Category: Africa

The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela, has issued a notice of intention to cancel the registration of private higher education institutions City Varsity, Damelin, and ICESA City Campus.

“Institutions that fail to meet their legal and educational obligations cannot be allowed to compromise the futures of the people they serve,” the Ministry of Higher Education and Training said on Saturday. 

The decision was undertaken in the interest of protecting students and upholding the integrity of the sector after a prolonged pattern of non-compliance with the Higher Education Act (No. 101 of 1997) and the Regulations for the Registration of Private Higher Education Institutions.

“The Notice of Intent to cancel will be published in the Government Gazette in accordance with Section 63(a) of the Higher Education Act.

“The institutions will be given an opportunity to make representations, as required by law. The Department will ensure that students affected by this process are supported through appropriate academic and administrative arrangements,” the Ministry said of the three private higher education institutions.

The department has an obligation to ensure that private institutions deliver quality education and demonstrate financial sustainability. 

The decision to issue the Notice of Intent to Cancel is based on the following critical factors:
•    All three institutions failed to submit their 2024 Annual Reports, despite:
•    An extension being granted until 30 June 2024, and
•    A final remedial deadline set for 6 June 2025.

The institutions did not provide the Registrar with the required documentation, including:
•    Audited Annual Financial Statements.
•    Proof of financial surety/guarantees.
•    South African Revenue Service (SARS) Tax Compliance Certificates.
•    Occupational Health and Safety Compliance.

Evidence of institutional cessation
•    The department has received reliable confirmation that two of the institutions, namely City Varsity (Pty) Ltd and ICESA City Campus (Pty) Ltd have ceased operating and are therefore not providing higher education within the meaning of the Act.

The department remains unequivocally committed to:
•    Protecting students from being enrolled in institutions that cannot demonstrate financial and operational sustainability.
•    Ensuring that providers of higher education operate within the legal and quality assurance framework; and
•    Acting decisively to uphold the integrity of the South African higher education system.
–SAnews.gov.za

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, has expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the victims of a four-storey building that collapsed in Redcliffe, north of Durban.

“This is a deeply distressing incident. My thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased and with all those who have been injured during this incredibly difficult time, as well as with the workers and families affected by this tragedy,” the Minister said on Saturday.

He was speaking during a visit to the site of the collapsed building, where he was joined by the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, and the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Public Works and Infrastructure, Martin Meyer.

While rescue and recovery operations are ongoing, the Mayor of eThekwini Municipality, Councillor Cyril Xaba, indicated in a post on social media platform, “X” that four bodies had been recovered so far.

During the visit, the delegation was briefed by the Provincial Disaster Management Centre, emergency services, and built-environment officials on the rescue operations currently underway.

“At this stage, our focus must remain on the rescue and recovery efforts and on supporting affected families. It would be premature and irresponsible to speculate on the causes of the collapse or the next steps while operations are ongoing. There will be time for a thorough investigation and accountability once all the facts have been established,” Macpherson said

The Minister said that, as a matter of urgency, he will consult widely with all relevant stakeholders – including briefing the President of the Republic of South Africa – as part of determining an appropriate pathway forward once rescue and recovery operations have concluded.

Xaba, who revisited the site on Saturday following the incident on Friday, commended the rescue teams for their exceptional efforts.

He assured the families of victims gathered at the site that the government remains committed to working tirelessly until all individuals trapped beneath the rubble are safely retrieved.

The Mayor confirmed that a multidisciplinary technical team has been established to investigate the cause of the incident. 

The team will collect all relevant information and compile a preliminary report, which will be released to the public next week –SAnews.gov.za

The Gauteng Department of Education has assured parents of Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners that it is working hard to ensure that the remaining 15 144 unplaced applicants are placed in schools.

As of 12 December 2025, 342 668 of 358 574 Grade 1 and Grade 8 unique applicants have been placed, translating to 95.56% of learners being placed.

