When the Fifth Parliament ended, there were 39 unfinished bills. According to National Assembly + rule 333 (2), these Bills lapsed automatically when Parliament was dissolved on 7 May 2019. The Sixth Parliament + revived 30 of these.
+ + + + +The Sixth Parliament's Bill adoption or efficiency rate is 77%, an uptick from the Fifth Parliament’s 65%, but + both fall short of the Fourth Parliament’s 87% rate. This refers to the percentage of introduced Bills that were + successfully adopted by Parliament—to calculate this percentage, we divide the total number of Bills adopted in + the Sixth Parliament by the total number of Bills introduced in the same period.
+The Sixth Parliament passed 124 Bills. This was better than the Fifth Parliament, where 112 bills were passed. +
+It is interesting to observe that most Bills were introduced in 2023, the year before the national election. This + underscores a point made by PMG in its legislative performance of Parliament study which observed that + pre-election years are known to be busy for the introduction of legislation by government.
+Of the 162 Bills tabled in the Sixth Parliament, 86% were introduced by the Executive, and the remainder by + individual Members of Parliament (13%) and Committees (1%). Notably, there has been a drop in the number of + committee bills introduced in the Sixth Parliament compared to the 5% (of total bills introduced) in the Fifth + Parliament.
+As of 29 April, 48 bills were still before Parliament. In terms of Parliament's Rules, business before the + legislature lapses when the term of that Parliament ends or when Parliament is dissolved. When a bill or another + matter lapses, the new Assembly can revive it by way of a motion in the House. Such motions sometimes state that + the matter be revived + "from the stage it reached on the last sitting + day of the House (of the previous + House)...." +
+Currently, 28 Bills passed by the Sixth + Parliament are awaiting the President’s signature.
+23 Private Member Bills were introduced in the Sixth Parliament, 70% of them by the DA. This is a noticeable + increase from the 9 Private Members Bill in the Fifth Parliament. +
+| YEAR INTRODUCED | TITLE AND NUMBER | MEMBER | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Remote Gambling Bill (B11-2024) | Mr D Macpherson (DA) | Under consideration |
| 2024 | Local Government: Municipal Structures Second Amendment Bill (B10-2024) | Ms S Gwarube (DA) | Under consideration |
| 2024 | Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill (B9-2024) | Ms S Gwarube (DA) | Under consideration |
| 2023 | Constitution Twentieth Amendment Bill (B20-2023) | Adv G Breytenbach (DA) | Under consideration |
| 2023 | Children's Amendment Bill (B19-2023) | Ms B Masango (DA) | Under consideration |
| 2023 | Constitution Nineteenth Amendment Bill (B17-2023) | Ms S Gwarube (DA) | Under consideration |
| 2023 | Electoral Commission Amendment Bill (B15-2023) | Dr A Lotriet (DA) | Under consideration |
| 2023 | Responsible Spending Bill (B9-2023) | Dr D George (DA) | Under consideration |
| 2023 | Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Amendment Bill (B8-2023) | Dr L Schreiber (DA) | Under consideration |
| 2023 | Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Amendment Bill (B6-2023) | Ms E Powell (DA) | Under consideration |
| 2022 | Divorce Amendment Bill (B32-2022) | Mr G Hendricks (Al- Jama-ah) | Lapsed |
| 2022 | Registration of Muslim Marriages Bill (B30-2022) | Mr G Hendricks (Al- Jama-ah) | Withdrawn |
| 2022 | Relocation of the Seat of Parliament Bill (B29-2022) | Mr J Malema (EFF) | Withdrawn |
| 2022 | Maintenance Amendment Bill (B17-2022) | Mr G Hendricks (Al- Jama-ah) | Under consideration |
| 2021 | Public Administration Laws General Amendment Bill (B16-2021) | Dr L Schreiber (DA) | Rejected |
| 2021 | Ease of Doing Business Bill (B6-2021) | Mr H Kruger (DA) | Lapsed |
| 2021 | Disaster Management Amendment Bill (B2-2021) | Dr P Groenewald (FF+) | Rejected |
| 2021 | Animals Protection Amendment Bill (B1-2021) | Mr S Swarts (ACDP) | Rejected |
| 2020 | Electoral Laws Second Amendment Bill (B34-2020) | Mr M Lekota (COPE) | Lapsed |
| 2020 | Pension Funds Amendment Bill (B30-2020) | Dr D George (DA) | Lapsed |
| 2020 | Public Finance Management Amendment Bill (B13-2020) | Mr G Cachalia (DA) | Rejected |
| 2020 | Fiscal Responsibility Bill (B5-2020) | Mr G Hill-Lewis (DA) | Lapsed |
| 2019 | Independent Electricity Management Operator Bill (B14-2019) | Ms N Mazzone (DA) | Rejected |
+ In the Sixth Parliament, the Minister of Finance introduced the most number of Bills: 60 from post-election 2019 + to date. + This is followed by the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services who introduced 24 Bills in the Sixth + Parliament. + The pie chart below outlines the spread of Bill types introduced in the Sixth Parliament: +
+ + +-
+
- Section 75: Bills not affecting provinces - 63 +
- Section 76: Bills affecting provinces - 56 +
- Section 77: Money Bills - 38 +
- Section 74: constitutional amendments - 4 +
Not all bills are created equal: some are only a few pages long, while others run to hundreds of pages with lots + of clauses and technicalities (causing many hours of debate and deliberations). Some of the complex and + technical legislation processed in the Sixth Parliament include:
+ +-
+
- National Minimum Wage +
- National Health Insurance +
- Cannabis for Private Purposes +
- Domestic Violence +
- Electoral Reform +
- Expropriation +
- Climate Change +
- Public Procurement +
- BELA +
- Copyright +
- Performers’ Protection +
As with other statistics pieces in this review, simply counting bills introduced and bills passed does not give a + full picture of legislative performance. Emphasis is on the quality of legislation passed.
+ + -