Times Of Swaziland: BACK TO DRAWING BOARD  FOR SEXUAL OFFENCES BILL

BACK TO DRAWING BOARD  FOR SEXUAL OFFENCES BILL
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BY SIBONGILE SUKATI on 06/10/2017 01:24:00


MBABANE – It’s back to the drawing board for the portfolio committee of the
Deputy Prime Minister’s (DPM) office, following the public outcry over the
scrapped clauses in the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Bill, 2015.
The committee, which is chaired by Sandleni Member of Parliament (MP) James
Simelane, found itself locked in a private meeting at Sibane Hotel yesterday
where they deliberated on the issue. However, more submissions by the MPs are
expected to be made on Monday morning before the House sitting, which is
scheduled for 2:30pm.
Gender activists who had attempted to sit in during the legislators’ meeting
were informed that it was private and according to Parliament protocol’, they
would not be allowed in.
The four core clauses which have been scrapped from the proposed law are Clause
4, 10, 42 and 47, which are incest, unlawful stalking, abduction and flashing,
respectively.
One of the MPs who attended the sitting, said they advised that when the House
sits on Monday, the chairperson should see it fit to withdraw the report.
The legislators further suggested that in the meantime, the committee would
start working on the Bill and look into including the deleted clauses. “With
further consultations, we believe that there is a way in which the clauses could
be reinserted with changes in wording or other strategies,” said the MP.
The Bill and report was not debated and adopted in the House of Assembly on
Wednesday, as the MPs were engaged in the debate over the suspension of the
Swaziland Christian University (SCU). Several MPs confirmed that since the story
broke on the removal of the clauses, they had received many calls from members
of the public questioning this move. The scrapping of the clauses has been
described as a terrible move by members of the public.