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General Laws Amendment Bill, 2005 (HB 5/2005)
May 20, 2005

Read General Laws Amendment Act, 2005 (Act 6/2005)

Note: A considerable number of important amendments were made to this Bill at the committee stage. See the Updated General Laws Amendment Bill, 2005 that incorporates updates to August 30, 2005.

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Gazetted 20th May, 2005.

MEMORANDUM

This Bill will make relatively minor amendments to various Acts of Parliament. In more detail, the individual clauses of the Bill provide as follows:

Clause 1
This clause sets out the Bill’s short title.

Clause 2
In terms of section 6(5)(a) of the Maintenance Act [Chapter 5:09] the maintenance court may direct the employer of a responsible person to pay a dependant person from the earnings of the responsible person. However proviso (a) of this section states that the maintenance court shall not make such direction if the employer has to pay the dependant a sum which amounts in the aggregate to less than ten dollars per month unless the employer consents. While the retention of the existing monetary amount will not cause any dependant unnecessary hardship in collecting the monies due to them from a responsible person this clause will amend the proviso to automatically peg the monetary amount to what is specified as minimum wages in terms of the Labour Act [Chapter 28:01] in order not to involve an employer with unnecessary “paperwork” in collecting the monies from their employees due to third parties.

Clause 3
This clause will amend section 4 of the Judges Salaries, Allowances and Pensions Act [Chapter 7:08] to require the President to publish, for the sake of transparency, in the Government Gazette the pension benefits payable to judges and acting judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court. In order to clarify any doubts regarding the pension benefits paid so far to the judges and acting judges the amendment to these sections are backdated to the 22nd October, 1997 when the new scheme of salaries, allowances and pension benefits came into force.

Clause 4
This clause will amend the Judicial College Act [Chapter 7:17], to allow, if considered appropriate by the Council, and after consultation with the Minister, to appoint the Principal and other staff seconded to the Judicial College in terms of sections 13 and 14 for a period as determined by the Council, after consultation with the Minister. This will result in greater continuity of these offices.

Clause 5
This clause will amend the Service of Documents (Telegraph) Act [Chapter 8:13], to authorise the President to repeal this Act when he is satisfied that matters dealt with by this Act have been provided for in appropriate rules of court.

Clause 6
This clause will amend sections 6 and 7 of the Miscellaneous Offences Act [Chapter 9:15], to bring the monetary penalties as provided for in these sections to be stated as levels on the standard scale of fines in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Penalties Amendment Act, 2001 (No. 22 of 2001).

Clause 7
This clause will amend section 63 of the Serious Offences (Confiscation of Profits) Act [Chapter 9:17] to bring the monetary penalties as provided for in this section to be stated as levels on the standard scale of fines in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Penalties Amendment Act, 2001 (No. 22 of 2001).

Clause 8
This clause will amend section 9(a) of the recently amended Stock Theft Act [Chapter 9:18] by supplying a missing cross-reference to section 122 of that Act.

Clauses 9, 10 and 19
These clauses will amend section 18(1) of the Betting and Totalizator Control Act [Chapter 10:02], section 5 of the Pools Control Act [Chapter 10:19] and section 4(3) of the Copper Control Act [Chapter 14:06] to allow fees to be prescribed by regulations made by the Minister responsible for home affairs rather than to be fixed in each case by an Act of Parliament, namely the Finance Act [Chapter 23:04] which is rather an onerous task for such routine matters.

Clause 11
This clause will amend section 6 the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act [Chapter 10:20]. While it is generally known that regulations under this Act have only a limited life, it is commonly thought that the period concerned is six months. However that is not how the Act puts it. The amendment will clarify the exact time when regulations made in terms of this section will expire, namely, at the end of day 180 after their date of commencement.

Clause 12
This clause will amend section 5 of the Lotteries and Gaming Act [Chapter 10:26] to amend the designation of “Permanent Secretary” to “Secretary” to introduce consistency between the Acts and use the term which in Zimbabwe describes the Civil Service head of a Ministry.

Clause 13
This clause will amend sections 78 and 79 and repeal section 88A of the Defence Act [Chapter 11:02]. Section 78 and 79 are being amended to provide for appeals, when a member of the Defence Force is sentenced by a military court, to be made directly to the Supreme Court instead of the High Court as is provided for at present. As a consequence of the amendments to these sections the provision of section 88A becomes otiose and thus its repeal.

