The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has noted inaccurate and unverified news report by Business Day on the submission of the Draft Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill (2023) to parliament and would like to categorically state that the version submitted to Parliament is the same version that was approved by Cabinet in March 2023.
Following the Cabinet’s approval of the Electricity Regulation Act (ERA) Amendment Bill on 29 March 2023, the Department gazzetted the Explanatory Summary in terms of rule 276 (1)(b) of National Assembly Rules. The Bill was subsequently submitted to Parliament on 20 April 2023.
On 05 May 2023, Parliament requested the DMRE to re-submit the Bill to the Office of Chief State Law Advisor (OCSLA) for final certification following additional inputs from Operation Vulindlela and National Treasury. The DMRE indeed re-submitted the Bill to the said institutions on the same day.
The process leading towards the promulgation of the Bill into an Act of Parliament lies within Parliament as prescribed in the rules of Parliament. During this process, the Department has been in constant engagements with OCSLA to ensure speedy processing of the Bill.
Subsequent to the processing and certification, OCSLA transmitted the Bill to Parliament on 15 August 2023.
Therefore, the assertions in the Business Day article attributing the delays to the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy are far from truth, and border on the
lines of a smear campaign against the Minister. It is also not true that Department submitted a different or an incorrect version of the Bill to Parliament.
The DMRE would like to assure the public that it remains committed to the transformation of the country’s energy sector to enhance energy security and advance universal access to energy. It is therefore in the interest of the department to have the Bill finalised expeditiously.
For enquiries:
E-mail: mediadesk@dmre.gov.za
