Final Mandate on the National Small Enterprise Amendment Bill

Meeting report

Final mandate: National Small Enterprise Amendment Bill [B 16B – 2023]

The Chairperson said the meeting had been convened to deliberate on and consider the final mandate for the National Small Enterprise Amendment Bill [B 16B – 2023].

Ms Zaheedah Adams, the Committee's procedural officer, read out the Western Cape's draft substantive report on the final negotiating mandate for the National Small Enterprise Amendment Bill.

Discussion

Mr A van der Westhuizen (DA) said there had been a consistent thread of Bills being poorly formulated and worded by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). Whenever these issues were raised with the NCOP, the latter would always say that the Office of the Chief State Law Advisor (OCSLA) had already signed off on the Bill.

He added that the failure of the NCOP to consider amendments on wording and formulation pointed towards sloppiness. He found this state of affairs “a real pity."

He further noted that the Bill should still be supported despite the Western Cape's reservations not having been considered.

Mr I Sileku (DA) asked whether the amendments were of such a nature that they were different from their negotiating mandate.

The Chairperson replied that the Western Cape Provincial Government had expressed their opposition to the Bill, since many of their mandates were not considered. The Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) had then said that it would consider and adopt the Bill only if the Western Cape's reservations were attended to.

Mr G Brinkhuis (Al Jama-ah) expressed his party's minority view not to support the Bill.

The Chairperson then asked Ms Adams whether procedure allowed for a negotiating mandate to be adopted, subject to further amendments.

Ms Adams replied that Members simply had to indicate whether they supported the Bill or not.

The Chairperson’s view was that the Bill would play an important role in enabling small businesses, but that the OCSLA still had to do some work on the Bill for it to be “up to scratch." She added that she thought one could see the benefits of the Bill, and therefore she supported it.

Mr Sileku said that he agreed with the Chairperson's views and would also support the Bill.

The Chairperson then asked Ms Adams to read out the draft report on the negotiating mandate.

The mandate read that the Committee had considered and deliberated on the Western Cape's negotiating mandate, and had decided to support the Bill.

Mr Sileku moved the adoption, and Mr Van der Westhuizen seconded.

Al Jama-ah expressed a minority view not to support the Bill.

Consideration and adoption of outstanding minutes and reports

The Committee considered and adopted the draft report on its engagement with Transnet on the Port of Cape Town, dated 22 February 2024.

Mr Brinkhuis thanked the Members and the procedural staff for their dedication and hard work. He said that the procedural staff was always helpful and provided documents timeously.

The Chairperson echoed Mr Brinkhuis's comments.

The Chairperson proposed that the report on the Port of Cape Town be sent to the Western Cape Department of Economic Opportunities, the national Department of Small Business Development, and the Presidency, for comments. The Committee would also call on these entities to consider the Committee's recommendations favourably for inclusion in the turnaround strategy for the Port of Cape Town. Given the urgency of the matter, these entities would be asked to respond within 14 days.

The Members supported the Chairperson's proposal.

The Committee then proceeded and adopted a batch of minutes, including those for meetings held on 21 and 22 February 2024. The dates of the other adopted minutes were not visible on the screen, nor read out loud in the meeting.

Committee matters

The Chairperson informed the Committee that another Bill related to energy had been referred by the NCOP to the WCPP. The Committee was currently awaiting feedback from the WCPP Speaker on how to proceed. Once feedback had been received, communication would be sent out to Members. This would place significant pressure on them, given the tight timeframes. The NCOP would like the Bill to be processed within two weeks. This would necessitate further meetings.

Mr Van der Westhuizen commented that the legislative frameworks and the judicial system had been clear on the importance of public participation. The NCOP had to allow enough time for the public participation processes to play out and for the Committee to conduct proper oversight. He proposed that the Committee write to the Speaker and propose that the NCOP give the WCPP adequate time to process the Bill, or that the Bill should stand over to the next Parliament.

He also asked whether the Committee had more Bills to consider before the term expired.

Ms Adams informed the Committee that the Public Procurement Bill would be considered towards the end of April, and that this depended on the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill, which was also in the pipeline. She added that there might be a briefing as well.

The meeting was adjourned.