This week, The Portfolio Committee on Police has adopted the Critical Infrastructure Protection Bill, to replace the controversial National Key Point Act of 1980, which predates the constitutional order.

The committee commenced with the processing of the Bill at the end of 2017, and several sessions of input from stakeholders, civil society and government departments were held.

“The inputs were of high quality and various proposals from participants and members of the committee were included in the final version of the Bill,” said Mr Francois Beukman, the Chairperson of the committee.

Mr Beukman said that the committee’s adoption of the Bill was a further step in strengthening oversight over executive action and the involvement of civil society in the monitoring of government processes.

“The new Bill provides for a comprehensive process for the identification and declaration of infrastructure and the transparent identification and declaration of critical infrastructure; measures for the protection, safeguarding and resilience of critical infrastructure; provides for the designation and functions of inspectors; and to provide for the powers and duties of persons in control of critical infrastructure,” said Mr Beukman.

The committee strongly believes that one of the new measures to enhance accountability is the establishment of the Critical Infrastructure Council, which will include five members from the private sector and civil society.

The National Assembly (NA) will approve the short list of private sector candidates that will be referred to the Minister of Police for appointment. The Bill will be forwarded to the NA for debate and consideration.