Tourism Amendment Bill: discussion

Meeting report

ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND TOURISM PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
22 February 2000
TOURISM AMENDMENT BILL [B3-2000] AND TOURISM AMENDMENT BILL [B50-99]

Documents handed out:
Amendments Agreed To: Tourism Amendment Bill B50-99 (Appendix 1)

SUMMARY
Tourism Amendment Bill, B3-2000
Ms Semple of the Democratic Party proposed two amendments. She proposed the change of wording regarding the Board members, "The board shall consist of not fewer than 9 and no more than 15 members, who shall be appointed by the Minister in consultation with the Portfolio Committee on Environment and Tourism….." Her motivation for this wording was to increase the scope of consultations on appointments beyond the Minister. However, there was some concern amongst the members as to whether this wording would require the consensus of the Committee and whether this would not shift the responsibility away from the Minister. A further concern was about how feasible it would be to consult with the Committee during the months that Parliament is in recess. A consensus was reached that the Bill itself would not be amended, but that the Committee's report to Parliament would include a recommendation that the Minister "consult widely" on the issue of appointments.

The second amendment proposed was after the word "Gazette," the words "as well as in the national news media, including at least two national newspapers" be included for the advertising of the appointment of the board member. The question then arose as to the definition of "national newspaper" and it became apparent that there are very few newspapers that are available in all parts of the country or that are read by all sectors of the population. Similarly, the number of languages would then have to be enumerated. Mr Hendrikse (ANC) suggested that prescriptive legislation was not advisable and it would be better simply to request that the department place advertisements in as many news media as possible. All the members were in agreement that the Gazette was not accessible enough, but they reached a consensus that the wording proposed by Ms Semple was too restrictive. It was agreed that the recommendation for broad circulation be included in the Committee's report to Parliament. It was noted, however, that although the report is legally binding once Parliament agrees to it, citizens do not have the same recourse that they would if it were part of the legislation itself.

Committee Chair, Ms G Mahlangu, then asked the Committee if they were in favour of the downsizing of the Board. There was consensus on this. The Bill was then read through in its entirety and each clause was agreed to. The Chair announced that the Bill has been agreed upon.

The wording of the report will be circulated to the members, who will need to be present when it is presented to the House to attest to their concerns.

Announcement about obtaining technical and financial assistance for the disposal of refuse
There is a proposal to invite the Secretariat of the Basel Convention to visit South Africa. A letter to request this visit will be circulated and comments must be returned by 1 March in order to meet the 6 March deadline.

Informal discussion of Tourism Amendment Bill [B50-99]
Please refer to Appendix A for a list of the amendments.

The amendments to the following clauses were agreed to in their entirety:
amendments to clauses 2, 3 and 6.

The following amendments to clauses 4 & 5 were flagged for further discussion:

In clause 4:
Mr Hendrikse was concerned that the wording "shall apply to any" was too loose, and suggested that the clause be reworded to ensure that the applicant apply in the province where he or she would be operating. The issue of uniform standards of qualification was raised.

Point 2 and 3 were agreed to under Clause 4. The question of training needs to be discussed further under points 4 and5.

Point 6 was agreed to.

There was a discussion of the whether the word "re-register" of the Bill should not be amended to "renewal".This was flagged for further discussion.

7.Mr Hendrikse was concerned that the words "additional training" did not capture the intent to include cultural or indigenous knowledge. He suggested that "alternative" would be more accurate.

8. There was disagreement over the term "stakeholder groupings".

The committee will continue the informal discussion at the next meeting.

Appendix 1:

AMENDMENTS AGREED TO

TOURISM AMENDMENT BILL

[B50 - 99]

CLAUSE 2

1. On page2_, in line 16, to omit "designate an" and to substitute "appoint a suitably qualified"

2. On page 4, from line 16, to omit subsection (3).

CLAUSE 3

1. On page 4, in line 25, to omit "designate an" and to substitute "appoint a suitably qualified".

2 On page 4, after line 47, to add the following subsection:

(3) The registration of a tourist guide by a Provincial Registrar in terms of subsection (2) is valid in all the provinces of the Republic, where applicable.

