What is the Municipal Fiscal Powers and Functions Amendment Bill (MFPFAB), and why should you care? Well, for starters, National Treasury has asked for public comment on the Draft Bill. And if this doesn’t pique your interest, you’ll be glad to know that Matt Johnston, OUTA’s Parliamentary Engagement Manager, has spent a lot of effort on preparing OUTA’s submission on the draft bill.

• Judge Ronel Tolmay is expected to announce her ruling soon on OUTA’s request to have former SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni removed immediately from the boards of at least three other companies. The judge will at the same time announce her ruling on Myeni’s appeal against being declared a delinquent director.

• OUTA has filed an application to challenge the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Amendment Act. This has already been signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa, but will only be implemented once gazetted with a commencement date. We are calling for the Act to be amended. Some of our concerns are that it will pave the way for much more corruption while not improving road safety. Logistically and administratively it will be unworkable to the point of being potentially unconstitutional.  

• In next month’s edition we will outline why OUTA has applied to be an amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the upcoming ruling on the fate of SA’s strategic crude oil reserves, worth over R9-billion. Known as Oilgate, the case saw the oil reserves sold illegally (at prices well below market value) to several companies in January 2016 without due process, approval by the boards of the Central Energy Fund and Strategic Fuel Fund, and without notifying the Minister of Finance.