Fwd: Licensing of Business Bill : Comment in Engineering News

[in...@jbayra.com]

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Administrator - Jeffreys Bay Residents Association/Jeffreysbaai Inwonersvereniging

in...@jbayra.com - www.jbayra.com

Morning all – You will remember I sent this you whilst there was still time for public comment and at the same time sent it to eNCA – I haven’t seen anybody being grilled on our ‘No Fear No Favour’ channel, and am not sure how many teeth Corruption Watch has, if we look at the levels of corruption we have already – I guess we have to look to the DA etc., to have the teeth to fight this debacle.  It most certainly would serve to kill entrepreneurial spirit  on which so many jobs rely – jobs that this Government is clearly unable to create – and there is no doubt that pockets will be heavily lined.

 

 

18th April 2013

Draft legislation intended to ease the business licensing process and crack down on illicit business activities was open to corruption and abuse, watchdog Corruption Watch said on Thursday.

The Licensing of Businesses Bill, which was tabled in March to replace the current Licensing of Businesses Act, aimed to provide an enabling framework for business licence application procedures by setting norms and standards.

The new Bill required “anyone doing business” to apply for a licence from their local municipality.

However, Corruption Watch believed the Bill required a “complete overhaul”, with the addition of anticorruption measures and ensuring that all sections, including the requirements for obtaining a licence, were clear so that opportunities for corruption were removed.

“The Bill has not been carefully thought through by the authorities and the result is a piece of legislation dangerously susceptible to corruption and abuse,” said executive director David Lewis in a statement.

The watchdog was concerned with the designation and far-reaching powers of traffic officers, besides others, as licence inspectors.

“Some 14% of all reports made by the public to Corruption Watch in its first nine months of existence involved traffic law enforcement officials,” Lewis explained, adding that this made it a risk in tasking traffic officers with business licence inspections.

Further, 25% of all the reported incidents within the same nine-month period involved allegations of corruption in municipalities, leading to the watchdog being uncomfortable with municipalities as the licensing authorities.

A licence would need to be renewed after five years and could be revoked under certain circumstances.

Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies previously said the Bill provided a tool to "know who is conducting business in our localities and, secondly, to ensure that within the framework of business activities... we cut out illicit activities".

[Paul Hjul]

Opposition to the Bill has certainly been growing in the last few days. Probably one of the main contributors has been Ivo Vegter's article on the Bill.

Something small which people can do is to help grow this petition:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Stop_Reinstatement_of_Old_Era_Apartheid_Law/?fWfCCeb&pv=3

The Bill is truly evil in all of the following respects: (a) its underlying intention; (b) its misguided approach to regulation; (c) its unintended consequences. I do however believe that the Bill will not pass, it contradicts the National Development Plan and is wholly unconstitutional and is badly drafted. Instead I suspect that the Bill is really a part of an internal power struggle and fight within the ANC and tripartite alliance - which those seeking centralized control will loose. 

Unfortunately the DTI is also responsible for the badly drafted other badly drafted laws including the 2008 Companies Act which was so bad that 135 sections had to be amended in 2010, 

The biggest danger in the Bill for Jeffrey's Bay is the extent to which it promotes municipal thuggery.

Attached is my fairly rushed submission set on the Bill. It seems the DTI actually received a heck of a lot of correspondence towards the last minute on this Bill - the address to receive comments was issuing a mail server error late last night.

Paul

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