State law advisers have recommended several amendments be made to the regulations for the Immigration Act, Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said yesterday.

The amendments will be presented to Cabinet on June 23 and tabled in Parliament on June 24, whereafter the public would then be allowed to make submissions on the act, she told a media briefing at Parliament.

Fraser-Moleketi declined to reveal exactly what amendments would be made, or the implications of these changes.

"There are issues for instance dealing with the immigration board. We will only tell you when they are published... some of these issues are contentious," she said.

She said the regulations for the Immigration Act would be finalised by the end of August.

Cabinet had established a committee in February, comprising the departments of home affairs, safety and security, foreign affairs, trade and industry, education and justice and constitutional development, to finalise the regulations.

"The committee has agreed to finalise the process by the end of August 2004, in line with president's directive," she told journalists.

The regulations led to a court battle between President Thabo Mbeki and former Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi earlier this year.

The court action started when Buthelezi hastily promulgated the regulations while they were still under discussion by the cabinet.

The Cape High Court ruled that an order, made in March this year that the regulations be published, be set aside. - Sapa