Category: South Africa Government

President Cyril Ramaphosa has wished faith communities well over Lent and Ramadan.

The period of Lent and Ramadan has coincided this year.

“The start of the Lent period coinciding with the start of Ramadan is a rare occurrence that, at the same time, is a powerful reminder of the deep commonality of faith traditions.

“Though they are observed in different ways, both Lent and Ramadan call on those who observe towards introspection, discipline, humility, generosity, and care for society’s most vulnerable – these are values sorely needed in today’s fractured world,” President Ramaphosa said.

Lent is the Christian season of fasting starting on Ash Wednesday and culminating just before Easter.

Similarly, Ramadaan is the Muslim period of fasting and community, which will end on 19 March.

The President emphasised that both faiths and others are protected under South Africa’s constitution.

“Every faith has a room here, and no South African will be marginalised or persecuted for their beliefs. The claims of those who would seek to paint a different picture do not withstand scrutiny when measured against the record of our constitutional democracy.

“At this time of great spiritual significance for our Christian and Muslim brethren, I call on all South Africans to rally in solidarity and hold fast to the unity that defines us as a people,” the President said. – SAnews.gov.za

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Government has noted the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures, which show that headline inflation eased in January.

According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), headline inflation eased from 3.6% in December 2025 to 3.5% in January 2026.

“The easing in inflation reflects a combination of stable food prices and lower fuel costs. This contributes to a generally contained price environment at the start of the year,” the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) said on Wednesday.

Food price inflation remained steady overall, with several staple items recording slower increases or price declines. Products such as cereals, rice, dairy and eggs showed signs of moderation, providing some relief to households.

Furthermore, fuel prices declined on both a monthly and annual basis, supporting the broader moderation in inflation. The decline of fuel prices also contributed positively to easing transport-related costs.

“Overall, the January outcome indicates that inflation remains relatively stable. Government continues to implement measures to support food security, enhance market monitoring, strengthen competition, and protect vulnerable households from rising costs. 

“Government will continue to monitor price developments closely and act, where necessary, to safeguard consumer welfare and support economic growth,” the GCIS said. – SAnews.gov.za 

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Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber has assured Parliament that the department is intensifying efforts to improve service delivery, starting with eliminating long queues through collaboration with banks on the rollout of the Digital ID.

The Department of Home Affairs is set to launch the first group of bank branches offering Home Affairs services under a new digital partnership model within the next few weeks. 

“This will mark the beginning of the end of long queues at Home Affairs. Under the new digital partnership, you will be able to walk into your local bank branch, including in rural and underserved areas, and apply for a Smart ID in as little as three minutes.

“The Home Affairs digital revolution is also enhancing border security and immigration management. With the core biometric technology already live for the citizenship portal, we now shift our focus to building the front-end user interface,” the Minister said on Tuesday.

Speaking in Parliament during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) Debate, Schreiber said the Digital ID will allow South Africans to access enabling documents on their mobile phones and remotely verify their identities using secure facial recognition technology.

“Of course, even in a digital world, there remains a need for greater access to secure physical documents, including the Smart ID and passport.

“The track record we have built over the past 20 months is also the reason I can tell the House today you have seen nothing yet. In 2026, the best is about to come.

“As a result of our reforms to the Online Verification Service and other upgrades to internal systems, I can today announce that turnaround times for Smart ID and passport applications have been cut by an incredible 66.7%,” Schreiber said.

South Africa is set to launch its first-ever Digital ID system this year, which aims to modernise government services and enhance national security. 

The initiative, announced by the Minister last year during his department’s Budget Vote, will eliminate identity fraud and improve accessibility for all citizens. It aims to modernise government services, eliminate identity fraud, and improve accessibility for all South Africans.

The Department of Home Affairs last year submitted a Digital ID policy to Cabinet for approval to conduct public hearings.

The initiative is also part of a broader vision to transform how South Africans interact with their government, moving from manual to digital solutions.

