President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the Climate Change Bill, National Small Enterprise Amendment Bill and the Public Procurement Bill respectively.
According to the presidency, all the bills will play different roles, including efforts to mitigate the fight against extreme weather conditions, support for small businesses, government procurement transparency, boost for local businesses and fight against climate change.
“The Climate Change Act, as endorsed by the President, enables the alignment of policies that influence South Africa’s climate change response, to ensure that South Africa’s transition to a low carbon and climate resilient economy and society is not constrained by policy contradictions.
The law also sets out to enhance South Africa’s ability and capacity over time to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and build climate resilience, while reducing the risk of job losses, and promoting opportunities for new job opportunities in the emerging green economy,” said Ramaphosa spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya.
In addition, the Act will strengthen co-ordination between national sector departments and provide policy setting and decision-making to enable the country to meet the commitments in Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement.
Magwenya said the National Small Enterprise Amendment Bill will streamline the support services government provided to small and medium businesses as part of broadening participation in the economy by a greater number of South Africans.
“The National Small Enterprise Amendment Act signed by the President amends the National Small Enterprise Act of 1996 to establish a new entity, the Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency, which will incorporate the Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency (SEFA), the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) and the Cooperative Banks Development Agency (SEDFA).
The SEDA and SEFA are currently located within the Department of Small Business Development,” explained Ramaphosa.
The new Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency will function as a one-stop-shop for aspiring entrepreneurs and promote the development of the Co-operative Banking Institutions.
The Act also establishes the Office of the Small Enterprise Ombud Service, which may, as part of dealing with complaints, recommend that the Minister of Small Business Development declare certain practices in relation to small enterprises to be prohibited unfair trading.
Meanwhile, the presidency said the Public Procurement Bill will establish a single public procurement framework, to avoid fraud and corruption when procuring good and services by all state organs.
It also addresses weaknesses in the procurement of goods and services by organs of state that have in the past enabled various degrees of corruption, including state capture.
“The bill complies with the stipulation in Section 217 of the Constitution that contracting of goods and services by organs of state in all spheres of government must occur in accordance with a system which is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective, and that national legislation must prescribe a framework within which a procurement policy must be implemented,” added Magwenya.
