Reference: Published by Staff Writer, 8 June 2023
A number of laws being processed by Parliament are currently available for public comment, and a few more will likely be submitted in the upcoming months.
A handful of the bills being considered will significantly affect all South Africans or their way of life, even though some of them are related to administrative or procedural adjustments for departments.
Changes to the labels on food products on shop shelves and significant adjustments in a number of work sectors that may have an influence on employability are just a few of the new regulations that are currently up for comment.
Changes to the labels on food products on shop shelves and significant adjustments in a number of work sectors that may have an influence on employability are just a few of the new regulations that are currently up for comment.
The police force or the way the public service is run are being changed, and many departments are attempting to amend existing legislation and submit them to Parliament.
Draft Employment Equity Regulations, 2023
- Public comments are welcome until June 12, 2023.
By now, the majority of South Africans—as well as all businesses—would be aware of these requirements. The public had 30 days to comment on the Draft Employment Equity Regulations 2023 after they were released in the middle of May.
The regulations include specific sectoral racial and gender targets for each of the nation’s major job sectors, which businesses must meet within five years.
The goals are to have job sectors in South Africa that are demographically representative of the racial and gender composition of their respective provinces or countries. The goals force companies with 50 or more employees to gradually change the racial and gender composition of their workforce, paying special attention to top and senior management roles.
The restrictions have already received harsh criticism and will probably be the subject of numerous court challenges because of claims that the precise targets are racial quotas.
The Employment Equity Amendment Act, which was recently signed into law and gives the Minister of Employment and Labor the authority to set the targets, prompted the publication of the draft regulations. However, the Act has not yet been published.
Independent Police Investigative Directorate Amendment Bill, 2023
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) Amendment Bill and an explanation note will be submitted to Parliament by the Minister of Police, according to a notice published in the Gazette.
The bill is anticipated to put into effect the 2016 ruling by the Constitutional Court in the case of McBride v. Minister of Police and Others, which determined that the former Police Minister Nathi Nhleko’s suspension of IPID head Robert McBride was unconstitutional because it constituted undue influence and infringed on the directorate’s independence.
The new bill is a significant step for independent police in South Africa since it will codify IPID’s institutional and operational independence and grant it the freedom to carry out its duties without interference, fear, favor, or bias.
The bill will also expand the scope of the IPID’s mandate to include the investigation of rape allegations and deaths that may have been committed while not on duty. The conditions of service for IPID investigators, including their pay and benefits, may also be determined by the Minister in consultation with the Minister of Finance.
Public Service Bills
On the first introduction of the Public Service Amendment Bill and Public Administration Management Amendment Bill, the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration will receive a briefing.
The Public Service Amendment Bill aims to amend the Public Service Act of 1994 in order to, among other things, provide for the devolution of administrative powers from executive authorities to heads of department, enhance the Director-General’s role in the Presidency to support the President, and provide for a mechanism to deal with the recovery of overpayments of remuneration and benefits. It also clarifies the Public Service Commission’s role in relation to grievances.
The Public Administration Management Amendment Bill, on the other hand, seeks to amend the Public Administration Management Act of 2014, among other things, by expanding the provisions for employee transfers and secondments and by clarifying the ban on employees transacting business with state organs.
The government has been working hard to make the public sector more professional and to put a stop to the irregularities, fraud, and corruption that have crept into local administrations and the public sector as a whole.
These two measures constitute a component of the effort to achieve this.
Independent Municipal Demarcation Authority Bill
- Comments accepted till 20 June 2023
End of May saw the release of the Independent Municipal Demarcation Authority Bill for public comment by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
The measure allows for the creation of a separate body that would decide on municipal boundaries and categorize and organize them.
In general, it stipulates the standards and procedures to be followed in the determination and redetermination of municipal boundaries, the delineation of wards, and the appeals and assessment procedures related to these.
Notably, it also places limitations on implementing these kinds of adjustments. A municipal boundary involving categorization, merger, or other boundary modification that affects the movement of more than one complete ward in a municipality may only be determined or redetermined by the board of the authority every 10 years.
Municipal boundaries and demarcation have a significant impact on election outcomes, notably in local government elections, as well as service delivery in the nation. Gerrymandering should be avoided in part thanks to restrictions on changing boundary lines.
National Identification and Registration Bill
- Comments accepted till June 30.
The government is pushing through laws to establish a “one-stop” national identity database in the country, which has implications for foreign nationals, as well as opening up for allowing citizens to get their IDs at the age of 10.
The main push behind the laws is to provide for a biometric national identity system (NIS) that will enable a single view of a person by providing for particulars to be included in the population register and the identification database.
The NIS is intended to interface with other government and private sector identity systems, which should speed up all kinds of processes – like driving licence, ID and passport applications – while also helping with policing and crime detection.
The bill will also apply to permanent residents and foreigners who sojourn temporarily within the republic.
The bill also makes provisions for the compilation and maintenance of a population register and identification database; the assignment of national identity numbers and reference numbers; and for the issuance of national identity cards and temporary identity, deaths, births and marriage certificates and other connected matters.
Regulations relating to the Labelling and Advertising of Foodstuffs
- Comments accepted till June 20.
The South African Department of Health has moved in the direction of implementing significant changes to food labeling, including the addition of warning labels on harmful foods.
The Regulations Relating to the Labeling and Advertising of Foodstuffs have been gazetted by the department, allowing for public comment on the proposed amendments to the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics, and Disinfectants Act.
The proposed revisions include a number of adjustments for more contemporary changes in food advertising while also reinforcing numerous laws currently in place for product packaging in South Africa, such as ingredient listings and sell-by dates.
The government seeks to make measures that will, among other things, require food products with excessive sugar and fat content to have prominent warning labels and to not be sold to minors.
The government wants all pre-packaged foods that contain added sugar, added salt, added saturated fat, or those have more total sugar, total sodium, or total saturated fatty acids than the nutrient cut-off levels to be required to have front-of-package labeling (FOPL).
‘Super foods’ claims and other uncontrolled marketing words are also severely restricted by the legislation.