Key Legislative Bills Remain Stalled in Parliament

Posted 30 June 2026 Written by Acts Online
Category Legislation

Brought to you by SA Legal Academy: Several key pieces of legislation, including the Protection of State Information Bill and the National Gambling Amendment Bill, remain stalled in the parliamentary process following the conclusion of the legislature’s second term for 2026.

Protection of State Information Bill

The Protection of State Information Bill [B6-2010] remains in legislative limbo. Originally passed by Parliament in 2013, the Bill was returned to the National Assembly by the President due to concerns over its constitutionality. After being revived in 2024 following the national elections, the Bill is currently before the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development. The committee last discussed the draft in May 2025, when it sought formal clarity from the Presidency regarding the specific constitutional reservations preventing its enactment.

National Gambling Amendment Bill

The National Gambling Amendment Bill [B27B-2018] has progressed to position 61 out of 96 on the National Assembly order paper’s list of “further business.” This follows a prolonged delay after the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) rejected the ‘D’ version of the Bill in 2021. The draft spent several years before the Mediation Committee before being endorsed by both relevant parliamentary committees in June 2025. It was scheduled for reconsideration by the National Assembly in July 2025, but final adoption remains pending.

Concurrently, efforts to regulate remote gambling have stalled. A private member’s bill introduced in 2024 to address online gaming lapsed prior to the May 2024 elections and has not been revived. While the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry acknowledged the regulatory gap in November 2024, no further departmental briefings or legislative steps have been recorded.

Click here to view the National Assembly Order Paper.

What this means for you, your business, or your clients

  • For yourself: No direct individual compliance obligations; however, legal practitioners should monitor the Protection of State Information Bill [B6-2010] to anticipate future statutory frameworks governing classified state data.
  • For your business: Compliance officers and risk managers within the gaming, hospitality, and entertainment sectors must prepare for operational changes outlined in the National Gambling Amendment Bill [B27B-2018] once it is finalized by the National Assembly.
  • For your clients: Advise corporate clients operating in the digital and online gaming space that remote gambling remains unregulated at a national level, requiring continued reliance on existing provincial licensing frameworks until new legislation is formally introduced.

Originally published at https://legalacademy.co.za/news/read/in-the-spotlight-key-bills-in-parliamentary-limbo

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