IN THE SPOTLIGHT: KEY BILLS IN PARLIAMENTARY LIMBO

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: KEY BILLS IN PARLIAMENTARY LIMBO

• 01 July 2026
• In the Spotlight
• SA Legal Academy

One Bill that never finds itself in limbo is the annual Appropriation Bill – although last year’s did take a little longer than usual to complete its passage through Parliament following the VAT increase brouhaha. This year’s Appropriation Bill was passed by both Houses at sessions held within 24 hours of each other – shortly before Parliament went into recess for its traditional winter break and constituency period. Otherwise, during that august institution’s second term for 2026 the pace of processing legislation remained slow.

Most significantly, there has been no change in the official status of the 2010 Protection Of State Information Bill. Revived in 2024 after the elections, it is now before the National Assembly’s Justice & Constitutional Development Committee – and was last discussed in May 2025. At the time, clarity was sought from the Presidency regarding reservations about the Bill’s constitutionality. As SA Legal Academy has already reported, it was returned to Parliament in 2013 shortly after being passed.

Interestingly, the 2018 National Gambling Amendment Bill now occupies 61^st position out of 96 on the latest National Assembly order paper’s list of ‘further business’. As SA Legal Academy has also reported, a ‘D’ version of the Bill rejected by the NCOP in 2021 spent several years on the Mediation Committee’s back burner. However, it was eventually endorsed by both committees concerned in June 2025 and scheduled to be re-considered by the National Assembly the following month.

Perhaps concerns about the social ills of unbridled remote gambling are behind the delay. The Bill makes no provision for them – although a private member’s Bill tabled by the Democratic Alliance in 2024 did attempt to address this. Allowed to lapse when Parliament rose for the May 2024 elections, it was never revived. As SA Legal Academy reported in November 2024, the National Assembly’s Trade & Industry Committee is aware of the crisis and the urgent need for legislation. However, although the committee’s intention at the time was to call for a departmental briefing, there is no record of any further discussions on the matter.

Three other key Bills in limbo for some time are:

• the 2023 Regulation of Interception of Communications & Provision of Communication-related Information Amendment Bill (RICA Amendment Bill) (which the National Assembly’s Justice & Constitutional Development Committee last considered in March 2025)
• the National State Enterprises Bill (which has been on hold since July 2025), and
• the South African Broadcasting (SABC) Bill (which, in November 2024, the Minister announced he had withdrawn fdrom Parliament – but which is still there).

Links to SA Legal Academy reports on these Bills can be found below, with a link to an updated spreadsheet on the status of all Bills now before Parliament:

• SA Legal Academy report on RICA Amendment Bill
• SA Legal Academy report on National State Enterprises Bill
• SA Legal Academy report on SABC Bill
• Bills now before Parliament (please download the spreadsheet before opening it)

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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