1. 1 PRESENTATION TO SELECT COMMITTEE OF THE NCOP TRADITIONAL LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK AMENDMENT BILL, 2008 AND NATIONAL HOUSE OF TRADITIONAL LEADERS BILL, 2008 03 SEPTEMBER 2008

2. 2 Structure of the Presentation 1.Background 2.National House of Traditional Leaders Bill 3.Bill amending the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act

3. 3 Background Two pieces of legislation impacting of traditional leadership identified for amendment. National House of Traditional Leaders Act  Passed in 1994 in line with the 1993 interim Constitution  Repealed in 1997 and replaced with a new Act which was amended in 1998 and 2000  Not fully in line with the White Paper on Traditional Leadership and Governance adopted in 2003 as the Act was passed before the adoption of the White Paper  Bill repeals the current Act and replaces it with a clean and comprehensive Act Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act  Passed in 2003 after the adoption of the White Paper on Traditional Leadership and Governance adopted in 2003  Provincial Legislation passed in line with the Framework Act  Implementation in a period of over 3 years has revealed a number of gaps and challenges that need to be addressed through an amendment  Province -specific challenges also necessitate the amendment

4. 4 Background Cont ….. 1)Bills approved by Cabinet for tabling in parliament on 20 May 2008; 2)Bills published for public comment on 3 June with closing date of 02 July 2008; 3)Bills introduced into Parliament (NA and NCOP) in early June; 4)The dplg conducted consultations with key stakeholders, i.e. kings and queen, senior traditional leaders, headmen / women, national and provincial houses, CRL Commission, Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims, SALGA and provincial governments; 5)The portfolio Committee on Provincial and Local Government opened for public comments and held public hearing – comments considered and amendments effected; 6)National Assembly passed the two Bills on 20 August

5. 5 National House of Traditional Leaders Bill The Bill provides for the following key areas: Preamble capturing the history on the NHTL; the establishment of the National House of Traditional Leaders; oThree members elected from each provincial house oSpecial provision where there is no provincial house oTerm of office of the House is five years oMembership restricted to senior traditional leaders and conditional representation by headmen Election of members to the House by provinces oMinister and Premiers now to play a role (calling for elections and receiving names) oSecret ballot, observed by officials of the House and of the Dept oDesignation of a leader of the provincial delegation

6. 6 National House of Traditional Leaders Bill to determine powers, functions and duties of the House; oAlignment with the White Paper (and the Framework Act) to provide for support to the House by government; oFinancial, administrative, capacity building, human resources, etc Status of Members oChairperson and deputy chairperson oPresident to determine that certain members are full time.

7. 7 National House of Traditional Leaders Bill Cont… The Bill provides for the following key areas: to provide for the relationship between the House and the Provincial Houses; oThe house to have a clearly define relationship with the provincial houses for accountability and alignment. Relationship between House and Kings and Queens oKings and queens to have statutory relations with the House in respect of regular meetings and protocol issues to provide for the relationship between the House and Government in terms of its accountability on the House; oRegulates the relationship with government, including the issues of submission of annual reports and holding of meetings. oOpening of the House by the President o

8. 8 National House of Traditional Leaders Bill Cont… The Bill provides for the following key areas: Responsibilities of the House oMore accountability to the House in terms of meetings, finances, activities, record keeping, etc. oMore responsibility to the Secretary of the House to provide for general matters incidental to the functioning of the House.

9. 9 National House of Traditional Leaders Bill Cont……. The Bill further provides for the following general issues (not fully discussed in this presentation): Qualification and disqualification of members;  Excluded certain people from membership (clause 5) Vacation and filling of seats in the House;  Seats to be filled within a short period of time Seat and Meetings of the House;  House to meet in parliament or at admin seat Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the House;  Elected by members and may be removed by two thirds of members Privileges and Immunities of members;  Freedom of speech in the meetings of House Remuneration and benefits of members;  Determined by the President in terms of Act 20 of 1998 Rules, orders and committees of the House;  To be determined and adopted by the House itself, and provision for executive committee representative of provincial houses

10. 10 National House of Traditional Leaders Bill Cont……. The Bill further provides for the following general issues (not fully discussed in this presentation): Dissolution of the House; oHouse remains in office until new House is sworn in Oath of Office; oMembers to take an oath when assuming office (oath attached as schedule) Code of Conduct; oCode of conduct for members in addition to their code as ordinary traditional leaders) Regulatory powers of the Minister; oMinister, after consultation with House and parliament, to issue regulations on certain matters as is necessary; and Repeal of laws and transitional matters; oall the current Acts on the House will be repealed in terms of the new law

