News24 | It now takes 34 months to pass a law in SA... from only 6 months in 2004

A fire in 2022 burnt down the National Assembly. Legislators were taking additional time to hold hearings and consider public submissions on key bills and faced logistical constraints, including a shortage of committee rooms following the fire.

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The process of passing legislation in South Africa has slowed to a crawl, with a number of key bills awaiting approval by parliament years after they were first proposed.

Some 24 laws have been presented to the National Assembly since it reconvened in February and only three — all related to government spending — have been passed, along with eight others that were introduced in previous years, the legislature’s records show.

A presentation made by parliament’s legal advisers to a lawmakers’ panel last month showed it takes an average of 34 months to pass laws that affect the national and provincial administrations, up from six months in 2004.

A key law that proposes the introduction of support thresholds that political parties will have to meet to qualify for seats on municipal councils is among those caught up in the logjam. The country is due to hold local government elections on November 4, and its approval could smooth the process of forming coalitions in towns where no party wins an outright majority.

Other pieces of legislation that have been held up include the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill, which will overhaul the regulatory framework for the telecommunications industry, a bill that proposes the creation of a single state-owned petro-chemical company, and at least two bills aimed at curbing money laundering and corruption.

Legislators were taking additional time to hold hearings and consider public submissions on key bills and faced logistical constraints, including a shortage of committee rooms following a fire in 2022 that burnt down the National Assembly, the legal advisers said.

They also attributed the delays to changing political dynamics after the 2024 national elections, which saw the African National Congress lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since it took power three decades earlier and enter into a coalition with nine rivals to retain power.