Railway Safety Bill: adoption; Marine Oil Pollution (Preparedness, Response and Cooperation) Bill: deliberations

Meeting report

Apologies were received by the Minister and Deputy Minister as well as Mr C Hunsinger (DA), Mr T Mabhena (DA), Mr K Sithole (IFP), Ms N Nolutshungu (EFF), and Mr J Bilankulu (ANC). Apologies were shared on behalf of Mr L McDonald (ANC) who would join the meeting at a later stage due to technical issues.

Railway Safety Bill: clause by clause approval
The Chairperson noted that Members had received the A-list and the B-Bill and said there was no need to go through the proposed amendments clause-by-clause because this had already been done.

The Chairperson said if Members had any questions, they could raise their hands.

Adv Alma Nel, Committee Content Advisor, said the proposed amendments to the Railway Safety Bill A-list had been agreed to by Members. There were amendments to Clauses 1, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 43, 44, 49, 52, 55, 56, 59, 69.

Nothing had been changed to the A-list since Members made input on it during the previous week. The A-list had gone through Creda and these amendments were incorporated into the B-Bill. The Parliamentary Legal Advisor and State Law Advisor had reviewed the B-Bill and all amendments had been captured.

Long title of the Bill, as introduced
The Committee accepted the long title of the Bill.

Clause 1, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 1.

Clause 5 & 6, as introduced
The Committee accepted Clauses 5 and 6.

Clause 9, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 9

Clause 10, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 10.

Clause 11, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 11.
 
Clause 12, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 12.

Clause 13, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 13.

Clause 14, as introduced
The Committee accepted Clause 14

Clause 15, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 15.

Clause 16, as introduced
The Committee accepted Clause 16.

Clause 17, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 17.

Clauses 18-29, as introduced
The Committee accepted Clauses 18-29.

Clause 30, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 30.

Clause 31, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 31.

Clause 32, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 32.

Clause 33, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 33.

Clause 34, as introduced
The Committee accepted Clause 34.

Clause 35, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 35.

Clause 36, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 36.

Clause 37, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 37.

Clause 38, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 38.

Clauses 39-42, as introduced
The Committee accepted Clauses 39-42.

Clause 43, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 43.

Clause 44, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 44.

Clauses 45-48, as introduced
The Committee accepted Clauses 45-48.

Clause 49, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 49.

Clauses 50-51, as introduced
The Committee accepted Clauses 50-51.

Clause 52, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 52.

Clauses 53-54, as introduced
The Committee accepted Clauses 53 and 54.

Clause 55, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 55.

Clauses 56-58, as introduced
The Committee accepted Clauses 56-58.

Clause 59, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 59.

Clause 60, as introduced
The Committee accepted Clause 60.

Clause 61, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 61.

Clauses 62-68, as introduced
The Committee accepted Clauses 62-68.

Clause 69, as amended
The Committee accepted Clause 69.

Clauses 70-71, as introduced
The Committee accepted Clauses 70 and 71.

The Chairperson tabled B7A-2021 for adoption by the Committee.

The Committee adopted B7A-2021.

Ms L Tito (EFF) requested that the EFF abstaining from the vote be recorded.

The Chairperson noted this.

Railway Safety Bill [B7B-2021]
The Chairperson tabled the B-Bill of the Railway Safety Bill

The Committee adopted B7B-2021.

Ms Tito requested that the abstinence of the EFF be recorded.

The Chairperson noted this.

Committee Report on Railway Safety Bill
The Chairperson tabled the Committee Report on the Railway Safety Bill.

Adv Nel highlighted the Bill’s background as included in the Committee Report.

The Committee Report included the dates that the Bill was published for comment, when public hearings were held and the provincial hearing dates.

The Committee Report highlighted the notable amendments. This included amendments to definitions; allowing for the possibility of having board representation from persons from the railway industry, organised labour or communities; allowing for the election of a board member to act in the capacity of Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson in instances where both parties are unable to perform their duties; providing for publications of notices linked to the Act in the Government Gazette, newspapers and/or Regulator website; provision of timeframes within which the Regulator must process applications from training institutions from the time of commencement of the Act, that are already providing training in safety critical grades to continue providing such training while they have three months, from the publication of the policy for registration of training institutions or commencement of regulations under the Act, in which time they must submit their application to register with the Regulator as a training institution; allowing for the Regulator to determine the levels at which consultative forums may need to be established; allowing for operators which intentionally or negligently fail to report railway occurrences to possibly be found guilty of an offence; requiring all operators involved in a railway occurrence to each conduct separate investigations of these incidents and furnish such reports to the Regulator.

The Committee Report highlighted that the EFF abstained from the adoption of the Bill.

The Committee Report was adopted.

The Chairperson said that the Report had been adopted. The Committee Report and Bill would be published in the Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports (ATC).

Marine Oil Pollution Bill: deliberations
The Chairperson said that the Committee would take the same approach as used for the Railway Safety Bill. Adv Nel would take the Committee through the Bill and matrix of public submissions clause-by-clause. If Members had comments, they could raise their hands. If there were no comments, it would be taken as agreed. Following the conclusion of deliberations, Members would have the opportunity to go back to their constituencies if necessary.

