... Parliament conducts itself, then there is nothing stopping the ANC from using their majority to block a debate on any Bill! [Interjections.]
I sincerely hope that this does not set a precedent, because this Bill is deeply technical, but it is also very political. Here Treasury gives regulators draconian powers that are excessively harsh and severe, and, importantly, it does not balance these powers with increased accountability.
When it comes to financial regulation, the National Treasury consistently overreach themselves. They introduce draconian rather than appropriate measures, they give additional powers to the regulators at the expense of civil liberties, and they use direct intervention as a tool for regulation, when competition would clearly work much more effectively. This fundamentally threatens the financial sector, the largest contributor to our gross domestic product, the goose that lays the golden egg. During the committee process we managed to get Treasury to agree to file off a few of the nastiest edges of the Bill. However, serious problems remain. On the limitation of liability, this Bill allows the FSB officials to act in a way that is grossly negligent. It sets the bar of accountability far too low. It means, in effect, that FSB officials will be able to act in a seriously careless way and not be held liable for their actions! Surely we cannot have regulators behaving in such a way.
Secondly, it defines the concepts of policyholder protection provisions, which we accept. However, these provisions should be published by the Minister and not the regulator. They should be of general application and Parliament should have oversight over them. None of these conditions are met in the Bill.
Thirdly and fourthly, there are problems with delegated functions and major question marks over this factor, and problems with the tagging of the Bill. It deals with health services defined in Schedule 4 of the Constitution as a provincial competency. Surely this should be a section 76 Bill. Not only are there problems with Treasury's overreach, but there are problems with the tagging of the Bill too.
The DA put all of these arguments forward in the committee, and each one of them was systematically voted down by the ANC without their considering them. This is why the DA does not support this Bill. I hope that this Parliament never again sees a day when the ANC's majority shuts down Parliament's right to a full debate. I thank you. [Applause.]