MIL Africa Engine

Deputy Minister in the Presidency Kenny Morolong has called on South Africans to honour the country’s liberation history while continuing to work towards a better future.

Morolong officially launched the Milestones of Freedom campaign in Mpumalanga on Friday.

Speaking at the provincial launch in the Govan Mbeki Local Municipality in the Gert Sibande District, Morolong said the campaign was an opportunity to reflect on the country’s journey since the advent of democracy in 1994.

The campaign, launched nationally by President Cyril Ramaphosa in June, is being held under the theme, “Honouring the Past. Delivering the Future” and commemorates four significant milestones: 30 years since the adoption of the Constitution, 50 years since the 1976 youth uprising, 70 years since the 1956 Women’s March and 60 years since the forced removals from District Six. 

Morolong used the occasion to honour anti-apartheid activists, whose names and legacies are closely linked to Mpumalanga, including Gert Sibande, Nokuthula Simelane and Nomoya Christina Masilela.

He described Gert Sibande, known as the “Lion of the East”, as a grassroots leader, who fought for the rights of farm workers and African communities. Sibande was among 156 anti-apartheid leaders arrested and charged with treason in 1956.

Morolong also remembered Nokuthula Simelane, who was abducted, tortured and killed by members of the apartheid-era Security Branch in 1983 at the age of 23.

He called for truth, accountability and justice for those implicated in Simelane’s murder and other apartheid-era crimes. Morolong said the judicial commission of inquiry –established by President Ramaphosa to determine whether attempts were made to prevent the investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes — demonstrated government’s commitment to helping families who have waited years for justice.

Women and life in Mpumalanga 

The Deputy Minister also highlighted the role of women in the liberation struggle, honouring Nomoya Christina Masilela, who was killed by apartheid security forces in 1985. He said the Nomoya Masilela Museum and the Nomoya Masilela Cultural Precinct play an important role in preserving the history of the liberation struggle.

Morolong said the campaign would also provide an opportunity to reflect on progress made in Mpumalanga since 1994.

The Deputy Minister pointed to improvements in education and access to basic services, while acknowledging that significant challenges remain.

The 2025 General Household Survey showed that 91.3% of people aged five and older in Mpumalanga attended school. More than 80% of learners in Mpumalanga and several other provinces also benefited from school nutrition programmes at public schools.

However, Morolong said continued challenges, including electricity interruptions, reliance on traditional fuels, such as wood for cooking and gaps in access to services, showed that the work of transformation was not complete.

Land restitution 

Land restitution was another focus of the address, with Morolong linking the progress made since 1994 to the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the forced removals from District Six.

He said that by last year March, 83 205 land claims had been settled nationally, restoring 3.9 million hectares of land to dispossessed communities and individuals since 1995.

He also highlighted the recent handover of land and title deeds to the Mtshoeni/Mtsweni family in Mpumalanga. The family’s land claim involved 18 households and 86 beneficiaries, and covered more than 627 hectares.

The associated Communal Property Association is using the restored land for maize and soybean cultivation and livestock farming. Government has provided more than R16.5 million in post-settlement support for livestock farming, grain production and skills development.

Women’s Month

Morolong said such initiatives demonstrated that freedom should be reflected not only in symbolism, but also in restored land, dignity and economic opportunity.

The launch also took place during Women’s Month, with Morolong highlighting progress in women’s political representation and economic empowerment since 1994.

Women now make up approximately 43.5% of Members of Parliament, while women occupy the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. Of the 75 members of the Executive, 32 are women, including 14 Cabinet Ministers and 18 Deputy Ministers.

He also noted the appointment of Justice Mandisa Maya in 2024 as South Africa’s first female Chief Justice and government’s 40% public procurement target for women-owned businesses.

Despite these advances, Morolong said women continued to face poverty, unemployment, gender-based violence and femicide, unequal economic opportunities, limited land ownership, underrepresentation in leadership and the digital divide.

Education

The Deputy Minister further honoured the youth of 1976, saying their resistance helped expose the brutality of apartheid and inspired resistance across South Africa.

He highlighted improvements in education since 1994, including the rise in the matric pass rate from 58% in 1994 to 88% in 2025, the highest since the dawn of democracy.

Morolong said more than two-thirds of bachelor passes in 2025 were achieved by learners from previously disadvantaged schools. He also pointed to the expansion of access to higher education through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, which has funded more than five million students up to the 2025/26 financial year.

Reflections 

For Mpumalanga MEC for Transport Thulasizwe Thomo, said that the launch in Bethal provides a powerful setting for reflecting on the meaning of freedom. 

