National Council of Provinces passes three bills

The National Council of Provinces passed three bills at its virtual plenary sitting on Tuesday.

The bills were the Division of Revenue Bill, the Employment Equity Amendment Bill and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Bill.

The Division of Revenue Bill was passed by the National Assembly in March and sent to the NCOP for consideration. The bill provides for equitable division of funds raised nationally among the national, provincial and local spheres of government for a particular financial year.

It also determines each province’s fair share of the provincial share of revenue and any other allocations to provinces, local governments or municipalities from the national government’s revenue share.

The National Assembly passed the Employment Equity Amendment Bill and sent it to the NCOP for concurrence last September. The bill seeks to amend the Employment Equity Act of 1998, to empower the minister of employment and labour to determine sectoral numerical targets.

The numerical targets seek to ensure the equitable representation of suitably qualified people from designated groups (blacks, women and people with disabilities) at all occupational levels in the workforce.

The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Bill was also passed by the National Assembly in September last year and sent to the NCOP for concurrence. The bill seeks to amend the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act of 1993 by amending and repealing specific definitions and sections.

The NCOP has passed the bill with proposed amendments. It will be sent back to the National Assembly for concurrence.

The other two bills will now be sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa for assent.

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