Hon Chairperson, the most significant aspect of the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Bill is contained in clause 18. The establishment of a Sectional Titles Schemes Management Advisory Council, which the Minister referred to earlier on, is a progressive move. It will allow for the proper, full-scale implementation of this Act and also allow for the regulations to be kept under regular review.
The idea of a regular review of regulations is highly desirable. It will allow for sectional titles schemes in South Africa to operate with better governance, and greater transparency and accountability. The process of constant renewal is indeed very appealing and its promise must be translated into reality.
It is also worth noting that the Bill demands that the advisory council must make recommendations to the Minister with regard to any amendment thereof or other action which may be advisable. I am happy to note the emphasis on the word "must". This creates a direct obligation for the advisory council to produce recommendations so that the Minister can continue to refine the Bill, until it covers all eventualities. One day a comprehensive Bill that will allow for the better running of sectional title schemes will arise.
To fulfil this expectation it is imperative that the advisory council makes known its existence to all sectional title holders as soon as possible, and it must also invite and receive inputs for analysis and comment. The creation of an interactive website will be an absolute necessity for the proper functioning of the advisory council. We request that the Minister and the department facilitate this without delay.
Hon Speaker, I now wish to turn my attention to the second Bill, the Community Schemes Ombud Service Bill. Boards and their functioning have become contested terrains in South Africa. This is because they have been politicised. We appeal to the Minister to ensure that he goes strictly by the provision of clause 7(4), so that he appoints people with the requisite skills, experience and availability to properly fulfil their functions. This Bill has great promise provided that the right people are appointed.
The Bill provides for how fiduciary duty should be undertaken and for disclosures to be made. This must be stringently monitored by the department. We implicitly believe that a declaration has to be signed to the effect that each person required by the Bill to make a disclosure has, in fact, made a full disclosure with no material information excluded. The Minister must ensure that this happens.
In respect of clause 18(d), the Minister should ensure that the development of efficient, transparent and cost-effective administrative systems is examined point by point against the Public Finance Management Act, PFMA.
Under clause 42(d) we urge the Minister to consider making regulations which will allow for independent arbitration and the use of the small claims court to occur where the ombud believes that the matter is outside his or her jurisdiction. If any application is rejected because of a legal lacuna, it should be obligatory upon the ombud to bring the matter immediately to the attention of the Minister, so that administrative procedures may be used to deal with the problem. Finally, clause 22 makes provision for levies to be collected from community schemes. This will require proper prior consultation with representatives of schemes, as this will be seen as a new form of tax. Those who pay will need to have the right to representation. As the Minister knows very well, taxation without representation is tyranny. Cope believes that this matter of the levy must be communicated to all affected parties so that a round table discussion can occur. The imposition of levies must not be done unilaterally or prematurely.
This Bill will bring relief to many people who have governance issues with their governing bodies. The issues that are being raised should be communicated to all the body corporates via email so that they stay in the loop and can take appropriate remedial action. The ombud should work proactively and not only reactively. He or she should educate as much as he or she should adjudicate. We strongly believe that problems should be arrested before they occur. This should be the modus operandi of the ombud. Moreover, this will be a whole lot cheaper.
Lastly, Chairperson, I would like to congratulate our committee chairperson on the handling of the discussions in the committee on these two Bills, particularly the first one. She did it in such a way that what appeared to be a difficult task was, in fact, carried out smoothly by the whole committee. There were no disputes of any kind. Cope supports both Bills. I thank you. [Applause.]