Parliament committee finalises key bill to create National Council on GBV & Femicide

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities on Friday finalized a key bill that will pave the way for the establishment of the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.

The bill has been in the offing for almost a year now.

The council that it will create is intended to provide strategic leadership and political guidance on eliminating this form of violence in South Africa.

Last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed three bills into law aimed at dealing with the scourge of gender-based violence.

Making the final tweaks to the bill on Friday, committee members across political lines were unanimous in making the changes following public hearings and submissions.

These include expanding the number of board members that will serve on the national council from 13 to at least 15, and including the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) among state departments that should be represented on it.

Rather than the minister, the committee is recommending that the president appoint the chairperson of the council.

The committee has further recommended that the deputy chairperson be selected from the civil society organizations which will be represented on the council.

It’s been agreed that the board serves a three-year term.

Committee chairperson Claudia Ndaba: “The department – this is one of your legacy bills that when this term ends, you will be saying, we’ve managed to produce a bill that is very critical and it will protect and help our women of South Africa.”

The committee’s final report on the revised bill will now be presented to the National Assembly for adoption before the bill is referred to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for consideration.

-EWN

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