Over the next month the Western Cape Provincial Parliament will undertake public hearings across the province on the 2015 Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill (“TKLB”).
The TKLB was passed by the National Assembly in November 2017 and referred to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence. The Bill can only pass in the National Council of Provinces if it is supported by a majority of the provinces in South Africa. This places provincial legislatures in powerful positions to reject or accept legislation based on the views of people in those provinces.
The Western Cape Provincial Parliament’s schedule of public hearings to discuss the TKLB is as follows:
10 April 2018 – BEAUFORT WEST (Central Karoo District)
- Venue: Ontspanningssaal/Recreation Hall, Beaufort West
- Time: 18:00 – 20:00
11 April 2018 – PAARL (Cape Winelands District)
- Venue: Paarl Town Hall, c/o Main Street and Faure Street, Paarl
- Time: 18:00 – 20:00
16 April 2018 – GEORGE (Eden District)
- Venue: Banquet Hall, York Street, George
- Time: 18:00 – 20:00
17 April 2018 – KLAWER (West Coast District)
- Venue: Community Hall, Klawer
- Time: 18:00 – 20:00
2 May 2018 – CALEDON (Overberg District)
- Venue: Victoria Hall, c/o Sport and Ian Toerien Street, Caledon
- Time: 18:00 – 20:00
8 May 2018 – CAPE TOWN (City of Cape Town Metro)
- Venue: Chamber, Western Cape Provincial Parliament, 6th floor, 7 Wale Street, Cape Town
- Time: 18:00 – 20:00
The Western Cape Provincial Parliament Committee processing the Bill and conducting the hearings is the Standing Committee on Local Government. The Committee is also accepting written submissions on the TKLB for the duration of the public hearings.
Written submissions and requests to make verbal presentations on submissions must be directed to the Standing Committee on Local Government (for the attention of Committee Coordinator Mr Johan Coetzee) at least one day before the public hearing. His email address is jcoetzee@nullwcpp.gov.za. Mr Coetzee can also be contacted for more information about the hearings.
Copies of the Bill can be accessed via the Parliamentary Monitoring Group’s website at https://pmg.org.za/bill/593/, which also tracks National Parliament’s processing of the Bill. LARC’s previous written submission on the Bill can be read at http://www.larc.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/347/Submissions/Submission%20on%20TKLB_LARC_20160202.pdf .
