Legislative Updates
The Refugees Amendment Bill was passed by Parliament and submitted to the President for assent.
The Minister of Economic Development published the Competition Amendment Bill, 2017 for public comment. Comments can be emailed to [email protected] by no later than Thursday, 1 February 2018. The main objective of the Amendment Bill is to address two persistent structural constraints on the South African economy: the high levels of economic concentration in the economy and the skewed ownership profile of the economy.
Ms C Dudley (ACDP MP) has published the Animal Protection Amendment Bill, 2017 and the Memorandum on the Objects of the Bill for public comment. Comments can be emailed to Ms B Mbete at [email protected] and copied to Ms Dudley at [email protected] by no later than Saturday, 30 December 2017.
The Department of Labour has extended the comment period for the Labour Relations Amendment Bill, National Minimum Wage Bill & Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill to 10 January 2018. These Bills have also been introduced in Parliament.
Section 7 (1) of the Customary Marriages Act has been found to be inconsistent with the Constitution and was declared invalid by the Constitutional Court. Parliament has been given 24 months to correct the legislation.
The Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry published the Draft National Credit Amendment Bill, 2018 and the Memorandum on the Objects of the Bill for public comment. The Bill aims to provide relief to over-indebted South Africans who have no other effective or efficient options to extract themselves from over-indebtedness. Written comments must be submitted to [email protected] by Monday, 15 January 2018. Public hearings have been scheduled for 30 January 2018 and 6 and 7 February 2018.
Cabinet approved the submission to Parliament of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill of 2017. The Bill seeks to strengthen intergovernmental and democratic governance arrangements. It also seeks to address issues around the administration and management of municipal elections, and to promote the effective and efficient implementation of the Act, as well as to strengthen oversight and governance in municipalities.
The Department of Justice and Correctional Services has published the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Amendment Bill, 2017 for comment. Comments and Enquiries can be emailed to [email protected] by no later than Monday, 15 January 2018.
Cabinet approved the submission to Parliament of the Electronic Deeds Registration Systems Bill of 2017. The Bill has already gone through public consultation. It allows for the development of an electronic deeds registration system (e-DRS), for the processing of deeds and to effect the registration of large volumes of deeds as necessitated by Governments’ land reform initiatives.
Cabinet approved the publication of the Postal Services Amendment Bill for public comment. The Bill provides for the restructuring of the postal sector in general to contribute to the provisions of universal access to innovative e-services while continuing to provide quality and secure traditional postal services.
The National Assembly gave permission to the Standing Committee on Auditor General to proceed with the legislative proposal to amend the Public Audit Act. Amongst others, the amendments will seek to empower the AG to refer undesirable audit outcomes to an appropriate body for further investigation and to empower the AG to issue a certificate of debt to recover losses in certain instances against the accounting officer or accounting authority accountable for those losses. The envisaged date for adoption of the Committee Bill by the National Assembly is the end of February 2018 in order for the new powers to be effective beginning of the 2018/2019 financial year.
Parliament has approved the Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill.
The Bill, which provides for the health promotion levy (implementation of a tax on sugary beverages), is expected to take effect in the first quarter of 2018. A task team will monitor the implementation of the levy to assess its effect on job losses.
The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education received a preliminary briefing on the Draft Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill. The controversial Draft Bill limits the powers of school governing bodies in respect of language policy‚ teacher appointments and learner admissions. Committee Members noted that the amendments could potentially take away the rights of parents and significantly reduce the role of governing bodies. Concern was expressed as to whether the “avalanche” of public inputs were being taken into consideration by the Department. The public will have additional time to comment on the Bill after it is formally introduced in Parliament when the Committee undertakes public participation processes as part of the normal legislative process.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development invites the public to submit written comments on the revised draft Regulations relating to Sexual Offences Courts, 2017. Comments can be emailed to Ms A Van der Walt at [email protected] by no later than Friday, 12 January 2018.
The Portfolio Committee on Police is concerned by the gaps identified in the Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Act and will instruct the Civilian Secretariat of Police to fast-track processes towards the amendment of the Act. In addition, the Committee is in the process of amending the Independent Police Investigative Directorate Act to comply with a Constitutional Court ruling.
The first Private Members' Bill – the Labour Laws Amendment Bill – was passed by the National Assembly. Amongst others, the Bill seeks to provide for parental leave, adoption leave and commissioning parental leave.
The Department of Environmental Affairs is currently finalising the socio-economic impact assessment on the draft climate Change Bill. This will be sent to the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) for final approval, after which the Bill would be taken to Cabinet for gazetting for public consultations.