Hof Communications Cape Town

27 July 2017 This editorial is the opinion of the editors of ParlyReport

Parliament – stage set for shootouts

n the absence of any move by the National Prosecuting Authority, I particularly the somnambulant National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams, who surely by now must have been presented with any number of dockets containing prima facia evidence of fraud, it fell to Parliament to be the first official venue for any investigation into the Zuma/Gupta corruption scandal.

Oddly, it was in also Cape Town, at St George’s Cathedral, where the fight first began. The venue this time was room 249 in the National Assembly where the Public Enterprises Portfolio Committee was addressed by Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) and who had recently released the report on corruption by the SACC Unburdening Panel.

The Church, he said, must intervene and as a result of the SACC “unburdening” process which had been conducted some months ago, he now knew that “mafia-style control” was being exercised by a political elite in Eskom, Transnet, Denel, and other government agencies. An attempt was in process to gain control over public funds destined particularly regarding rail, arms and nuclear projects, the last being a totally unnecessary burden placed upon the country, he said. He concluded with an appeal to the parliamentarians present to expose the crimes committed and “restore the dream that had built a rainbow nation admired the world over.”

Moving on The Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises under chairperson Zukiswa Rantho, will now commence the planned enquiry in Eskom’s accounts (and now also Transnet and Denel} once Parliament resumes its business. It will hopefully be a long winter for those who have been raiding the fiscus and those who brought about the fall of the keeper of keys, past Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan in order to cover their tracks.

Ahead Parliament has a busy schedule from Aug 1 in what will possibly be tumultuous times, not the least of which will involve the passage of the contentious Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill, the Expropriation Bill and the implementation of all Twin Peaks regulations including those for the Financial Intelligence Centre Act.

The issue of debt relief legislation under the aegis of the Trade and Industry Committee will be important as will meetings on energy involving electricity, IPPs, nuclear and clearing up the PetroSA mess. Also, it is encouraging to note that the Portfolio Committees on Energy and Transport will also be meeting to investigate issues regarding state capture.

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The Select Committee Economic and Business Development is due to meet soon for a briefing on the Grand Inga Hydro Dam project and receive a briefing at the same time on transformation in the petroleum industry. The various Finance Committees will meet for a joint session for hearings on Money Bills amendment proposals and for the whole first parliamentary week, the Trade and Industry Committee will be subject to hearings on the Copyright Amendment Bill.

Headlines:  Stage set for first shootouts on state capture  Department of Transport comes up with rail plan  MPRDA: Catch up on a convoluted process  Cybercrime Bill to involve provider industry  Bills on insolvency and debt collection underway  Final changes to Twin Peaks regulatory Bills  Eskom under the spotlight for massive fraud

Moves to re-vitalise South Africa’s rail systems

s a precursor to a National Rail Act promised by past Minister A of Transport Dipuo Peters when publishing the Green Paper on South Africa’s rail system, government has now published a White Paper outlining its updated National Rail Policy. Clearly there has been a re-think on may subjects.

This latest White Paper, which calls for comment, states very clearly that due to economic restraints and to raise the enormous sums required to catch up on years of inactivity (and what appears to be lack of foresight) what is now proposed is a plan to “strengthen rail transport so that it serves as the backbone of national land transport by 2050”.

This is radically different from the Green Paper which announced a somewhat grandiose plan to restore the country’s long-haul freight rail systems to their former glory as first choice for freight transport in South Africa. How we got there The White Paper traces back the reasons for the demise of rail transport back to the fact that Transnet and its predecessors had to finance rail development from their own balance sheet, a policy originally made possible by its then monopolistic control over long distance freight and passenger services.

Meanwhile, from the ‘eighties, rolling out road services was a comparatively easy process for the then types of vehicles in use. Both this fact and the fact that land transport was easy to acquire or hire and road haulage and warehousing systems were easier to implement, road haulage assumed premier position. In the light of the accompanying demise of rail, a surprisingly fast switch from rail freight to road freight took place.

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Switch over By 2000, relatively massive quantities of goods were being moved along SA roads, not necessarily all of the highways being designed to accommodate such great volumes of heavy vehicle traffic use. Roads designed for tourism and passenger car passage had to have extra lanes added for slower-moving vehicles and night use of highways became the practice rather than the exception.

In parallel, long distance passenger rail became a slow and relatively uncomfortable experience in comparison to new, fast luxury road coach services. With branch railway systems closing where everything from farm produce to cattle to fertilizer to fuel were accommodated by rail, came the extraordinary sight of heavy duty trucks on farm roads. Downhill The rail system itself eventually became totally operationally inefficient with under-utilised assets, low-axle loads, low speed traffic and short trains working on uncompetitive narrow-gauge lines. Rail continued to suffer from a total lack of investment for several years leading up to the current period with Transnet and PRASA purchasing new fleets of locomotives and investing in coachwork facilities.

Additional problems faced have been the poor maintenance of rolling stock, the inability to handle fast speed refrigerated goods and general lack of systems on the movement of goods. This and a monolithic rail organisational structure enabled alternative road transport facilities to punch well above their weight.

The fact that for the years 1930 and 1988, the freight rail sector had to be statutorily protected from road the invasion of road hauliers gives some idea of the poor thinking of old, the organisation in the earlier days being simply a home a subsidised employees and a way of earning a pension through the only way of moving goods and people. From 1988 onwards, paralysis seems to have struck. The tide turns The situation is now changing again and once more, just as rapidly, says the White Paper. This year Transnet has met all its development targets set. At the same time, almost total reliance on land transport for many years is now translating into enormous costs incurred due to road maintenance, with a heavy toll on highway surfaces caused by excessive use of heavier and heavier road transport haulage. Bigger vehicles causing greater traction have been developed to accommodate the need to justify rising fuel costs with bigger loads.

Added to this, further increased costs to the economy are being caused by congestion in metropolitan areas; the rising costs of modalities needed for fast land freight haulage of goods and, in this field as well, the problem of carbon emissions has raised its ugly head.

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Green light The draft White Paper focuses much of its attention on infrastructure investment to strengthen rail’s competitiveness against these factors by enabling new signalling, better technologies and the right styles of rolling stock to bring about interventions that will enhance rail functions effectively and bring about market intervention. So far, it is reported, many stations have been upgraded and signal systems totally updated to meet international standards.

