Gloves come off in scrap over Fica amendment bill
THE Treasury has warned against scrapping the Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment Bill, saying it will be highly irresponsible and disastrous for the country.
This came after a heated meeting of the standing committee on finance yesterday where the Black Business Council and the Progressive Professionals Forum exchanged heated arguments against the EFF.
Three senior counsel, including advocates Steven Budlender, Jeremy Gauntlett and Ishmael Semenya, also said the Fica Bill was consistent with the constitution.
This flew in the face of President Jacob Zuma’s rejection of the bill, saying it would not meet constitutional muster.
But three senior counsel, and Frank Jenkins, from Parliament, said the bill was constitutional.
BBC president Danisa Baloyi and Mzwanele Manyi of the PPF said the bill should be thrown out because it was unconstitutional.
The meeting heated up as EFF MP Floyd Shivambu questioned Sello Rasethaba’s remarks during the meeting. Rasethaba, a member of the BBC, was questioning the position of business in the bill.
Baloyi said the reality on the ground was that banks had unfettered powers.
“Having listened to the lawyers, it’s legal speak but the reality is that bank accounts are closed,” she said.
Manyi said they would even approach the Constitutional Court to dismiss the bill. He said the standing committee should not confine itself to the section referred to Parliament by Zuma, and the whole bill needed to be scrapped.
Treasury deputy director-general Ismail Momoniat warned that scrapping the bill would be disastrous for the country. He said it was important for all the stakeholders to understand the consequences of scrapping the bill.
South Africa would have to meet its international obligations in fighting the financing of terrorism and money laundering. Momomiat said scrapping the bill would be inviting international action.
He said the Financial Action Task Force has set international standards to fight money laundering. “We have taken those standards because we are fighting corruption.”
He said the bill needed to be implemented speedily after the reservations raised by Zuma were addressed.