Key features include:

• Digital versions of essential documents, such as IDs and passports, allowing citizens to access services online or through smart devices. 
• Electronic Travel Authorisation and a revamped www.gov.za platform for seamless digital access to government services. 
• The system is expected to phase out the traditional green ID book, which is vulnerable to fraud, and replace it with a modern, secure alternative. – SAnews.gov.za

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As South Africa prepares for the 2026 Local Government Elections, the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and its use in hyper-local disinformation campaigns has emerged as a key concern for the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

IEC Chairperson Mosotho Moepya warned that the 2026 polls are likely to see a shift from broad national misinformation to ward-specific deceptions driven by generative AI tools.

“The primary challenge of 2026 is the rise of Generative AI and its application in ‘hyper-local’ contexts. We are seeing a shift from broad national untruths to ward-specific deceptions. As identified by the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF), we expect a ‘flurry of deepfakes’ in these municipal elections,” Moepya said.

He was speaking at the Disinformation Dialogue 2026: “Countering Disinformation, Safeguarding Local Democracy” held in Cape Town on Wednesday.

The dialogue was hosted by the Institute of Security Studies, in collaboration with the delegation of the European Union, Embassy of Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Flanders State of the Art. This strategic dialogue on disinformation holds relevance in the digital age, across international borders, as well as locally as South Africa prepares for Local Government Elections this year.

Moepya said procedures most vulnerable to manipulation include the voters’ roll, the transportation of ballot boxes and the manual tallying of votes at stations.

“Disinformation targets these points because they involve human elements that can be misrepresented,” he said.

In response, the IEC is implementing a 2026 strategy that includes direct-to-citizen verification tools, enabling voters to confirm ward boundaries and registration status through zero-rated digital portals.

The Commission is also establishing “Rapid-Response Pathways”, linking local community radio stations and youth networks directly to fact-checking hubs aimed at countering false information at community level.

Other measures form part of what Moepya described as a shift from a “defensive” posture to one of “radical transparency”.

These include the “News Sausage” approach, which encourages media houses to show the public how election results are audited and verified in order to reduce suspicion and conspiracy theories, as referenced by the South African News Editors’ Forum (SANEF).

The IEC will also rely on legal mechanisms, including the Cybercrimes Act and the Electoral Code of Conduct, to ensure that individuals who intentionally spread harmful digital disinformation face legal consequences.

Moepya said technology remains a “double-edged sword”.

“It can be the tool that disenfranchises a grandmother in a rural village through a viral lie, or it can be the tool that empowers a first-time voter in a bustling township to verify their ballot.

“The integrity of our 2026 Local Government Elections does not rest on the IEC alone. It rests on the fact-checker in Johannesburg, the lawmaker in Cape Town, the tech engineer in Silicon Valley, and the EU [European Union] diplomat in Pretoria,” he said.

The dialogue brought together high-level political representatives, lawmakers, international experts, the IEC, government departments, local government representatives and media organisations.

Moepya said the Commission has subjected its Voter Management Devices (VMDs) and results systems to independent end-to-end testing to ensure the technology used at the 23 292 voting stations are transparent and verifiable.

“We have subjected our VMDs and results systems to independent, end-to-end testing, ensuring that the technology used at the voting stations is not a ‘black box,’ but a glass one,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za

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Government committed to localisation in ITP programme

Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy Samantha Graham-Maré has pushed back against misinformation in the public on the role of local players in South Africa’s Independent Transmission Project (ITP) Programme.

The Deputy Minister was speaking at the Disinformation Dialogue hosted by the Institute of Security Studies on Wednesday, a dialogue aimed at countering disinformation and safeguarding local democracy.

South Africa’s ITP Programme is a flagship initiative to draw private investment for the expansion of the national grid.

The expansion of the grid is estimated to require about R440 billion – a bill government is unable to foot on its own.

“There has been [misinformation], specifically on the involvement of local industry where it has been indicated that we are only targeting internationals. This is not true. It speaks to the creation and graduation of future local ITP players as the programme rolls out.

