Assembly warns: Don’t rush through bills
In total the national legislature will process 65 bills this year
THE National Assembly has warned against rushing through bills without giving them proper consideration.
House chairperson in the National Assembly Cedrick Frolick yesterday told his colleagues and the National Council of Provinces not to ram through bills before them.
He said if this happened it would have serious constitutional implications, with Parliament being taken to the Constitutional Court.
NCOP chairperson Thandi Modise was hosting a review session of the work done by the council over the past 20 years.
Frolick said they wanted committees of Parliament to do thorough work in the processing of bills.
In July the Constitutional Court ruled that the Land Restitution Act be referred back to the National Council of Provinces after procedures were not followed before it was passed by Parliament and signed into law by President Jacob Zuma.
The Constitutional Court gave Parliament 18 months to fix the bill.
The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution took Zuma to the Constitutional Court to force him to either sign the Financial Intelligence Centre Bill into law or refer it back to the National Assembly.
The committee on finance is busy deliberating on the Fica Bill.
Frolick said the same thing applied to the Insurance Bill as it also has a Constitutional Court deadline.
Frolick said departments would this year introduce 27 new bills that would have to be processed by MPs.
This is in addition to the bills already under discussion in the two Houses of Parliament.
In total the national legislature will process 65 bills during the course of the year.
Frolick said the committees of Parliament must give sufficient time in discussing and approving bills.
He said to avoid duplication a proposal was on the table that there should be joint briefings of committees from the National Assembly and NCOP when bills are first tabled in Parliament.
The joint briefings would prepare the NCOP on issues they have to discuss when it has been finalised by the National Assembly and referred to them for concurrence.
Modise said when ministers referred bills to Parliament it was for both Houses.
“When ministers refer bills to Parliament they write simultaneously to the Speaker and the NCOP chairperson,” said Modise.
“Once that bill is transmitted to the portfolio committee (in the National Assembly) it means committees in the NCOP and provinces can discuss it informally,” she said.
This saves time for the NCOP and provincial legislatures to discuss the bills.
“If you are going to wait until the National Assembly finishes it and refer it to the NCOP, then you refer it to provinces for public hearings. And then you are in trouble,” said Modise.