The town’s history brings together the struggles of farm workers, political activists and young people who stood against apartheid injustice.

“To speak about the liberation history of Mpumalanga without speaking about Bethal would therefore be to leave out an important part of the province’s contribution to the broader struggle for freedom in South Africa,” Thomo said.

Closing his address, Morolong said South Africa’s journey from apartheid to democracy had been long and difficult, but that the country’s transformation remained an ongoing process.

He urged South Africans to use the Milestones of Freedom Campaign to remember those who fought for democracy, recognise the progress made since 1994 and remain committed to delivering a future that benefits all citizens. – SAnews.gov.za

South Africa’s drive to build sustainable, inclusive and resilient human settlements has received a major boost with the launch of a dedicated UN-Habitat Country Office in the country.

Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane and UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach officially launched the office in the City of Tshwane, Gauteng, on Friday, marking a new chapter in the longstanding partnership between South Africa and the United Nations agency.

Simelane described the establishment of the country office as a significant step towards strengthening efforts to transform human settlements, upgrade informal settlements and advance sustainable urbanisation.

She said the office would help integrate sustainable urbanisation and human settlements development into the broader United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, while providing additional support to South Africa’s national priorities.

Through its collaboration with UN-Habitat, South Africa has gained international recognition for its efforts to provide adequate housing and upgrade informal settlements.

“With the unwavering support of UN-Habitat, our country stands as a vocal champion for the transformation and upgrading of informal settlements, addressing poverty, ensuring adequate shelter, and delivering essential services to our people,” Simelane said.

Established in 1975, UN-Habitat supports transformative change in cities and human settlements around the world through knowledge sharing, policy advice, technical assistance and collaborative action.

Simelane said the UN-Habitat Country Programme for South Africa, adopted in September 2023 following extensive consultations with stakeholders in the human settlements sector, is aligned with the country’s national priorities and government’s constitutional mandate to provide adequate housing.

The programme is aligned with the National Development Plan, particularly Chapter 8 on transforming human settlements and Chapter 12 on building safer communities.

It also supports the Medium-Term Development Plan 2024-2029, particularly Priority 2, which focuses on reducing poverty and tackling the high cost of living.

“The Country Programme offers additional impetus, guidance, and support from UN-Habitat to augment the implementation of policies and initiatives related to spatial integration, the development of sustainable, inclusive, and resilient human settlements, and capacity-building within local government,” Simelane said.

She said the programme further supports the Comprehensive Plan for the Creation of Sustainable Human Settlements, which seeks to provide adequate living environments and shelter for all through the transformation of informal settlements and improvement of substandard housing conditions.

Strengthening regional cooperation

Beyond supporting South Africa’s domestic human settlements agenda, Simelane said the partnership with UN-Habitat could help strengthen the continent’s urban development agenda and contribute to the implementation of Agenda 2063 – The Africa We Want.

“It serves as a springboard for establishing a Southern African Development Community (SADC) consolidated agenda on human settlements, thereby filling a critical gap in current SADC regional development programmes,” she said.

The launch builds on several years of cooperation between South Africa and UN-Habitat.

In October 2022, the then Human Settlements Minister hosted former UN-Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif. The visit resulted in the adoption of the Global Action Plan on Accelerating the Transformation of Informal Settlements and Slums.

The two sides also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen cooperation on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the New Urban Agenda in South Africa.

Discussions during the visit included plans to establish a dedicated UN-Habitat Country Office.

Simelane said the newly launched office would now provide a stronger platform for collaboration between government, UN-Habitat, other United Nations agencies, development partners and stakeholders across the human settlements sector.

The Country Programme seeks to:

• Strengthen collaboration between government, UN-Habitat, UN agencies, development partners and other human settlements stakeholders;
• Promote integrated and cross-sectoral urban interventions that accelerate progress towards national and global development goals;
• Capture lessons and global best practices to inform new partnerships and programmes;
• Identify contextual challenges and opportunities and develop catalytic solutions rooted in international experience and local realities, and
• Strengthen the capacity of national and subnational institutions to improve urban management and development.

Simelane called on all stakeholders to use the new platform to deepen their commitment to creating human settlements where communities can live safely, inclusively and with dignity.

“Let us reaffirm our collective commitment to the vision of sustainable, inclusive, prosperous human settlements and leave no one behind,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for greater investment in young people, women, health and social development as Southern Africa works towards the realisation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Vision 2050.

