Siyabonga Mkhwanazi
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma appears to have at least, so far, buckled under pressure by not signing into law two controversial bills a few years after Parliament approved them.
For the last three years Zuma has stalled in signing into law the Protection of State Information Bill, dubbed the Secrecy Bill, and the Private Security Industry Regulation Amendment Bill.
Zuma’s office had at the time of publishing yesterday not responded on the delays in the president assenting to the two laws.
Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies last week denied that there had been US lobbyists who have pushed against the signing into law of the Private Security Industry Regulation Amendment Bill.
He said their discussions on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) renewal had not included aspects on the Private Security Industry Regulation Amendment Bill.
The bill calls for foreign-owned security companies to give up 51 percent of their stake in the private security companies to local companies.
Some business people and US lobbyists are believed to have urged the government not to press ahead in implementing this legislation.
Zuma has been sitting with the bill for almost two years after it was approved by Parliament in February 2014.
The private security industry is said to generate R50 billion a year and it employs thousands.
The official opposition has described it as a “job killing” legislation.
But Davies denied that there had been discussions on it in the Agoa negotiations.
President Barack Obama has further slapped South Africa with another 60-day deadline in which to have US poultry on local shelves before South Africa can get all the Agoa benefits in agriculture.
The Private Security Industry Regulation Amendment Bill is not the only piece of legislation that is still sitting in Zuma’s office.
Since April 2013, when Parliament approved the Protection of State Information Bill, Zuma has not lifted a finger in signing this controversial piece of legislation into law.
The bill has been fought off by the media and some legislators
, and the DA has threatened to go all the way to the Constitutional Court because of its intrusive nature in journalistic and public space.
For almost three years since it was adopted by the National Assembly, Zuma has not said a word on it during the first few months of his second term.
The Protection of State Information Bill caused intense debate in the national legislature during public hearings before it was adopted.