Ceasefire Campaignsubmission on the

NCAC Amendment Bill

Rob Thomson

Ceasefire CampaignAims and Objectives To contribute to disarmament and peace in

South and Southern Africa To work towards the demilitarization of

society and for human rights To campaign for a reduction in military

spending and the transfer of resources to development and poverty eradication.

Agenda Conventional arms Foreign military assistance

Conventional arms s.1: ‘controlled items’ s.8: delegation and assignment s.9: Auditor General’s scope s.14: end-user certificate s.17: reports by the NCACC s.20: exemptions other sections

Conventional arms:s.1 ‘controlled items’

Conventional arms:s.1 ‘controlled items’

Problems with proposed definition: Regulatory capture Excessive administrative discretion

Submission: Spell out the intentions in the Act Include current and intended items Leave the details fo regulation

Conventional arms:s.8: delegation and assignment

Conventional arms:s.8: delegation and assignment

Problem with amendment to s.11: Case-by-case requirement

e.g. China-Zimbabwe arms shipment

Submission: Make delegation subject to case-by-case

assessment by Committee

Conventional arms:s.9: Auditor-General’s scope

Conventional arms:s.9: Auditor-General’s scope

Problems with amendment to s.12: Reduces the scope of Auditor-General’s

responsibility Reduces transparency and accountability Exacerbates regulatory capture

Submission: Delete ‘financial’

Conventional arms:s.14: end-user certificate

Conventional arms:s.14: end-user certificate

Problems with proposed s.17(3): Undermines the purpose of EUCs Undermines s.15 i.r.o. end user

Submission: Must be subject to s.15 i.r.o. end user

Conventional armss.14: end-user certificate (ctd.)

Problems with proposed s.17(4): NCACC must avoid contravention of EUCs

issued NCACC won’t know Submission: Amend s.15 to avoid contravention The competent authority must inform the

NCACC

Conventional arms:s.17: reports by the NCACC

Conventional arms:s.17: reports by the NCACC

Problem with proposed s.23(1): SA not complying with UN requirements

Submission: Retain the current provisions of s.23(1)(a)

Conventional arms:s.17: reports by the NCACC (ctd.)

Problems with deletion of s.23(1)(b): NCACC has been delinquent in reporting Transparency/accountability delayed is

transparency/accountability denied

Submission: Retain the current provisions of s.23(1)(b)

Conventional arms:s.17: reports by the NCACC (ctd.)

Problems with proposed s.23(3): Conflict with requirements of transparency Transparency & accountability should be

improved, not reduced Public must have the right to know Confidentiality clauses cannot ‘prohibit’

compliance with the intentions of the law Military & commercial secrets are not greater than

the requirements of the law

Conventional arms:s.17: reports by the NCACC (ctd.)

Submission: In lieu of the proposed s.23(3)&(3)

(numbering duplicated), amend the current s.23(1)(b)(ii) by deleting: “except if disclosure is prohibited in terms of a confidentiality clause in the contract of sale”

Conventional arms:s.17: reports by the NCACC (ctd.)

Problems with proposed s.23(4): Seeks to cover the NCACC with a blanket of

secrecy Proposed that, in general, access to information

should be denied Contrary to open democracy

Submission: Retain the current provisions of s.23(3)

Conventional arms:s.20: exemptions

Conventional arms:s.20: exemptions

Problems with proposed s.25A: serious qualifications of the NCACC

process

Submission: Emergencies should be treated as such Delete the proposed s.25A

Conventional arms:other sections

s.3(c): textual problem s.5: no motivation s.7: no motivation s.10: textual problem s.11: textual problem

Foreign military assistance:Problems

Problems: Separate acts unnecessary, difficult to read NCAC Act focuses Committee’s function on

‘controlled items’, not mercenary activities Poorly integrated into legislation; e.g.:

criteria in s.15 of NCAC Act different from s.9 of PMA Act different provisions re fines ‘permit’ in the NCAC Act excludes ‘authorisation’ in the

PMA Act

Foreign military assistance:Submission

Replace both Acts with a new combined Act, focusing on both the control of conventional arms and the prohibition of mercenary activity.

Tighten the provisions of s.15 of the NCAC Act and s.9 of the PMA Act so as to achieve consistency.

Ceasefire Campaignsubmission on the

NCAC Amendment Bill

Rob Thomson