Assignment of Welfare legislation of the former Transkei and Ciskei to the Eastern Cape Province

Documents handed out:
Assignment of Welfare Legislation of the former Transkei and Ciskei to the Eastern Cape Province: letter from Ministry of Welfare (see below)

SUMMARY
Members were unable to be briefed on this issue due to the non-arrival of the briefer. A briefing document will be provided to committee members by Friday.

MINUTES
Announcements
The chairperson, Ms L Jacobus, announced that committee meetings would be held on Tuesdays at 10:00. The Committee Programme, which has still to be drawn up, will include the coming year, 2000, and it will provide a guideline of what the committee will be doing. Once drawn up, it will be sent to members for endorsement.

Assignment of Welfare Legislation
A special delegate from the Eastern Cape explained that when the new government came into being, certain laws were assigned to the provinces through a proclamation of the President. Some laws were overlooked and this has left the Eastern Cape with laws that cannot be repealed by this province.

The Chairperson said that due to a delayed flight, the briefer would be unable to brief the members on this. She said, however, that these laws are old and she expects no objections to their being repealed, as long as members have clarity as to why this was brought before them.

There was support for the Chairperson's statement from the floor, as most members said they do not have any objections to these laws being repealed.

The UDM delegate asked what are the implications of repealing these laws.

The answer was that Transkei and Ciskei currently do not fall under the Social Assistance Act of 1992 and this causes contradictions and confusion. It was pointed out that the terminology used in these laws did not augur well with the new dispensation, for example, the use of the terms, Europeans and Non-Europeans. Also there is still the mention of currency in pounds. These are just a few examples of what is outdated in these laws.

The delegate from the Eastern Cape pointed out that they would like the matter to be speeded up because they already have a bill in their legislature that they cannot pass until these laws are repealed. There was no objection to this, but they will have to wait for the process to take its course.

It was decided that Mr. Setoe should provide a briefing document before Friday as next week is a provincial week and the delegates might be asked about what transpired in the meeting.

Appendix 1:
From: Ministry Of Welfare And Population Development

To: Dr F N Ginwala

Dear Colleague

A copy of Proclamation No 77 of 1999 is hereby submitted for your attention, in accordance with Item 14(3)(a) of Schedule 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.

Item 14(3)(a) of the Constitution provides that a copy of each proclamation assigning legislation to a province must be submitted to the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces within 10 days of publication of the Proclamation

The aforementioned Proclamation assigned outstanding welfare laws of the former Transkei and Ciskei to the Eastern Cape Province.

During the period June 1994 and September 1994, almost all welfare laws of the former provincial administrations, TBVC States and self-governing territories were assigned to the provinces by Presidential Proclamations in terms of the Interim Constitution, with the understanding that each province would rationalise or repeal the said laws accordingly

One of these Proclamations, Proclamation 111 of 1994 (17 June 1994), only assigned the Poor Relief and Cheritable Institutions Ordinance, 1919 (Ordinance 4 of 1919) and the Poor Relief and Cheritable Institutions (Amendment) Ordinance, 1924 (Ordinance 5 of 1924) to the Eastern Cape Province. The other welfare laws of the former Transkei and Ciskei were omitted.

It therefore meant that the Eastern Cape Province did not have the power to repeal outstanding welfare laws of the Transkei and Ciskei, viz. the Ciskei Pensions Act, 1976, the Ciskei National Welfare Act, 1987 and the Transkei Social Pensions Act, 1978.

Item 14(1) of Schedule 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act, 1996, provides that the President may, by Proclamation assign legislation with regard to a matter within a functional area listed in Schedule 4 or 5 of the New Constitution, which, when the new Constitution took effect, was administered by an authority within the national executive, to an authority within a provincial executive.