WHITHER, PRIVATE MEMBERS' BILLS? (we unpack what happens to them)

Before the Government of National Unity (GNU), most private members' Bills ended up in a parliamentary committee bin. Well, not literally of course! That would be procedurally impolite.

For the uninitiated, a private member's Bill is one developed and tabled by an MP – whereas most Bills are introduced by a Cabinet Minister, having been prepared by the national government department concerned.

That said, occasionally the members of a committee (with the assistance of their parliamentary legal adviser) do take it upon themselves to develop a Bill. This is usually to correct technical errors in a recently passed piece of legislation yet to be signed into law – and tends to happen when an under-resourced national government department hasn't the capacity to address the matter in good time.

More about committee Bills in our next post. Meanwhile, for anyone interested, the National Assembly Transport Committee's recently tabled Economic Regulation of Transport Amendment Bill is one example of legislation developed by a committee to correct a technical error in a Bill already passed but not yet signed into law or operationalised.

Back to private members' Bills.

Like most pieces of legislation tabled by a Cabinet Minister, all private members' Bills (or at least their raison d'etre and overarching objectives) are gazetted in draft form for public comment. Then, once finalised, formally introduced and sent to the National Assembly committee concerned, a private member's Bill goes through the same preliminary process as any Bill tabled by a Cabinet Minister (as outlined in yesterday's post).

The first procedural step is a briefing from the MP responsible for developing the Bill – with representatives of the affected national government department present. At which point, one of these representatives may comment immediately or respond to the Bill's proposals later in a more detailed matrix. This is bearing in mind that the essence of a private member's Bill may have been captured already in a piece of legislation still being drafted by the department and under wraps, which is often the case. Sometimes, in the department's view, the Bill is operationally impractical. In both such instances, when the vote of desirability is taken that Bill is rejected and withdrawn (or allowed to lapse).

Only on rare occasions is a private member's Bill deemed relevant and useful by representatives of the affected national government department. In such cases, either the committee begins processing the Bill following standard procedures – or it's put on hold pending the outcome of discussions between departmental representatives and the MP responsible for preparing and tabling it. Should these discussions be fruitful, the proposals in a private member's Bill are woven into a piece of draft legislation developed by the department. However, it may be weeks, months or even years before that legislation finds its way to Parliament.

Democratic Alliance (DA) chief whip George Michalakis’ Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill is the most recent example of a private member's Bill being deemed sufficiently relevant and useful to merit discussion with national government department representatives already developing similar legislation. Introduced in February 2025 under the GNU, this is the first DA Bill ever to circumvent a desirability test. Interestingly, it focuses on measures to mitigate dysfunction in coalition government at municipal level.

Before the GNU, not a single private member's Bill tabled by a DA MP was taken any further. There were thirty-seven, four of which are still before each National Assembly committee concerned but yet to be subjected to the routine desirability test. Dealing with a raft of key issues affecting almost everything from small businesses to the remuneration of public servants and amendments to the Constitution, several may well have informed legislation subsequently prepared by national government departments and introduced by Cabinet Ministers.

Which brings us to the nub of the matter. Because it's the national government department affected by a private member's Bill that determines the usefulness and relevance of its proposals. The committee dealing with that Bill simply votes on its desirability informed by input received from the affected national government department.

So, who's calling the shots? Not the parliamentary committees, it seems.

POSTSCRIPT

To be fair to other political parties whose MPs have tabled private members' Bills over the years, we provide a summary below. The Bills themselves can be found here on the Parliamentary Monitoring Group website, where they're arranged according to the year in which they were introduced.

The first private member's Bill ever to be tabled under a democratic Parliament dealt with access to credit and was introduced in 2012 by Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) MP the late Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, rejected and withdrawn. The same happened to his Bill on the medicinal use of cannabis, as well as two Bills introduced over time by African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) MP Cheryllyn Dudley. One focused on choice in the context of pregnancy termination; the other dealt with cosmetic testing on animals.

Over the years, four Bills individually tabled by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema, former EFF MP Floyd Shivambu and MP Sophie Suzan Thembekwayo have been rejected, along with three introduced by Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) MPs. The EFF Bills focused on establishing and registering a state bank (Shivambu), South African Reserve Bank reforms (Malema), the introduction of round-the-clock services at government clinics (Thembekwayo), and Parliament's relocation to Gauteng (Malema). Tabled by party leader Pieter Groenewald and former MP Anton Alberts, the FF Plus Bills individually dealt with firearms control (Groenewald), protest action regulation (Alberts), and disaster management (Groenewald).

One Bill on land restitution introduced by the ANC's Pumzile Mnguni was partially processed and allowed to lapse.

Thus far, a Civil Union Amendment Bill tabled in 2014 by the Congress of the People's (COPE's) former MP Deidre Carter has been the only private member's Bill to pass the desirability test, adopted by both Houses, signed into law and operationalised. Its purpose was to ensure that services available at every Home Affairs branch include civil union solemnisation by a secular marriage officer. Her National Health Amendment Bill (among other things dealing with living wills) was allowed to lapse, as was a Bill on electoral reform tabled by COPE's Mosiuoa Lekota (which was overtaken by legislation developed by the Department of Home Affairs, following a Constitutional Court ruling making it possible for independent candidates to stand for election to Parliament and the provincial legislatures).

Three Bills introduced by Al Jama-Ah's Ganief Hendricks (individually focusing on Muslim marriage, divorce and maintenance) have since informed legislation developed by the Department of Justice & Constitutional Development, tabled and passed.