Category: South Africa Government

Source: Government of South Africa

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Source: Government of South Africa

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Source: Government of South Africa

The Director-General (DG) of the Department of Cooperative Governance, Mbulelo Tshangana, has emphasised the vital roles of preparedness and partnership as the foundations of effective disaster response.

Speaking at the official opening of the Africa, Europe, and Middle East (AEME) Earthquake Response Exercise on Monday, Tshangana welcomed this unprecedented event – the first of its kind on the African continent. 

This as the Government of South Africa, through the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC), is currently hosting the AEME Earthquake Response Exercise 2025 at the Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape.

READ | SA hosts Earthquake Response Exercise 2025 in Gqeberha

The DG stressed that the primary goal of the exercise is to save lives and livelihoods.

The AEME Earthquake Response Exercise is an international disaster simulation event, organised by member countries of the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG). 

Its purpose is to test and strengthen regional and international emergency response capabilities. 

The exercise is particularly focused on enhancing preparedness, coordination, and response to significant disasters, especially large-scale earthquakes and their secondary effects.

In his keynote address, the DG highlighted the importance of global collaboration before, during, and after disasters.

The gathering, which will conclude on Friday, 5 December 2025, also brings together international, national, provincial, and local responders, forming a complete ecosystem of disaster management excellence.

The exercise brings together national responders, provincial and municipal stakeholders, international Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams, Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs), United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) experts, and humanitarian partners from across the AEME region.

Countries in attendance include Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Iceland, Estonia, Poland, Kenya, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom. 

Tshangana also expressed appreciation for the presence of Martijn Viersma, the INSARAG Global Lead, acknowledging his support for this important meeting.

The gathering follows the successful Group of 20 (G20) Leaders’ Summit, which was held for the first time on the African continent. 

As part of the G20, the Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group reached a significant declaration emphasising that partnerships are essential, as disaster response is a collective responsibility.

READ | Investment in disaster risk reduction essential for global safety, economies 

The DG highlighted that this exercise comes at a crucial time when disasters are becoming more frequent and complex due to climate change, infrastructure vulnerabilities, and rapid urbanisation. 

In this context, he stressed that effective planning and strong coordination are vital for successful disaster response.

“Working together as we are meeting here today is not optional but is essential, and it can be the difference between life and death during disasters,” the DG said.

He highlighted that the exercise is more than a simulation but also a strategic investment in resilience. 

DG Tshangana also reflected on South Africa’s progress in strengthening disaster readiness through improving frameworks, professionalising response systems, revitalising fire services, and deepening cooperation with global partners through the NDMC.

He also expressed gratitude for their solidarity and commitment to global humanitarian cooperation and urged South African participants to use this platform to refine their systems, test their readiness, and strengthen their capabilities.

“This event, held in Nelson Mandela Metro, has great significance as this municipality is prone to disasters, especially flooding. To this effect, the exercises are vital for ensuring an effective and coordinated response to future humanitarian crises.” 

During simulation exercises, teams will have the opportunity to test their preparedness and exchange valuable skills with one another. 

This week’s programme will emphasise the development of a common operating picture for large-scale disaster response and will include workshops, tabletop exercises, and field simulations to build practical skills. – SAnews.gov.za

Source: Government of South Africa

Monday, December 1, 2025

Source: Government of South Africa

As the globe commemorates World AIDS Day, Deputy President Paul Mashatile said the introduction of lenacapavir, a long-acting preventative treatment, is set to change the landscape of HIV prevention in South Africa.

This is after government recently announced the groundbreaking development in HIV prevention that promises to revolutionise how individuals safeguard themselves against the virus.

The Deputy President, who is also the Chairperson of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), addressed the official commemoration at Ga-Masemola Stadium in the Sekhukhune District of Limpopo. 

Lenacapavir is a revolutionary long-acting injectable drug that offers six months of protection and requires only two injections per year. 

In October this year, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) achieved regulatory readiness, making it the first in Africa and the third globally to register lenacapavir.

According to the country’s second-in-command, this innovation is particularly significant for people who struggle to adhere to daily pill regimens and touched on the profound implications for marginalised communities.

“Lenacapavir offers hope for young women who cannot negotiate condom use. It empowers adolescent girls navigating relationships marked by power imbalances. It protects key populations who face stigma and discrimination.

“Lenacapavir speaks to the reality of our people’s lives, that prevention must be practical, dignified, discreet, and compatible with the pressures of daily survival.”

Acknowledging the urgency of ensuring rapid access to life-saving tools, the Deputy President warned against the missteps of the early antiretroviral therapy (ART) era. 

“Let me be clear: we cannot repeat the mistakes of the early ARV era, where life-saving tools reached our shores too slowly. This time, we move with urgency, with foresight, and with unity,” he stated.

