DOJ to identify apartheid laws for repeal

THE Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has put into motion a process that will review all justice-related legislation dating back to the colonial and apartheid periods during 2021-22.

The initiative comes against the backdrop of the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) and department embarking on an investigation to identify and repeal or amend legislation enacted before 1994 that was designed to foster the policies of apartheid.

There has been a push for apartheid-era laws to be repealed, and Parliament has produced its own list that was sent to the executive to for consideration.

“The review of all the colonial and apartheid-era justice legislation is with the aim of aligning these legislations with the Constitution,” said director-general Doctor Mashabane.

The department’s head of strategy, Terence Raseroke, said the review and replacement of colonial and apartheid-era justice-related legislation was one of their priorities.

“The measure for this outcome is to have less than 2% of legislative instruments developed that failed to withstand constitutional court challenges. Only pieces of legislation that are not in sync with the Constitution must be reviewed and replaced,” Raseroke said.

“Over the medium-term expenditure framework period, we have about 12 justice-related apartheid and colonialera pieces of legislation that will be considered for repeal or replacement, for example the Trespass Act, the Riotous Assemblies Act and the Prevention of Public Violence and Intimidation Act,” he said.

Raseroke also said they would ensure that four bills and regulations would be submitted to the minister for approval in the current financial year.

Written submissions are to be made by June 3.