Our workshop planned with them for today, the 1st of March 2013 has been postponed until further notice.
This implies that the NCOP will only reach their finalisation on the bill at a much later stage.
It is maybe also worth noting that sign off by the NCOP only means that the council has finalised their process.
What does this mean?
The Council must:
- pass the Bill;
- pass the Bill subject to amendments proposed by the Council; or
- reject the Bill.
If the Council passes the Bill without proposed amendments, the Bill must be submitted to the President for assent.
If the NCOP passes a Bill subject to proposed amendments or if the NCOP rejects a Bill, it goes back to the National Assembly. The National Assembly must then reconsider the Bill by taking any amendments proposed by the NCOP into account and may pass the Bill again (with or without the NCOP proposed amendments) or may decide not to proceed with the Bill. A Bill that has been passed by the National Assembly must then be submitted to the President for assent.
Therefore, PLEASE DO NOT think that enactment is a certainty once the NCOP has signed off on POPI.
It is further maybe also worth noting that there is a difference between enactment and commencement.