28 Jul 2024

Parliament on Thursday passed five Bills that proposed to amend various Acts.

The five Bills included the  Standing Committee on Remuneration of Members of the National Assembly, Councillors, Ntlo Ya Dikgosi and Specified Officers

The Bill sought to remove the specified officers from the committee so that their salaries and allowances will no longer be reviewed by it, but by the Directorate of Public Service Management as is the case with all other civil servants

Specified officers are by definition those that are appointed directly by President, such as the IEC secretary, the Director of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions and the Chief Justice among others.    

The other Bills that were passed were the Specified Officers Salaries and Allowances Amendment Bill and the Judicial Services Amendment Bill.

The two Bills are entwined with the first Bill, meaning that amendment of the first one would make their amendment consequential.

The two sought to amend the Specified Offices Salaries and allowances Act and the Judicial Services Act in order to give effect to Directive No 4 of 2024, which adjusted public service salaries by five per cent across the board with effect from April 1.

This will ensure that once the specified officers and the judicial officers have been detached from the committee that has been reviewing their salaries, they will now be eligible for arrears accrued since April 1 2024.

Legislators also unanimously passed the amendment of the Mines and Minerals Act, which among others, aimed to promote  citizen participation in the mining sector as well as promoting local beneficiation of minerals to ensure that the country benefitted from their value chains.

The Bill also sought to increase penalties on violations by mining license holders, as well as setting stringent requirements for miners to ensure proper rehabilitation of land post mining.

Another Bill that was voted for unanimously by legislators was the Deeds Registry Amendment Bill.

When presenting the Bill, the Minister of Lands and Water Affairs, Dr Kefentse Mzwinila had explained that the proposed amendments would ensure that the Deeds Registry office only dealt with immovable property while movable property security interests would be undertaken by the Collateral Registry office.

He said that currently, the movable and immovable property securities were all under the Deeds Registry office, which was overwhelming the office. Ends