Judith February and Lynne Abrahams
The furious pace of legislating that characterised the first four or five years of South Africa’s democratically constituted Parliament has tapered off and last year saw far less legislation passed.
Instead, a lot more time is spent monitoring legislation already in place. Amendments or regulations are passed to facilitate the implementation of legislation. Often an Act may or may not work on the strength of the regulations.
But a number of key new Bills are expected to be passed in 2001.
The Conventional Arms Control Bill should resurface as part of Parliament’s unfinished business of last year. In mid-September the portfolio committee on defence deliberated on the Bill and concluded that it was not only poorly drafted but also that no opportunity had been afforded to interested parties to submit comment or participate in public hearings.
As a result of intervention by civil society groups the Bill was sent back to the department for redrafting. Public hearings will also be scheduled.
The Bill seeks to regulate and control the transfer of conventional arms and formally establishes the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC). The task of the NCACC is to ensure the legitimate, effective and transparent transfer of conventional arms.
Parliament is still to give direction on the set of “open democracy” Acts that it passed last year, namely, the Protected Disclosures Act, the Promotion of Access to Information Act and the Administrative Justice Act.
These Acts all have at their heart the constitutional values of equality, openness and accountability. Parliament will need to deliberate on the regulations to ensure that these laws are implemented effectively. The draft regulations for the Administrative Justice Act have also been published for comment.
Although the Promotion of Equality Act is partially in effect, regulations need to be finalised so the law can influence the kind of societal changes it was intended to bring about.
The proposed amendments to the country’s labour laws, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Labour Relations Act, were tabled at the National Economic, Development and Labour Council last year. The proposals received a negative reaction from unions and there will, probably, be further negotiations.
Timeframes have not been set for the passing of what is sure to be controversial legislation. The amendments could result in substantial changes to labour conditions, some of the more problematic areas including the removal of the 45-hour work week from the list of non-variable or “core rights” employees have. Ordinary hours in a work week could therefore be varied, resulting in longer working hours.
The amendments also fail to address the increase in the practice of employing workers as casual staff and the consequent lack of job security.
Parliament may also be considering the draft anti-terrorism legislation. The Law Commission has issued a discussion paper on anti-terrorism with some contentious inclusions, such as detention without trial of persons suspected of acts of terror. The commission invited comments on the discussion paper.
Human rights groups have criticised the document for not balancing the tensions between the imperative of crime control and the importance of preserving human rights, even of those accused of heinous crimes.
After the submissions have been considered, a report containing the commission’s final recommendations will be drawn up and a Bill prepared and presented to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Penuell Maduna.
It is not certain when this Bill will be tabled. Only once the draft Bill has been submitted to the minister, expected to be some time in October, will the Bill be circulated to the public for comment.
No doubt the year will not be without some controversial legislation, often the kind that indicates some sort of governmental policy shift.
Legislation such as the draft Mineral Development Bill has been released for comment. It is envisaged that the Bill will be tabled at the end of the year. This is, however, subject to public hearings and comment.
Interested parties have until March 31 to submit comment. Following this, the comments will possibly be incorporated by the Bill’s steering committee at the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs. The draft Bill signals a change of policy by the state in respect of mining and the allocation of mineral resources.
Another piece of legislation that is likely to be widely debated is the draft Legal Practice Bill. It has also been published for comment and has already been subject to intense scrutiny from within the legal profession.
The General Council of the Bar has questioned whether this draft Bill will compromise the independence of the judiciary.
The Bill seeks to impose state control on the profession with the establishment of a statutory council. The Department of Justice has, however, given assurances that the comments of the profession will be key in the consultation process. It has been hinted that the Bill may be tabled in September.
Another challenge for Parliament will be the continuing work of the joint committee on oversight and accountability as it seeks to clearly define the oversight role that Parliament has over the executive.
Judith February and Lynne Abrahams work for the Political Information and Monitoring Service at the Institute for Democracy in South Africa