Category: South Africa Government

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) says very cold and wet conditions with light snowfall are expected to set in from Wednesday evening in places over the Eastern Cape, southern parts of KwaZulu-Natal, southern Free State and the Lesotho border.

The weather conditions are due to the passage of a cut-off low weather system, which will clear from the west by Thursday. 

Farmers are advised to take precautionary measures to mitigate the negative impact under such adverse weather conditions.

Meanwhile, the weather outlook for Thursday and Friday is partly cloudy, and cold conditions are expected across the eastern parts of South Africa, with isolated to scattered rain and showers possible. Otherwise, the weather is fine and cool.

The weather service has issued the following warnings for Wednesday:

• Orange Level 6 Warning: Disruptive rain resulting in flooding of bridges/roads/settlements and damage to property/infrastructure is expected in places along the coast and adjacent interior between East London (Eastern Cape) and Cape Vidal (KwaZulu-Natal).
• Orange Level 5 Warning: Disruptive snow resulting in traffic disruptions, disruption to essential services and some communities temporarily cut-off is expected in places over the extreme north-eastern high-ground of the Eastern Cape.
• Yellow Level 2 Warning: Disruptive snow resulting in traffic disruptions, disruption to essential services and some communities temporarily cut-off is expected in places over the north-eastern high-ground of the Eastern Cape and Drakensberg area of KwaZulu-Natal.
• Yellow Level 2 Warning: Disruptive rain resulting in flooding of bridges/roads/settlements and damage to property/infrastructure is expected over the south-eastern parts of the Eastern Cape and the eastern parts of KwaZulu-Natal, except in the extreme north- east.

–SAnews.gov.za

 

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Team SA started Wednesday with 16 medals in the bank at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, thanks to the swimming team’s performances at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre in Glasgow.

The team continued its winning streak on Tuesday, adding another five medals and taking Team SA’s tally in the pool to 16.

According to the Team South Africa website, Danika Vyncke set a new record by winning silver in the Women’s 50m Freestyle S13 final at Tollcross, clocking 28.41 to break the African record. It was her first medal of Glasgow 2026.

Defending champion Lara van Niekerk won gold in the Women’s 50m Breaststroke with a time of 30.43 at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre.

The Team South Africa website said Pieter Coetze broke the Commonwealth Games record in the Men’s 100m Backstroke semi-final with a time of 52.20 and qualified for the final as the fastest man in the field.

Aimee Canny won her second medal of the Games, claiming silver in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley with a brilliant time of 2:09.37.

Chad le Clos secured silver in the mixed 4x100m relay, earning his 20^th medal and joining Australia’s Emma McKeon as the most decorated Games athlete ever.

Meanwhile, Team South Africa’s netballers defeated Northern Ireland 78-30. –SAnews.gov.za

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After an investigation uncovered the significant contamination of rivers, estuaries and coastal waters in parts of the Eastern Cape, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has directed the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality to submit an emergency intervention plan to address the matter.

The Commission has directed the metro to submit the report to address severe wastewater pollution at West Bank to within 14 days.

The directive forms part of the Commission’s investigative report into wastewater infrastructure failures in selected areas of the Buffalo City, Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipalities and the Kouga Local Municipality.

The investigation followed complaints, stakeholder submissions and recurring public reports of sewage spills, failing wastewater infrastructure and pollution affecting rivers and beaches.

As part of its inquiry, the Commission commissioned an accredited laboratory to conduct independent water sampling, assessed municipal monitoring data and oversight findings, inspected available evidence and afforded the affected municipalities an opportunity to respond to a provisional report.

The report found that while some coastal sites, including Nahoon and Gonubie, recorded comparatively favourable microbiological conditions on the day of sampling, serious failures were identified elsewhere.

West Bank recorded the most severe results, with E. coli levels of 616 000 per 100 millilitres and near-total oxygen depletion.