Addressing a Public Lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Westville Campus, on Friday, President Ramaphosa said the region’s young and growing population represents its greatest strategic asset, but warned that this potential would only become a demographic dividend through deliberate and sustained investment.

More than half of SADC’s population is under the age of 30, making the creation of economic opportunities for young people essential to the region’s stability, cohesion and long-term development.

“Our population is young and growing. More than half the people of this Community are under the age of 30. This is our greatest strategic asset. It is the engine of our region’s future,” President Ramaphosa said.

The President said youth unemployment remains one of the most serious threats facing countries in the region and one of the biggest obstacles to the attainment of Vision 2050.

“Youth unemployment is one of the gravest threats to the stability, cohesion and progress of every country in our Community, and it is one of the foremost obstacles to the realisation of Vision 2050,” he said.

He said young people across the region are acquiring qualifications but are struggling to find employment, underscoring the need to link education and skills development to economic opportunities. 

“Across this region are young people who did everything that was asked of them. They stayed in school. They passed. They borrowed money to study. Many graduated, but now too many young people sit at home with a qualification and no employment,” President Ramaphosa said. 

He said schools, universities, technical and vocational colleges and research institutions had a critical role to play in developing the skills required for the future economy.

Investing from early childhood

President Ramaphosa said investment in human capital needs to begin well before young people entered tertiary education or the workplace.

He warned that childhood deprivation, particularly stunting, could have lifelong consequences.

“A child whose growth is stunted carries that loss for a lifetime. No university can adequately undo it. No industrial policy can properly compensate for it,” he said.

Under the Human and Social Capital Development pillar of Vision 2050, he called for greater investment in maternal health, early nutrition and basic services.

“We must ensure that all children have food, water and shelter, that they are kept safe and that their development needs are met,” he said.

President Ramaphosa said the region also needed to invest in digital literacy and health services for adolescents, while addressing barriers including child marriage, teenage pregnancy and the digital divide affecting young people in rural areas.

“Each of the barriers we remove adds to the productive capacity of our economies,” he said.

Regional health security

President Ramaphosa said Vision 2050 could not be achieved without a healthy population and called for a harmonised regional health system.

“We seek a harmonised regional health system, in which the standard of care a person receives does not depend on which side of a border they happen to live,” he said.

He expressed concern over the continued burden of maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent deaths in the region, many of which he said were preventable.

The President also called for SADC Member States to strengthen health financing, including through the commitments made under the Abuja Declaration to allocate at least 15 percent of national budgets to healthcare.

“The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that no one is safe until everyone is safe. It taught us that disease does not respect borders.

“As a region, we must engage robustly – with one voice – in the reform of the global health architecture.”

He said the withdrawal of official development assistance has also highlighted the need for greater health security and sovereignty within the region.

Women’s economic participation and safety

President Ramaphosa said meaningful regional integration would not be possible without the full participation of women.

“Vision 2050 makes the fundamental point that there can be no meaningful regional integration if it leaves out half of our people,” he said.

He highlighted barriers that continue to affect women entrepreneurs, including limited access to productive assets, finance, markets and procurement opportunities.

President Ramaphosa also placed gender-based violence and femicide among the challenges that must be confronted if the region is to achieve equality.

“Yet there can be no equality between women and men for as long as women are not safe,” he said.

He called for a comprehensive regional response, including stronger laws, improved prosecutions, support for survivors and economic empowerment of women.

He said prevention must also focus on men and boys.

“As a Community, we must be clear that prevention does not begin with women.

“It begins with the men and the boys in our homes, our schools, our churches, our workplaces and our taverns, who must be raised to reject violence and abuse,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said.

Migration and regional solidarity 

President Ramaphosa also addressed migration and discrimination against nationals from other SADC countries, warning that exclusion was incompatible with the principles of regional integration.

“We cannot preach integration at summits and practise exclusion in our streets,” he said.

He expressed concern about the discrimination and ill-treatment of foreign nationals in South Africa and said the region needed to confront the conditions that drive migration.

“We seek a region where people move out of choice, not out of desperation,” President Ramaphosa said.

He called for greater cooperation in addressing conflict, instability, governance failures, poverty and social discord, alongside efforts to create equal economic opportunities and inclusive governance institutions. 

Peace remains fundamental

President Ramaphosa said none of the region’s development ambitions could be achieved without peace and stability.

“None of what we seek for our region is achievable without peace. Investment does not flow where there is conflict. People’s basic social needs cannot be provided for in a war zone. An economic corridor cannot operate where territory is contested,” he said.

