ATC231101:Report of the Select Committee on Security and Justice on the Amendments to the Practical Guidelines for Employees, submitted in terms of section 10(4)(b) of the Protected Disclosures Act, 2000 (Act No. 26 of 2000), dated 1 November 2023

NCOP Security and Justice

Report of the Select Committee on Security and Justice on the Amendments to the Practical Guidelines for Employees, submitted in terms of section 10(4)(b) of the Protected Disclosures Act, 2000 (Act No. 26 of 2000), dated 1 November 2023.

 

The Select Committee on Security and Justice, having considered the Amendments to the Practical Guidelines for Employees, submitted in terms of section 10(4)(b) of the Protected Disclosures Act, 2000 (Act No. 26 of 2000), and referred to the Committee on 20 September 2023, reports as follows:

 

1. Section 10(4)(a) - the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services must issue practical guidelines (Guidelines) which explain—
   1.      the provisions of the Act; and
   2.   all procedures which are available in terms of any law to employees or workers who wish to report or otherwise remedy an impropriety.
2. The Guidelines must be issued after consultation with the Minister for the Public Service and Administration.
3. Section 10(4)(b) - the Guidelines must be approved by Parliament before publication in the Gazette.
4. The Committee received a briefing on the Guidelines on 25 October 2023.
5. The Act was amended on 2 August 2017. Before its amendment, section 8(1) of the Act provided that any disclosure made in good faith to—
   1. the Public Protector;
   2. the Auditor-General; or
   3. any person or body prescribed for the purposes of that section and in respect of which disclosure the employee or worker concerned reasonably believes that—

the relevant impropriety falls within any description of matters which, in the ordinary course, are dealt with by the person or body concerned; and the information disclosed, and any allegation contained in it, are substantially true, is a protected disclosure.

1. In August 2017 section 8(1) was amended to specifically include—
   1. the South African Human Rights Commission;
   2. the Commission for Gender Equality;
   3. the Commission for Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities; and
   4. the Public Service Commission,

as other institutions to which protected disclosures could also be made.

 

Committee recommendation to the National Council of Provinces

The Committee, having considered the Amendments to the Practical Guidelines for Employees, submitted in terms of section 10(4)(b) of the Protected Disclosures Act, 2000 (Act No. 26 of 2000), and referred to the Committee on 20 September 2023, recommends the National Council of Provinces approve said Guidelines as tabled.

 

Report to be considered.