“Kouga’s own data showed that final effluent at the Jeffreys Bay and KwaNomzamo wastewater treatment works remained non-compliant, while New Brighton and Hobie beaches in Nelson Mandela Bay recorded materially elevated contamination on 16 March 2026.

“The Commission finds that wastewater pollution implicates the rights to dignity and to an environment that is not harmful to health or well-being. The report does not declare every affected beach permanently unsafe but confirms that water quality may deteriorate rapidly and requires regular testing, prompt public warnings and effective investigation of pollution sources,” the Commission said.

In addition to the emergency intervention plan, Buffalo City has been instructed to undertake weekly water quality monitoring at West Bank until stable compliance is demonstrated.

Kouga and Nelson Mandela Bay have been directed to improve wastewater treatment performance, strengthen monitoring systems, enhance public risk communication and implement remedial measures.

The Commission has also called on the Department of Water and Sanitation, environmental authorities and the Eastern Cape provincial government to consider appropriate regulatory, enforcement and oversight interventions.

All respondents have been instructed to submit measurable implementation reports supported by evidence, budgets, responsible officials and clear timelines.

“Plans and infrastructure projects are not proof of compliance. The test is whether wastewater systems consistently produce lawful results, prevent sewage from entering public water environments and protect communities,” the Commission said. – SAnews.gov.za

 

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As Mandela Month draws to a close, the North West Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in partnership with Sibanye-Stillwater and the Mineworkers Development Agency (MDA), has launched a food garden initiative in Marikana, aimed at improving food security and promoting community self-reliance.

The initiative has provided 150 beneficiaries with production inputs, including gardening tools, seeds, seedlings and other essential resources, supported by ongoing technical assistance from the department.

The initiative forms part of efforts to honour the legacy of former President Nelson Mandela by empowering communities to take practical steps towards sustainable livelihoods and long-term food security.

By encouraging household and community food production, the programme seeks to improve access to nutritious food while creating opportunities for residents to generate an income from the sale of surplus produce.

Rather than simply handing over production inputs, North West Agriculture and Rural Development MEC Madoda Sambatha, officials from the MDA, Sibanye-Stillwater and the department’s extension officers spent a day working alongside beneficiaries, sharing practical skills and technical knowledge to help ensure the food gardens thrive long after Mandela Month concludes at the end of the month of July.

As part of the department’s Mandela Month programme, food gardens were also established at schools and in community backyard gardens, where learners and residents received hands-on training in sustainable food production and garden maintenance.

Marikana II Primary School Principal Dikgang Andrew Phuza welcomed the support, saying the initiative will strengthen the school’s food garden and enhance its ability to support learners through improved food production.

“These contributions will strengthen our food garden and help us continue supporting our learners through improved food production. We are grateful for this investment in our school and community,” Phuza said.

Through its ongoing support, the MDA and Sibanye-Stillwater has helped lay a strong foundation for the initiative by providing vital infrastructure and equipment to help beneficiaries expand their projects and build more sustainable livelihoods.

Sibanye-Stillwater Executive Vice President for Stakeholder Relations, Thabisile Phumo, described the initiative as an important step towards building self-sustaining communities.

“This is the beginning of building resilient communities that are able to grow and provide food for themselves. Through partnerships such as these, we can make a meaningful contribution to food security and sustainable development,” Phumo said on Tuesday.

Addressing beneficiaries, Sambatha said the partnership with Sibanye-Stillwater and the MDA demonstrates how collaboration can deliver tangible benefits for communities.

“The aim is to empower families, schools and communities to produce food for themselves. Beyond household consumption, surplus produce can be sold to generate an income and improve livelihoods,” Sambatha said.

The MEC also highlighted the importance of strengthening partnerships to expand the reach of food security programmes across the province.

“We are encouraged by the support of partners such as Sibanye-Stillwater and the Mineworkers Development Agency. Together, we can reach more communities and establish more food gardens that will not only feed families but also create opportunities for communities to support those in need and build local economies.”

