President Zuma must send job-killing Private Security Bill back to Parliament
20 March 2015
Police Minister, Nathi Nhleko, has again come out in support of the xenophobic and job-killing Private Security Industry Amendment (PSIRA) Bill, this time in an address to the Private Security Services Conference yesterday.
In his address Minister Nhleko stated that the PSIRA Bill is constitutional in its current form, despite severe problems with the legislation that has led to the DA petitioning President Zuma not to sign it and instead send it back to Parliament for revision.
Minister Nhleko has absolutely no credibility on the constitutionality of anything given his recent conduct; acting in direct contravention of a Constitutional Court order in the Hawks debacle.
Section 20(2)(c) of the PSIRA Bill states that "a security business may only be registered as a security service provider if at least 51 percent of the ownership and control is exercised by South African citizens." This is at the sole discretion of the Police Minister who "may prescribe a different percentage - it may be 60, 80, 90 or even 10 percent." It is this discretionary clause that the DA has long taken issue with.