[Section 2 heading substituted by section 2 of the Liquor Products Amendment Act, 2021 (Act no 8 of 2021), Notice No. 567 of GG45179, dated 17 September 2021 - effective 1 August 2023 as per Proclamation Notice 132 of 2023]
| (1) | There is hereby established an Authority to be known as the Wine Certification Authority, which shall be a juristic person. |
(2)
| (a) | The Authority consists of— |
| (i) | 10 persons with the relevant knowledge, skills or expertise in viticulture, oenology, distilling, regulatory environment of the liquor industry, liquor production, food safety or microbiology, representing the participants to the schemes established under section 14: Provided that if a scheme deals with ethical trading standards, two of those persons shall be representatives of workers of participants to schemes; |
| (ii) | three officers of the department nominated by the Director-General; |
| (iii) | one person nominated by the Agricultural Research Council; and |
| (iv) | one person designated by the Minister. |
| (b) | The Minister shall appoint the members of the Authority and shall designate one of the members of the Authority as chairperson. |
| (c) | The Minister shall notify Parliament in writing of the appointment of the members of the Authority within 30 days after such appointment. |
| (d) | The process for the appointment of the members of the Authority shall be as follows: |
| (i) | The Minister shall, by notice in the Gazette and in any national newspaper circulating in every province of the Republic, invite persons, stakeholders and the liquor industry to submit to the Minister, within a period mentioned in the notice, the names of persons who comply with the criteria referred to in paragraph (a)(i); |
| (ii) | the Minister shall establish a selection committee consisting of at least four persons and designate a chairperson for the committee; and |
| (iii) | the selection committee shall, from the nominations submitted to it, compile a shortlist of eligible candidates and submit its recommendation to the Minister for the appointment of members to the Authority. |
| (3) | No person shall be appointed as a member of the Authority— |
| (a) | unless he or she is a South African citizen permanently resident in the Republic; |
| (b) | if he or she is an unrehabilitated insolvent; |
| (c) | if he or she has been convicted of an offence under this Act; or |
| (d) | if he or she has been convicted of any offence for which he or she has been sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine. |
(4)
| (a) | A member of the Authority shall hold office, subject to subsection (5), for a period not exceeding three years, and such member shall after the expiration of such period, continue in office until his or her successor has been appointed. |
| (b) | If a member of the Authority ceases to hold office for any reason, the Minister may appoint any person in his or her place for the unexpired period of his or her term of office. |
| (c) | Any person whose term of office as a member of the Authority has expired, shall immediately thereafter be eligible for reappointment without complying with the process contemplated in subsection (2)(d). |
(5)
| (a) | A member of the Authority shall vacate office if he or she— |
| (i) | becomes disqualified in terms of subsection (3); |
| (ii) | becomes of unsound mind; |
| (iii) | has been absent for more than two consecutive meetings of the Authority without the leave of the chairperson. |
| (b) | Subject to the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000 (Act No. 3 of 2000), the Minister may, at any time, remove a member of the Authority from office if, in the opinion of the Minister, sound reasons exist for doing so. |
(6)
| (a) | The members of the Authority shall at the first meeting of the Authority, and thereafter whenever necessary, elect a deputy chairperson from amongst themselves. |
| (b) | If both the chairperson and the deputy chairperson are absent from a meeting of the Authority, the members present shall from amongst themselves elect a member to preside at such meeting. |
(7)
| (a) | The first meeting of the Authority shall be held at a time and place determined by the chairperson, and thereafter at such times and places as the Authority may from time to time determine. |
| (b) | Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a), the chairperson may at his or her discretion call a special meeting of the Authority at such time and place as he or she may determine, with a view to dealing with special or urgent matters, and he or she shall call a special meeting within 14 days of the date on which he or she has received a written request to this effect from the Minister or at least four members of the Authority. |
| (c) | The majority of the members of the Authority shall constitute a quorum for a meeting of the Authority. |
| (d) | The decision of the majority of the members of the Authority present at a quorate meeting shall constitute a decision of the Authority, and in the event of an equality of votes on any matter, the person presiding at the meeting in question shall have a casting vote in addition to his or her deliberative vote. |