Plans involve the institutionalisation of standard gauge international rail on the national rail network to enable the use of longer, faster and full strength heavy haul trains. This will leave the original Cape Gauge on the metropolitan commuter networks, where more frequency and better commuter friendly facilities are to be installed to, again, raise the competitiveness barometer.

Regulated competition will also be introduced into the freight rail market. The White Paper states “The Single Transport Economic Regulator will oversee access arrangements and fees, market behaviour, public sector participation, train path allocation and more.” There is also provision for a Railway Safety Regulator. Full steam From the White Paper, when finalised following comments, will follow a National Rail Master Plan leading to a National Rail Act, which Department of Transport hopes will bring about “a rail renaissance in South Africa”. The current Transnet Freight Rail entity will conduct the process of overall upgrading and infrastructure at all levels of the rail system. The results will be divided into two divisions, one being an Infrastructure Manager and the other the Train Operator.

Urban rail services will be devolved to local government and municipal management for commuter needs so that integration with passenger road and bus service plans can be conducted. Faster, more weighty and longer freight rail units seem to be an answer sought by the White Paper. Such is needed if rail is to increase better turn-around time for customer goods on the long-haul and improved passenger facilities if Transnet and PRASA are sharpen up on strengths against other modes of transport. The future The White Paper also studies the problems faced in modernising existing rail track; trends of development and success overseas; positioning freight and passenger rail into the market; acquiring rolling stock for current markets and deploying wagon innovations; expansion into Africa; and rebalancing the call for road and rail usage according to the national interest. It also debates funding, rail gauge modalities, urban rail devolution and branch line privatisation.

The Paper commences with a well-written and informative executive summary. Previous articles on category subject Green Paper on rail transport published - ParlyReportSA Parliament embroiled in state capture - ParlyReportSA Transnet improves on road to rail switch - ParlyReportSA Transnet says freight rail operations coming right

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MPRDA: Minister Zwane’s 57 changes could go to ConCourt

he manner of Minister Zwane’s handling of both the Mineral and Petroleum Resources T Development Amendment Bill (MPRDA) in Parliament and, more recently, in instituting an unagreed Mining Charter appears to have completely shut down on any possibility of the Bill’s enactment in 2017 unless the Bill proceeds with the contentions provisions deleted and these made subject to separate later discussions.

The two industries involved, the mining Industry and offshore gas industry, seem somewhat divided on the next process in light of their differing interests, with the Select Committee on Land and Mineral Resources now having to make a final call on the matter of the progress of the Bill when Parliament reopens.

Voices heard Parliamentary hearings in the NCOP completed in late June gave an indication that the Offshore Petroleum Association of South Africa (OPASA) was, in principle, happy that the MPRDA should proceed as amended bearing in mind, it said, that the two-year wait for decisive action to provide clarity was exhausting the patience of those wishing to invest in gas exploration ventures. It was, they felt, a case of “the sooner the better”.

Those wishing to invest in onshore shale gas exploration were also, perhaps to a lesser extent, “on board” but they called for further negotiations regarding the extent to which the proposed state free carry participation applied in the case of fracking. This call was made in light of the very different and highly expensive processes involved and extensive timelines encountered with shale gas extraction.

Heavyweights The Chamber of Mines was specific in its rejection of the Bill as a result of changes on the two substantive issues raised by the President, aside from the issue of the requirement for further public involvement in the Bill. The first issue was the proposed inclusion of the Mining Charter in the Bill which was neither drafted as a legislative document, they said, nor was it acceptable in its current state which was anyway subject to further negotiation. Of recent, a government revised “charter” has been thrust upon the industry, with changes to mining permits also imposed from a regulatory aspect.

On the incorporation of the Charter into the MPRDA, “Policy cannot be just elevated to legislation”, Dr Michael Dale from Norton, Rose, Fulbright said to parliamentarians for the Chamber. He warned that a vacuum would exist until the contents of the Charter were agreed and then translated in legal terms and agreed by Parliament. During that vacuum period “it would be like giving the Minister a blank cheque to make non-parliamentary amendments.”

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Beneficiation, Mining Rights Beneficiation issues as proposed were the second reason for rejection by the mining industry for the reason of economic survival in difficult times, the Chamber of Mines warned. The mining industry relied on export prices to keep afloat, Dr Dale said, and the diversion of production as prescribed by a Minister would result in “expropriation of income”, which was unconstitutional, he said.

Such would also place members of the mining industry in contravention of foreign trade agreements, further resulting in international punitive action, he said.

Sudden appearance The whole issue of mining rights was also under revision, said Chamber of Mines, and it was premature to finalise the Bill on this issue since the Chamber was in the middle of a process of revision of the matter with the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR). The question of mining permits, as distinct from mining rights, was another “flawed” and unexpected addition to the legislation and was in many respects also totally unconstitutional and would have unintended consequences for small mining enterprises.

The Minister had given a promise personally to the Chamber, said Dr Dale, to delay the issue for the moment as this was a highly contentious area and one which vitally affected both the constitutional rights of the mining industry and would influence those wishing to invest in the mining industry, the consequences of which causing the Chamber of Mines to go to the courts for redress.

Local hearings “passable” In an opinion given by Adv. Geoff Budlender in question time, following the presentation given by his principals OPASA, on the issue of insufficient public participation by the public, Adv Budlender said that whilst, from reports, the hearings in the provinces had not been perfect, in his opinion “they were adequate and therefore reasonable”.

He said, “The Constitution does not propose paralysis but remedy and if there was meaningful input, then Parliament and specifically the NCOP must consider this. However, what was not certain was whether inputs emanating solely from DMR, not as a result of the public participation process, would be acceptable at law and this was the issue”, he concluded.

Under questioning from Cathleen Labuschagne (DA), Adv Budlender was asked if the NCOP could accept and debate themselves amendments suggested by DMR and the Minister alone, to which he replied that in his opinion they could, provided such amendments being proposed were within the framework of the Bill before them.

Against On this issue of the local hearings, which were not the responsibility of the NCOP, Legal Resources Centre (LRC) said that they had attended a number of the hearings and at best they could only be described as “uneven”, so far so that some should have been discounted as even being termed as hearings.

