NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FAST TRACKS FOUR PRIORITY BILLS

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FAST TRACKS FOUR PRIORITY BILLS

• 06 December 2023
• Parliament
• SA Legal Academy

Please note: Parliamentary papers circulated on 7 December 2023 have confirmed that the National Assembly passed all four Bills, which have been sent to the NCOP for concurrence. 

A ‘B’ version of the National Small Enterprise Development Amendment Bill was among four pieces of legislation earmarked for second readings during the National Assembly’s final sitting for the year on 6 December 2023. This despite the committee reports concerned having been tabled at the last minute – and not at least three days in advance, as parliamentary rules require.

The other Bills for which this rule was waived are:

• the Eskom Debt Relief Amendment Bill (to which no changes have been made)
• the Public Procurement Bill’s ‘B’ version, and
• the Adjustments Appropriation Bill (to which no changes have been made).

Tabled in June 2023, among other things the National Small Enterprise Development Amendment Bill seeks to:

• consolidate three development agencies into a ‘Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency’
• provide for the establishment of an ‘Office of the Small Enterprise Ombud Service’, and
• empower the Minister ‘to declare certain practices in relation to small enterprises … prohibited as unfair trading practices’.

This is according to a memorandum on the Bill’s objects. At the time of writing, its ‘B’ version was not available. However, the committee report tends to suggest that no material changes have been made.

Tabled in November 2023 with the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, the Eskom Debt Relief Amendment Bill seeks to:

• provide for the payment of interest by Eskom on amounts advanced as loans, and
• empower the Finance Minister to reduce the amounts for which provision is made in the 2023 Act should Eskom fail to comply with loan conditions.

Readers are referred to the SA Legal Academy’s most recent report on the Public Procurement Bill, the ‘B’ version of which was still not available at the time of writing.

Tabled in November 2023 with the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, the Adjustments Appropriation Bill seeks to amend allocations to national government departments and their entities by adjusting provisions in the 2023 Act, which came into force in January 2023.

• 6 December 2023 National Assembly order paper
• 5 December 2023 parliamentary papers, including committee reports on all four Bills (pages 5, 34, 77 and 104)

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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