Cabinet has approved the publication of the Green Paper on Marriages for public consultation.
The Green Paper seeks to work towards the development of a new Single Marriage Bill, and it also aligns the marriage regime with the constitutional principle of equality.
“The paper makes proposals on unions of people from all sexual orientations, religious and cultural persuasions. It also proposes the complete removal of child marriages in our future marriage regime,” Acting Minister in The Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said during a Post-Cabinet media briefing on Thursday.
Report on tax incentive programme approved
Cabinet has also approved the submission of the Report on the Performance of the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive Programme for 2018/19 to Parliament, as required by Section 11 D of the Income Tax Act.
The tax incentive programme was introduced to help the country achieve about 1% of gross domestic product target on R&D expenditure by 2024.
Ntshavheni said the report will be available to the public once it has gone through the parliamentary process.
Thumbs up for No-Fault Compensation Fund Scheme
Cabinet has further approved the establishment of the No-Fault Compensation Fund, which is in line with the contractual agreements entered into with the pharmaceutical companies that will be supplying South Africa with COVID-19 vaccines.
Ntshavheni noted that the Fund is also important for the protection of South Africans who may be affected by side effects of vaccines to access better support and treatment.
“The fund will be established through the amendments to Section 27 of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act 57 of 2002). It will be chaired by a judge,” she said.
Report of High-Level Panel on Wildlife Management
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment is expected to release the recommendations of the report of High-Level Panel (HLP) on Wildlife Management for implementation and necessary consultation.
Cabinet approved the report of the HLP on Wildlife Management, which was established by the Ministry to review policies, legislation and practices on matters related to the management, breeding, hunting, trade and handling (welfare and well-being) of the country’s endangered wildlife species.
These include elephant, lion, leopard and rhinoceros. – SAnews.gov.za