They quoted the points made during the hearings four months ago on the FICA Bill, when this was returned by the President, where Parliament had only one opportunity to amend a Bill, previously voted through the National Assembly, in terms of Parliamentary Rules. That opportunity, LRC said, was limited to amending the Bill in terms only of the reservations as expressed by the Presidency.

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Passed the buck LRC noted that this whole issue had been raised and debated in the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources three months before and not resolved. The matter had been merely delayed by passing it to the Select Committee on Land and Mineral Resources in the NCOP.

Adv. Michael Bishop of LRC said that there only seemed to be a few possibilities of where to go next. One possibility was to re-write the whole Bill, for the Minister to table the new version and go through the whole process again gazetting it for public participation, tabling it and involving the committees of both Houses, the National Assembly, the NCOP, hearings at both national and provincial levels, and the Traditional Council.

Second and third Or, said LRC, the Select Committee could now refer the matter to the Parliamentary Rules Joint Committee for a change of Parliamentary rule 208, the rule in question. Finally, the Bill could be passed by a majority vote as it stood and be signed by the President but would without doubt be challenged on the procedural issues of lack of consultation and a number of the substantive issues objected to by the mining industry and the incorporation of the Charter as a legal instrument.

LRC said it acknowledged that it was not the job of the NCOP to have conducted the hearings but only to debate their findings but nevertheless it was LRC’s view that it was unlikely that the public hearing processes followed would get far on constitutional muster as far as procedural issues were concerned.

Vague in meaning Ms Pulane Tshabalala-Kingston stated for Webber, Wentzel that her law firm was probably the largest grouping handling law for both the mining and petroleum industries.

In general, it was her opinion that the Bill as tabled and subsequent amendments were “both vague giving rise to uncertainty and were in conflict with the law particularly due to the fact that the Bill as it stood gave unfettered rights to the Minister on decision making.”

Webber Wentzel also stated that on the substantive issues that they had strong doubts on the practicality and legality of changing mining rights from a regulatory regime to a concessionary system, since the original prospector lost all discovery rights when the Minister opened up concessionary invitations to all and sundry.

Beneficiation badly worded The proposals on beneficiation, said Manus Booysen, known for his legal mining expertise and also of Webber Wentzel, conflicted with basic economic principles and were therefore unreasonable. The Minister according to the Bill was the sole person to name a mine gate price for minerals at which the producer could sell, which idea had to be disputed, since it went against all business principles.

Also, said Booysen, any export regulation process for minerals, as envisaged in the MPRDA Bill, designed to define the quantities directed by the State for local beneficiation and resulting in unavailability for export, would result in a process that was in contravention of WTO agreements signed by SA.

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One answer Webber Wentzel said that one route to follow could be that certain sections of the Bill that were so totally contentious as the be considered likely for extended litigation should be deleted and held over. These could be debated and argued about at a later stage in order to speed up the passage of the Bill. Both industries needed urgently to create investment certainty, it was noted.

Ms Kingston concluded that on upstream oil and gas issues, international best practice should be observed whereby the State’s right to carried interest being limited to between 10% and 20% with the cost of exploration being refunded to the developer at the commencement of production.

Badly conducted Dr Anthea Jeffreys, South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR), said she had attended the Gauteng provincial hearings on the MPRDA Bill only and these were “fatally flawed”, she said. The Bill was handed out at the door to arrivals without the main body of the Act itself and the time allowed the meeting was totally insufficient to hold any sort of constructive engagement with the speakers.

She pointed, as had others, to the fact that constitutionally the Mining Charter could not be included in the MPRDA Bill and that such a proposal would “give the Minister unfettered powers enabling the Minister to amend the Act without Parliament’s approval.”

Environment and more Dr Jeffries pointed to flaws the Bill’s wording on environmental issues, specifically when it came to mine closures; that penalties defined were inconsistent with the rule of law; that the Bill as it stood would “choke” the mining industry and scare away investment; that the State had no record of successful involvement of its SOEs in partnership with the industry and that the Bill would in general damage the economy.

She summed up by saying the Bill should be scrapped and the whole process of negotiation with the industry should be re-commenced if the country’s interests were to be protected. She repeated that no legislation that allowed a Minister to flout the rule of law such as the MPRDA Bill did should even be considered. The Minister should not be allowed to dictate on commercial issues.

State unqualified Under questioning on this last subject, Dr Jeffries answered that the State did not have sufficient capital to invest in the mining, petroleum products and gas industries. So far, the State’s attempts had been disastrous in this area. Its SOEs did not have sufficient management experience nor were they free of political influence, she said.

She concluded that no successful mining entity should be subjected to the kind of political influence as allowed for in the MPRDA Bill since under such conditions, any entity would find itself unable to react to market demand appropriately nor assess business risk properly.

Unspoken for Representing the complaining communities who stated that they had not been consulted in any way, some saying that communities were unlikely to read advertisements placed in newspapers, were the Land and Accountability Research Centre, the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, Action Aid and LRC themselves. Others complained that the whole Bill and all the background documents were only handed out at the hearings and a debate and any objections called for without preparation. 8

The acting chairperson, Ms Z Ncitha explained that the NCOP apologised for this but did understand that DMR had used community radio advertising slots in various languages. They would hear from the DMR on this matter.

Sum up The Select Committee, NCOP, will now have to decide when Parliament re-opens whether to reject the Bill in its entirety and draft a new piece of legislation taking into account the 57 amendments inserted by the Minister and the DMR; amendments resulting from hearings; whether the contentious clauses so objected to should be dropped and the Bill to go forward in terms of Parliamentary Rules dealing only with the issues raised by the Presidency; or whether there should be a parliamentary process instituted through the Joint Rules Committee to change the Rules.

To bludgeon the legislation through Parliament as it stood using a majority vote, knowing that it would be challenged at ConCourt level was the problem, said some MPs, others stating that it was not the concern of Parliament to consider in advance constitutional outcomes but rather take legal advice on better wording.

Adding to the dots In the meanwhile, the situation has been complicated by the issuance of a government gazette by the Minister of Mineral Resources, Mosebenzi Zwane, instituting a process which would result in the further changed Mining Charter and one that was not agreed to by the Chamber of Mines.

