Category: English

South Africans will soon be able to see which municipalities, companies and other entities have faced formal enforcement action for polluting the country’s water resources.

The Department of Water and Sanitation will launch its National Pollution Register on Thursday, 1 October 2026, which will give the public access to information on entities that have been issued with directives, convicted of pollution-related offences, or ordered by courts to pay damages arising from water pollution.

Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation Dr Jack Bloom will ahead of the launch visit two sites that demonstrate how pollution upstream can have consequences for the water available to communities downstream.

“The first stop will be the Hartebeestfontein Wastewater Treatment Works, which was issued a DWS directive in August 2025 in relation to pollution. Wastewater from the area ultimately flows downstream towards Rietvlei Dam.

“The delegation will then visit the Rietvlei Water Treatment Plant. Rietvlei Dam is a source of raw water for the plant, but deteriorating raw-water quality has affected the City’s ability to use the dam as a drinking-water source,” the department said.

The oversight visits will be followed by the official launch of the National Pollution Register, including a demonstration of how the public can use it. – SAnews.gov.za
 

The Department of Employment and Labour, together with Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), through the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and the National Empowerment Fund (NEF), have launched a R1 billion fund to provide seed capital and financial support to black-owned and black-managed businesses.

Launched by Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth in Johannesburg on Friday, the UIF-NEF partnership will expand access to finance for qualifying businesses while providing support aimed at promoting enterprise sustainability,  creation and retention of jobs.

The UIF and NEF will each contribute R500 million to the fund.

Speaking at the launch, Meth said the department is investing in the people who build businesses, take risks, serve customers and create work in the communities.

“We are also recognising a central lesson of South Africa’s development strategy: if we want employment at scale, we must enable small businesses to start, survive and grow,” Meth said.

She said creating employment at scale requires greater support for small businesses to start, survive and grow.

Meth said the strength of the partnership lay in bringing together the respective capabilities of the UIF and NEF.

“The UIF brings its employment and labour activation mandate. The NEF brings its enterprise finance and development capability. By joining those strengths, they can support businesses with the potential to grow and employ more people,” she said.

The UIF provides short-term financial relief to workers who become unemployed or are unable to work because of maternity, adoption, parental leave or illness, as well as relief to the dependants of deceased contributors.

The NEF promotes Black economic participation by providing financial and non-financial support to Black-owned and managed businesses.

The partnership will combine public resources with the NEF’s development-finance expertise to support qualifying enterprises with growth potential.

It is also aligned with the UIF’s broader Labour Activation Programme (LAP) framework, which focuses on interventions and partnerships that promote employment creation, skills development, entrepreneurship and economic participation.

Meth said the department is repositioning the LAP around three interconnected pillars, including skills development based on real demand; workplace experience and placements; and enterprise support to enable Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to create jobs.

“The programme is intended to recruit 200 000 unemployed people in 2026/27, as part of a commitment to reach 605 000 beneficiaries over the medium term,” she said.

LAP comprises interventions aimed at integrating or re-integrating unemployed people into the labour market. These include training for the unemployed, enterprise development, training layoff schemes and turnaround solutions.

The programme seeks to improve employability, promote entrepreneurship and help preserve jobs.

Launching the fund under the theme: “Investing in Enterprises. Advancing Employment. Driving Transformation”, Meth said its success will ultimately be measured by the businesses and jobs it helps create.

“The real test begins now: when an enterprise secures support, wins customers, expands production, and employs more South Africans. We must follow that journey and measure the result,” the Minister said.

Meth stressed that the economy needs faster growth, while established firms need to invest and expand, and more MSMEs need to become sustainable employers.

“More people need a practical route into the skills, experience and opportunities that a growing economy requires.”

DTIC Deputy Minister Zuko Godlimpi said the launch demonstrates the value of practical partnerships between government institutions in addressing unemployment and supporting enterprise development.

He said the unemployment rate, currently at 33.6%, requires greater coordination between institutions responsible for job creation, enterprise development, and infrastructure development.

Godlimpi said the joint fund will also help bridge the gap between enterprise development and skills training, by combining financial support with mentorship and technical assistance.

“The two institutions will be pulling together resources and capabilities. The UIF brings its job creation capability and NEF bring its enterprise development capability”.

Godlimpi added that the success of the fund will not only be measured by the financial performance of supported businesses but also build sustainable enterprises capable of growing and creating lasting employment.

“We want to see growth of enterprises that pull many people out of unemployment,” he said.  SAnews.gov.za

The National Task Team on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Expression and Sex Characteristics (NTT on SOGIESC) has reaffirmed its mandate to advance equality, strengthen institutional responses and protect the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons.