Clause 14
This clause seeks to reverse the Supreme Court’s judgment handed in the case of Zaranyika v. the Commissioner of War Victims Compensation & Anor. 1994 (1) ZLR 369 (S)]/[SC 51/94] by amending in section 2 of the War Victims Compensation Act [Chapter 11:16], the definition of “occupation” so that any service as a combatant shall be considered as being a “normal occupation” for the purposes of this Act.

Clause 15
This clause will amend twenty-two sections of the Public Order and Security Act [Chapter 11:17] (No. 1 of 2002) to give effect to the provisions of the Criminal Penalties Amendment Act, 2001 (No. 22 of 2001) in that it will bring the financial penalties in these sections, which are indicated in monetary terms, to be stated as levels on the standard scale of fines. It will also amend section 40 to clarify firstly the jurisdiction of various courts and secondly to enhance the jurisdiction of a regional magistrate.

Clause 16
This clause will repeal section 98 (2) and 103 of the Postal and Telecommunications Act [Chapter 12:05]. These sections were declared unconstitutional and were struck down by the Supreme Court in the matter of The Law Society of Zimbabwe and the Minister of Transport and Communications and the Attorney General of Zimbabwe [Judgment No. S. C. 50\03 (Civil Application No. 328\02)] in its judgment delivered on March 3, 2004.

Clause 17
This clause will amend eight sections of the Electricity Act [Chapter 13:19] to give effect to the provisions of the Criminal Penalties Amendment Act, 2001 (No. 22 of 2001) in that it will state the financial penalties in these sections, which are indicated in monetary terms, as levels on the standard scale of fines.

Clause 18
This clause will repeal section 1(2) of the Rural Electrification Fund Act [Chapter 13:20] and provide for the commencement of this Act on the date of its promulgation.

[Clause 19
See entry for Clauses 9, 10 and 19, above.]

Clause 20
When section 3(7) of the Moneylending and Rates of Interest Act [Chapter 14:14] was amended by the Criminal Penalties Amendment Act, 2001 (No. 22 of 2001) the consequential repeal of section 3(8) was overlooked, thus leaving section 3 at present with fines pegged in subsection (7) as levels on the standard scale of fines while in subsection (8) it is stated in monetary terms. These are conflicting provisions and this clause will resolve the conflict by repealing the otiose subsection (8).

Clause 21
The Second-hand Goods Act [Chapter 14:16] does not have any provision for a dealer in second-hand goods to pay any fees when applying for permission to keep on his premises any smelting pot or implement for melting, altering or defacing gold, silver, lead or other metals. This clause will amend section 4 of the Act to allow fees to be prescribed by the Minister responsible for home affairs that have to be paid by applicants when application for this permission is made.

Clause 22
This clause will amend the Water Act [Chapter 20:24], firstly to correct the reference of the “Environmental Management Act [Chapter 20:27]” (instead of “Environmental Management Act [Chapter 20:26]”) and, secondly, to correct in section 119(2)(c) the reference to the “Minister” as “the Minister responsible for environment” (instead of the “Minister for Environment and Tourism”).

Clause 23
This clause will amend six sections (including the Schedules) of the Environmental Management Act [Chapter 20:27] (Act No. 11 of 2002). Paragraph (a) will amend section 7(1)(a) to amend the designation of “Permanent Secretaries” to “Secretaries” to introduce consistency between the Acts and use the term which in Zimbabwe describes the Civil Service head of a Ministry. Paragraph (b) will amend subsection (2) and (4) of section 37 to clarify the point that an “officer” too has authority similar to that of an “inspector”. Paragraphs (c) and (d) will give effect to the provisions of the Criminal Penalties Amendment Act, 2001 (No. 22 of 2001) in that it will bring the financial penalties in section 57(1) and 63(2), which are indicated in monetary terms, to be stated as levels on the standard scale of fines.
When the Act was originally drafted it was envisaged that the Ministry would have the necessary manpower to draft subordinate legislation to repeal and replace legislation made in terms of the Acts mentioned in the Sixth Schedule of this Act. However this has not happened and has thus created a lacuna in the subordinate legislation. Paragraphs (c) and (d) will provide for the existence and continuation, in terms of this Act, of the subordinate legislation that were prematurely repealed.
Paragraph (g) will delete the otiose words printed at the end of the Act.