He described the situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as the “gravest test” of the region’s collective resolve, noting the displacement of millions of people and the deployment of SADC soldiers in support of peace and stability.

He also welcomed progress in Mozambique’s Inclusive National Dialogue and referred to SADC’s efforts to support processes in Madagascar.

“Our task is not to prescribe outcomes to the people of any Member State. It is to hold open the space within which they may determine their own,” he said.

Climate resilience

The President said climate change presented another major challenge to the attainment of Vision 2050, with the region increasingly experiencing droughts, cyclones and floods.

He warned that climate shocks could result in reduced harvests, lower exports, pressure on currencies, higher living costs and increased hunger.

“Resilience must therefore be built into our every endeavour,” he said.

President Ramaphosa called for the strengthening of the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre so that the region could respond more rapidly to disasters.

“We must act before a disaster strikes, rather than scramble for assistance after it,” he said.

He also called for a common regional position on loss and damage and greater coordination in international climate negotiations.

‘Vision 2050 is yours’

President Ramaphosa concluded by placing the responsibility for the region’s future firmly in the hands of its young people.

He returned to the vision of Pixley ka Isaka Seme, whose 1906 speech, The Regeneration of Africa, imagined a continent transformed through education, science, commerce and human development.

President Ramaphosa said the “brighter day” imagined by Seme should now be understood in practical terms, including regional manufacturing, integrated infrastructure, youth entrepreneurship and opportunities for every child.

“There are many students in this hall today.

“The Southern Africa of 2050 we have described will not be run by those of us who will take our seats at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in the coming days.

“It will be run by you, the youth of our region,” he said.

President Ramaphosa told young people that Vision 2050 belonged to them and that they had the right to hold current leaders accountable for its implementation.

“Vision 2050 is not our document. It is yours, and you are entitled to demand an account of what we did with it,” he said.

He said the renewal of Africa was no longer simply an aspiration, but a programme of work with actions, responsibilities and deadlines.

“The renewal of our continent is achievable. The realisation of our vision for Southern Africa is within our means,” the President said. – SAnews.gov.za

Laboratory sequencing has confirmed the presence of pilchard herpesvirus (PHV) genetic material in sampled sardines, as investigations continue into the cause of recent sardine mortalities along South Africa’s West Coast.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) said PHV was detected in both dead sardines and, at lower levels, in some apparently healthy sardines collected from the West Coast.

The department said the findings suggest that the presence of the virus alone may not be sufficient to cause mass mortality.

“Scientists are therefore also investigating whether an environmental stressor, such as harmful algae, low oxygen or unusual oceanographic conditions, may have triggered or intensified the event. This remains a hypothesis requiring further evidence,” the department said.

The department noted that tests for toxins in sardines collected off Saldanha Bay, the Cape Canyon and Gansbaai, as well as an apparently healthy comparison sample from St Helena Bay, found none of the paralytic toxins associated with a harmful algal bloom in Saldanha Bay.

“Two other algal toxins, domoic acid and yessotoxin, were detected at low levels, with the highest levels found in the apparently healthy comparison sample. No other toxins included in the screening were detected.

“These findings suggest that the toxins tested for were unlikely to have been the primary cause of the sardine deaths. However, they do not entirely rule out harmful algae or environmental conditions as factors that may have placed additional stress on the fish.”

Task team 
The department has convened an urgent briefing with small pelagic fishing industry stakeholders and will establish a task team comprising the department, the fishing industry and other relevant stakeholders.

The task team will urgently formulate a high-level, coordinated response plan to address PHV-associated sardine mortality in South African waters.

“Through a coordinated inter-agency effort, the department is expanding disease surveillance along the West, South and East coasts, while further disease, pathology and environmental investigations continue. The department’s routine October/November hydroacoustic biomass survey will be the first opportunity to assess the possible effect on the sardine population,” it said.

The department said PHV has not previously been reported in South African sardines, and the virus was associated with two large-scale sardine mortality events in Australasia during the 1990s.

However, the virus was subsequently detected in apparently healthy Australian sardine populations without causing continuous mortality. PHV is a virus associated with sardines, also known as pilchards, and there is no evidence that it infects people or other animals.

No general fishing suspension
The department said the detection of PHV alone does not indicate that healthy sardines caught commercially or canned sardine products are unsafe.

“The finding does not currently justify a general suspension of fishing or canning. The biotoxin results are also reassuring, although they do not constitute a general clearance of all commercial catches.

