GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

• The Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Act, 2021, is now in force, among other things requiring that:
  • anyone accused of domestic violence should appear in court before bail is considered, and that
  • a court should consider certain matters when determining whether to release the accused on bail, including measures to ensure the safety of the alleged victim.
• The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act Amendment Act, 2021, having recently commenced, of the three new statutes intended to curb gender-based violence and femicide only the Domestic Violence Amendment Act, 2021, has yet to come into effect.

 

FUEL PRICE REDUCTIONS

• The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has issued a media statement providing background information on recent reductions in the price of illuminating paraffin, liquid petroleum gas and petrol.

 

CABLE THEFT AND ILLEGAL TRADE IN SCRAP METAL

• The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has called for public comments on policy proposals for curbing the destruction of public infrastructure. One finalised, the policy will introduce measures likely to include:
  • an expanded definition of metal waste and scrap
  • a temporary ban on exporting scrap metal
  • concomitantly, the temporary suspension of a long-standing preferential pricing scheme intended to support local steel mills and facilitate local manufacture
  • export permit controls once the temporary suspension has been lifted
  • mandatory permits for importing scrap metal reduction furnaces and processing machinery
  • amendments to strengthen the Second-Hand Goods Act regulations
  • a prohibition on the use of cash in scrap metal transactions, and
  • stricter ports of entry and border control.

 

IMPORTED FROZEN BONE-IN CHICKEN PORTIONS

• The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has gazetted a notice suspending anti-dumping measures for 12 months in order to reduce the price of chicken, which is one of South Africa’s most affordable protein sources.

 

CRITICAL SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

• The Department of Home Affairs has updated its critical skills list, the most recent version of which was gazetted on 2 August. According to a media statement on changes made to the February 2022 list, they were informed by extensive consultations with health sector stakeholders.

 

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has published a draft greenhouse gas inventory report for public comment.

 

WATER RESOURCES

• The Department of Water and Sanitation has called for public comments on a draft revised water pricing strategy intended to:
  • support government’s overarching goal of efficient, effective management for ‘equitable and sustainable growth and development’,
  • facilitate financially sustainable water management, and
  • promote efficient water use.
• The draft pricing strategy follows last month’s call for public comments on a draft revised water resources strategy.

 

AIR QUALITY CONTROL IN PRIORITY AREAS

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries & the Environment has called for input on draft regulations intended to facilitate the implementation and enforcement of air quality management plans. Despite ‘concerted’ efforts to ensure compliance with these plans, they have failed to reduce the emission of ‘certain pollutants’ known to worsen respiratory conditions, especially among vulnerable people. Once in force, the regulations will prescribe:
  • mandatory interventions
  • funding arrangements
  • the process of regularly reviewing existing plans
  • plan effectiveness monitoring and evaluation measures, and
  • penalties for non-compliance.

 

DRAFT B-BBEE CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE FOR THE LEGAL SECTOR

• The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has gazetted a correction notice:
  • providing a new email address to which submissions on the draft code should be sent, and
  • requesting all stakeholders who have already sent submissions to the faulty address originally provided to re-send them, preferably using the new address.

 

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CO-OPERATION

• A framework document has been published on South Africa’s ‘national interest and advancement in the global environment’. According to International Relations and Co-operation Minister Naledi Pandor, it:
  • ‘identifies the foundations of our national interest as closely associated with our history of anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggle’, and
  • is underpinned by a commitment to forging ‘strong bonds ... with all who strive for freedom’, in keeping with ‘the ideals of Pan Africanism, progressive international solidarity and ubuntu’.

 

AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

• Draft amendments to regulations for Phase 2 of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition programme have been gazetted for public comment. Their purpose is to deal with ‘exceptional circumstances’ such as those experienced during recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

 

ONLINE MARKETING

• The Competition Commission has issued a media statement calling for public comments on a provisional report published in July as the next step in its online intermediation platform market inquiry.

 

Prepared by Pam Saxby