The commitment was made during recent NTT’s Quarter 2 plenary meeting, co-chaired by Justice and Constitutional Development Deputy Minister Andries Nel and Civil Society Organisations’ (CSO) Co-Chairperson, Sibonelo Ncanana-Trower.

The plenary expressed deep concern about the continuing incidence of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), including the recent murders of women.

It noted the links between misogyny, violent discrimination, femicide and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) persons, stressing the need for an effective and coordinated criminal justice response.

This includes appropriate police visibility, thorough investigations and effective prosecution of perpetrators.

On legislation, Nel reported that the draft Regulations under the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act, 2023, have been received by the Ministry and currently under consideration.

Once approved, the Regulations must, as provided for in the Act, be submitted to Parliament for approval 60 days before publication in the Government Gazette.

The finalisation of the Regulations is an important step towards bringing the Act into operation.

The Rapid Response Team (RRT) also tabled its Quarter 2 Case Register, which currently tracks 36 active priority hate-crime matters nationally.

Of these, 20 cases remain under police investigation with no arrests having been made, while 16 have been enrolled on court rolls. Murder accounts for 18 of the active matters, while seven involve rape.

The RRT also raised concern over cases involving kidnappings, robberies and extortion facilitated through dating applications, including cases linked to Grindr [dating app].

The meeting further noted a recent conviction in a murder case in KwaZakhele in the Eastern Cape, where the accused was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment.

To strengthen coordination with the police and assist in addressing delays in investigations, Nel welcomed the commitment by Deputy Minister of Police, Dr Polly Boshielo to participate in the work of the NTT.

The NTT encouraged victims and communities to promptly report hate-motivated violence to the South African Police Service (SAPS) and, where appropriate, bring cases to the attention of Provincial Task Teams (PTTs) or the NTT Secretariat.

“This will enable cases to be monitored and relevant support to be coordinated,” Nel said.

The plenary also noted progress in strengthening provincial structures, with the Secretariat having finalised procedures for PTTs to access earmarked funding and concluded provincial civil society co-chair election processes.

The NTT welcomed the participation of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA).

It also ratified the admission of three civil society organisations as NTT members, including Outright International, the South African Workplace Equality Index (SAWEI) and the MambaOnline Foundation.

The meeting further considered emerging continental and international campaigns opposing sexual and reproductive health rights, gender equality, and the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons.

It noted civil society mobilisation ahead of the scheduled Pan-African Conference on Family Values in May 2027 and reaffirmed the NTT’s commitment to defending, consolidating and advancing South Africa’s constitutional values of equality, dignity and freedom. – SAnews.gov.za

The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission), have extended the Joint National Inquiry into the reporting, victim support, investigation and pre-trial functioning of the criminal justice system’s response to gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).

The extension follows an overwhelming response to the public call for submissions, reflecting significant public interest in the Inquiry and a broad commitment to strengthening South Africa’s response to GBVF.

The submissions have come from victims and survivors, families, civil society and community-based organisations, researchers, legal practitioners, service providers, academics, institutions, and members of the public.

The National Inquiry stems from the persistent scourge of violence against women across the country and concerns about systemic shortcomings that continue to undermine the effectiveness of the criminal justice system’s response to GBVF.

Despite various policy commitments and institutional mandates, the three Commissions said there was a need to examine the challenges within the system and identify areas requiring improvement.

The Inquiry is established in accordance with the constitutional mandate of Chapter 9 institutions to promote, protect, monitor, and assess the observance of constitutional rights and to make recommendations aimed at strengthening accountability, equality, dignity, and access to justice.

“The Inquiry is based on the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSP-GBVF), particularly Pillar 3, which seeks to strengthen the criminal justice system’s response through improved investigation, prosecution, survivor protection, integrated case management, institutional accountability and coordination between relevant State institutions.

““The National Joint Inquiry seeks to hold duty bearers accountable of issues, challenges and improvement that may be necessary to the justice system,” the Commissions said,” the Commissions said.

The Inquiry will be conducted in different phases, with the first phase focus specifically on Stage 1: Survivor Testimony and Lived Experiences and Stage 2: Pre-Trial Functioning and Accountability within the criminal justice system.

The Commissions said the public participation process will provide an important opportunity for affected individuals and stakeholders to share their experiences, identify systemic challenges and contribute to recommendations aimed at improving the response to GBVF.

The inquiry is scheduled to take place at Braampark Office Park in Braamfontein from 29 September to 02 October 2026. – SAnews.gov.za