General: Committee to tackle overhaul of legislative process

Recommendations in the high-level panel report on key legislation and the acceleration of fundamental change will be the focus of a multi-party sub-committee established last week to take the process forward, notes Pam Saxby for Legalbrief Policy Watch. Parliament confirmed this yesterday in a media statement among other things noting that the sub-committee is expected to complete its work ‘by 15 May’. As Legalbrief Today has already reported, recommendations made by the high-level panel included a complete overhaul of the legislative process. This would include amending the Electoral Act to make MPs ‘accountable to defined constituencies’ within the proportional representation system. It was also mooted that Parliament and members of the public should play a role in the appointment and monitoring of ‘certain categories’ of government official and political representative.

On the vexed issue of land expropriation without compensation, in the panel’s view government should use its existing constitutional powers ‘effectively’ and ‘more boldly … in ways that test the meaning of … compensation provisions in section 25(3)’. It should also: develop ‘a new framework law’ focusing on ‘pro-poor redistribution’; amend the Communal Property Associations Act and other ‘recent laws’ apparently being used to ‘dispossess vulnerable South Africans of customary land rights in former homeland areas’; and conduct an ‘urgent review’ of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Amendment Bill and Traditional and Khoi-san Leadership Bill now before the NCOP. This is noting that ‘government-sanctioned interpretations of customary law are often not consistent with living customary law as practised by communities’.

Informed by nationwide public hearings over a 12-month period, the report includes proposals aimed at: ‘promoting labour-absorbing businesses’; ‘deepening’ existing wealth taxes; strengthening Parliament’s oversight role to address poor policy implementation; elevating the status of the National Development Plan to law; improving access to credit; facilitating equitable access to quality healthcare; improving the governance of schools and the skills of teachers and principals; and addressing slow economic growth.