The results of this extra-parliamentary move will obviously affect the what actions are taken in terms parliamentary debate on the MPRDA Bill once Parliament re-assembles.

Previous articles on category subject MPRDA Bill returned to National House of Leaders - ParlyReportSA MPRDA Bill to be amended urgently - ParlyReportSA MPRDA Bill brings changes in BEE and exploration rights - ParlyReportSA Parliament may see delays on Mining Bill - ParlyReportSA Gas undoubtedly on energy back burner - ParlyReportSA Fracking, shale gas gets nearer - ParlyReportSA

Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill to tackle Internet crime

revised Bill designed to give powers to the State Security, Defence, Police A and Telecommunications Ministers to intervene in many aspects of South Africa’s key economic, financial and labour environments zeroing in on cyber- related offences, is about to be debated.

Offences include the circulation of messages that aim at economic harm to persons or entities; that contain pornography or could cause mental or psychological stress; the Bill calls upon the private financial and communications sector and, more specifically, electronic service providers to assist with its objectives. The Bill will also change much in the way how government and SOEs go about their business to reflect the current call for electronic security.

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The revised Bill is re-write of that originally tabled in 2015 and rejected as too convoluted and wide ranging on issues that could cause unintended consequences. Badly needed Despite placing considerable onus upon the private sector to assist, the IT industry seems to be guardedly welcoming the debate which is about to commence. The original and rejected Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill was tabled in Parliament last February.

The main comment circulating seems to be that this later version is more specific than its earlier counterpart, provides more clarity and has less weight placed upon tedious operational management factors in state structures designed to fight cybercrime.

The Bill is the product of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Affairs (DoJ) and from what has been said, Deputy Minister John Jeffreys seems to be the state official still running with the legislation. He said at a media briefing some months ago, “This Bill will give the State the tools to halt cybercrime and trained teams to bring to book those who use data as a tool for their crime.” Not meant Originally, when the Bill was tabled in 2015 it caused a storm of controversy. Whilst its objectives to catch criminals and stop the growing invasion institutional attacks were understood, unintended consequences for the media were foreseen. The new Bill acknowledges that journalists and whistle-blowers have protection under the Protected Disclosures Act.

However, the somewhat draconian powers of seizure of data granted to the authorities will still no doubt worry many service providers insofar as interlocking the proposals into the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act and the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (RICA) are concerned, it has been suggested in hearings.

However, the Minister and other ministerial portfolios concerned, appear to have weighted their decision upon the growing threat of international cybercrime and have continued to call for service providers to assist with the issue caused by a late start. SA under limelight Some IT forensic reports indicate that sub-Saharan Africa has the third highest exposure to incidents of cyber fraud in the world and according to those who published this fact, they also claim that incidences of cybercrime and cybersecurity breaches are escalating globally at 64%, with more security incidents reported in 2015 than 2014 for South Africa.

South Africa is known to be a specific target for cybercrime involving unlawful acquisition of sensitive data relating to clients and/or business operations due to a very high reliance on internet connections by commerce. Large data storage packages proliferate in SA, it is suggested, ranging from the JSE to the banking sector.

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ATMs, bank transfers In the case again of South Africa, as part of sub-Sahara Africa, wire transfer fraud accounts for 26 percent of cyber fraud, far ahead of the global average of 14 percent, South Africans being defrauded of more than R2.2bn each year it is estimated.

Banking and financial institutions in South Africa, it is noted in the preamble to the Bill, are particularly exposed, the Reserve Bank having stated back in 2016, “It would be remiss of us in our duty if we ignored the growing risks emerging from the financial services sector’s increasing reliance on cyberspace and the Internet." Definitions The Bill now before Parliament criminalises unlawful and intentional conduct regarding data, data messages, computer systems and programs, networks and passwords and creates as crimes “cyber fraud, cyber forgery and cyber uttering”.

It criminalises malicious communications – namely messages that result in harm to person or property, such as revenge porn or cyber bullying. The police are given extensive investigation, search and seizure powers in the Bill and an array of penalties, including fines and imprisonment apply, including various prescribed in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977. No FICA-type warrants It is notable that cyber-crime powers of search and arrest remain with SAPS and not any specific structure or system set up by the new Bill to monitor instances of cybercrime or detect suspicious data attacks.

There remain, however, quite onerous obligations on electronic communications service providers and financial institutions, not only to assist in investigations of cybercrimes but also to report instances of cybercrime. A “framework of mutual co-operation between foreign states” is established in respect international investigation and the prosecution of cybercrime.

Crime fighting structures The Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill also establishes a Computer Security Incident Response Team, as did its predecessor, to establish contact with the private sector alongside with the already functional Cyber Security Hub responsible to the Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Service.

Finally, on structures, the Minister of Defence is to establish and operate a Cyber Command and appoint a General Officer Commanding.

The Bill also provides for the declaration of what is termed as “critical information infrastructure possessed” by financial institutions - for example databases upon which an attack could possibly represent a national threat. Debate will no doubt flow around who and who not should report and upon what exactly.

The crimes defined For the technically minded, the Bill In terms of the Bill, the following activities are criminalised: unlawful securing of access to data, a computer programme, a computer data storage medium or a computer system; unlawful acquisition of data; unlawful acts in respect of software or hardware

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tools; unlawful interference with data or a computer programme; unlawful interference with a computer data storage medium or computer system; unlawful acquisition, possession, provision, receipt or use of password, access codes or similar data or devices.

Also included are cyber fraud; cyber forgery and uttering; cyber extortion and certain aggravating offences; attempting, conspiring, aiding, abetting, inducing, inciting, instigating, instructing, commanding or procuring to commit an offence; theft of incorporeal properties; unlawful broadcast or distribution of data messages which incites damage to property or violence; unlawful broadcast or distribution of data messages which is harmful; unlawful broadcast or distribution of data messages of intimate image without consent.

