THE COOPERATIVE AMENDMENT ACT 2013. The coop amendment Act 2013 amended the coop Act 14 of 2005 so as to provide for substitution and addition of certain definitions. The general provisions of the 2005 Act included the following: To promote the development of sustainable co‐operatives that comply with co‐operative principles, thereby increasing the number and variety of economic enterprises operating in the formal economy; To encourage persons and groups who subscribe to values of self‐reliance and self‐help, and who choose to work together in democratically controlled enterprises, to register co‐operatives in terms of this Act; To enable such co‐operative enterprises to register and acquire a legal status separate from their members; To promote equity and greater participation by black persons, especially those in rural areas, women, persons with disability and youth in the formation of, and management of, co‐ operatives; To establish a legislative framework that preserves a co‐operative as a distinct legal entity; To facilitate the provision of support programmes that target emerging co‐operatives, specifically those co‐operatives that consist of black persons, women, youth, disabled persons or persons in the rural areas and that promote equity and greater participation by its members; To ensure the design and implementation of the co‐operative development support programmes by all the agencies of national departments including but not limited to Khula, NEF, NPI, SEDA, IDC, SAQI, SABS, CSIR, PIC, DBSA, SALGA and SETA'S, and compliance with uniform norms and standards prescribed by this Act; To ensure the design and implementation of the co‐operative support measures across all spheres of government, including delivery agencies, and adherence to a uniform framework of established norms and standards that reflect fairness, equity, transparency, economy, efficiency, accountability and lawfulness; To facilitate the effective coordination and reporting mechanism across all spheres of government through the department. The amendment would see the development of support institutions, such as the Cooperatives Development Agency, the Cooperatives Academy and the Cooperatives Tribunal. A key aspect of the Co‐operatives Amendment Act is the setting up of the co‐operative development agency. The agency aims to: Help with governance and management of the co‐operatives sector, Lend support to the development of co‐operatives as an organised sector, Provide financial and non‐finan...
