Bill Watch1/2016Acts, Bills,Indigenisation & Traffic Fines5 January2016
BILL WATCH 1/2016
[5th January 2016]
Both Houses of Parliament are in Recess until 2nd February 2016
Acts Gazetted on 31st December 2015
Three Acts were gazetted on 31st December:
- Finance (No. 2) Act, 2015 (No. 9 of 2015)
- Appropriation (Supplementary) Act, 2015 (No. 10 of 2015)
- Appropriation (2016) Act, 2015 (No. 11 of 2015).
[all available from Veritas] This brings the number of Acts of 2015 gazetted so far up to nine, as shown in the table below. The three remaining Acts of 2015 – Gender Commission of Zimbabwe Act, Joint Ventures Act and Banking Amendment Act – will become law when the relevant Bills, which have already been passed by Parliament, are gazetted [see under Bills as at 31st December 2013, below].
Acts of 2015 as at 31st December 2015
Act No. / Title / Date gazetted / Commencement1/2015 / Public Accountants and Auditors Amendment Act, 2015 / 10th July 2015
[GN204/215] / 10th July 2015
2/2015 / Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (Debt Assumption) Act, 2015 / 7th August 2015
GN/2015 / 7th August 2015
3/2015 / Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Act / 28th August 2015
GN 240/2015 / 28th August 2015
4/2015 / Public Debt Management Act / 4th September 2015
GN 333/2015 / 4th September 2015
5/2015 / Labour Amendment Act, 2015 / 26th August 2015
GN237A/2015 / 26th August 2015
6/2015 / Not yet gazetted
7/2015 / Not yet gazetted
8/2015 / Finance Act, 2015 / 13th November 2015
GN378/2015 / 13th November 2015
9/2015 / Finance (No. 2) Act, 2015 / 31st December 2015
GN 396/2015 / 31st December 2015
10/2015 / Appropriation (Supplementary)
Act, 2016 / 31st December 2015
GN 396/2015 / 31st December 2015
11/2015 / Appropriation (2016) Act, 2015 / 31st December 2015
GN 396/2015 / 31st December 2015
12/2015 / Not yet gazetted
Bills as at 31st December 2015
Fourteen Bills are listed in this section. The first three have been passed by Parliament but will not become law until they have been assented to by the President and gazetted as Acts.
Of the other eleven Bills:
- three are at various stages of their passage through Parliament [all awaiting reports from the Parliamentary Legal Committee]
- six have been gazetted in preparation for presentation in Parliament when sittings resume in February next year
- two are still in the hands of the Government Printer being prepared for gazetting.
Bills passed by Parliament and awaiting Presidential assent and gazetting as Acts
Joint Ventures Bill[passed 29th September, sent to President’s office 24th December]
Zimbabwe Gender Commission Bill [passed 1st October, sent to President’s office 20th October]
Banking Amendment Bill [passed by Parliament 17th December].
Bills with Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC]
- General Laws Amendment Bill
- Criminal Procedure and Evidence Amendment Bill
[both these Bills were referred back to the PLC following a second set of Committee Stage amendments approved on 24th November – see Bill Watch 59/2015 of 12th December]
- Zimbabwe National Defence University Bill [referred to the PLC after its First Reading in the National Assembly on 16th December][available from Veritas].
Bills gazetted and awaiting presentation
[in order of date of gazetting] [all available from Veritas]
Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences Bill [gazetted 4th September]
Gwanda State University Bill [gazetted 4th September]
Special Economic Zones Bill [gazetted 23rd November]
Public Finance Management Amendment Bill [gazetted 23rd November]
Minerals Exploration and Marketing Corporation Bill [gazetted 4th December]
National Peace and Reconciliation Commission Bill [gazetted 18th December]
Bills being printed for gazetting and presentation [not available from Veritas]
Pan-African University of Sciences and Technology Bill
Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill, 2015
Note: The above list does not include the Ministry of Defence’s Biological and Toxin Weapons Control Bill, which was gazetted in January 2014 during the First Session of the present Parliament but never presented. It appears to have been abandoned.
Confusion over Indigenisation Frameworks, Procedures & Guidelines
General Notice 394A/2015, over the signature of the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Chinamasa, and entitled Frameworks, Procedures and Guidelines for Implementing the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act [Chapter 14:33] was gazetted on 24th December in a Government Gazette Extraordinary [available from Veritas]. The Minister had said in his Budget Statement on 26th November that an announcement on these lines would be gazetted before Christmas, but by the Minister of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment.
