children's Bill - Section 76 Bill.

The NDA was transferred from the Minister of Finance to the Minister of Social Development by Presidential Proclamation on 19 October 2001. The rationale for the transfer was the close link between the work of the NDA and the Department of Social Development in poverty alleviation.

The aim of this Bill is to give effect to the said transfer by amending the Act, by -

1. amending the definition of "Minister" in order to provide that the NDA is administered by the Minister of Social Development;
2. changing the composition of the Board of the NDA by reducing the members of the Board from 15 to 11 of which six members should represent civil society and five members should represent Government;
3. providing that the Minister appoints the chairperson from among the civil society members and the deputy chairperson from among the civil society and the Government members.
4. providing that the Minister and not the Board appoints the Chief Executive Officer of the NDA; and
5. providing for consequential amendments.

The NDA Amendment Bill was introduced in Parliament on 15 November 2002 and approved by the National Assembly on 27 February 2003. The Bill has now been referred to the NCOP.

This Bill intends to consolidate the various relief funds, namely the Disaster Relief Fund, the SA Defence Force Fund, the Refugee Relief Fund, the State President Fund and the Social Relief Fund into one new Social Relief Fund. The rationale for the new Bill is strictly financial, namely to curtail the cost of providing administrative services to all the relief funds.

Although a Bill was drafted and discussed with the Portfolio Committee on Social Development, the Bill cannot be finalized due to the possible transfer of the Disaster Relief Fund to the Department of Provincial and Local Government and the Refugee Relief Fund to the Department of Home Affairs. Discussions in that regard are continuing and should hopefully be finalized soon after which the Bill could also be finalized. However, it is envisaged to submit the Bill to Cabinet during May 2003.

This Bill which intends to replace the Aged Persons Act, 1967 represents a new developmental approach to ageing and will maintain and promote the status of older persons, the rights of older persons as recipients of services and the well-being, safety and security of older persons. The Bill also provides for the establishment and appointment of an Ombudsperson for Older Persons and nine provincial Ombudspersons.

The draft Bill has been discussed with stakeholders and relevant parties and a second draft will be prepared soon. It is envisaged to submit the Bill to Cabinet during June 2003.

This Bill intends to replace the Social Assistance Act, 1992 and envisages to provide for the rendering of social assistance and social relief of distress to persons. The provisions of this Bill will be in line with the Minister of Social Development's 10-point plan to provide for the development of a comprehensive social security system.

It is envisaged that the Social Assistance Bill will be submitted to Cabinet during April 2003.

The principal aim of this Bill is to make provision for the effective management and control of the delivery of social benefit administration and payment services through the establishment of the SA Social Security Agency. This Bill relates to the Minister's 10-point plan of an integrated and comprehensive social security system. It is envisaged that the Bill will be submitted to Cabinet during April 2003.

The Children's Bill was drafted by the SA Law Commission and is currently being studied by an Inter-Departmental Steering Committee. The Bill is aligned with Government's "First Call for Children" and "Put Children First" policies.

The new Children's Bill constitutes a comprehensive rewrite of the Child Care Act, 1983 and, amongst others, is aimed at addressing South Africa's international law and constitutional obligations towards children.

An Inter-Departmental Workshop is scheduled for 17 - 19 March 2003 after which the amendments proposed by the Departments of Social Development, Health, Education, Justice, Safety and Security and Finance will be processed. The draft Bill will then be published for general comment. It is envisaged to submit the Bill to Cabinet during May 2003.

With the exception of the NDA Amendment Bill, all the Bills still have to be approved by the Heads of Social Development, MINMEC and Cabinet, be published for general comment and be certified by the State Law Advisers. Only then can the Bills be tabled in Parliament.

The Department intends submitting the following Bills by April 2003:

1. Identification Amendment Bill

2. Films and Publications Amendment Bill

3. Marriage Amendment Bill

4. Electoral Systems Bill

5. Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status Bill

The proposed amendments to the current Marriage Act came about as a result of an investigation and research conducted by the South African Law Commission.

Most of the amendments may be regarded as cosmetic in the sense that certain obsolete words are to be repealed in accordance with our current political dispensation. These are words like Commissioner, solemnization, Union of South Africa, province of the Union and reference to different population groups.

The Amendment Bill also seeks to provide for the appointment of South African diplomats abroad as ex officio marriage officers for purposes of conducting marriages in foreign missions.

The Bill also deals with situations where there is a change in the name of a religious denomination where a marriage officer was appointed under the previous name and further provides for situations where there is an amalgamation of various religious denominations.

The Bill further provides for new mechanism for lodging objections to marriages by providing that same should be made in writing to the marriage officer at least 24 hours before the actual marriage is conducted.

A standard marriage formula is also envisaged so as to have uniformity in the conduct of marriages.

In line with the constitutional provisions, the minimum age of entering into a marriage is set at 18 years for both males and females thus doing away with the gender stereotypes of the past.

In an effort to curb corruption, the requirements of identification are sort to be amended by requiring positive identification and/or an affidavit attested to in the presence of an official of the Department of Home Affairs.

With the escalating rate of child pornography and related cyber crimes and almost low conviction rate in the prosecution of these sort of crimes, it became important to revisit the provisions of the Films and Publications Act with a view of addressing some of these concerns.

The Amendment Bill seeks to prohibit child pornography through the use of internet and places a duty upon internet service providers to take necessary steps to prevent access to pornographic material by children.

It further deletes certain provisions, which made prosecution difficult and further introduces wider definitions of certain words and phrases so as to be more effective.

The Amendment Bill also deletes the provision requiring a warrant of search to be signed by the Attorney-General before a particular building can be searched.

It further provides that the creation, production, possession and distribution of child pornography be punishable as an offence.

In conclusion, the Bill also grants more powers to the Films and Publication Board to make regulations so as to effectively police child pornography and related crimes.

The proposed amendment to the Identification Act came as a result of the envisaged introduction of the Home Affairs National Identification System (HANIS).

The Bill seeks to make provision for fingerprint verification process whereby other national departments and various commercial institutions like banks and building societies will make use of the Department's information as stored in the central server instrument which will then be communicated electronically to any requesting client department or institution.

It is envisaged that the fingerprint verification process will help the Departments of Social Services, Labour and Housing to reduce fraud in providing services to their clients.

The proposed introduction of this Bill follows the recommendations of the South African Law Commission presented to government during 1995.

The Bill seeks to make provision for any person who has undergone a sex change operation by either surgery or medical treatment to apply to the Director-General of Home Affairs for the alteration of his or her sex description in the National Population Register.