South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport Amendment Bill: National Treasury oral submission

Meeting report

The Chairperson welcomed everyone present. She listed the various oral submissions that were received, to date, from stakeholders on the Bill. She mentioned that SARU had additional proposals in relation to Sections 10, 11, and 17(1).

She had read the National Treasury's presentation and noticed the input on clauses two, three, and substitution of Section 11 of Act 14 of 1993. The lawyers and the Secretariat, Researchers, and Content Advisors were present to guide the Committee. The Committee noted the proposals and hoped that the Department and SAIDS representatives did the same.

Parliament will soon rise since the announcement of the national elections, and they may not meet with the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture and stakeholders again after finalising the bill. The incoming members of the committee will enjoy working with them.

She indicated that some Members would be retiring from Parliament but not necessarily from politics

The Chairperson checked if there were any apologies

There were no apologies

The Chairperson wished Mr Mthethwa a speedy recovery. She added that all documents from stakeholders are also shared with him.

The Committee adopted the proposed agenda.

The Chairperson remarked that the communications spokesperson was with the Committee the previous day. She appreciated this and this was the first time that the matter was discussed and a statement issued. This should be continued. This was an important piece of legislation and the communications
team must popularise this bill as much as possible and not merely on a part-time basis.

Ms Fiona Clayton, Parliamentary Legal Advisor, said the Chairperson had done a great job in summarising what has been done to date. The Committee was aware of this amendment bill

It was introduced to Parliament in November 2023 based on the fact that WADA found the existing legislation to be non-compliant with the 2021 WADA Code. This caused a huge uproar in the media and the Department and Committee sprang into action to get the legislation amended so that SA can be
compliant with the WADA Code. The Bill was tagged as a Section 75 Bill, which means once the Committee has processed the Bill it will be passed on to the National Council of Provinces. To date, the Committee has received submissions from SAIDS, SARU, and SASCOC. Today, the Committee will be
hearing from the National Treasury which submitted a written submission that includes amending certain definitions within the Amendment Bill.

Briefing by the National Treasury

Ms Judy Naidoo, Deputy-Director of Public Finance, National Treasury said that the comments of the National Treasury on the SAIDS Amendment Bill were mainly legal drafting, and these comments were shared with the Committee for Members to study.

In terms of public finance, the National Treasury had two comments, which included that SAIDS is already a public entity in terms of part A of Schedule 3 of the PFMA and it was an amendment to their legislation to correct the corporate form to be exactly what it is in terms of the PFMA. When Treasury's team went through the Amendment Bill, they found that the amendments were not substantive in terms of public finance and policy. It mainly updated the names of the sports organisations or bodies to what they are presently known as. It also updates and clarifies the objective of SAIDS and there were corrections of wording as well as the procedure for appeals. There was nothing substantive in their view besides ensuring compliance.

The second comment was that whatever SAIDS does, it must be funded within the baseline transfer that it receives from the Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture.

Adv Shalili Misser, Legal Services Division, National Treasury, noted that there are no substantive amendments but technical amendments regarding definitions.

Mr Nkanyiso Sikobo Legal Services Division, National Treasury, said their comments were based on a different version of the draft bill that was circulated to them in October/November last year. The tabled version of the bill was substantially different from the draft bill. In their view, the tabled version does incorporate their comments. He added that from a drafting perspective, the National Treasury had nothing further to add.

The Chairperson stated that their comments were clear and asked Members to make input.

Ms Aadielah Arnold, Parliamentary Legal Advisor, confirmed that the Bill that the National Treasury viewed was substantially different from the Bill before the Committee now. The Treasury is indicating that all its proposed amendments were incorporated into the current Bill. From Legal Services, they will go through it with a fine toothcomb to see if everything is missed. She did not that there was something that was missed: in clause 2 National Treasury suggested that after the term public entity, we make reference to the Public Finance Management Act just to confirm that the public is in terms of the PFMA.

The Chairperson said this has assisted in clarifying the confusion she had.

Ms V Van Dyk (DA) said she was not sure if there were documents sent to Members and asked if there were any documents relating to the Treasury's inputs that were sent to Members.

The Committee Secretary responded that the documents in question were e-mailed to Members yesterday.

The Chairperson confirmed that the documents were sent.

The Chairperson noted the presence of Mr Mthethwa and welcomed him.

Mr A Zondi (ANC) said the National Treasury has a lot of advocates in its team which is why they often complicate submissions to the Committee. He was pleased with the Treasury's submission and noted them.

Ms Sumayya Khan, DDG: Recreation Development and Sports Promotion, DSAC, hoped that Treasury's comments are now aligned with the correct bill version. She referred to Treasury's comments on clause 4 (c) regarding the registered testing pool. That is one area the Department did not agree with.  SAIDS has also made their comment on it. As the information and comments coming thorough the hearing process are collated, the Department will make its comments as well. Generally, the Department agrees with the comments that Treasury has indicated in terms of the establishment of SAIDS. It will add the reference to the PFMA.

She sought clarity if the comments on section 17 was around the budget issue.

The Chairperson said that most stakeholders had comments on Section 17(1)(A) and (B) and 2(A). They did not have much to say except to

Ms Naidoo replied that they will look at the comments raised by the Department and will engage with them offline to find a solution and clarify what was said in the comments.

The Chairperson said the Committee will be informed about which other stakeholders will make a submission.

She thanked the officials, staff and stakeholders.

The meeting was adjourned.