The 2026 Online Admissions Placement Period for Grade 1 and 8 commenced on 16 October 2025.

Unique applicants refer to individual Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners who applied using the 2026 Online Admissions system.
The 342 668 placed Grade 1 and Grade 8 unique applicants are as follows:
•    170 807 or 97.4% learners placed in Grade 1
•    171 861 or 94.2% learners placed in Grade 8
“Prior to the commencement of the placement period, the department conducted a capacity audit at all schools to ensure that available capacity at all schools are used to optimally accommodate applicants,” the department said on Friday.

As of 12 December 2025, a total of 721 schools reached full capacity.

This constitutes primary and secondary schools at capacity as follows: 458 primary schools reached full capacity, and 263 secondary schools reached full capacity.

“Unplaced applicants that cannot be accommodated at these 465 schools, are being transferred to the next closest school with available space.
“The remaining 15 144 (4.2%) unique applicants are receiving placement offers through transfers from schools with available space.
“It is important to note that the department prioritises placement of the 358 574 (Grade 1: 175 792; Grade 8:182 782) applicants with Complete Applications.

“Placement offers and transfer offers are released daily to facilitate placement of the remaining 15 144 (4.2%) unplaced applicants, translating to 4 498 (2.6%) Grade 1 learners and 10 646 (5.8%) Grade 8 learners,” the department said.

READ | Warning against fraudsters offering school placements

The process of transferring applicants from schools at full capacity is in progress.
Transfer offers are made only after confirmation that the schools a parent applied to have reached full capacity.
The department said applicants with the status “Application is being processed” and “School Reached Capacity” should expect to receive transfer offers when their status changes to “Transfer offer made.”

“Transfer offers are made to the next school with available space, with due consideration of the distance from the parents’ home address.

“Parents / guardians who are offered transfer placement at schools that they have not applied to have the option to either accept or decline the placement offer within seven days of receipt,” the department said.
When the transfer offer is accepted, the learner is placed at the school. This placement is final.
When the transfer offer is declined, the parent may submit an objection within seven days of receiving the transfer placement offer.
To date, the department [has] received a total of 4460 Appeals across 15 districts. Seventy percent of these appeals have been adjudicated on, and parents have received the final outcome.

For more information, assistance, or comments:
•    Call 0800 000 789
•    WhatsApp 060 891 0361
•    Email: admissions.hotline@gauteng.gov.za or gdeinfo@gauteng.gov.za
–SAnews.gov.za

The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, has encouraged South Africans to submit written comments on the Draft Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection.

The Draft Revised White Paper outlines a vision for the most fundamental reform to South Africa’s citizenship, immigration and refugee protection frameworks in a generation. 

“It is designed to clamp down on fraud and abuse, enhance national security, improve service delivery, and promote economic development.

“Members of the public are encouraged to provide their inputs on the content of the Revised White Paper, thus playing a critical role in shaping the future governance of citizenship, immigration and refugee protection in South Africa,” the Department of Home Affairs said on Friday.

The Draft Revised White Paper updates the existing White Paper. 
It reviews and enhances certain policy propositions and adds the necessary detail to proposals contained in the original version.  

Key reforms proposed in the Draft Revised White Paper include:

•    Refugee management reforms
The refinement and implementation of the “First Safe Country Principle,” which states that asylum seekers who have been granted refugee status or lawful protection in another country, or who pass through safe third countries to reach South Africa, are ineligible for asylum in South Africa.
This is designed to combat the phenomenon of applicants “picking and choosing” South Africa as their preferred destination to claim asylum, while passing through other safe countries on the way. In order to mitigate the risk of refoulement, this reform will require the Minister of Home Affairs to, on an annual basis, designate safe third countries that have ratified the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and to withdraw such designation as and when the need arises.

