Category: English

The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training has agreed to reconvene its meeting with Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela over his decision to place the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) under administration.

The committee deliberated on Chairperson Tebogo Letsie’s decision to postpone a meeting scheduled for Tuesday, after members did not receive the required documentation in time to prepare adequately.

Committee members agreed that Letsie had little choice but to postpone the meeting after the minister failed to provide the committee with the necessary presentations and supporting documents relating to the NSFAS intervention.

The committee also rejected claims that the meeting had been cancelled through a WhatsApp message, clarifying that the chairperson had formally communicated the postponement to members through an official letter and had engaged the Chair of Chairs on the matter.

“The committee has recommended that the next meeting be held on Friday, 29 May 2026. Committee members also called for the timeous delivery of documentation about the appointment of the NSFAS administrator, so they can prepare for the meeting effectively,” Letsie said.

He added that, in line with Parliament’s accountability framework, the Minister is required to appear before the committee to account for the decision to place NSFAS under administration and to explain the process followed.

The committee further accepted NSFAS’s explanation that it could not cover travel expenses for former board members, as they no longer hold office and there may be no legal or policy basis for such expenditure.

Earlier this month, Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela placed the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) under administration due to governance instability within the institution.

READ | NSFAS placed under administration

Members said the meeting is of significant public importance, as it affects millions of NSFAS students and the broader higher education sector. – SAnews.gov.za
 

The Western Cape Department of Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism, says expanded access to the Chinese market will be a major boost for economic growth, jobs, and Western Cape citrus producers.

Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism MEC, Dr Ivan Meyer, welcomed the recent supplementary citrus phytosanitary agreement between South Africa and China as a major step forward in driving economic growth and creating jobs, while unlocking new export opportunities for the province’s citrus industry.

Meyer confirmed that the agreement, formalised on 10 April 2026, will ease export requirements, and strengthen market access for Western Cape producers.

“This agreement is a significant breakthrough for economic growth and job creation in the Western Cape. By removing trade barriers and expanding access to the Chinese market, we are creating new opportunities across the agricultural value chain – from farm workers to exporters – while strengthening the competitiveness of our citrus industry,” Meyer said.

The MEC emphasised that expanded access to the Chinese market comes at a critical time for the agricultural sector, which continues to navigate global uncertainties.

“Growing our export markets is essential to sustaining jobs and unlocking further economic growth. The opening of the Chinese market for increased citrus exports reduces volatility and helps cushion our producers—and the workers they employ—against disruptions caused by geopolitical tensions in traditional markets,” he said.

With approximately 20% of South Africa’s citrus production located in the Western Cape, he said the agreement is expected to have a meaningful impact on export volumes over time, particularly as compliance requirements become more efficient.

Supporting producers to maximise opportunities

Meyer highlighted that the Western Cape Provincial Government is actively supporting producers to capitalise on the zero-tariff access to China through a range of targeted interventions.

These include participation in trade shows and export exhibitions in China, facilitating business-to-business engagements with international buyers, providing extension and advisory services to ensure compliance with export standards, and collaborating closely with industry stakeholders to strengthen competitiveness.

“Our focus is on ensuring that producers are well-positioned to expand exports, grow their businesses, and in turn sustain and create more jobs in rural communities,” Meyer said.

He noted that China presents significant long-term potential for the Western Cape citrus industry due to several key factors, including strong demand driven by a population of approximately 1.4 billion people; continued economic growth and rising consumer demand; and the advantage of counter-seasonal supply, allowing South African citrus to fill market gaps when Northern Hemisphere production is low

“This counter-seasonal advantage not only boosts export potential but also supports stable production cycles that are critical for job retention in the sector,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za

South Africa recorded a 9.5% decrease in murders during the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, with 546 fewer people killed compared with the same period a year earlier, Police Minister Firoz Cachalia announced on Thursday.

Presenting crime statistics for the period January 1 to March 31, 2026, Cachalia said murders declined from 5 727 in the corresponding quarter of the previous year to 5 181.

Compared with the same quarter in 2024, murders fell by 1 355 cases, representing a 20.7% reduction.

“Most strikingly, murder has decreased nationally by 9.5%,” Cachalia said, describing the figure as the country’s most reliable crime indicator.

The decline formed part of a broader reduction in serious violent crime. Contact crimes, which include offences involving direct contact between perpetrators and victims, decreased by 4.6%, with 7 405 fewer cases reported than in the same quarter last year.

Cachalia highlighted significant reductions in aggravated robbery categories. House robberies fell by 20.4%, business robberies by 18.3%, and robberies at non-residential premises by 22%.

Property-related crimes, including burglary and theft of and from motor vehicles, declined by 8.5%, while other serious crimes such as general theft and shoplifting dropped by 4.2%.

