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MERCHANT SHIPPING BILL: PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS PROCESS REOPENED
- 16 April 2025
- Parliament
- SA Legal Academy
The National Assembly’s Transport Committee has issued a notice apparently reopening the Merchant Shipping Bill for public comment. This is according to a notice posted on the Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG) website. However, at the time of writing no such notice had been published on Parliament’s own site.
Tabled in May 2023, the Bill lapsed when Parliament rose for the 2024 elections and was later revived.
The proposed new piece of legislation:
- is one of a suite of laws intended to give effect to government’s vision of a ‘revived’ maritime transport sector (in keeping with commitments in its 2017 Comprehensive Maritime Transport Policy)
- seeks more ‘coherently’ to reflect South Africa’s obligations under International Maritime Organisation conventions ratified since 1951, when the Merchant Shipping Act came into force, and
- will eventually be repeal and replace that Act.
Written submissions having been sought in September 2024, their contents have since been considered and hearings held. However, a PMG report on the committee’s 1 April 2025 meeting points to concerns about the public consultation process – especially at provincial level. This could explain why a second call has been made for written submissions. The deadline for input is 25 April 2025.
Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch
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