•    Citizenship reforms
These reforms introduce merit-based criteria for naturalisation and an annual window period for the submission of applications to prevent backlogs, a Citizenship Advisory Panel (CAP) to objectively consider and advise on applications, and a point-based system for economic pathways to citizenship. This is a new, merit-based approach to the granting of citizenship, as opposed to basing qualification solely on the number of years a foreigner has resided in the country. This new system will operate in parallel to the existing principle that a child with at least one parent who is a South African citizen at the time of birth automatically becomes a citizen, while a child born to non-South African parents has to apply for naturalisation.

•    Immigration reforms:
Reforms to the immigration system are designed to ensure alignment of the visa system with the recommendations of Operation Vulindlela (OV) and to the department’s digital transformation agenda. This includes the introduction of new visa categories for remote-work, start-ups, skilled workers (which combines the existing critical skills and general work visas into one category), sports and culture, and the replacement of corporate visas with sectoral work visas for specific industries. It also introduces a new, merit-based points-based system for certain visas and permanent residency and supports the rollout of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to record biometrics for every foreigner in South Africa.

•    Civil registration reforms
Civil registration reforms are anchored in the transformation of South Africa’s National Population Register (NPR) into a modern, digitally enabled Intelligent Population Register (IPR) as the foundation for a Digital ID system. Unlike the existing NPR, which simply records basic information, including names, births, and deaths, an IPR uses advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, biometrics, interoperability and real-time data integration, to improve governance, integrated service delivery, and national planning. Further detail on key elements and the functionality of the IPR will be covered in a standalone policy on Digital ID that is under development by the department.

The priorities of the Government of National Unity (GNU), the visa review done through OV, and the Department of Home Affairs’ digital transformation agenda have all been incorporated into the revised version. 

“In keeping with a directive by Cabinet to maximise public participation beyond the festive season, the period for public comment will be open until 31 January 2026. 

“The publication of the Draft Revised White Paper opens a formal public consultation period from 12 December 2025 to 31 January 2026, during which individuals, organisations, and interested parties are invited to submit written comments and participate in provincial and national public consultation sessions,” the department said.

Consultation 

A series of public consultations will take place between 15 and 30 January 2026, covering all nine provinces. 
A national stakeholder consultation session will also be convened to engage government departments, Chapter 9 institutions, business, labour, academia, civil society, and multilateral organisations. 

The Department of Home Affairs will work closely with the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), provincial governments, and social partners to ensure that the public is informed about the consultation processes and opportunities to participate.

The Draft Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection is available on the department’s website and through the
Government Gazette, which can be accessed on: https://www.dha.gov.za/images/gazettes/53853-12-12-HomeAffairs.pdf  

How to submit comments: 
•    Comments may be submitted in writing between 12 December 2025 and 31 January 2026 to: Email: Whitepaper@dha.gov.za
•    Postal: The Director-General, Department of Home Affairs, Private Bag X114, Pretoria, 0001 

–SAnews.gov.za

The Information Regulator says it will study the judgement dismissing its application to block the publication of matric results.

In a statement on Friday, the regulator noted the decision by the full bench of the Pretoria High Court to set aside its Enforcement Notice.

The Enforcement Notice was issued against the Department of Basic Education (DBE) on 18 November 2024 following a finding from an assessment of how the department processes the personal information of learners who sit for matriculation exams.

The assessment found that the DBE’s practices were in violation of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) provisions, particularly the manner of publication of the results, which the regulator deems likely to compromise the personal information of learners. 

The Enforcement Notice ordered the DBE to provide an undertaking “that it will not publish the results of the 2024 matriculants in the newspapers” within 31 days from the date on which the order was served. 

It also ordered that the department “must not publish the results for the 2024 matriculants in newspapers and must make these results available to the learners using methods that are compliant with POPIA.”

However, the DBE did not comply with the Enforcement Notice, thus forcing the Regulator to issue an Infringement Notice against DBE, in which it ordered the DBE to pay an administrative fine of R5 million following its failure to comply with the Enforcement Notice.