He further called for closer collaboration between the department and the MDA to replicate similar projects in other districts across the province.

“Our vision is to expand these initiatives to more schools and communities throughout the North West, where young people can learn the value of agriculture, develop practical skills and contribute to local food production,” the MEC said.

In the true spirit of Nelson Mandela’s legacy, the department said the initiative was about more than dedicating 67 minutes of service, but about “planting the seeds of hope, dignity and self-reliance, seeds that will continue to grow, nourish families and strengthen communities for years to come.” – SAnews.gov.za

 

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Transformation performance across major sectors of South Africa’s economy and evidence-based insights that challenge common misconceptions about black economic empowerment are among the themes of a research report that will be launched by the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Commission today.

The Research Report on South Africa’s Transformation Landscape (2013–2023) provides a comprehensive ten-year assessment of transformation trends and the implementation of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment in South Africa.

“Drawing on one of the most extensive datasets on B-BBEE implementation, the report examines transformation trends across sectors of the economy and highlights areas of progress, persistent challenges and opportunities to strengthen the country’s transformation agenda,” the Commission, which is an agency of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) said ahead of the launch on Wednesday, 29 July 2026.

Among others, the report explores:
•    Trends in compliance across the B-BBEE scorecard elements, including ownership, management control, skills development, enterprise and supplier development, and socio-economic development.
•    Transformation performance across major sectors of the economy.
•    Evidence-based insights that challenge common misconceptions about B-BBEE.
•    Policy recommendations aimed at strengthening implementation, improving compliance and enhancing the effectiveness of the legislative framework.

Held under the theme: “B-BBEE Is Working: Evidence Shows Its Growth Potential When Doubling Efforts,” the report will be launched at the IDC Convention Centre in Sandton. –SAnews.gov.za

 

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Public Service and Administration Minister Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi will lead the launch of the Batho Pele artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot, a new digital tool aimed at giving public servants instant access to public service policy updates, circulars, legislation and other important information.

Friday’s launch of the chatbot is the brainchild of a public-private partnership between the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), Meta and Juicetel. The DPSA said the initiative represents a solid step forward in the government’s efforts to modernise public service delivery through the innovative use of technology. 

“The Chatbot is able to process information and respond in nine South African official languages, and will support public servants, particularly those in Corporate Services and management roles, in reducing the time spent searching for policy updates and circulars,” the department said in a statement. – SAnews.gov.za

 

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Authorities have arrested a man believed to be part of a cartel behind a multi-million-rand fraud scheme involving the licensing of motor vehicles.

The man allegedly assisted vehicle owners to fraudulently renew vehicle licences using the National Traffic Information System (NaTIS) from his private residence.

He was arrested in Parys, Free State, on Tuesday evening during a joint intelligence-led operation. 

The operation was conducted by a team comprising members of the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s National Anti-Corruption Unit, the South African Police Service’s Crime Intelligence Tactical and Special Operations, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks, and cyber units from Crime Intelligence and the Hawks.

It is alleged that the suspect is part of a syndicate operating in southern Gauteng and the Free State. The syndicate allegedly works with government officials across provinces to renew vehicle licences on NaTIS.

The group allegedly targets Driver Licence Testing Centres (DLTCs) where biometric systems have not yet been installed.

According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), the syndicate also has credentials for private vehicle testing stations and can capture and declare vehicles as roadworthy on the system.

The RTMC and police have been investigating the matter for the past three years and believe more arrests are imminent.

“The suspect, believed to be an IT specialist, implicated former transport officials, NaTIS users and active NaTIS users from different provinces, as well as the National Department of Transport. The arrest represents a breakthrough in investigations into the activities of this syndicate,” the RTMC said. –SAnews.gov.za

 

 

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Decades after being dispossessed of their land through racially discriminatory laws, policies and practices of the past, the Ncora community in Cofimvaba, Eastern Cape, is set to regain ownership this week when government hands over title deeds to the community.

Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso will on Friday, 31 July 2026, officially hand over a title deed to the Ncora community within the Intsika Yethu Local Municipality, marking a significant milestone in the restoration of land rights to the community.

According to the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development, the community lost its land rights through the implementation of the so-called Betterment Policy, which reduced indigenous land ownership rights to a mere “Permission to Occupy” status.

The dispossession occurred in phases during 1964 and 1972 through the implementation of the Native Trust and Land Act, 1936 (Act No. 18 of 1936), which further entrenched the objectives of the Land Act, 1913 (Act No. 27 of 1913).

The construction of the Ncora Irrigation Scheme in 1972 resulted in the removal of villages from their residential and arable land, while other areas were reduced to accommodate infrastructure associated with the scheme, including canals, dairy parlours, underground water pipelines, silos, factories, administration buildings and staff accommodation.

Through the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development successfully settled the community’s land claim, with beneficiaries opting for the restoration of their land rights as the preferred form of redress.

The department said the title deed handover coincides with South Africa’s commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Constitution and reflects the enduring values and aspirations enshrined in the nation’s supreme law.

“Rooted in the transformative vision of the Constitution, the Land Restitution Programme remains one of the South African Government’s most enduring nation-building initiatives, through the restoration of land rights and dignity to individuals and communities dispossessed under racially discriminatory laws,” the department said in a statement.

Nyhontso will be joined by Members of the Executive Council (MECs), including executive mayors, traditional leaders, and senior government officials at the handing-over ceremony to take place at the Ncora Irrigation Scheme in Cofimvaba. – SAnews.gov.za
 

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South Africa’s justice system must move beyond merely interpreting indigenous languages in courtrooms to developing them as languages of legal education, adjudication and jurisprudence.

This is according to Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Andries Nel who delivered a public lecture on indigenous languages and the South African justice system at the University of Mpumalanga on Tuesday.

“Thirty years after the adoption of the Constitution, our task is not merely to praise its multilingual promise. It is to build the institutions through which that promise can speak. 

“Let us ensure that every language of our people can become a language not only in which justice is heard, but through which justice is imagined, reasoned and made,” the Deputy Minister said.

Nel emphasised that language appears not at the margins of the Constitution but in Chapter 1, among its Founding Provisions.

“The constitutional wording is exacting. It identifies history, not linguistic inadequacy, as the source of inequality. It requires action, not ceremonial recognition. It requires measures that are practical and positive, not promises that remain permanently aspirational.

“Section 6 must also be read with equality, dignity, freedom of expression, cultural participation, education, access to courts and the right of an accused person to be tried in a language that the accused understands or, when that is not practicable, to have the proceedings interpreted,” he said.

Furthermore, a multilingual constitutional order would “requires more than interpreted access. It requires participation in the production of jurisprudence itself”. 

“Translation remains essential, but it is not neutral. Translation is never the mechanical replacement of one word with another. It is an encounter between conceptual worlds.

“We [should not] assume that English legal concepts can simply be transferred into another language without being tested against its grammar, history and social experience.

“Translation, at its best, changes both sides of the encounter. It reveals assumptions that appear natural in the dominant language and creates new possibilities of legal thought,” Nel said.

Bridging the gap
Nel called for a phased language implementation strategy and proposed a partnership between the University of Mpumalanga, the South African Judicial Education Institute (SAJEI) and the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College to create a national centre of excellence for justice sector education, research and professional development.

The Brigitte Mabandla Justice College, he added, should “seriously consider signing a Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] with the University of Mpumalanga to strengthen the administration of justice.” 

Such an MoU would be based on the following five pillars:
•    Education and Training; 
•    Research and Innovation; 
•    Indigenous Languages and Access to Justice; 
•    Digital Justice, and 
•    Community Engagement and Public Legal Education.