Clause 24
This clause will amend the proviso to section 6 of the Exchange Control Act [Chapter 22:05] by amending it include reference to paragraph “(a1)”. This is a consequential amendment which was overlooked when paragraph “(a1)” was inserted in section 6 of the Act by the Criminal Penalties Amendment Act, 2001 (No. 22 of 2001).

Clause 25
Stakeholders have complained about the delay in the adjudication of tenders by the State Procurement Board. The reasons cited for the delay is that the State Procurement Board does not meet regularly and even when it meets, because of the sheer volume of work, it cannot complete its business. This clause will amend section 14(1) of the Procurement Act [Chapter 22:14] (Act 2 of 1999) to overcome this bottleneck by instructing the State Procurement Board to have its meeting at least twice a week, rather than on an ad hoc basis as at present, in order to dispatch its business.

Clause 26
This clause will amend four sections of the Boxing and Wrestling Control Act [Chapter 25:02] in certain respects.
This clause will—

(a) amend, section 6 by providing that any member of the Board will be paid, if engaged in the business of the Board, such remuneration and allowances as the Minister with the approval of the Minister of Finance and Economic Development may fix. At present the members of the Zimbabwe National Boxing Control Board (“the Boxing Board”) or the Zimbabwe National Wrestling Control Board (“the Wrestling Board”) are entitled to out of pocket expenses only;
(b) amend, section 8(1)(c) which at present prohibits the Boxing Board and the Wrestling Board from sanctioning boxing or wrestling other than between male contestants. However as a result of international trends this prohibition is now outdated and boxing and wrestling between female contestants is now recognised as a legitimate sport and is even an Olympic event. This amendment will make it possible for the introduction of these sports in Zimbabwe under the control and supervision of the respective Boards;
(c) amend, section 8(1)(k) which at present requires the Boxing Board or the Wrestling Board to be furnished with a certificate of physical and mental fitness in respect of the boxers or wrestlers or classes of boxers or wrestlers issued by such medical practitioner (whether practising in Zimbabwe or elsewhere) as the Board may approve. This, in some instances, is not desirable as it may be open to abuse by unscrupulous applicants and medical practitioners practising outside Zimbabwe. The amendment will allow only medical practitioners practising inside Zimbabwe to issue the necessary certificates;
(d) amend, section 8(1)(k) which at present requires the Boxing Board or the Wrestling Board to grade boxers or wrestlers or classes of boxers or wrestlers registered under paragraph (c) at half yearly intervals. This, in some instances is not feasible, and it would be more effective to grade boxers or wrestlers or classes of boxers or wrestlers annually. This clause will amend the Act to make it possible for an annual grading to take place;
(e) provide, for the repeal and substitution of section 10. The background to this is that at present the funds of the Boxing Board and the Wrestling Board are derived either from the fees that they receive in terms of regulations made under section 9 or from any other sources. At present assistance to the Boxing Board and the Wrestling Board may not exceed in the aggregate two thousand dollars and must be in the form of repayable advances. The effect of the amendment is to allow assistance from funds approved by Parliament without limiting the amount or the type of such assistance to go directly to the Boards for and to be used in any manner that the Boards sees fit, subject to the accounts etc being kept in a correct manner;
(f) amend, section 11(2). This amendment will require the Boxing Board and the Wrestling Board to submit their annual reports and financial statements simultaneously and aligning the dates in section 11(2) with the “year end” as found in the Constitution and in section 11(1).

Clause 27
This clause will amend sections 193 and 196 of the Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29:15] to provide with regards to*

(a) section 193—

(i) for penalties if a person contravenes the provision of any regulations made in terms of subsection (1); and;
(ii) for the cancellation of the permit of the commuter omnibus used in connection with the commission of the offence as set out in this section;

(b) section 196, for the imprisonment, in lieu of the payment of a fine, of a persistent offender, for a period not exceeding one month or to both such fine and such imprisonment if the courts consider that this is penalty is merited.

Clause 28 and Schedule
This clause and Schedule will correct references to the Children’s Act [Chapter 5:06] in the Acts listed in the Second Schedule.

Presented by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs

BILL

ENACTED by the President and the Parliament of Zimbabwe.

1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the General Laws Amendment Act, 2005.

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