Good News South African public! YOU made a difference! Due to the great response received from the public regarding the controversial Expropriation Without Compensation (EWC) Bill, and the outcry from public regarding the ill-timing of the Public Participation Process (PPP) of the EWC Bill, the PPP submission deadline was extended from 31 January 2020 to 29 February 2020.
The ANC backtracked on their previous comment about the non-extension of the Expropriation Without Compensation (EWC) Bill.
By law, government needs to invite the public to partake in the law making process and make submissions and comments on proposed law amendments.
In a bid to race the EWC Bill through the legal process, the ANC scheduled the PPP submissions for December 2019 and January 2020. This a time which public participation would be least effective, since the public would be on extended holidays. In the environmental affairs sector for instance (in terms of the National Environmental Management Act), NO Public Participation Programs may be scheduled for the mid December and January periods exactly for this reason – public won’t be available for commenting on things like rezonings of properties, environmental impact studies etc.
So it defies logic why the most important proposed change to the Constitution to date, since 1994, would be scheduled for PPP in December 2019 and January 2020.
The extension to the end of February is therefore a welcome relief to those who have not voted yet.
EFF gets whatsapp number request
Nevertheless, there is going to be an influx of PPP participants in February. The EFF convinced the ANC-led Ad-hoc Committee in charge of the EWC Bill to allow the youth to vote via Whatsapp.
This is an interesting development and Nuus.News asks the question: How the validity of these whatsapp votes will be verified? We know youth, and most adults these days have 2 or 3 different whatsapp numbers and one can obviously send several submissions onto such a platform from the same number, or several numbers. How government will make sure the submissions are valid will have to be seen, and should be queried by all political parties and stakeholders. Will the IEC be brought in to keep Public Participation Processes in check?
Nuus.News will make the whatsapp number available as soon as it is published.
Every eligible South African citizen should cast their votes regarding EWC before 29 February 2020 and when you comment on whatsapp remember to let every member of your family comment, husband, wife and eligible voting youth. Every vote counts!
More details on new Public Participation hearings
News 24 reported that the extension of the EWC deadlines was against the backdrop of an outcry from opponents of expropriation without compensation after the ANC resolved at its recent NEC meeting that it will propose that the minister (Thoko Didiza) will decide whether land will be expropriated without compensation rather than the court. The amendment bill in its current form gives this responsibility to the court.
Public hearings will take place in all provinces, predominantly from Fridays to Sundays. The committee will split into two groups. The full committee will also hold public hearings in Parliament.
According to News 24 the programme will be publicised once the committee adopts it. Written submissions must be received by no later than February 29, 2020. Submissions and enquiries must be directed to Mr V Ramaano, 3rd Floor, 90 Plein Street, Cape Town, 8000 or emailed to section25@parliament.gov.za.
Nuus.News urges all stakeholders to take part in these public hearings. Let the word spread and let the public really show up to make a difference this time round.
Keep coming back to Nuus.News as we will expose more in depth matters regarding the proposed EWC Bill.
Our next article will focus on what the political parties have done so far up to 31 January 2020 with regards to EWC PPP.
However in the mean time get to know more about Nuus.News from our launch website:
You can also find news by clicking on the menu’s at the top of the page.
Thank you for keeping us informed! Now more than ever we need to act and get our votes in.