Deputy President Mashatile described the lenacapavir as more than just a drug but a symbol of what becomes possible when science, political will, and community demand meet at the same table.

Meanwhile, to tackle the significant gap of 1.1 million individuals who need access to HIV prevention, the Deputy President called for a critical examination of efforts towards marginalised communities.

“Let us confront stigma with courage, fund research, and ensure treatment reaches everyone. This is a commitment to health, dignity, justice, and equality for all people.”

Currently, South Africa’s statistics are at 96-80-97, while global figures stand at 95-85-92.

These targets are a global strategy for ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030, aiming for 95% of all people living with HIV to know their status; 95% of those who know their status to be on sustained antiretroviral treatment; and 95% of those on treatment to be virally suppressed.

To confront the stubborn second 95 target, government launched an ambitious national recovery effort in February this year, known as the 1.1 million “Close the Gap” Treatment Acceleration Campaign. 

“The campaign represents mothers who stopped treatment because transport was too costly, men who walked away after negative clinic experiences, young people who feared disclosure, and thousands who moved between provinces without continuity of care.” 

He has since called for multi-sectoral coordination to ensure that the country continues to perform various community-based interventions.  

South Africa marks today’s commemoration following a successful Group of 20 (G20) Leaders’ Summit, which included the Global Fund’s 8th Replenishment Summit co-hosted by President Cyril Ramaphosa and United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer. 

The replenishment campaign aims to secure US$18 billion to support health efforts from 2027 to 2029, to save 23 million lives and strengthen responses to HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria.

In addition, he said government is working around the clock to implement policies that improve access, retention, and re-engagement with treatment.

This includes policies that directly address structural inequalities and work to dismantle stigma, particularly for the most vulnerable individuals, such as women and girls, people who use drugs, sex workers, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and other identities (LGBTQIA+) community.

In the meantime, he said government continues to make significant improvements in HIV testing, treatment and care through expanded access to antiretroviral therapy and innovative community-led prevention efforts.

“On this World AIDS Day, we celebrate the incredible progress that has transformed HIV from a death sentence into a condition that can be managed with dignity and hope. 

“Yet, our mission is far from over. Today, we stand at a defining moment – where science, compassion, and unwavering resolve can unite to end an epidemic that has cast its shadow for many years.” – SAnews.gov.za
 

Source: Government of South Africa

Over 300 delegates attending the 58th Plenary Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) in Durban have expressed confidence in the forum’s potential to advance stronger regional responses to climate change.

This year’s programme focuses on “The Impact of Climate Change on Women and Youth, and the Role of SADC Parliamentarians in Mitigation and Adaptation.”

South Africa is hosting the week-long session, which opened with an optimistic opening address by Speaker of the National Assembly, Thoko Didiza, who reminded delegates that legislatures across the region are not bystanders in the climate crisis, but central players in shaping effective responses.

“Parliamentarians’ roles must extend beyond simply approving budgets to embrace active, intentional and transformative climate change interventions,” Didiza said.

On mitigation efforts, Didiza said national legislatures must align their frameworks with international and regional commitments, including outcomes of the Conference of the Parties (COP), the Paris Agreement, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) climate change strategy.

“This means enacting laws that incentivises cleaner and renewable energy. Mandating sustainable land use and water management practices. Crucially, we must introduce and monitor climate change acts that have established clear national targets, institutional responsibilities, and accountable mechanisms,” Didiza said.

Didiza expressed confidence that the symposium will help regional lawmakers strengthen coordinated approaches to mitigate the impact of climate change, particularly on vulnerable groups.

Mashatile highlights South Africa’s climate priorities

Addressing the gathering virtually, Deputy President Paul Mashatile outlined South Africa’s ongoing efforts to respond to the climate change crisis.

He noted that climate change remains a top priority on the global agenda, with world leaders at recent G20 engagements reaffirming commitments to accelerate action.

The Deputy President highlighted that SADC is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions globally, with women and young people facing disproportionate impacts, including increased work burdens, exposure to gender-based violence, exploitation, and health risks.

He emphasised that SADC parliaments hold a vital mandate and play a “multifaceted role” in promoting effective and equitable climate action through their functions related to legislation, oversight, and representation.

“Immediately, we must enact laws and strengthen our policies to align with regional agreements on climate change. We must also promote gender sensitive policies by introducing legislation that ensures a just and equitable approach; and mandates the mainstreaming of gender consideration in all climate policies,” Mashatile said.

These reforms call for strengthened oversight accountability, whereby parliaments would hold governments accountable for their performance in implementing domestic climate laws, regional commitments and international obligations, the Deputy President noted.