“We could develop specialised justice programmes together in the form of joint short courses or postgraduate certificates on indigenous languages in the justice system; court interpreting and legal translation, plain language drafting of legal documents, customary law and constitutional law, access to justice in rural communities, and alternative dispute resolution rooted in indigenous knowledge.

“There is the possible establishment of a research hub: A collaborative research programme could examine language barriers in courts, access to justice, community justice systems, indigenous legal knowledge, and justice innovation.

“[We] could develop legal terminology in indigenous languages, create multilingual court resources, produce legal dictionaries and glossaries, support interpreter training, research language and access to justice; and advise government on language policy in the justice sector,” Nel suggested, among others.
He assured that even if it may take time, a multilingual justice system is possible.

“The rising sun does not abolish the night by declaration. Light grows across the landscape. 

“In the same way, a multilingual jurisprudence will be produced through accumulated work: one concept clarified, one interpreter trained, one student taught, one textbook written, one judgment translated, one database enlarged, one institutional partnership sustained. 

“Quantitative changes can, in time, become qualitative transformation,” Nel said. – SAnews.gov.za

 

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The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) will revert to open tender processes for routine road maintenance and engineering consultancy services after court challenges found the use of contractor panels unlawful and unconstitutional.

SANRAL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Reginald Demana announced the decision on Tuesday, following panel-related litigation matters involving the agency.

SANRAL has since resolved to open a new tender process without delay. 

“The incumbent contractors remain in place until 30 November 2026, and SANRAL must ensure uninterrupted road maintenance during the transition; and all panel appointments have fallen away – no work may be allocated under the set-aside tender,” the CEO said on Tuesday.

Demana was addressing a media briefing in Centurion on SANRAL’s procurement issues, including allegations of corruption, litigation and the root causes of matters currently in the public domain.

In the coming days, SANRAL will issue tenders in batches.

“We have prepared the tender packs, and we are running a live proactive internal assurance process. In the Western Cape and Northern Cape Provinces, a limited number of tenders have already been issued, thus signalling our intention to move with speed.

“As some of you would have seen in the settlement court order for the RRM contractor panel, we are required to have completed the appointments of RRM contractors by the end of November 2026 and, should it be required, we will go back to court to request some extensions,” the CEO said.

Last month, two matters application against the SANRAL panel for Category 2 engineering consultants was declared unlawful due to irregularities in the tender adjudication process.

The tender was aimed at establishing a panel of engineering consultants for periodic and special maintenance and strengthening projects.

Demana said there are currently no existing service providers for this work and, therefore, no extensions are required.

Recently, the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Pretoria, declared SANRAL’s decision to award routine road maintenance contracts to a panel of 20 companies unconstitutional and unlawful.

Two construction firms, BCB Solutions (Pty) Ltd and Botle Ba Afrika Roads (Pty) Ltd, successfully challenged SANRAL’s decision to award RRM contracts to a panel of 20 companies.

“We have learned some important lessons as SANRAL from the two panel litigation matters. Internally, we needed more time to prepare for this change in the core business operating model and to align our management processes and systems accordingly.

“Externally, we needed to understand the socio-economic impact on our service providers, some of whom may have been established mainly to service SANRAL, and how they will be impacted by not being in the panels for a five-year term,” the CEO said.

Regarding routine road maintenance contracts, Demana explained that SANRAL had previously managed this work through approximately 251 contractors.

Following a recommendation by Supply Chain Management (SCM), SANRAL decided to reduce the number of contractors to 20 on the basis that a smaller panel would be quicker and more efficient to procure and far less complicated to manage.

This was considered the most attractive part of the value proposition for introducing tender panels.

During the tender process, approximately 401 tenders were received, and 20 successful bidders were recommended.

Demana said the agency would now proceed with open tender processes while working to meet the timelines set out in the court orders. –SAnews.gov.za

 

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