ACDP Parliamentary newsletter - 26 November 2003

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In this issue:

1. Shelving of Road Accident Fund Amendment Bill welcome
2. Environmental Management: Air Quality Control Bill welcomed

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1. Shelving of Road Accident Fund Amendment Bill welcome

The decision by the Minister of Transport not to continue with the Road Accident Fund Amendment Bill has been welcomed by African Christian Democratic Party spokesperson on transport, Mr Steve Swart, who has been at the forefront of challenging the cost implications and constitutionality of the proposed amendments.

"In view of the widespread dissatisfaction with the provisions of the Bill amongst various sectors, including representatives of road accident victims' organisations, members of the medical industry and legal fraternity, a constitutional challenge was almost a certainty and therefore this decision is welcomed," Mr Swart said.

"There were various provisions of the Amendment Bill that, in our view, infringed upon common law principles, such as the deduction of collateral benefits following insurance for example. Additionally, the retrospective application of the provisions of the Bill to apply to claims that had not been finalised would have infringed upon the Rule of Law principle and was in our view unconstitutional.

"The ACDP also rejected the amendment proposing the payment of general damages and loss of earning capacity to victims of road accidents in instalments, as opposed to the existing practice of paying a lump sum. The RAF has severe capacity problems which is evident in the inefficiencies in the Undertakings Department. The RAF could not convince members of the portfolio committee on transport that it had the capacity to implement such a system effectively.

"Whilst we have sympathy for the cash flow predicament that the RAF finds itself in, we do not believe that this piecemeal amending legislation would have solved the problem. In effect, the payment of claims would merely be deferred, with huge financial implications for the State in the long term," Mr Swart said.

Whilst the Amendment Bill has been shelved, the ACDP has reiterated its call for a comprehensive inquiry into the inefficiencies, irregularities and financial mismanagement in the Road Accident Fund, highlighted in a leaked internal audit report to the RAF Audit Committee.

"The RAF legislation was intended to assist the RAF with its cash flow problem, yet the underlying management and capacity problems have not been addressed and we believe that the Satchwell Commission, or similar inquiry, should be appointed to investigate the findings of the report," Mr Swart said.

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2. Environmental Management: Air Quality Control Bill

Speech by Kent Durr, MP (NCOP)

Minister because I have worked in this field in my private capacity with some of the leading companies in the world, I am thus particularly interested and I welcome this Bill.

However this Bill is only a beginning and is an enabling Bill, important though it is, the real work is yet to come, much of it at local authority
level: In terms of concurrency provisions in Schedule 4, part B of the constitution.

This is all logical and good. However sometimes there is a mismatch between the relative players, the local authority and the polluter: This is why the central government is going to have to play a key role.

The sources and causes of air pollution are manifold. Air pollution is probably the last effectively unregulated part of our global natural environment - the last frontier. The trouble is with A.P. is that everyone 's business is no ones business. One jurisdiction cleans air only for it to move away with the prevailing wind which in turn ushers in the pollution from neighbouring areas!

Though I am usually against over-regulation, I wish to state categorically that experience has shown that polluters will pollute until the law stops them. Everyone pays lip service to good air quality but few will voluntarily make the investment. In fact they will find all kinds of reasons why they should not or why regulations should be delayed or phased in and to only apply to new installations, whilst the real problem lies with existing plants that needs to be retrofitted. Then you will hear arguments on cost, when in fact the most successful societies in the world, also have the cleanest air and toughest regulations.

Then you will hear that technologies don't exist, when in fact in almost all areas relatively cost effective technologies do exist and are running successfully around the world in several countries.

Lastly you will hear people concentrating on visible pollution, when often it is the invisible gases and particles that are the most injurious to people's health.

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