Parliament reviews several bills from the 6th administration

CAPE TOWN - Parliament has this week revived a number of bills that were not completely worked through during the previous administration.

It includes the so-called Secrecy Bill dating back to 2010, which the president sent back to the House in 2020 for further consideration.

Also on the list are two private members’ bills, one from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), and another from the Democratic Alliance (DA) on electoral reform.

After the Protection of State Information Bill, which would curtail media freedom and access to information, was returned to Parliament, no further work was done to fix the concerns.

It will now be up to the seventh administration to address the issues.

This week, the EFF’s Floyd Shivambu also asked for the party’s Reserve Bank bill to be put back on the table.

After public hearings in 2020, the bill stalled in the Finance Committee.

“It should be resuscitated so that we can discontinue private ownership of the central bank in South Africa. It’s part of the majority of us here’s resolution.”

The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party’s Sihle Ngubane also backed the return of a DA bill to give effect to constitutional provisions that allow a president and premiers to call referendums.

“Even though it’s not a bill that we proposed, we would like the Electoral Commissions Bill that MK Party has interest in that procedure [to be revived].”

That bill was tabled by the DA’s Annelie Lotriet, now the deputy speaker, last November, but no outcome was reached in the Home Affairs Committee.

Other bills that have been resuscitated by this Parliament include the National State Enterprises Bill, which will create a holding company for the management of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), a bill on the public broadcaster, and another repealing the South African Airways (SAA) Act, allowing for the state to sell shares in the airline.