| (e) | No decision taken by the Authority or act performed on the authority of the Authority shall be invalid merely by reason of a vacancy on the Authority or because a person who was not entitled to sit as a member, sat as such member at the time when the decision was taken or the act was authorised, if such decision was taken or act authorised by a majority of the members present at the time and who were entitled to sit as members of the Authority. |
(8)
| (a) | The Authority may, either from among its number or in such other manner determined by the Authority, appoint one or more committees to perform, subject to the directions of the Authority, such functions of the Authority as the Authority may determine, or to advise the Authority on any matter in respect of which a function is assigned to the Authority. |
| (b) | The Authority may at any time dissolve or reconstitute a committee contemplated in paragraph (a). |
| (c) | The Authority shall not be divested of any function performed in terms of the provisions of this subsection by any committee of the Authority. |
| (d) | Any decision of a committee may be withdrawn or amended by the Authority or referred back to such committee and shall, until it has been so withdrawn or amended, except for the purposes of this paragraph, be deemed to be a decision of the Authority. |
| (9) | A member of the Authority and a member of a committee referred to in subsection (8) who are not in the full-time employment of the State, may be paid from the funds of the Authority such allowances as the Authority may, with the concurrence of the Minister and the Minister responsible for finance, determine in general or in any particular case. |
(10)
| (a) | In addition to such functions as may be assigned to the Authority by or under this Act or in terms of a scheme or under any other law, the Authority may— |
| (i) | hire, purchase or otherwise acquire such movable or immovable property as the Authority may deem necessary for the performance of its functions, and may rent, sell or otherwise dispose of property so acquired; |
| (ii) | from time to time raise money by way of loan for the purpose of performing its functions; |
| (iii) | hypothecate its immovable property as security for a loan referred to in subparagraph (ii); |
| (iv) | insure itself against any loss, damage, risk or liability which it may suffer or incur; |
| (v) | enter into agreements for the performance of specific acts or functions or the rendering of specific services; |
| (vi) | from time to time make recommendations to the Minister concerning any matter to which a scheme relates; and |
| (vii) | in general, perform such acts as it may deem necessary or expedient for the efficient performance of its functions. |
| (b) | The work incidental to the performance of the functions of the Authority shall be performed by— |
| (i) | persons appointed by the Authority on such conditions and at such remuneration as the Authority may determine; and |
| (ii) | persons with whom the Authority entered into agreements in terms of paragraph (a)(v). |
(11)
| (a) | The funds of the Authority shall consist of— |
| (i) | money paid to the Authority in terms of this Act or a scheme; and |
| (ii) | money which accrues to the Authority from any other source. |
| (b) | The Authority shall utilise its funds for the defrayal of the expenses incurred by the Authority in the performance of its functions. |
| (c) | The Authority shall open an account with an institution registered as a bank in terms of the Banks Act, 1990 (Act No. 94 of 1990), and shall deposit in that account all money received in terms of paragraph (a). |
| (d) | The Authority may invest any of its money not required for immediate use. |
(12)
| (a) | The financial year of the Authority shall end on such date in each year as the Authority may determine. |
| (i) | cause adequate records to be kept of money received or expended by it, and of its assets, liabilities and financial transactions; and |
| (ii) | as soon as possible, but not later than three months after the end of each financial year, cause annual financial statements to be prepared showing, with the appropriate particulars, money received and expenditure incurred by it during, and its assets and liabilities at the end of, the said financial year. |
| (c) | The records and annual financial statements referred to in paragraph (b) shall be audited by a person registered as an auditor in terms of the Auditing Profession Act, 2005 (Act No. 26 of 2005). |
(13)
| (a) | The Authority shall, within six months at the end of each financial year, submit to the Minister a copy of the audited annual financial statements referred to in subsection (12)(c), together with a report on the activities of the Authority during that financial year. |
| (b) | Copies of the annual financial statements and of the report referred to in paragraph (a) shall— |
| (i) | be open to public inspection at the office of the Authority during office hours; and |
| (ii) | be obtainable from the Authority against payment of the amount as may be determined by the Authority. |
[Section 2 substituted by section 2 of the Liquor Products Amendment Act, 2021 (Act no 8 of 2021), Notice No. 567 of GG45179, dated 17 September 2021 - effective 1 August 2023 as per Proclamation Notice 132 of 2023]
