Submissions

The Helen Suzman Foundation has submitted its comments to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (“NERSA”) in respect of a determination by the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy to commence the process to procure new nuclear energy with a generating capacity of 2 500MW (“the ministerial determination”).

The HSF has made submissions to the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service in response to the SouthAfrican Police Service Amendment Bill [2020], which seeks a comprehensive overhaul of the legislation governing policing in South Africa. The HSF’s submissions highlight the importance of the independence of key functionaries within the police service as well as the importance of accountability mechanisms. The HSF’s submissions also draw attention to the need for more extensive reforms to the Regulation of Gatherings Act, which is the legislation that gives effect to the constitutional right of assembly.

The HSF has made submissions to the Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs in response to the Electoral Laws Amendment Bill [B22-2020], which seeks to amend the legislation governing our electoral system. The Bill seeks to empower the Independent Electoral Commission to prescribe a different voting method to that which has been prescribed by Parliament. The HSF objects to Parliament’s impermissible delegation of its legislative function to determine the details of the electoral system, including the voting method, to another entity. This delegation has the unacceptable result that Parliament evades its constitutional duty to facilitate public participation in the legislative process of determining how we vote.

The HSF has made submissions to the Gauteng Legislature in response to the Gauteng Township Economic Development Draft Bill, which seeks to exclude foreign nationals who do not have permanent residency status from owning and/or operating businesses in the Gauteng township economy. The HSF contends that the Bill unjustifiably limits the constitutional rights of foreign nations who are lawfully in the country, but who do not have permanent residency status to dignity and equality.