“We need to ensure that we involve players who have previous experience in the space. On economic development related elements, we have used dtic [Department of Trade, Industry and Competition] designations for local content and also compliance with the dtic’s National Industrial Participation Programme, amongst other SED [socio-economic development] obligations,” she said.

Graham-Maré also rebuffed any “inferences” on the possible privatisation of the grid. 

“The ITP programme is structured as a long-term concession with transfer back to the State at the end of the concession period.

“On operations, there will always only be one network operator, that is, the [state owned] National Transmission Company South Africa,” she explained.

Turning to disinformation in general, the Deputy Minister emphasised the damage that false information can bring about. 

“Protecting the integrity of information is not simply about correcting what is false. It is about safeguarding how democracy functions in people’s everyday lives, especially at the local level.

“If that information is delayed or unclear, however briefly, a vacuum forms. And where credible information is absent, falsehoods take root and become fact,” she said.

Additionally, where people do not readily have access to the internet, the “onus is on us as government to directly engage citizens through the media but more so through public meetings, dialogues or interactions”, the Deputy Minister said.

“Regardless of access, the cornerstone of our democracy should be more public engagements so that no vacuum is created.

“We can ensure that disinformation does not become the number one risk in our country. For this to be achieved, we have to be consistent in our interactions with the public, while regularly communicating with our people,” Graham-Maré noted. – SAnews.gov.za

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Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen has raised serious concern over the escalating crisis facing the sugar industry following the liquidation of Tongaat Hulett.

Steenhuisen said urgent intervention is needed to secure the operation of key sugar mills ahead of the April crushing season.

According to the Department of Agriculture, industry stakeholders have indicated that unless the current funding impasse is resolved swiftly, growers will be unable to deliver sugar cane and processing could come to a halt.

The Minister warned that the consequences of such an outcome would be severe, affecting approximately 15 500 delivering growers and between 35 000 and 40 000 people whose livelihoods depend directly on the supply chain linked to the mills.

“This is not a theoretical risk; it is an immediate economic threat to rural communities. If the mills do not open, farmers cannot harvest, workers cannot earn an income, and entire local economies will stall. The longer the uncertainty persists, the greater the damage,” Steenhuisen said.

The Minister stressed that agriculture operates within strict biological timelines and warned that delays in resolving financial and legal matters could result in irreversible losses.

“The crop cannot wait. Agricultural production works on biological timelines, not legal or financial ones. An intervention that unlocks funding and restores operational certainty is urgently required to protect both production and jobs,” the Minister said.

He said the Department of Agriculture is engaging with relevant government departments and financial stakeholders to support a practical solution that will preserve production capacity and prevent long-term damage to the sector.

Steenhuisen emphasised that the sugar industry remained a strategic contributor to rural economies and national food value chains. 

Allowing milling operations to collapse, he said, would have far-reaching economic and social consequences beyond the farm gate.

“Our objective is not to intervene in commercial negotiations, but to ensure that a viable path forward exists so that growers can deliver cane, mills can operate, and workers can earn an income. The immediate priority must be keeping the season alive.”

The Minister said the Ministry will continue to monitor developments closely and stands ready to facilitate engagement aimed at securing continuity in production and safeguarding livelihoods. – SAnews.gov.za
 

 

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The National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Chief of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) have met to finalise the deployment plan of the defence force in Gauteng and the Western Cape, Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has said.

“I can confirm that the SAPS National Commissioner General [Fannie] Masemola and the Chief of the SANDF General [Rudzani] Maphwanya, met [on Monday] to finalise the deployment plan which will begin next ten days,” the Minister said on Tuesday.

In the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday, 12 February 2026, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the deployment of the SANDF to the two provinces. The deployment is aimed at helping the two provinces to tackle gang violence and illegal mining.

On the first of the two-day debate on the SONA, Cachalia said: “We have agreed that the method of deployment should learn from past experiences in South Africa, as well as experiences elsewhere.”

The Minister said the deployment must respect the legal mandates of the South African Police Service, the SANDF and the Constitution, having regard to the obligation to restore calm and stop the killings. 