11. 11 Bill amending the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act The Bill provides for the following key areas (see details in the following 4 slides): Membership of kingship/queenship councils and traditional councils to be determined by a formula and not restricted to 30; the recognition of kingships/queenships and the establishment of kingship/queenship councils; functions of the kingship/queenship councils; provision for establishment of traditional sub-councils and a chairperson of the sub-traditional council where the area of jurisdiction of a traditional council constitutes more than one geographic area; appointment of a person to act as a king/queen as an interim measure where a paramount chief dies before the Commission determines the position of current paramountcies

12. 12 Bill amending the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act The Bill provides for the following key areas (see details in the following 4 slides): Provision for the withdrawal of recognition as a paramountcy and appointment as a paramount chief; the extension of the period within which the traditional authorities as well as community authorities must be transformed in line with the Act (community authorities to be administered as if the old order legislation had not been repealed pending decisions of the Commission); and Alignment of terms of office of all the structures of traditional leadership with that of the NHTL Provincial legislation to provide for relationship between kings/queens and provincial houses

13. 13 GAP / CHALLENGEPROPOSED AMENDMENT No provision for the recognition of kingships (current legislation only recognizes the incumbents – kings and queens) Provision for the recognition and withdrawal of recognition of kingships/queenship (President) in terms of set criteria and the process (clause 2A of the Bill amends section 2 of the principal Act); No provision for the establishment and recognition of kingship councils Provision for the establishment and recognition of kingship/queenship councils (Premier) in line with criteria similar to the one for TCs; (clause 3A of the Bill amends section 3 of the principal Act) – formalizing of a customary structure envisaged in section 9(1) of the Act) No provision for functions of kingship councilsProvision for functions of the kingship /queenship councils (clause 4A of the Bill amends section 4 of the Act) Bill amending the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act The Bill provides for the following key issues for amendment:

14. 14 Issues Covered in the Bill for Amendment GAP / CHALLENGEPROPOSED AMENDMENT No provision for the regulation of current areas of jurisdiction of one traditional council that exists in two or more geographical areas Provision for sub-traditional councils and appointment of chairpersons of sub-traditional councils where a defined area of jurisdiction of a traditional council consist of more than one geographic area (clause 4B of the bill) Section 17 of the Act unclear on the manner in which the electoral college elects members to the Local House (confusion that the EC may only elect from among themselves) Amendment clarifies that all leadership positions qualify to be members of the local house and members to be representative of areas falling within the district or metropolitan municipality No provision for the appointment of a person to act as a king/queen as an interim measure where a paramount chief dies before the Commission determines the position of current paramountcies A provision is made for the appointment of a person by a Premier to act as a paramount chief as an interim measure where a paramount chief dies before the Commission determines the position of current paramountcies No provision for the disestablishment of a paramouncy and withdrawal of recognition of paramount chief by the President if the Commission decides that an established paramountcy and a recognised paramount chief do not qualify to a kingship and a king or queen A provision is made for the disestablish of a paramountcy and withdrawal of recognition of paramount chief

15. 15 Issues Covered in the Bill for Amendment GAP / CHALLENGEPROPOSED AMENDMENT Framework Act provides that traditional authorities be reconstituted within 1 year and community authorities within 2 years from its commencement Provision that the period of one year and two years originally provided for to reconstitute traditional authorities and disestablish community authorities be extended to five years with a retrospective effect [community authorities to be administered as if old order legislation has not been repealed ]. No provision for the administration of community authorities before the Commission finalizes its work on community authorities Amendment of section 28 to provide that community authorities still under investigation by the Commission be administered as if the relevant establishing legislation had not been repealed No provision that a senior traditional leader is an ex officio member and chairperson of a traditional council Provision that a senior traditional leader is an ex officio member and chairperson of a traditional council. Five year term aligned with NHTL

16. 16 Issues Covered in the Bill for Amendment GAP / CHALLENGEPROPOSED AMENDMENT No provision that the five year term for elected members of a traditional council runs with that of the NHTL Provision that the five year term for elected and selected members of a traditional council runs with that of the NHTL No provision for the remuneration of members of traditional councils and kingship/queenship councils Provision is made for members of TCs who are not traditional leaders to receive remuneration as public office bearers Provision is made for members of Kingship/Queenship Councils who are not traditional leaders to receive remuneration as public office bearers

17. 17 THANK YOU!