Staff Writer27 June 2019

The EFF wants to introduce a number of bills within the coming months, as the party seeks to have a greater influence in the country’s political sphere.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday (25 June), the party’s chief whip Floyd Shivambu indicated that these would include a number of reforms as well as the introduction of entirely new pieces of legislation.

Chief among these is a new bill which will nationalise the South African Reserve Bank (SARB).

First mooted by the party in 2018, the bill will make the institution state-owned and see its directors appointed by the finance minister rather than shareholders. This would bring South Africa in line with 90% of the world’s central banks, Shivambu said.

Some of the other major proposals include:

A state-owned bank bill – Shivambu said that the EFF is currently finalising legislation on a state-owned bank;

A Sovereign wealth fund bill  –  Shivambu said that the EFF plans to introduce legislation around the introduction of a sovereign wealth fund. A sovereign wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as private equity fund or hedge funds. The EFF’s version will be based on a similar model used in Norway which has contributed €500 billion to Norway’s fiscus in the current financial year;

Oil rights bill – The EFF will ‘re-table’ a Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act’ which will put clear conditions on the government’s ownership of new petroleum and mineral projects. Shivambu indicated that a similar bill was set to be introduced by the ANC was shelved after Total’s discovery off the coast of Mossel Bay;

Anti-tax avoidance –  Shivambu said that the EFF will table a clear anti-tax avoidance bill which aims to tackle base erosion and illicit financial flows.