MORE BILLS TO BE PASSED AT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY’s PENULTIMATE SITTING FOR 2023

MORE BILLS TO BE PASSED AT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY’s PENULTIMATE SITTING FOR 2023

• 05 December 2023
• Parliament
• SA Legal Academy

Please note: According to parliamentary papers and a related media statement, during its 5 December 2023 sitting, the National Assembly passed the revised Prevention & Combating of Hate Crimes & Hate Speech Bill, which has been sent to the President for signature. The State Liability Amendment Bill will be withdrawn. All four remaining Bills considered during the sitting have been passed and will be sent to the NCOP for concurrence. 

The National Assembly’s order paper for 5 December 2023 includes second readings of four more Bills in anticipation of their adoption and onward transmission to the NCOP for concurrence.

The House is also expected to endorse changes to the Prevention & Combating of Hate Crimes & Hate Speech Bill proposed by the NCOP. These are reflected in its ‘D’ version, which will be sent to the President for signature. Once enacted and in force, the new piece of legislation will criminalise hate speech and hate crime ‘motivated by clear and defined prejudices’.

Bills ready to be sent to the NCOP are:

• the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Amendment Bill’s ‘B’ version, which provides for the permanence and independence of the NPA’s investigating unit
• the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) Amendment Bill’s ‘B’ version, which seeks to ‘entrench the institutional and operational independence of IPID’ (unavailable at the time of writing)
• the Preservation & Development of Agricultural Land Bill’s ‘B’ version, which seeks to ‘ensure that agricultural land is actively used to its optimal potential to support long-term food production’, and
• the National Youth Development Agency Amendment Bill’s ‘B’ version, which focuses on governance and administrative matters (unavailable at the time of writing).

A committee report recommending the withdrawal of the State Liability Amendment Bill will also be considered and is likely to be approved. For more information on this, readers are referred to a separate SA Legal Academy article.

• order paper

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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