CLAUSE 4

1. On page 41 from line 51, to omit "in a province shall apply to the" and to substitute "shall apply to any"

2. On page 6, from line 1, to omit subsections (2) and (3).

3. On page 6, in line 15, to omit paragraph (a).

On page 6, after line 19, to add the following paragraph:

(c) failed to pass the prescribed refresher course that a tourist guide, shall complete not later than two years from the date of his or her last registration.

5. On page 6 from line 20, to omit all the words after "Registrar" up to and including "(3)" in line 21.

6. On page 6 from line 29, to omit "one year" and to substitute "two years"

7 On page 6, after line 59, to add the following subsection:

(2)The Minister may prescribe additional training to that contemplated in subsection (1).

8. On page 8, from line 3, to omit "and associations of tourist guides", and to substitute "stakeholder groupings and the Minister of Transport"

9 On page 8, in line 4, after "conduct" to insert "and ethics".

10. On page 8, in line 9, to omit "or (2)" and to substitute "(2) or (4)"

11. On page 8, in line 24, after "21H(3)" to insert "or (5)".

12. On page 8, in line 27, after "shall" to insert "within 14 days".

13. On page 8, after line 41 to insert the following subsections:

(3)The tourist guide may request the Provincial Registrar to be allowed to present his or her case_, personally before the Provincial Registrar and the Provincial Registrar may not unreasonably refuse such request.

(4)If the request is granted, the tourist guide may be assisted by the adviser of his or her choice.

14. On page 8, in line 48, after "suspend" to insert:

_,for a period not exceeding 30 days,

15. On page 8, after line 52, to insert the following subsection:

(7)The provisions of subsections (3) and (4) are applicable to any proceedings for the suspension of the registration of a tourist guide under subsection (6).

16. On page 8, after line 55, to add the following subsection:

(9)The Provincial Registrar shall cause the names of persons whose registration has been withdrawn under this section to be published in the Government Gazette.

17. On page 10, in line 8, to omit paragraph (d).

18 On page 10, after line 17 to insert the following subsections:

(3)The tourist guide may request the provincial Registrar to be allowed to present his or her case personally before the Provincial Registrar_, and the Provincial Registrar may not unreasonably refuse such request.

(4) lf the request is granted₁ the tourist guide may be assisted by her choice.

19. On page 10, in line 23, to omit paragraph (b) and to substitute:

(b) impose the prescribed fine_, which may not exceed R1 000, on the tourist guide; or

20. On page 10, in line 27, after "suspend", to insert:

,for a period not exceeding 30 days_,

21. On page 10, after line 31, to insert the following subsection:

(7) The provisions of subsections (3) and (4) are applicable to any proceedings for the suspension of the registration of a tourist guide under subsection (6).

22. On page 10, after line 39, to insert the following paragraphs:

(b) The appellant may request the National Registrar to be allowed to argue his or her appeal personally before the National Registrar, and the National Registrar may not unreasonably refuse such request.

(c) lf the request is granted, the appellant may be assisted by an adviser of his or her choice.

23. On page 10, in line 51 after "person^" to insert:

"company or close corporation"

24. On page 10, in line 52, to omit "or her" and to substitute "her or it"

25. On page 10, after line 55, to add the following subsections:

(4) No tourist guide may for the purpose of promoting a tourist guiding business drive a vehicle carrying more than nine persons, unless he or she is accompanied by a second tourist guide.

(5)No person_, company or close corporation employing a tourist guide may allow that tourist guide to drive a vehicle in contravention of Subsection (4).

26. On page 12, from line 1 to omit section 211.

27. On page 12, after line 29, to add the following subsection:

(2)The Director-General shall make a decision within 60 days from the date on which the matter is referred to him or her in terms of subsection (1).

CLAUSE 5

1. On page 12, in line 31, after "amended" to insert "a"

2. On page 12, in line 33, to omit 'or 211(5)" and to substitute "and"

3. On page 12, after line 33, to add the following paragraph:

(b) by the addition of the following subsection, the present subsection becoming subsection (1):

"(2) Any company or close corporation that contravenes section 21H(3) shall be guilty of an offence and be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding

R10 000".

CLAUSE 6

1. On page 14, in line 11 to omit "three years" and to substitute "one year".

LONG TITLE

1 On page 2, from the seventh line_, to omit "duty to provide information" and to substitute "procedure to make regulations".