The Bill imposes a list of penalties and allows for imprisonment for up to 15 years for cybercrimes and the maximum fine that may be levied for failing to timeously report an incident or failing to preserve information is now capped at R50,000, far less than the extraordinarily high penalties for non-disclosure levied in the initial version of the Bill. Necessary actions The search and seizure powers granted in terms of the new Bill “do not represent increasing the state’s surveillance powers”, Deputy Minister, John Jeffries said, “But if the State cannot seize evidential material to adduce as evidence, it will be impossible to prove the guilt of an accused person.”

Any hearings will obviously focus mainly upon the onuses and impositions imposed in the Bill upon electronic communications service providers and financial institutions, known by an acronym in the Bill as “ECSPs”. A date for further parliamentary briefings by DoJ has yet to be scheduled. Previous articles on category subject Cybercrime and Cybersecurity Bill invokes suspicion - ParlyReportSA Draft Cybercrime Bill drafts industry - ParlyReportSA Lack of skills hampering broadband rollout - ParlyReportSA

Two new Bills covering debt relief issues

wo major advances on the topic of debt relief are being made by the Department of Justice and T Constitutional Affairs (DoJ), both being aired for the first time in Parliament in briefing style before a special committee formed by the Portfolio Committee of Trade and Industry under chair, Joan Fubbs.

This subcommittee is also considering input from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and National Treasury as part of a debt review process.

Main drive From an overall perspective on debt relief, Parliament is now working towards a Committee Bill legislating for the administration of a debt relief fund; to provide more controls within the credit provider industry; to eliminate unscrupulous lenders; and to enunciate a government policy towards the provision of debt relief in specific and defined circumstances.

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This will involve changes to the National Credit Act that will allow the Minister to prescribe debt relief measures from time to time to over-indebted households. DTI has recommended that criteria be developed under which retrenched consumers; victims of unlawful grant deductions, as well as those who become subject to reckless lending, may possibly qualify for debt relief.

DTI as anchor Before Parliament went into winter recess, MacDonald Netshitenzhe, acting deputy director general at the consumer and corporate division of the DTI, briefed Parliament on DTI’s so far considered views on the subject, bearing in mind that the Banking Association of SA and other credit providers have cautioned against such a Bill legislating for debt relief. It was their view that such may breed a culture of non-payment of debt.

DTI argue that there are certain considerations that should be considered when considering debt relief and that in special circumstances a call should be made on a state entity operating a fund to assist in defined circumstances by and by an entity specialised in assisting and consulting with consumers in debt.

All seem to be agreed that debt counselling rules need to be studied specifically to make provision for low-income consumers.

DoJ Bills relevant Coupled to these meetings, the Portfolio Trade and Industry subcommittee has also now heard from DoJ on the subject of an Insolvency Amendment Bill and a draft Debt Collector Amendment Bill which should come into play concurrently with, or soon after, changes planned under DTI’s National Credit Act also in respect of debt relief provisions.

Published recently by DoJ for public comment is the Insolvency Amendment Bill proposing revised procedures relating to liquidation or insolvency and introducing a Creditors Committee. This draft suggested provisions as options for a debtor to pay their debt by approaching the Committee’s administrator with an offer and if accepted as maybe the case, the administrator to assist the debtor to draw up an offer acceptable to the creditors and binding upon the creditor. Immoveable Property Specific proposals would apply to residential immoveable property regarding rates, taxes and market pricing subject to an affidavit but such proposals would only apply where the debtor had sufficient assets or income to allow some form of negotiation to make a call for assistance. i.e. where there were options.

Separately, there would be pre-liquidation compensation provisions that allowed for payment to creditors but which left a debtor with no assets or income, thereby re-classifying that person in terms of debt relief provisions as defined. Legislation in the UK was being studied, the State Law Advisor for DoJ told parliamentarians, where at law provision was made for the estate of persons with no assets or income to be administered by a government institution or agency and which included a review process which could discharge any qualifying person from debt.

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Further DoJ Bill The Debt Collector Amendment Bill is still in draft with the DoJ but parliamentarians were told that this covered a new policy to embrace all attorneys who were debt collectors within the ambit of the national Credit Act and currently excluded from the Council of Debt Collectors. The subject of the employment of inspectors to investigate consumer complaints against debt collectors would fall under this new Bill, hopefully to be introduced in the current 2017/8 parliamentary year. Distribution of monies Considerable committee time was spent explaining to MPs processes used by payment distribution agents (PDAs) who handled some R35.6bn in terms of the debt review system currently employed but once again this demonstrated that there was little accommodation for low income earners.

It was stated by MPs and DoJ that there should be at least a debt counselling framework to handle this section of the community and possibly some sort of incentive programme distribution agents to provide assistance to low income consumers. Major actor Extended discussions took place between a consulting company, Ubiquiti Consulting, a large debt counselling group, which clarified to MPs areas of the consumer base dealt with and which demonstrated again that there was selectivity for obvious reasons, directed towards lower income earners who clearly did not fall amongst their client base, mainly it was explained because of general financial literacy or a lack of an ability to understand financial responsibility.

They explained that the National Credit Act had introduced debt counsellors to assist over-indebted consumers by developing a repayment plan acceptable to credit providers. To qualify for debt counselling the applicant has to be over-indebted as defined by the NCA and such application was usually handled by PDAs over the Internet.

A plan to meet obligations is determined by the PDA as a result of not being able, as also determined by the PDA, to repay minimum monthly instalments. This presupposes two things as observed by MPs. That monthly wage earners are dealt with and that the debtor can both use and access the Internet.

Fees It was shown that PDA fees had dropped from an average of 3% of a consumer’s total instalment to about 1% and there was no provision for transactions below R100 which accounted for some 23% of all transactions forcing PDAs, because of their agreements with creditors, to provide a “free” service in such circumstances. Ubiquiti Consulting said the company represented about 268 000 consumers under debt review and had distributed over R863 million to credit providers, debt counsellors and legal practitioners. Since the NRC had come into effect, credit providers had received more than R35.6bn through the debt review process via PDAs. It would appear from these discussions that a highly unstable system is in place resulting from current portions of the National Credit Act.