The regulator approached the Pretoria High Court for an interdict against the publication of the matriculation results, while the DBE appealed the decision of the regulator, and the matter was argued in the High Court (Gauteng Division, Pretoria).
“Naturally, the regulator is disappointed that the Court’s judgment was not in its favour. We will study the judgment in order to determine the next course of action. Further announcements will be made in due course.

“The Regulator has previously expressed the importance of judicial processes that may help to illuminate certain aspects of the Protection of Personal Information Act, particularly on the issue of the obligations of responsible parties in complying with the orders of the Regulator and in protecting personal information that they hold about data subjects, such as the matriculants in this case,” the Information Regulator said. –SAnews.gov.za

Transnet’s interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2025 reflect an improved financial performance, driven by higher volumes across the business, which boosted revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), while reducing the loss for the period. 

This is according to Transnet’s interim results, which were released on Friday.

“Transnet’s volume performance has been on an upward trajectory since the 2024 financial year, “Transnet Group Chief Executive, Advocate Michelle Phillips, said.
According to the interim results, revenue for the reporting period increased by 8.8% to R45.2 billion (2024: R41.5 billion), in line with an increase in rail, container and petroleum volumes and weighted average tariff increases in the port and pipeline businesses.

“The company continues to show sustained improvements, as the rail volume performance is higher than the prior period, reflecting an increase of 4.4% to 81.4 mt (2024: 78.0 mt). 

“Performance improvements are evident through increased tonnage throughput, with the financial month of September 2025 recording an annual high of 14.8 mt, the highest month performance achieved since the 2022 financial year, despite the annual maintenance shutdown affecting manganese volumes. This resulted in a 17.7% improvement in the reported net loss of R1.8 billion (2024: R2.2 billion),” Phillips said.

She said the company will leverage private sector participation (PSP) to improve efficiency and fund capital investment requirements. 

“Transnet remains committed to its role in supporting South Africa’s economic recovery and is focused on delivering efficient, world-class logistics services for the benefit of the country.

“Projects focused on improving rolling stock availability and the rail infrastructure condition will be prioritised while building on improved efficiencies. The acquisition of key port equipment has gained significant momentum, contributing to notable performance improvements within the port business.

“The Board and management continue to implement the Reinvent for Growth Strategy, and direct significant focus on resolving operational challenges to ensure that the tangible gains made thus far are translated into sustainable profitability,” Phillips said.

Theft, vandalism and security incidents continue to pose a challenge to the business, and Transnet, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies, will continue to address this matter.

Key highlights also include:
•    The capital investment for the interim period amounts to R11.0 billion, representing a 5.0% increase in capital expenditure compared to the prior period.
•    The expansion of capacity accounted for 18,3% of the expenditure, while 81,7% was invested to maintain current capacity.
•    Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased to R15.7 billion, a 15.6% increase from the prior period. The EBITDA margin at 34.8% is accordingly also above the prior period (32.8%), owing to volume improvements.
•    Net finance costs increased by 7.7% to R7.7 billion (2024: R7.1 billion), resulting mainly from the increase in total debt compared to the prior period.
–SAnews.gov.za

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has called on motorists to exercise extreme caution when driving in inclement weather this weekend.

This comes as heavy rainfalls have been experienced in several parts of the country.

“Motorists are advised to delay their trips when they encounter heavy rainfalls and desist from crossing flooded bridges. Traffic officers will be deployed along the routes that are likely to be affected by severe weather patterns and motorists are urged to cooperate with them and obey their instructions,” the RTMC said on Saturday.

Traffic volumes have increased on many routes as travellers head to different destinations to spend the festive season with families, relatives, and friends.

“The RTMC reiterated its call for caution, patience, and respect for the rules of the roads. Pedestrians are warned to stay away from busy roads and only use pedestrian bridges to cross.

“Traffic officers together with members of the South African Police Service have been deployed on all busy routes to ensure free flow of traffic and to deal with those who break the rules of the road,” RTMC said. –SAnews.gov.za