Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Bill: adoption; Chinese delegation

Meeting report

The Chairperson outlined that the Committee would be considering the B-Bill of the Preservation and Development of Agriculture Land (PDAL) Bill [B8-2021]. The Committee will meet the Chinese delegation thereafter. The visit from the Chinese Delegation is a follow-up to the visit by the South African delegation that visited Beijing, China.

Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land (PDAL) Bill [B8B-2021]: consideration
The Chairperson said that the Parliament Legal Advisors would guide the Committee through the Committee amendments which have been effected to the B Bill. He read out the Long Title and Preamble.

The Committee proposed amendments (A-List) were presented:

Chapter 1 - Interpretations and Objects
Clause 1
Ms Zingisa Zenani, Parliament Legal Advisor, indicated that the definition of “land owner” was omitted and substituted with the following definition: “land owner’ means a natural or juristic person, or a community, who holds a right in land, registered or unregistered, over which such person or community enjoys protection under any law;"

Ms T Mbabama (DA) asked if a spell check would be used on the Bill or if Committee members should raise any spelling errors they pick up.

The Chairperson replied that spell check would be used after the proposed amendments are agreed to.

The Committee agreed to Clause 1.

Chapter 2 - Agricultural Land Management
Part 2: Agricultural Land Classification Systems
Clause 5
Ms Zenani explained that when the Minister publishes this, the publication should be done both in the Gazette and other media.

On page 9, in line 16, after "Gazette", "and other media" has been inserted.

Part 3: Provincial Agricultural Sector Plans
Clause 6
On page 9, in line 29, after “Gazette”, “and other media” was inserted.

In line 34, after "Gazette", "and other media" was inserted.

In line 44, after "Gazette", "and other media" was inserted.

Clause 9
On page 10, in line 19, after ‘‘Gazette’’ to insert ‘‘and other media’’.

Clause 10
On page 10, in line 38, after "Gazette", "and other media" was inserted.

Part 4: Protected Agricultural Areas
Clause 11
In line 45, “and other media” was inserted after “Gazette”.

On page 11, line 5, “and other agricultural” was inserted. The amendment reads as “preserve the area primarily for food and other agricultural production”.

From lines 6 to 7, “and other media” was inserted after “Gazette”.

Clause 12
On page 11, in line 20, "other media" was inserted

In line 35, after "Gazette", "and other media" was inserted.

Clause 13
In line 45, when the Minister or MEC publishes a withdrawal or a review of the protected agricultural areas, it shall be published both in the Gazette and “other media”.

In line 46, after "Gazette", "and other media" was inserted.

The Committee agreed to the amendments made to Chapter 2.

Chapter 3: Agro-ecosystems management
Clause 15
On page 12, in line 48, after "report", "where required" was inserted.

On page 12, in line 49, "by the Minister '' was omitted and substituted with "in terms of this Act ''.

Clause 16
On page 13, in line 2, after "Gazette", "and other media" was inserted.

Clause 17
On page 13, in line 25, after "Gazette", "and other media" was inserted. When a listing is published the notice must be in both the gazette and other media.

Clause 20
On page 14, in line 7, "more than one organ" was omitted and substituted with "or impacts one or more organs of state".

In line 20, after "any", "information and" was inserted.

On page 14, in line 39, Clause 20(2) was omitted and substituted with the following "(2)(a) The competent authority must consider an application for an agro-ecosystem authorisation and provide the applicant with a decision in respect of such application within 30 days of receipt of the application, or within a reasonable time as may be prescribed for certain specified agro-ecosystem authorisations and must, in the case of a refusal, provide written reasons for such refusal’’.

On page 14, in line 47, after "(2)(a)", "(b)" was inserted.

Chapter 4 - Institutional framework
Clause 21
On page 14, in line 53, after "Gazette", "and other media" was inserted.

On page 15, in line 13, after "Gazette", ", other media" was inserted.

On page 15, in line 17, after "Gazette”, "and other media" was inserted.

In line 36, the word "or" was omitted.

On page 15, in line 38, the period "." was omitted and substituted with "; or".

On page 15, after line 38, the following paragraph was added: "(g) is disqualified from serving as a director of a company in terms of Section 69 of the Companies Act, 2008 (Act No. 71 of 2008).".