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Banks not in sync The second issue presenting a major problem for PDAs is related to the provisions of the National Credit Regulations, specifically a recent regulation under section 10A 9, which requires that a PDA must, as an agent, distribute funds to creditors within five days of receiving the funds from the consumer. Consumers have tumbled to the idea, it appears, that if they reverse their order on day six, the PDA is left “carrying the can”, since whilst most consumer goods credit providers will reimburse the agent leaving the debtor still encumbered, the major banks under the Banking Association of SA (BASA) will not. Coovadia said…. Representations made by BASA to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry during the last session made it quite clear that the situation with regard to debt relief was not to be encouraged whilst legislation stood as it currently was. Ubiquiti told parliamentarians that PDAs were absorbing considerable losses and the system badly needed revision to overcome the impasse in regulations which had to be more stringent and effective especially as far as the debt review process was concerned when commencing an arrangement. PDA views There was much that the PDAs could do assist credit providers since, Ubiquity said, they represented both creditor and debtor and understood the limits and constraints of the system in a far better way than most.

Dave Macpherson (DA called upon BASA and other major credit providers to respond to the issues raised. He called for a list of Ubiquity’s clients.

Previous articles on category subject Treasury proposals on debt control approved - ParlyReportSA Credit regulations to squeeze racketeers - ParlyReportSA National Credit Act Bill aims to help consumers - ParlyReport

Last minute passage for Twin Peaks FSR Bill

fter nearly a year of debate and argument during its passage through Parliament and countless A years of drafting beforehand, the Financial Sector Regulation (FSR) Bill now sits with the President for the second time for signature and enactment. The reasons for its return have been answered. The Bill provides for a “twin peaks” model of financial regulation, with the one pillar being financial conduct managed by one authority‚ which will replace the Financial Services Board‚ and the other prudential authority located in the Reserve Bank. The financial world has been deeply involved with its drafting.

Final disagreement The DA and EFF both opposed the Bill as the regulatory structure proposed did not include the Office of the National Credit Regulator (NCR) by placing it with others also under the aegis of National Treasury. They said that this rendered the Twin Peaks system of regulation “toothless” by

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leaving the credit industry outside of the ambit of the Bill which would harm lower income groups since they were not catered for.

This disagreement, from comments made in the final parliamentary meetings, should not be allowed to hold up the Bill’s passage, the Committee said.

Meanwhile, the Trade and Industry Portfolio Committee under Joan Fubbs is currently involved in issues regarding controls on the debt relief to enable a new Bill on that subject, to be tabled by Parliament with the assistance of the Department of Trade and Industry. DTI control the NCR and have stated they wished to continue to do so.

Contributions to this Bill have already been made by National Treasury.

No credit regulator Nevertheless, DA finance spokesman, David Maynier, Floyd Shivambu (EFF) and the Inkatha Freedom Front remained concerned on Bill’s failure to include the NCR, saying that for effective regulation of the entire financial industry all disciplines should fall under the supervision of the one financial sector conduct authority only. Maynier said this meant that the credit industry would continue therefore to fall under the old system despite DTI wishing to control aspects of credit in order to specifically focus on debt relief and controls aimed at unscrupulous credit providers.

Objectives The FSR Bill, now approved in the National Assembly, will overhaul the system of regulation of banks‚ insurance companies‚ retirement providers and other sectors of the industry and replaces existing legislation that divides subsequent regulation between the types of institutions supervised, rather than by the nature of the supervision Bearing in mind that when the Bill was returned by the Presidency, the reasons given pertained to three areas which had to be dealt with by the NCOP. Firstly, the call was made by the President to further take regard of the protection of financial customers on matters that arose during the hearings on the transformation of the financial services sector. Also raised was the issue of entering and inspecting premises subject to powers assigned in the recently passed Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment (FICA) Bill, now at last signed by the President but not yet implemented by Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba.

Actions to be lawful and reasonable Secondly, the Presidency asked that amendments to address issues in respect of financial conglomerates that arose in the public hearings and on the Insurance Bill and deal with those clauses in like manner on the issue of closing of bank accounts. The NCOP did indeed propose and pass the alignment of powers given to similar powers granted under the amended FICA Bill and proposed that the new Financial Sector Conduct Authority with the responsibility to make conduct standards in respect of refusal, withdrawal or closure of a financial product or a financial service by a financial institution.

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Agreed On the Insurance Bill issue, the NCOP at the same time endorsed that amendments made under that Bill that the right to administrative action that is lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair would apply to the FSR Bill.

This dealt with the issues raised by the Presidency but on another issue raised that regulatory powers should consider in their decision-making processes “the costs of implementation to businesses as well as the implications for financial inclusion of all South Africans”, the Committee agreed with this “non- Presidential” request for inclusion but could not implement such in terms of Parliamentary rules.

This being a Treasury Bill, it was therefore proposed that the Minister takes the matter into account and the Bill was returned as parliamentary recess occurred.

Previous articles on category subject Financial Sector Regulation Bill heralds twin peaks - ParlyReportSA Financial Sector Bill after Ponzi thieves - ParlyReportSA FIC Bill hold up goes to roots of corruption - ParlyReportSA

Grand theft at Eskom

omebody has a golden key to Eskom’s SAP system, which amounts to a second cheque book. ‘S There can be no other answer to how all this money has disappeared. Somebody knows how to by-pass SAP and get away with it.” This was the only way such enormous sums could be shifted from Eskom’s reserves without all management, National Treasury or internal auditors knowing about it, said Organization Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) when reporting to parliamentarians on their investigations into state capture at South Africa’s largest SOE. The SAP system at Eskom is supplied by a German multinational software company known for making enterprise resource planning (ERP) real-time software. Its architecture is well known for its unassailability by criminals and is world famous for its reliability, stability and robustness. This year, Eskom won a SAP ERP global award for best in the world as a user, together with Shell Global and BAT International.

Money transactions cannot move under the SAP system until approved by a single administrator working from separated and decompartmentalised servers dealing at each step of approval in stages isolated from one another in distinct silos and robust parameters. Ted Blom remarked to committee members that he could only imagine that a second method of payment and transfers had been instituted or that it was collusion at a grand scale, which in turn would be highly unmanageable with the SAP system.

