Hon Chairperson and members, the National Credit Amendment Bill, B30 of 2018, was referred to the Select Committee on Trade and International Relations on 12 September 2018. The committee received the briefing on the Bill on 10 October 2018.
The Select Committee on Trade and International Relations, having deliberated and considered the subject of the National Credit Amendment Bill which is a section 76 Bill, referred to it, report that it has agreed to the Bill without amendments.
This is a committee Bill and we have looked at the process that we need to follow related thereto. We as a committee looked at the rationale of the Bill. We have looked at the main themes of the Bill
and we have also been briefed by appropriately qualified people from the Department of Trade and Industry, the National Credit Regulator as well as Parliament's legal team.
In conclusion, we have also looked at the very important element of this Bill, which is credit life insurance related to the provision of credit or people that have been excluded from this right. Chairperson, I present the National Credit Amendment Bill to this House for adoption. Thank you, Chair.
Debate concluded.
Question put:
Declarations of vote:
Hon Chairperson, hon members and fellow South Africans, this process started with the noble idea to draft a Bill that will protect poor South Africans against reckless and illegal lending and those who have no or little hope to ever repay their unsecured debt due to unemployment or not having any assets.
A further aim of the Bill was to develop mechanisms that will allow people on low income levels to access debt counseling services and appropriate legislation to protect them.
The DA was in favour of the objectives of the Bill and submitted a comprehensive document outlining its proposals during the National Assembly stage. This final Bill, that we are considering now, does not meet the objectives and is not in the best interest of the partaking parties. The banks, microlenders and retailers have warned us that this Bill, in its current form, will not yield the desired results.
The passing of this Bill in this House today will create massive unrealistic expectations before the elections. The result is in nobody's interest because it will certainly drive up the cost of credit and further restrict the poorest of the poor to access credit, let alone their protection against reckless lending.
Unlike the ANC, the Western Cape provincial government and the DA have a moral obligation to protect our citizens and can therefore not support this Bill. I thank you.
Chair, I want to rise and make sure that the world knows what has been pronounced here that they have a moral obligation. What is morally obligating standing against the Bill that extends amnesty against people who cannot access basic rights? What is morally right about not supporting the Bill that seeks to make sure that those that are falling within the cracks are salvaged by a Bill?
Chairperson, I rise on a point of... [Interjections.]
Hon members, can I please listen and hear the declaration. Whoever is doing whatever, please, may I listen to the declaration. May I listen to the declaration, hon Koni.
Chairperson, the point of order I rise on is that this is a declaration and it is not time to debate. Hon member should request a debate on the Bill.
Hon members! Hon members! Hon Mokwele, the order is not carried. Continue with the declaration.
The purpose and the intention of the Bill is to extend amnesty unto the people - the poorest of the poor who can't afford. They have been blacklisted and therefore cannot access credit. The intended purpose of the Bill seeks to extends amnesty to people who are victims of reckless lending which was not done by the poorest of the poor, but by those who are pushed by excessive appetite to consume and accumulate in the process of relegating those who are poor to the periphery by making sure that they don't get access to credit. The intended purpose of the Bill is for those that have not been able to afford over a period of time. We are even implementing the Bill retrospectively to make sure that those that fall within the cracks are carried over in moving to the future.
We therefore, as the ANC, support the Bill. This is the Bill that seeks to give dignity to our people. Thank you, Chair. [Applause.]
Can I just put the question for record purpose. Can we put it like that; is it the province that supports the Bill?
Chair, I am fully mandated to speak on behalf of the province.
Question put: That the Bill be agreed to.
In Favour: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West.
Against: Western Cape.
Bill accordingly agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
The Council adjourned at 15:50. -----------------------