GN 394A did not explain why it appeared over the signature of Mr Chinamasa as Minister of Finance and Economic Development instead of, as expected, the Minister responsible for indigenisation and economic empowerment. But its introduction stated, in paragraph 4, that it had been agreed amongst the Minister of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development and the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe,
The following day, 25th December, however, the GN was repudiated by the Minister of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment. This extraordinary development was followed on 4th January by a press conference held by both the Ministers and the Governor of the Reserve Bank, at which it was announced that the GN would be replaced by a new and improved document. The text of that document has not yet been gazetted. It remains to be seen whether this on/off/on sequence of events has an adverse effect on the investor confidence that the GN was intended go promote.
NO INCREASE in Spot Fines for Minor Traffic Offences
The proposed increase, from $20 to $100, in spot fines for minor traffic offences has not been implemented. Press reports claiming that Parliament approved the increase and that it came into force on New Year’s Day are wrong. The law remains as it was before the Budget statement:
- the maximum spot fine police can demand is still a level 3 fine [Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, section 356(1)]
- a level 3 fine is still $20 [Criminal Law Code, section 280 as read with First Schedule].
There is nothing to change that position in the Finance (No. 2) Act or the numerous statutory instruments gazetted up to and including the 1st January to give effect to the Budget.
What really happened in Parliament during the Budget debate in mid-December was as follows: the relevant Portfolio Committees, as well as most MPs who spoke in the Budget debate, condemned the proposed increase and the Minister of Finance and Economic Development responded by conceding that $100 was excessive and needed reconsideration as to both the amount and the legal mechanism for making changes [see Bill Watch 60/2015 of 30th December].
Note: An amendment to section 356 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act would require an Act of Parliament. An change to the monetary value of Level 3 in the Standard Scale of Fines [First Schedule, Criminal Law Code] could be made by statutory instrument, but only after a draft statutory instrument had been approved by Parliament [Criminal Law Code, section 280].
Parliamentary Vacancies and By-elections
National Assembly
Nkulumane seat won by ZANU-PF
ZANU-PF’s Killian Sibanda won the 19th December by-election to fill the vacancy was caused by the death of MDC-T’s Tamsanqa Mahlangu. All MDC groupings boycotted the poll. Voter turn-out was below 10%.
Mhondoro-Mubaiwa vacancy and upcoming by-election
As noted in Bill Watch 60/2015, the National Assembly constituency seat for Mhondoro-Mubaiwa fell vacant on 1st December 2015 in terms of section 12(1)(k) of the Constitution, the date on which the former MP, Sylvester Nguni, ceased to be a member of ZANU-PF. The by-election will be on Saturday 5th March 2016; the nomination court will sit at the magistrates court, Chinhoyi, on Wednesday 6th January 2016 [SI 136/2015 of 23rd December containing Presidential Proclamation 12/2015].
Mashonaland West ZANU-PF party-list vacancy
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission [ZEC] has not yet gazetted the name of the ZANU-PF nominee to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Joan Tsogorani on 21st September.
Senate
Masvingo vacancy filled
ZEC has gazetted the appointment, with effect from 18th December, of Clemence Makwarimba as a party-list Senator for Masvingo Province. This appointment follows his nomination by ZANU-PF to fill the vacancy caused by Dzikamai Mavhaire’s loss of the seat in terms of section 129(1)(k) of the Constitution.
Mashonaland East vacancy
ZEC has not yet gazetted the name of the ZANU-PF nominee to fill the seat vacated by Olivia Muchena, another victim of section 129(1)(k) of the Constitution at the hands of ZANU-PF.
Legislation and Documents Available from Veritas
Bills, Acts, SIs and other documents specified as “available from Veritas” in this bulletin and our other bulletins can be accessed and downloaded from or, if you do not have Internet access, requested by email addressed to . If you have difficulty finding items on the website, please remember that the About the Website link [below the Veritas logo at the top of the home page] will help you find what you want.
A Clarification
The last Bill Watch of 2015 was 60/2015 dated 30th December, wrongly headed 59/2015 but correctly numbered 60/2015 in the email subject line. Bill Watch 61/2015, although promised, did not materialise. This bulletin covers part of what was intended for Bill Watch 61, and another, coming soon, will outline what was published in the Government Gazette from 18th December 2015 to 1st January 2016.
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