Main players The Public Enterprises Portfolio Committee, under chairperson, Zukiswa Rantho, had been called together during the last days of the Parliament’s winter constituency recess period on the initiative of the chair to hear presentations by OUTA on matters specifically related to Eskom and their accounts, and a synopsis of the much-publicised state capture report by Prof Ivor Chipkin, the

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Executive Director at Public Affairs Research Institute and other academics focusing also on Eskom matters. This was to provide background for the parliamentary enquiry to follow. Also included was an address by Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, of the South African Council of Churches, on their ‘unburdening exercise” to call upon state capture involved whistle-blowers.

Eskom possible nasties Wayne Duvenhage and Tom Blom for OUTA appeared to shred with evidence the reputations of Eskom’s CFO Anoj Singh, past CEO Brian Molefe, past Eskom chairman Ben Ngubane, Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba, Public Enterprises Director-General Richard Seleke and former acting CEO of Eskom Matshela Koko, all labelled by both for scandalous and criminal behaviour supported by annotated evidence presented on screen, plus documentation earlier supplied. Ted Blom noted that Anoj Singh must be, in global terms, the only person to have signed a R500m SOE guarantee for the purchase of one company to buy another and all this without the approval of the Minister of Finance or even informing Treasury. He said he and others at Eskom had to be “put behind bars” for what they had done with public money.

Enormous unaccounted-for transfers Both Duvenhage and Blom noted that neither within the South African Police Services nor the NPA, the Hawks, nor even the State Security Agency, had there been any manifestation of interest in the disappearance of some R550bn from state coffers. The silence was deafening, they said. OUTA appealed to the committee to follow up on the issues with SAPS. Referring to Eskom’s 2016/7 annual figures just published he remarked upon two unsupported transfers running into many millions at two different times but which, if added together, were equal to the sum of the Optimum purchase offer. Ted Blom asked for follow up.

Eskom’s 2017 AGM Tom Blom also said he had attended the Eskom AGM where he had noticed that the balance sheets and accounts were only distributed after the meeting which is incorrect procedure. Certainly an issue not disclosed by Eskom during the AGM was that auditors Sizwe, Ntsaluba, Gobodo had qualified the annual report to extent that R3bn in funds unaccounted for and had been paid out without documentation. He said that this had been re-produced in fine print and was hardly readable in the accounts received after the meeting had closed. Again, he asked the committee to follow this up.

DPE top man OUTA concluded that they were bringing criminal charges against Richard Seleke, current Director General of Public Enterprises who, according to Gupta e-mails, had been the planted as “postmaster” for the transferring information on tenders and sensitive financial information between Matshela Koko of Eskom and Gupta agents and members of the Gupta family. Seleke was one of the many recently appointed DGs and senior officials transferred to various SOEs or recently appointed, as were Koko, Molefe, Minister Gigaba, Ngubane, Minister Zwane and many others of a less high-profile nature. Seleke had also passed on a letter, clearly marked “Highly Confidential” to Rajesh “Tony Gupta”, sent by Minister Lynne Brown to the Eskom board. 18

OUTA reported, according to invoices in their possession and passed to Parliament, of a whole syndicate of Eskom employees, DPE members and Gupta contacts both at Denel and VR Laser who used a common ghost e-mail address to pass information, the address most likely being the pseudonym used by Richard Seleke.

Dubai again Tom Blom noted that most in the same syndicate had names which appeared in e-mails regarding invoices reflecting trips and accommodation to and from the Oberoi Hotel in Dubai, with all expenses charged to a common credit card belonging to named proxies or employees of the Guptas.

All such information in the form of five volumes has been widely distributed to all parliamentarians as reported by the media.

Political insight Telling comments came from Professor Ivor Chipkin of the Public Affairs Research Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand. He adapted comments from his report compiled with sixteen other academics known as “The Betrayal of a Promise”. He told parliamentarians that it was important to understand the political context behind the actions of President Zuma, as distinct from the Gupta family who exercised fraud, theft and money laundering on an international scale based from South Africa. He said it must be understood what Zuma-centred power elite has attempted to achieve on its own terms within South Africa. To understand this was to understand why President Zuma continues to enjoy the support of a whole range of persons in the ANC political coalition, he explained, and who ensured he remained in power as the lead exponent of the theory of “radical economic transformation.” He said, “If we understand these facts from the start, we will realize why whole state entities have been captured and repurposed. Prof. Chipkin noted that the fact that radical economic transformation, as preached by the ANC, was indeed called for by the Constitution but whilst the Zuma-centred power elite remains in place, such an objective is totally unrealisable simply because it has been re-translated by President Zuma to his own purpose.”

Accounting powers Prof. Chipkin continued, “The wise men who wrote our Constitution realised that eventually some President or a body of politicians may wish that not everybody should be totally equal, especially when it came to control over state funds.” He said that the Constitution therefore separates the Treasury and puts it on separate high moral ground to give oversight and deny funds if it so wishes. The appointment of unqualified and somewhat dubious public servants has been carefully designed to usurp this process of due diligence of public money with perverted intent.

Break down “What is now evident within the ANC”, he continued, “is a clash between the radical reformers and the constitutional transformers. The former wish to subvert and bypass constitutionally entrenched institutions, particularly the Treasury, on behalf of a power

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elite, whilst the latter seek to build state capacity to deliver on the 1994 promise of equality and development; to promote investment and service delivery.” “This split within the ANC between the two factions grows more evident with every week that passes, he told parliamentarians. The focus of the Zuma-led faction, Professor Chipkin said, was not on small-scale looting but accessing large scale public funds and redirecting them away from their intended targets into private hands.”

Warped conditions “To succeed with this plan”, Prof. Chipkin said, “it needs high-level political protection including law enforcement agencies, it needs intense loyalty and a climate of fear in party ranks, and any competition eliminated”, he said. “One can see on the flip side of this perverted version the other version as represented in the policies developed by the Department of Trade and Industry in attempting to follow proper constitutional methods to uplift the poor by incentivizing skills training, coupling business upliftment with start- up funds and a general properly formulated approach recognizing the Constitution and the Bill of Rights”, Prof. Chipkin noted.