In addition, Cachalia has asked the National Commissioner to take further steps to strengthen the Anti-Gang Units and to deploy further specialised units. 

“It is also going to be critical in this period to implement steps to strengthen the capabilities that are required for intelligence driven approaches to dismantle the networks behind organised crime.”

Multi-disciplinary task teams, including the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) under the leadership of its newly appointed head Advocate Andy Mothibi, skilled and experienced detectives, officials from the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the South African Revenue Service, among others, will be targeting the leadership, finances, firearms and logistics of these criminal networks. 

“I will be setting up a multi-stakeholder Organised Crime Advisory Council which will be overseeing the implementation of a comprehensive and integrated strategy to combat organised crime. It will rely on open-source information and analysis to support the monitoring and oversight responsibility of the Ministry [of Police],” said the Minister.

On the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy (ICVPS), Cachalia said an all-of-government approach and all-of-society approach in the fight against crime, including organised crime, as provided for in the ICVPS is needed.

He said that this was necessary because crime also has socio-economic roots, adding that the social cluster departments of government including provincial and local government have a critical role to play to improve safety and security of our people across the country.  

“The Provincial Governments of the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, most effected by gang violence and various forms of organised crime such extortion, and illegal mining, have a critical role to play in ensuring that service delivery and the development needs of our most affected communities.

“We cannot fight gang violence and criminality by relying on law enforcement alone. Young people in these communities need opportunity and the prospect of a meaningful dignified future. In this regard I am in full agreement with the Cape Crime Crises Coalition (C4) that has emerged in response to the gang violence and with which I have kept close contact,” he said.

Gender-based violence and femicide

In his address the Minister also spoke about the levels of gender-based violence, rape and feminicide, saying the scourge was “unconscionable”.

“By declaring this a national disaster, the President has provided us with the impetus to tackle this issue with renewed vigour.”

He said that in his visits to communities in many parts of the country, particularly in the Eastern Cape, he had been shaken to the core by this kind of violence within families, and in the most intimate spaces between husbands and wives, adults and children. 

“I have therefore asked the Deputy Minister of Police, Dr Polly Boshielo to lead a process supported by the Civilian Secretariat for Police Services (CSPS) to make an assessment of the gaps in the current response of the SAPS and to propose remedies.”

The approach will include expanding and strengthening the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units within SAPS, to improve docket quality, DNA evidence, and victim support at police stations.  

It will also require working with the Departments of Social Development, Health and Justice to ensure shelters, psychosocial support, and survivor centred services.

Community policing

Fighting crime and improving safety also requires an all-of-society approach, he said, adding that a renewed effort has to be made to involve communities.

“A renewed effort has to be made to involve communities across the country through Community Policing Forums, patroller programs, and neighbourhood watches. We do not have to impose a one size fits all approach.   

“Let me say however, I am particularly interested in the role that an expanded and incentivised patroller programme can play in involving communities in the fight against crime. 

“One option is for funding to be sourced by Provincial Governments from Presidential Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and the Community Works Programme (CWP). I see this programme as having social benefits because it has the potential to provide additional income support to families, together with old age pensions, disability grants, and child grants.”

Accountability, reform

In the SONA, the President also announced steps to improve accountability which include subjecting senior management of the SAPS to vetting and lifestyle audits by the State Security Agency (SSA). 

Cachalia said he will be expecting a report on the implementation of the Presidential directives from the National Commissioner. 

“I have made it clear that the establishment of the Madlanga Commission is a moment for the country to reset policing on a positive trajectory. I have already started implementing the interim recommendations through dedicated task team,” he remarked.

He said public trust in the police is crucial for success and that this can be achieved through enhanced accountability, professionalism and constitutionalism. 

The Minister said he was considering implementing the recommendations of the National Planning Commission to establish a National Police Board to provide advice to the National Commissioner and the Minister on the police reform agenda.

The Civilian Secretariate has already prepared legislation on the establishment of the board. – SAnews.gov.za

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