Adv Nel read out the clause and relevant comments made by stakeholders as noted in the matrix of submissions. This was a new Bill. The closest connection was the old Marine Pollution Prevention Act of 1986.

The Committee accepted each clause and the Department response where applicable (see Matrix): 

Clause 1 – Definitions
The Committee accepted Clause 1

Clause 2 – Objects of Act
The Committee accepted Clause 2.

Clause 3 – Incorporation of OPRC Convention into law
The Committee accepted Clause 3.

Clause 4 – Application of Act
The Committee accepted Clause 4.

Clause 5 – Risk assessments
The Committee accepted Clause 5.

Clause 6 – South African National Oil Spill Contingency Plan
The Committee accepted Clause 6.

Clause 7 – Site-specific pollution contingency plan
The Committee accepted Clause 7.

Clause 8 – Marine oil pollution response equipment inventory
The Committee accepted Clause 8.

Clause 9 – Training and exercise
The Committee accepted Clause 9.

Clause 10 – Appointment of Incident Commander
The Committee accepted Clause 10.

Clause 11 – National Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation Incident Management Organisation
The Committee accepted Clause 11.

Clause 12 – Regional cooperation
The Committee accepted Clause 12.

Clause 13 – Duty to report incidents
The Committee accepted Clause 13.

Clause 14 – Initial response actions
The Committee accepted Clause 14.

Clause 15 – Incident Commander to coordinate response
The Committee accepted Clause 15.

Clause 16 – Support of disaster forums
The Committee accepted Clause 16.

Clause 17 – Termination of response
The Committee accepted Clause 17.

Clause 18 – Cost recovery and compensation
The Committee accepted Clause 18.

Clause 19 – Powers of intervention
The Committee accepted Clause 19.

Clause 20 – Measure to be safe, reasonable and proportional
The Committee accepted Clause 20.

Clause 21 – Consultation and notification
The Committee accepted Clause 21.

Clause 22 – Right to compensation
The Committee accepted Clause 22.

Clause 23 – Protection from liability
The Committee accepted Clause 23.

Clause 24 – Administration and enforcement
The Committee accepted Clause 24.

Clause 25 – Appointment of inspectors
The Committee accepted Clause 25.

Clause 26 – Boarding of ships by inspectors
The Committee accepted Clause 26.

Clause 27 – Access to premises, offshore installation, oil-handling facility or port facility
The Committee accepted Clause 27.

Clause 28 – Functions of inspectors
The Committee accepted Clause 28.

Clause 29 – Powers of arrest of inspectors
The Committee accepted Clause 29.

Clause 30 – Offences and penalties
The Committee accepted Clause 30.

Clause 31 – Regulations
The Committee accepted Clause 31.

Clause 32 – Recovery of fines by distress
The Committee accepted Clause 32.

Clause 33 – Time limit for prosecutions
The Committee accepted Clause 33.

Clause 34 – Short title and commencement
The Committee accepted Clause 34.

Schedule
The Committee accepted the Schedule.

The Chairperson thanked Adv Nel. The process moving forward would consist of drafting the A-List and completing all the necessary legal work. The programme would have to be adjusted because an allocation had been made for another meeting to conclude the deliberations. At this rate, the Committee would complete processing the Bill by the end of October. She encouraged Members to engage with their political parties.

Adv Nel noted that there had not been specific input from Members. Without input by the Committee there would be no A-List. Would the Committee like to see the A-List in the form of the amendments proposed and agreed to in the Department’s matrix. This would assist the drafters in dealing with the A-List.

Mr McDonald accepted this.

The Chairperson noted this and indicated that at this time the Committee had no comments.

Fourth Term Programme
The Chairperson said that some small changes were likely. Parliament would break for recess soon.

Mr M Zwane (ANC) proposed that the programme be accepted as a working document.

The Committee Fourth Term Programme was adopted as a working document.

The Chairperson recommended that the Committee proceed with the Matatiele oversight visit.

Committee Minutes
The minutes of the meetings dated 5 September and 12 September were considered and adopted.

Ms M Ramadwa (ANC) said there were matters in the minutes that needed to be addressed. She referred to the postponed meeting with South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO). When would this meeting occur?

The Chairperson responded that there had been communication with the City of Cape Town and SANTACO. The response indicated that SANTACO and the City of Cape Town were not ready for the meeting. The Committee would wait on a new date. Did the Committee think that the meeting was still relevant? If the meeting was no longer relevant, it was not necessary to have the engagement.

Mr Zwane said that considering these two stakeholders, the Committee was better off not having the meeting. The issue of the meeting was water under the bridge because the issues had eased. If there was a renewed need for the meeting, then this could be addressed.

Ms Ramadwa accepted this. She had wanted clarity if a new date had been set. She did not want a repetition of the City of Cape Town and SANTACO conflict. The meeting would have been useful to establish the causes of the conflict.

The Chairperson noted this and said that the Committee would wait for communication from City of Cape Town and SANTACO.

Mr McDonald felt that it was necessary for the Committee to release a statement and share condolences for the mineworkers who had passed away in the Musina bus accident. It was not right for the Committee not to respond to this accident.

The Chairperson indicated that this statement was in progress and would be released shortly.

The meeting was adjourned.