SUPPRESSION OF TERRORISM ACT AMENDMENT SHELVED YET AGAIN

LOBAMBA – The question of whether the Suppression of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2016 will ever see the light of day arose after it was deferred yet again in Senate yesterday.

It is not the first time that the Bill was deferred and this led to the senators raising concerns with Deputy Senate President Ngomuyayona Gamedze, as they wondered what the problem was with the Bill as it had been deferred countless times.
They argued that it did not make sense to put the Bill in the House’s Orders of the Day when it was not going to be debated.

When it was time for the day’s order papers, Gamedze first informed the senators that he was not sure on what was happening as the Prime Minister (PM) Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini was not in attendance and that he had not been formally notified about his absence.

Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Paul Dlamini then stood up and submitted that he had been sent to represent the PM but Gamedze requested that the Bill be shelved so that he would first consult and find a way forward. Before the end of yesterday’s session, Gamedze asked the members to adjourn for 15 minutes and requested a caucus with the DPM, Attorney General and other relevant parties on what to do.

For over 20 minutes, senators waited and wondered on what the caucus was about, while others could not wait any longer as they left the House. In the end, Gamedze and the others returned only to request that the Bill be deferred to the next sitting, which is set for Thursday.
His request did not go down well with some senators who demanded to know what the problem was. “I am disappointed because since last year, we have been facing the same problem regarding this Bill.

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