To download a soundbite of the NA Speaker, Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, on this statement please click on the following link: https://iono.fm/e/1383660
Parliament, Thursday, 23 November 2023 - The Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has informed the parliaments of the SADC region that the South African Parliament is actively advancing the climate change Bill, which represents the initial legislative step of its kind, in direct response to the challenges posed by climate change.
The Speaker was delivering South Africa’s country report during the second day of the 54th Plenary Assembly of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, currently underway in Port Louis, in Mauritius. Ms Mapisa-Nqakula briefed the Assembly on what South Africa has done to implement the resolutions of the 53rd Plenary Assembly held in Arusha, Tanzania from 02 to 08 July 2023.
Presenting the report, the Speaker said Parliament was considering the Climate Change Bill as it has already been passed by the NA and is currently under consideration by the National Council of Provinces for concurrence.
“The Bill is the first legal framework in South Africa to respond to the impacts of climate change. It seeks to enable the development of an effective climate change response and a long-term, just transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy and society for South Africa,” the Speaker said. She added that gender mainstreaming is a key component of the country’s climate change response.
Ms Mapisa-Nqakula said one of the Bill’s core objectives is that decision-making must consider the special needs and circumstances of people who are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. This includes vulnerable workers and groups such as women, especially poor and rural women, children, especially infants and child-headed families, the aged, the poor, the sick, and persons with disabilities.
The theme of the 53rd Plenary Assembly centred around: "Modernising Agriculture to address Food Security and Youth Unemployment in the SADC Region." Among the other resolutions were on countries’ debts and the need for parliaments to monitor debt acquisition; domestication and implementation of the SADC Model Law on Eradicating Child Marriage and Protecting Children Already in Marriage as well as the SADC Model Law on Gender-based Violence and the enactment of the necessary cybersecurity legislation to protect users from falling victim to online fraud and gender-based violence, especially women and girls who may be less technologically savvy due to the digital gender divide.
“In alignment with these resolutions, our Parliament actively monitored the Executive branch's actions regarding these matters. I am pleased to inform you that our Members of Parliament, representing various political parties, raised no fewer than 16 parliamentary questions related to food security in South Africa during the year 2023, demonstrating the paramount importance we place on this multi-faceted issue within our parliamentary work,” said the Speaker.
The theme of the 54th Plenary Assembly is: “The Role of Parliaments in Promoting Coordination for Enhanced Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery Planning in the SADC Region.”
* The SADC Parliamentary Forum is a regional inter-parliamentary body composed of fifteen (15) parliaments representing over 3 500 parliamentarians in the SADC region. These member parliaments include Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), eSwatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
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