Power now “The other half, the Zuma faction, is increasingly repudiating South Africa’s constitutional settlement which is seen as an obstacle to radical economic transformation. They wish to subvert and bypass constitutionally entrenched institutions to manage ‘rents’ on behalf of a power elite”, he said to MPs. Prof. Chipkin said, in referring to the Eskom matters before the Committee, that Zuma faction had focussed specifically on the procurement systems of SOEs. The repurposing of government funding on procurement had been a good, moral stance in the early days of ANC planning in that by using state procurement as a business tool it became possible to move business development into black hands and hopefully fund transformation of the poor by re-skilling communities.

The shadow state However, said Prof. Chipkin, it needed the establishment of a “shadow state”, formed around President Zuma, of placed acolytes in order to successfully gain control of the procurement system to siphon funds away, in whole or in part, from their intended purpose. It also need “shadow state officials” to have the power to establish rent-seeking arrangements on the transfer of funds. Such a shadow state has been created and is now controlling power, warned Prof. Chipkin. Most of the players were moved from Transnet and reappointed into other SOEs by President Zuma. The Cabinet changes have been another example of re-deployment of cadres.

Massive numbers In conclusion, Professor Chipkin said that Eskom is but one example of the many SOEs including Transnet, SAA, Denel, and over 150 other SOEs, all involved in and all focused upon funded projects for tender in budgets totalling R500bn per annum. The unscrupulous system that has now engulfed South Africa has targeted this money. “It is led by President Zuma”, Prof. Chipkin maintained, “and the proof of this is now coming out, as our team has suspected all along, by the exposure of the Gupta e-mails now in the public forum. “These people have no conscience”, he said.

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Be warned “Also, these people have no morality towards our country and its people. Even less in the way of any wish to support the disadvantaged in South Africa, nor do they have any intention to rebuild South Africa along constitutional lines”, he added. “If South Africa is to survive as an economic entity, such systems have to be rooted out and quickly since the money is moving out of the country as we speak.”

He said that the Gupta empire was like a giant Ponzi scheme that legitimates its theft by denying the very existence of the shadow state it has created. He asked the Committee to expedite its mission as soon as was possible in the interest of all South Africans.

LEGISLATION CURRENTLY TABLED IN PARLIAMENT As of July 25, 2017, excluding draft Bills still with government departments for comment, the following Bills are tabled as Parliament went into recess: -

B18-2017 DEFENCE AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Defence Bill just tabled

B17-2017 ROAD ACCIDENT BENEFIT SCHEME BILL Minister of Transport To be scheduled into next session

B16-2017 NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE OF SA BILL Minister of Health To be scheduled into next session

B15-2017 NATIONAL HEALTH LABORATORY SERVICE AMNDT BILL Minister of Health To be scheduled into next session

B14-2017 NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MNGMT LAWS AMNDT BILL Minister of Environmental Affairs To be scheduled in next session

B13-2017 COPYRIGHT AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Trade and Industry Committee have scheduled hearings as Parliament re-opens

B12-2017 COMMUNAL PROPERTY ASSOCIATIONS AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform Bill just tabled. Refer Land Reform article. No meetings scheduled yet

B11-2017 LEGAL PRACTICE AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Bill just tabled. No meetings yet scheduled

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B10-2017 INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION BILL Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Bill just tabled. No meetings yet scheduled

B9-2017 MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING BILL Minister of Environmental Affairs Bill recently tabled. No meetings yet

B8-2017 TRADITIONAL LEADERSHIP & GOV. FRAMEWORK AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Bill probably to be passed in this session

B7-2017 PLANT HEALTH (PHYTOSANITARY) BILL Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Meetings to be scheduled

B6-2017 CYBERCRIMES AND CYBERSECURITY BILL Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Meetings to be scheduled

B3-2017 ROAD ACCIDENT FUND AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Transport The Committee is still to schedule meetings on this Bill.

B2-2017 CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Justice and Correctional Services First meetings 29 March 2017

B1-2017 TRADITIONAL COURTS BILL Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Passed to Traditional House of Leaders

B24-2016 PERFORMERS' PROTECTION AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Trade and Industry Passed to Traditional House of Leaders

B22-2016 NATIONAL VELD AND FOREST FIRE AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries First meeting to be scheduled

B14-2016 JUDICIAL MATTERS AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Public comments received. First meeting held

B13-2016 RED TAPE IMPACT ASSESSMENT BILL Hon H C Kruger Further meetings awaited. Bill stalled

B11-2016 NATIONAL FORESTS AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Further meetings awaited

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B10-2016 LIQUOR PRODUCTS AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Further meetings awaited

B8-2016 THE COURTS OF LAW AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Justice and Correctional Services With NCOP in final stages

B7-2016 NATIONAL LAND TRANSPORT AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Transport Further meetings to be scheduled

B6 -2016 PROTECTION, PROMOTION, DVPMNT & MNGT OF INDIG. KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS BILL Minister of Science and Technology No further meetings yet scheduled

B1 INSURANCE BILL Ministry of Finance Further meetings to be scheduled

B39-2015 BROADCASTING AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Communications Further meetings to be scheduled

B37-2015 FILMS AND PUBLICATIONS AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Communications Further meetings to be scheduled

B35-2015 FOREIGN SERVICE BILL Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Briefing undertaken. Meetings in process

B24 – 2015 EXTENSION OF SECURITY OF TENURE AMNDMENT BIL Minister of Land Reform Bill at final reading stage in NA

B23-2015 TRADITIONAL AND KHOI-SAN LEADERSHIP BILL Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs To NA for adoption

B21-2015 PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Public Service and Administration Meetings to be scheduled B11– 2015 PLANT BREEDERS’ RIGHTS BILL Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Further meetings to be scheduled B8-2015 PLANT IMPROVEMENT BILL Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Further meetings to be scheduled

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B4D-2015 EXPROPRIATION BILL Minister of Public Works Bill with House of Traditional Leaders on 30-day clause

PMB5-2015 LABOUR LAWS AMENDMENT BILL Private Members Bill Further meetings to follow

B100P-2014 MEDICAL INNOVATION BILL (PRIVATE MEMBER BILL) Narend Singh MP Bill to be withdrawn and replaced. Further meetings 2017

B15B-2013 MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL Minister of Mineral Resources Final hearings. The next stage of passage to be determined

Patrick McLaughlin PARLYREPORT Hof Communications Parliamentary Representatives Government Relations

(The opinions expressed here are that of the authors and not necessarily those NPC of the American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa )

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