The Minister attributed the improvements in part to the efforts of police officers and communities working together to combat crime.

Despite the gains, Cachalia cautioned that crime levels remain unacceptably high. 

South Africa recorded an average of 58 murders a day during the quarter.

“A decrease in crime is not the same as achieving safety,” he said. “Our goal is not just fewer crimes, but that communities are and feel safe everywhere.”

The statistics showed that Gauteng, the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal all recorded notable decreases in murders. However, those four provinces still accounted for more than 80% of all murders nationally.

The Minister said government would continue implementing its police reform agenda, strengthen efforts against organised crime and expand violence-prevention initiatives aimed at addressing the social factors driving violent crime.

“These statistics provide us with guidance,” Cachalia said. “Our task is to transform this decline in violent crime into a sustained, long-term reduction in violence and organised criminality across the country.” – SAnews.gov.za

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has moved swiftly to contain and manage an outbreak of African Swine Fever detected among pigs in the Grogro informal settlement in the Sherwood area while also assuring residents that there is no risk to human health.

According to the Municipality’s Director for Environmental Health, Dr Patric Nodwele, municipal health officials were alerted on Monday, 18 May 2026, to a mass mortality of pigs originating from the Grogro informal settlement.

“Upon arrival on site, our initial suspicion was possible poisoning. However, after engaging the State Veterinary Services and conducting the necessary tests, the final confirmed diagnosis was African Swine Fever,” Nodwele said.

African Swine Fever is a highly contagious viral disease that affects pigs. The virus mainly originates from wild pigs and can spread rapidly among domestic pigs, particularly where animals roam freely and come into contact with infected wild pigs.

Nodwele said preliminary indications suggest that freely roaming domestic pigs may have come into contact with wild pigs in the area, resulting in the spread of the disease.

To prevent further infections, the Municipality’s Environmental Health Practitioners, working together with the State Veterinary Services team, this week conducted community outreach and awareness campaigns in the affected informal settlement.

Residents and pig owners were educated on the importance of containing pigs, improving animal control measures, and preventing the further spread of the disease.

Following the collection of samples for testing, municipal teams safely removed and disposed of the affected pig carcasses in accordance with health and environmental safety protocols.

While African Swine Fever does not pose a threat to human health and cannot be transmitted to people, the municipality has urged the community members not to consume meat from dead or infected pigs.

“The municipality will continue to monitor the situation closely and work with veterinary authorities to ensure the outbreak remains contained,” Nodwele said. – SAnews.gov.za
 

The Department of Health has confirmed the detection of two different polio virus strains from wastewater sampled from a wastewater treatment plant in Cape Town.

The department was informed of the detection by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

“This detection was part of the NICD’s routine environmental and wastewater testing to conduct proactive, population-wide disease tracking. This entails analysing municipal sewage and water resources to detect emerging outbreaks and viral variants before clinical cases appear. 

“These detections are called ‘vaccine events’ because no actual cases of virus have been detected in a human being. These events need a public health response, are not high risk, and no additional vaccination campaign is required,” the department said in a statement.

The department emphasised that polio is preventable by vaccine with the country officially declared polio-free by the World Health Organisation’s African Regional Certification Commission in 2019.

“This suggests that these viruses detected in wastewater are likely from imported cases of people vaccinated with different vaccines from those used in South Africa. This does not translate to an outbreak. 

“The department working closely with the NICD, has activated appropriate health response activities including strengthening surveillance and increasing frequency of environmental sampling of wastewater.

“South Africa continues to maintain outbreak preparedness plans, especially given the sporadic outbreaks of this disease in other countries and cross border movements,” the statement read.

Symptoms of the virus are:

• Progressive muscle or joint weakness and pain
• Fatigue
• Muscle wasting
• Breathing or swallowing problems
• Sleep-related breathing disorders

“However, these are common symptoms for other health conditions.

“While there is no need for the public to be concerned, members of the public are urged to remain vigilant and ensure timely reporting of any suspected symptoms of polio to the nearest healthcare provider,” the statement said. – SAnews.gov.za

Local government, which is at the coalface of service delivery, has for many years faced challenges that many would deem insurmountable, writes Neo Semono.

Understandably, for many citizens, it feels as if government is taking too long to address pressing issues such as water and sanitation, overcrowding in public schools, and refuse collection.

Skill mismatches, corruption and the flouting of the Public Finance Management Act and other legislation by some government officials, have also not helped matters, taking away from the democratic gains of basic service delivery to all South Africans, regardless of one’s skin colour.

One can also assert that while corruption within the corridors of state institutions such as municipalities is a challenge, not every government official is corrupt or unqualified for the job.

