Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, 2019 (Act No. 8 of 2019)Chapter 3 : Declaration as Critical Infrastructure and Determination of Critical Infrastructure Complex19. Consideration of application for declaration as critical infrastructure by Critical Infrastructure Council |
| (1) | Upon receiving an application for declaration of infrastructure as critical infrastructure, the Critical Infrastructure Council must— |
| (a) | apply the criteria referred to in section 16(2) in order to determine whether such an application demonstrates that the infrastructure in question qualifies under section 16(1) for declaration as critical infrastructure; |
| (b) | consider the potential risk category of such an infrastructure, taking into account— |
| (i) | the prescribed system of categorising infrastructure in a low-risk, medium-risk or high-risk category; |
| (ii) | the probability of failure, disruption or destruction of the infrastructure in question or threat thereof; and |
| (iii) | the impact and consequence of failure, disruption or destruction of infrastructure or threat thereof; |
| (c) | consider the extent to which the declaration as critical infrastructure will promote the interests of the public; |
| (d) | consider any prescribed guidelines for the identification and declaration of infrastructure as critical infrastructure; and |
| (e) | take into account any other criteria contemplated in section 16(2)(f). |
| (2) | The Critical Infrastructure Council must, after performing the functions in subsection (1), make recommendations to the Minister on— |
| (a) | whether or not the infrastructure in question qualifies to be declared as critical infrastructure; and |
| (b) | an appropriate risk categorisation for the infrastructure. |
| (3) | Before the Council makes a recommendation to the Minister to declare or not to declare the infrastructure as critical infrastructure, the Council must— |
| (a) | notify the person in control of that critical infrastructure of such intended recommendation and the reasons for such recommendation; and |
| (b) | afford the person in control of that infrastructure a period of no less than 30 days to make representations. |
| (4) | The Council must consider any representations received in terms of subsection (3) before making a recommendation to the Minister on whether or not to declare the infrastructure as critical infrastructure. |
| (5) | Subject to subsection (3), the Council must within seven days of its last meeting submit the application and its recommendations to the Minister for a decision within 30 days of receipt thereof. |
| (6) | Where the Council is unable to comply with the timeframes as contemplated in subsection (5), the Council must, in writing, request the Minister for an extension not exceeding 30 days or such other period as the Minister may determine. |
| (7) | Where an extension of time is granted as contemplated in subsection (6), the Council must inform the applicant referred to in section 17(1) in writing of such extension. |