Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel will appear before the portfolio committee on economic development to answer questions on the Infrastructure Development Bill.

Patel will be addressing the various questions and concerns raised by stakeholders last week.

Concerns included the lack of consultation on the legislation, the bill overlapping the local sphere of government and that it interfered with the laws governing local and provincial authorities. Parties also said that the bill did not clarify the role of the private sector.

The South African Local Government Association (SALGA), Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) and the Western Cape provincial government all noted that the bill added yet another layer of red-tape to businesses wanting to work with municipalities and confuses the roles of the different tiers of government.

However, groups such as Cosatu, Transnet, Rand Water and Telkom all showed support for the bill, although some of them also raised concerns.