President Cyril Ramaphosa has commenced outstanding sections of South Africa’s Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Amendment Act is a key piece of law changing the COIDA, which protects workers with a system of compensation for workplace injuries\/diseases or for death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The COIDA structure that employers will be most familiar with is the Compensation Fund, which companies and private households contribute to on a monthly basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
COIDA has been law since 1994, but has been amended to keep up with changing circumstances in workplace safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest Amendment Act was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 6 April 2023 and published in the Government Gazette on 17 April 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The principal provisions of the Act came into effect around the same time, bringing wide-ranging changes to definitions, rights, administrative structures, benefit entitlements and compliance mechanisms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the biggest changes in the Amendment Act were the expansion of COIDA coverage to domestic workers and the inclusion of new occupational diseases covered by the laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The laws also introduced a formal rehabilitation and reintegration programme, requiring employers and the Compensation Fund to support injured or diseased employees to return to work where possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The aim of the Act was to make the COIDA more accessible and expansive, giving vulnerable workers, in particular, access to protections and compensation in the event of workplace incidents and disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of the changes were also informed by the Covid-19 pandemic and its wide-ranging impact on worker rights, health, and safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A significant portion of the amendment laws dealt with the administration and structuring of the Compensation Fund and its management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, certain provisions were not commenced or implemented, including specifications for the structure of the Compensation Fund’s board and the commissioner’s functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A large portion of the structural changes shifted power from the Director General of the Department of Employment and Labour to the commissioner, necessitating the delayed commencement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the president’s latest commencement notice, these provisions will now come into effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From 1 February 2026<\/strong>, the president has commenced sections 3, 4, 5 and 6, which focus on the setting up and structure of the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These sections specifically relate to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n From 1 April 2026<\/strong>, further sections of the amendment laws will commence, including section 19 (a) and (b), 20(c), 28(c), 36(1), 52, 54(1) and (2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n These provisions address penalties for employers who do not comply with the laws, again focusing on their correspondence and responses to the commissioner of the fund, who will have clearer functions thanks to the February 2026 commencement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In general, the commissioner can impose various penalties if employers fail to comply with compensation provisions set out in the laws, which can range from the full amount of compensation owed to 10% of the actual or estimated earnings of that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Ramaphosa’s notice, the president makes specific mention that sections 1(g) and 1(h) are not yet in effect. These sections relate to the definition of an “employee” and “earnings” in use in the rest of the Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The full Amendment Act can be read below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n