The presence of rotten potatoes does not mean that government has abdicated its responsibility to citizens. The state has continued to come up with ways to address its service delivery challenges, through vehicles such as the recently gazetted, reviewed Draft White Paper on Local Government, which is out for public comment. You can access the draft here:  https://www.cogta.gov.za/index.php/docs/government-gazette-review-of-the-white-paper-on-local-government/

The review of the 1998 White Paper seeks to modernise and strengthen the local government system to ensure municipalities are better equipped to respond to the developmental needs of communities. It proposes a range of key reforms aimed at improving governance, strengthening accountability, enhancing financial sustainability, and accelerating effective service delivery.

Government took the decision to review the 1998 version of the White Paper in 2022, cognisant of the challenges faced by municipalities. Following refinement, the document is ready for you and me as citizens to make our inputs ahead of the 28 May 2026 deadline.

The notion that the public participation process makes no difference in the outcome of what government passes as policy or legislation in the end is untrue. We ought to make inputs. This is our country and our home – and local government issues affect us all.

It is true that the drafting and passing of legislation does not automatically resolve problems. By no means is the legislation a silver bullet, but it does provide a framework for the effective running of the country’s 257 metropolitan, district, and local municipalities.

The White Paper is structured around five reinforcing pillars for change – namely: one local government system; clean and capable political and administrative governance; differentiated powers and functions and a pathway to a single-tier future; partnership-based relational governance; and financial and service delivery reform – all aimed at modernising the system.

The draft White Paper does not shy away from the reality on the ground, stating that “too many municipalities are trapped in reinforcing cycles of decline” and that this results in “a system that often struggles to sustain basic reliability, maintain assets, and deliver responsive local governance at the pace and quality communities expect.”

However, the White Paper is not the only way government has been working on resolving local government challenges.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been leading engagements between the National Executive and  provincial governments across the country. To date, the President and Cabinet have held eight engagement sessions, with the last held in the Free State in March 2026. The engagements are aimed at encouraging closer collaboration between the national government and the provinces to tackle service delivery challenges.

Recently, Deputy President Paul Mashatile also revisited the Ditsobotla Local Municipality in the North West where water and sanitation, unreliable electricity supply and poor road infrastructure among other issues, were flagged by community members during his visit in January 2026.

During his oversight visit to the municipality in May 2026, the Deputy President said efforts to stabilise the municipality, including the deployment of seasoned former Free State Director-General Kopung Ralikontsane to help rebuild and strengthen the municipality, which Cabinet placed under administration in terms of Section 139 of the Constitution, were underway. 

Section 139 of the Constitution speaks to provincial intervention in local government.

In addition, a National Cabinet Representative (NCR), through whom the Cabinet will attend to the situation in this municipality on a day-to-day basis, has also been appointed. The NCR is a multi-disciplinary team under the supervision of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) and the Treasury.

Furthermore, as the voice of the people, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), as one of the two houses of Parliament that represents provincial and local interests at the national level, recently embarked on its “Taking Parliament to the People” programme, which President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed on Friday, 15 May 2026, in the North West. In this programme communities are engaged on their concerns and issues. 

With its core function amongst others, including the oversight of local and provincial government, the NCOP acts as a bridge that makes sure that provincial and local concerns inform the country’s national policy and legislation. This shows that policies and legislation are not drawn up in a vacuum.

As citizens, we need to take an active interest in the running of our country; it is not the sole job of the state. Let us participate in fixing our municipalities by commenting on the White Paper and refusing to participate in corrupt activities in our municipalities. Let us not connect water and electricity illegally, let us pay for the services we use and not ignore municipal bills.

The clock is ticking; if we all play our part, we can turn the fortunes of municipalities around. –SAnews.gov.za

Neo Semono is a Features Editor at SAnews.gov.za 
 

The opportunity for public comments on the Protected Disclosures Bill will not be extended with the window to do so having closed last week, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said.

This as Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi emphasised the urgent need to have the Bill processed as soon as possible.

“Failure to expeditiously conclude this framework for the protection of whistleblowers will have grave consequences for the individuals who put the lives in danger to expose wrongdoing and corruption.

“A further extension will not be in the interest of whistleblowers and our justice system. I must emphasise that organisations and individuals will still have an opportunity to make comments on the Bill when Parliament opens for public participation,” Kubayi explained.

The department said the window for submissions closed on Thursday last week with calls by “some organisations for the window to be extended for them to submit their comments”.

“The department…has received a significant number of comments from various organisations and individuals, which will be processed to enrich the draft bill for submission to Parliament.

“Given the lacuna that currently exists on the legal framework for the protection of whistleblowers, the Minister deems it necessary to expeditiously conclude this framework for the protection of lives and livelihoods of individuals who come forward with information to expose criminal activities,” the department said on Thursday. – SAnews.gov.za