Zuma adamant he did not delay signing of Fica Bill
Jacob Zuma insists there were ‘several objections’, but those of the PPF and BBC were nearly identical
President Jacob Zuma has denied that he unduly delayed dealing with the Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment (Fica) Bill, which he sent back to Parliament in November 2016 because of concerns over the constitutionality of warrantless searches. Parliament adopted the bill six months earlier in May, leading to accusations that Zuma was stalling under pressure from the Progressive Professionals Forum (PPF) and the Black Business Council (BBC), which appealed to him in July and September respectively not to sign the bill into law. The opposition EFF appealed to Zuma in September to assent to the bill urgently. Parliament’s finance committee held hearings on the bill on Wednesday, during which the BBC and the PPF described it as a "dangerous" piece of legislation which needed to be scrapped in its entirety. The committee on the advice of senior council and Parliament’s own legal advisers will only consider the constitutionality of the clause providing for warrantless searches and will...
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