Pretoria – The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs has unanimously adopted the Refugee Amendment Bill 2015 and recommends that the Bill be adopted and passed by the National Assembly.
The Bill was necessitated by a Constitutional Court judgement that found Section 21 (5) of the Refugee Act unconstitutional in that it did not allow members of the media or public to attend the hearings of the Refugees Appeal Authority under certain circumstances.
On its ruling, the Constitutional Court had provided a read-in provision and suspended its invalidity for two years pending the correction of the defect.
The Bill was therefore initiated to prevent the gap in law. The deadline for the correction given by the Constitutional Court is 26 September 2015.
The committee said it was satisfied that it had managed to correct the mistake. It hoped the respective public members will have access to the hearings on successful applications once the two Houses have agreed to the Bill.
The report and the Bill will now be sent to the National Assembly for consideration and adoption. – SAnews.gov.za
