Child Justice Act
Child
Justice Act to protect SA's children - 28 May
Former President Kgalema Motlanthe signed the Child Justice Act (Act
No 75 of 2008) on 14 May 2009. The Act will come into operation on 1
April 2010. This piece of legislation will work towards improving
service delivery to children in courts and the justice environment
as a whole. Among its main objectives, the Act seeks to
establish a criminal justice system for children who are in conflict
with the law or are accused of committing criminal offences. - BuaNews
Online website
Companies Act
Law gets tough on compliance - 19
May
Companies that fail to keep accurate accounting records may be in
for hefty fines of up to R1m or their directors could even face jail
time, according to new company laws. The Companies Commission, which
is intended to replace the existing Registrar of Companies, may
impose an administrative fine of up to 10% of a company's turnover
for the period that failure to comply with the act took place.
Stephen Kennedy-Good, of commercial law firm Deneys Reitz, said
yesterday that under the Companies Act the power of the Registrar of
Companies to impose fines was limited. The Companies Act gives the
Companies Commission the power to issue a compliance notice to any
person who has contravened the act. The notice may require the
person concerned to cease, correct or reverse any action in
contravention of the law. -
allAfrica website
Competition Amendment
Bill
Possible constitutional law issues delay
amendments to the competition act - 28 May
The Amendment Bill to the Competition Act has not yet come into
effect due to concerns about the constitutionality of certain
provisions. The amendments include provisions that directors or
certain managers who cause (or acquiesce to) a firm engaging in
cartel conduct are guilty of a criminal offence. The competition
authorities will however not have jurisdiction to deal with these
criminal offences which will be prosecuted by the State prosecutors
in the civil courts. -
LawFuel website
Consumer Protection
Bill
New law allows consumers to cancel unfair contracts - 30 April
Nomfundo Maseti, the acting deputy director-general in the DTI,
said the primary purpose of the act is to protect consumers from
exploitation and unfair practices by unscrupulous businesses, and
to empower consumers to make wise purchasing decisions.
"It achieves this by introducing, among
others, a system of product liability and improved redress.
Producers, distributors or suppliers, will be liable for any
damages in the form of death, injury, loss, or damage to property
and economic loss, to the consumer or third party",
she said. The act decriminalises certain conduct and subjects it
to administrative sanctions, while it also enables consumers to
demand refunds if goods are of an inferior quality. -
The Witness
website
Bill gives consumers more rights - 3 May
Consumers will now be better protected by a new consumer law, but
the lack of widespread information on the legislation means most
South Africans could still be vulnerable to unscrupulous
businesses practices.
President Kgalema Motlanthe signed into law the new
Consumer Protection Bill late last week, the department of trade
and industry said.
The Bill promises stricter controls over suppliers of
all consumer goods and services. -
The Times
website
No
more 24 month lock-ins - 2 June
24 month 'lock-in' contracts may be a thing of the
past when the new Consumer Protection Act comes into effect in
April next year. The new Act gives consumers the right to
cancel any contract with 20 days notice. Cancelling a contract
will however not be without penalties. The consumer will
still owe all outstanding costs to the supplier and there may be a
contract termination fee for cancellations. - MyBroadband
website
Muslim Marriages Bill
6 May 2009
Muslim
marriages
SA Government Information
website
See also : Constitutional
Court. Muslim Marriages Bill
Protection from
Harassment Bill
8 May 2009
Protection
from Harassment Bill
SA Government Information
website
Protection from Harassment Bill in South
Africa - 27 May
The Protection from Harassment Bill has been published in the
Government Gazette on 8 May 2009 for public comment. The existing
civil law framework that provides for an interdict, and the
existing criminal law framework that punishes stalking conduct as
a crime or prohibits such conduct by means of a binding over of a
person to keep the peace, also known as "peace orders," may not
provide adequate recourse to victims of stalking who are not in a
domestic relationship. The Bill shows many similarities with the
Domestic Violence Act, 1998, which,
however, is limited to persons who are in domestic relationships.
- eGov
Monitor website
Taxation Laws
Amendment Bills
The National Treasury has released
for public comment a draft of the taxation laws to give effect to
the tax proposals announced in the 2009 Budget and outlined in the
2009 Budget Review (available on www.treasury.gov.za).
A draft of the 2009 Taxation Laws Amendment Bills can be found on
the websites of the National Treasury or SARS (www.sars.gov.za).
Press release
Explanatory
memorandum
Taxation Laws
Amendment Bill
Taxation Laws Second
Amendment Bill
Source
: OSALL
(Lara)
New
on Polity website
Broadcasting Amendment Act 4 of 2009
Child Justice Act 75 of 2008
Companies Act 71 of 2008
Competition Act 89
of 1998
Guideline on small merger notification
GN 386/GG 32128/17-04-2009
Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008
Customs and Excise Act 91
of 1964
Amendment of Rules (No DAR/49)
GNR 427/GG 32132/17-04-2009
Films and
Publications Act 65 of 1996
Guidelines to be used in the classification of films, interactive
computer games and certain publications
GN 492/GG 32197/06-05-2009
Landscape Architectural Profession
Act 45 of 2000
South African Council for the Landscape Architectural Profession
: Identification of work : Draft
identification of work document for public comment
BN 56/GG 32154/24-04-2009
Medicines and Related Substances Amendment
Act 72 of 2008
Mine Health and Safety Amendment Act 74 of
2008
Minerals and
Petroleum Resources Development Act 49 of 2008
Publication of the Housing and
Living Conditions Standard for the Minerals Industry
GN 445/GG
32166/29-04/-2009
Money Bills Amendment Procedure and related
Matters Act 9 of 2009
National Conventional Arms Control Amendment
Act 73 of 2008
National Energy Regulator of South
Africa
South Africa Renewable Energy
Feed-in Tariff : Regulatory Guidelines
GN 382/GG 32122/[April 2009]
National Land Transport Act 5 of 2009
Petroleum Pipeline Levies Act 28
of 2004
National Energy Regulator : Levy on
Petroleum Pipelines Industry
GN 384/GG 32124/16-04-2009
Draft
Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill
GN 431/GG 32222/08-05-2009
Deadline : 15 June 2009
Reform of Customary Law of Succession and
Regulation of Related Matters Act 11 of 2009
Rules Board for Courts of Law Act
107 of 1985)
Magistrates Courts : Amendment of the
Rules of Court
GNR 515/GG 32208/08-05-2009
South African Maritime Authority
Amendment Bill, 2009
Publication for comments : Deadline : 22 May
2009
GN 357/GG 32102/15-04-2009
Western Cape Inherited Debt Relief Act 7 of
2009