He also underscored the need to allocate sufficient resources for climate mitigation and adaptation programmes, particularly those targeting vulnerable groups. – SAnews.gov.za
 

Source: Government of South Africa

Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane has urged Southern African parliaments to take bold, people-centred action to confront what she described as an escalating climate crisis threatening development, human security, and the right to adequate housing across the region.

Simelane was addressing the Symposium of the 58th SADC Parliamentary Forum Plenary Assembly, held at Coastlands Hotel and Convention Centre in Umhlanga, north of Durban, on Monday.

Held under the theme: “The Impact of Climate Change in the SADC Region and the Role of Parliaments in Climate Mitigation and Adaptation”, the event brough together over 300 delegates representing Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, eSwatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Simelane said the moment demands collective leadership and regionally aligned solutions.

“It is my greatest honour to address this Symposium of the 58th SADC Parliamentary Forum Plenary Assembly under a theme that could not be more urgent, more relevant, timely or more defining for our collective future.

“Climate change is no longer a distant environmental concern. It is a developmental crisis, a human settlements crisis, a socio-economic and governance crisis, and across the Southern African Development Community, it is increasingly becoming a human security crisis,” Simelane said.

Simelane noted that the SADC region is now facing climate impacts of “unprecedented scale,” with storms becoming more violent in recent years, droughts more severe, floods more frequent and destructive, and heatwaves more deadly.

She noted the recent flooding in KwaZulu-Natal, including displacement of people in Umshwathi Local Municipality, whose homes were swept away in the past few days, as a result of the devastating effects of climate change.

“As we have seen, devasting climate events do not follow national borders. What we have experienced here in Durban and along the Eastern Seaboard of South Africa, has also affected multiple countries simultaneously. In the same way that we are all affected, no single country therefore can address this challenge alone,” Simelane said.

Most vulnerable communities hit hardest

Drawing on South Africa’s Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability Assessment, Simelane said the groups most affected by climate disasters are rural communities already facing poverty and limited access to services; residents of informal and peri-urban settlements located in floodplains, steep slopes, wetlands, and fire-prone areas; and women, youth, and children who bear the brunt of inadequate livelihoods, exposure, and socio-economic stress.

“Climate change is not gender neutral. Women are disproportionately exposed, disproportionately impacted, and disproportionately responsible for absorbing the shocks. And yet, women, despite being at the frontlines of climate impacts, remain at the margins of climate decision-making. That must change,” the Minister said.

Young people, she added, are growing up in “a world shaped by climate uncertainty”, and inherit the consequences of decisions they did not make.

“They are the most powerful drivers of innovation, resilience, and adaptation; their creativity, energy, and digital fluency make them essential partners in building climate-resilient communities.”

Strategic pillars for regional climate resilience

Simelane outlined South Africa’s Climate Change Response Strategy and Implementation Plan for Human Settlements, which guides resilience-building efforts to 2030, and proposed three pillars relevant for the wider SADC region:

Pillar 1: Settle people in safe places and preserve the ecosystems that protect them

The Minister stressed the need to avoid placing communities on flood-prone land, wetlands, unstable slopes, coastal danger zones, and heat-stressed areas. “This is the first and most fundamental line of defence against climate hazards.”

Pillar 2: Addressing vulnerable settlements already in unsafe locations

The Minister noted that millions of people already live in hazardous locations. She called for upgrade informal settlements in-situ where possible; improve essential services such as water, sanitation, and electricity; and greater investment in nature-based solutions—wetlands, urban greening, vegetated buffers.

Pillar 3: Establish climate-resilient infrastructure norms, standards and settlement typologies

Simelane emphasised that South Africa infrastructure must withstand new climate realities.

“These shifts will reduce future losses, enhance liveability, and create safer communities. Critically, we must invest in Innovative Building Technologies (IBTs) as the human settlements’ infrastructure of the future, which is reliable, resilient, and durable to mitigate climate change,” she said.

Leading a just transition

Simelane also emphasised that climate resilience is not solely a technical process, but “a community-driven process.”

“We must build a region where communities do not only receive climate information but shape it; where they do not only participate in planning but lead it; and do not only face climate risks but help define the solutions. Disasters move across borders, so information must too.

“As Parliaments we shape the laws, budgets, oversight mechanisms and standards that determine whether our region is prepared or unprepared for the future,” she said, calling for climate-risk integration into land-use legislation, alignment of human settlements laws with regional climate frameworks, and effective mobilisation of climate finance for vulnerable communities.

As the region approaches the midpoint of what she described as “a decisive decade,” Simelane challenged lawmakers to choose proactive resilience over reactive recovery.

“The question before us is simple: Will we build a region that waits for disasters to strike, or a region that acts before disaster becomes inevitable?” she asked.

She urged the delegates to embrace the moment not as a threat, but an opportunity to “reshape our communities, to strengthen our democracies, and to build a region that thrives in the face of climate change.” – SAnews.gov.za