Social Assistance Amendment Bill: Final Mandates

Meeting report

Final mandates on the Social Assistance Amendment Bill [B17-2008]
The representatives from the nine provinces tabled their final mandates on the Social Assistance Amendment Bill:

Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature
The Legislature’s mandate was to vote for the adoption of Bill.

Limpopo Province Legislature:
The Legislature supported the Bill and voted in favour of the Bill.

Mpumalanga Legislature
The Legislature supported Bill without amendments

North-West Provincial Legislature
The Legislature supported Bill.

Western Cape Provincial Legislature
The Legislature supported Amendment Bill [B17-2008]. 

Gauteng Province Provincial Legislature
The Legislature supported Bill with no amendments.

Northern Cape Provincial Legislature
The Legislature supported the Bill.

Free State Provincial Legislature
The Legislature supported the Bill.

Kwazulu-Natal Provincial Legislature
The Legislature supported the Bill with an amendment. The amendment pertained to Clause 1B and the effective payment date as of 1 April 2008. The Legislature insisted that the effective payment date of social assistance monies be backdated and paid as of 1 April 2008. 

Delegates were concerned that no social payments would be made available until the proposed Bill actually became an Act of Parliament.

Mr M Sulliman (ANC, Northern Cape) pointed out that the meeting was not one where negotiations on the mandates should take place. Those negotiations had already taken place in the meeting held the week before. The matter needed immediate clarification as the meeting was about the final mandate. Matters could not be negotiated further at this stage.

Mr B Tolo (ANC, Mpumalanga) agreed with Mr Sulliman. He was all for the Committee assisting the swift progress of the Bill through Parliament as opposed to delaying the process because of the stance of the Kwazulu- Natal Provincial Legislature.

The Committee agreed that a consensus had already been reached in the negotiating mandates meeting that had been held the week before.

The Chairperson confirmed that the Bill needed to be passed as an Act of Parliament first before any money could be distributed to beneficiaries. The Committee’s stance was that they had already agreed in the negotiating mandates meeting that the Bill needed to be passed first and that it would in all probability not be passed by 1 April 2008.

The Kwazulu- Natal Provincial Legislature displayed concerns of possible litigation if payment to beneficiaries did not come into effect as of 1^st April 2008. They added that they could not accept the Bill as it was.

The Chairperson pointed out that, since the Bill was supported by eight of the nine provinces, the Committee had approved the Bill.

The State Law Advisor agreed with the proceedings.

Adoption of Committee minutes
The Committee adopted both sets of minutes dated 20 May 2008 with corrections.

The meeting was adjourned.