Clause 23
On page 15, in line 57, “and other media” was inserted after “Gazette”.

The Committee agreed to the amendments made in Chapter 4.

Chapter 5 - National Agro-ecosystems Information Systems
Clause 24
On page 16, in line 25, after "Gazette", "and other media" was added.

Clause 25
Mr N Masipa (DA) referred to Clause 25 Objectives of national agro-eco information system. He stated that in the last meeting with the Minister, it was suggested that there would be an engagement with the Department of Environment about this. He asked if there had been any update on the matter and if the Department of Environment was satisfied with the changes which have been effected.

The Chairperson said that the Department was requested to revert to the Committee on the matter if changes were made after discussions and there has not been any feedback on the matter.

There were no amendments made to clause 25.

Clause 26
On page 17, from line 21, sub-paragraph (ii) was omitted and substituted with the following sub-paragraph: "(ii) subject to the provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (Act No. 4 of 2013), information on the land owner and land user and where such land owner or land user is a natural person, the nationality and gender of such land owner or land user; and".

The Committee agreed to the amendments made in Chapter 5.

Chapter 6 - Appeals, compliance, and contraventions
Clause 31
On page 19, in line 10, the word "previous" was omitted and substituted with "prior".

Mr Masipa stated that he has done research about the constitutionality of clause 31(3)(g). He is afraid that the Committee might be found to be passing an unconstitutional bill. There are documents and research which support that 31(3)(g) is unconstitutional.

Ms N Mahlo (ANC) said that the Committee has had multiple discussions on the matter and it should agree to what was previously agreed on.

Dr M Tlhape (ANC) said that the Committee has had various engagements on the Bill, including going through the A-list and consulting with the State Law Advisors. She took it upon herself to consult external legal bodies on the matter and she does not believe that the legal team that has been with the Committee throughout the process would have left the Committee hanging. The response has been that there was nothing wrong with the Bill.

Dr Tlhape noted that Mr Masipa said that he is afraid; there has been recourse in some of these cases. The judicial system is always available in such cases where individuals feel aggrieved about an Act. The horses had bolted on this clause. The Committee should continue with the Bill. Committee members should be mature and move on and accept when their point is not agreed to in a debate.

The Chairperson said that the Committee is guided by Parliament's Constitutional and Legal Services Office (CLSO). Therefore the presence of legal advisors is of utmost importance in meetings when a legal opinion would be required.

Constitutional and Legal Services Office (CLSO) input
Mr Siviwe Njikela, Parliamentary Legal Advisor, said that clause 31(3)(g) is not a stand-alone clause. He pointed to clause 31(6) stating that if there is a need to inspect a private dwelling it has to be done in terms of a warrant:

"31(6) An inspection of a private dwelling may only be carried out by an inspector when authorised in terms of a warrant issued by a judge of the High Court or a magistrate who has jurisdiction over the agricultural land on which the private dwelling is situated."

Ms Zenani, Parliamentary Legal Advisor, said that the legal team anticipates that any seizure done in terms of clause 31 will be conducted according to the terms of this Act. There is no violation of the right to privacy.

The Committee agreed to the amendments effected to Chapter 6.

Chapter 7 - General and Miscellaneous Provisions
Clause 34
On page 20, in line 47, after "Gazette", "and other media" was inserted

On page 20, in line 55, after “Gazette”, "and other media" was added

Clause 35
On page 21, in line 17, after "authorisations", the insertion made was: ", including the reasonable time within which a competent authority may consider and respond to applications for certain specified agro-ecosystem authorisations"

On page 22, in line 32, after “Gazette”, "and other media" was added.

On page 22, in line 34, after “Gazette”, "and other media" was added.

On page 22, in line 36, after “Gazette”, "and other media" was added.

On page 22, from line 41 to 42, after "Gazette", "and other media" was added

The Committee agreed to the amendments in Chapter 7.

Preservation, Development of Agricultural Land Bill and Committee Report: adoption
The Committee approved the adoption of the PDAL Bill with amendments.

The Chairperson took the Committee through the Committee Report on the Preservation, Development of Agricultural Land Bill [B8-2021] (Section 76 Bill).

The Committee adopted the report on the Bill.

The meeting was adjourned.