“Monitoring and normal food-safety controls should therefore continue. Members of the public should not collect or consume dead or dying fish. They should also not feed dead or dying fish to pets,” it said.

READ | Sardine deaths ease as investigation continues

The DFFE  said it will provide further information as additional results from the ongoing investigations become available. – SAnews.gov.za
 

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member States to use the region’s abundant mineral, agricultural, energy and human resources to drive its own industrial revolution and reduce dependence on external markets.

Addressing a Public Lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Westville Campus, on Friday, President Ramaphosa said SADC has the resources, markets and institutions needed to build a prosperous and industrialised region but needs to work with greater urgency to turn this potential into reality.

The Public Lecture, held on the eve of the 46th SADC Summit in Durban, was convened under the theme: “Translating SADC Vision 2050 into Action: Pathways Towards Solidarity, Equality and Shared Prosperity.”

President Ramaphosa said the region’s continued reliance on external markets has exposed its economies to global disruptions and undermined its ability to realise the full benefits of its resources.

“Trade among SADC states stands at just under a quarter of our combined total trade. And yet together, we have the means to produce all the goods and services that we need. Together, as a community, we have all the energy sources we need. We have the land and the means to produce all the food we need.

“Together, we have the mineral resources we need. We have the technology and know-how to turn these resources into the manufactured goods that our people use. We have the financial institutions, the funding instruments and the markets to finance our industries and to build the infrastructure we need.

“And yet we look beyond our shores to supply our people,” the President said.

The region’s colonial-era infrastructure and economic systems had contributed to this dependence, with railways historically designed to transport raw materials to ports rather than connect African economies.

He said the current global economic environment has made the need for greater regional self-reliance even more urgent, with conflicts and disruptions far beyond the region affecting shipping, agricultural markets, fertiliser supplies, grain prices and the cost of living.

“These global developments teach us that access to a distant market, however valuable, is a borrowed advantage. This access may be extended, and it may be withdrawn. Decisions are often taken in capitals far away, where our businesses have no say, and our workers have no vote.”

He added that a regional market is advantageous and that “others cannot take it away from us.” In addition, the welfare, sovereignty and security of SADC countries require the region to build a more integrated market in which the benefits of trade are evenly distributed.

He also called for the development of an industrial model suited to the region’s own circumstances.

“This region holds a substantial share of the world’s critical mineral resources. Many of the materials upon which the energy transition of the entire planet depends lie beneath our soil.

“We supply an industrial revolution taking place somewhere else, and we then purchase its products at a price set by others. We need to use our own resources to drive our own industrial revolution.”

He said the region’s ambition should not simply be to catch up with other economies, but to build an economy suited to its own resources and circumstances.

Turning commitments into investment 
President Ramaphosa called for the removal of non-tariff barriers, harmonisation of standards and more efficient border processes to support regional trade.

“Suppliers should no longer have to wait months for a licence. Goods should no longer have to be inspected on one side of the border and then again on the other. Standards should be harmonised, transparent and applied consistently.”

He also called for the commitments made through the SADC Industrialisation Week to be translated into investment in local processing of critical minerals and agricultural products.

“We must turn that commitment into refining and smelting capacity. We must turn our intentions into investments – investments in regional electricity generation and transmission, investments in cross-border water schemes.”

He further called for investment in roads, rail lines and ports so that processed minerals and manufactured goods can be moved around the region. He added that the SADC Regional Development Fund should be used to mobilise resources for industrialisation and infrastructure.

He further warned that the region is losing significant resources through illicit financial flows, including transfer mispricing, under-declared exports and smuggling.

Regional industrialisation
President Ramaphosa identified pharmaceuticals, automotive manufacturing, agro-processing, paper and pulp, furniture, innovation and semiconductor value chains as areas with potential to drive regional industrialisation.

He placed particular emphasis on pharmaceuticals and called for greater health sovereignty.

“We can no longer accept that we import almost everything that heals us. Our answer must be health sovereignty, pursued in line with the Lusaka Agenda on global health initiatives,” he said.

He welcomed the establishment of a SADC pooled procurement mechanism, saying joint purchasing could provide manufacturers with the market certainty required to invest in production capacity within the region.

“When we purchase together, we create the market certainty that manufacturers in our region need before they will invest. That certainty does two things at once. It secures equitable access to medicines and health commodities for our people. And it creates jobs, cultivates expertise and stimulates industrial activity here at home,” he said.

President Ramaphosa also called for integrated infrastructure, with regional transport corridors such as the Maputo, North-South, Trans-Kalahari, Beira and Lobito corridors serving as broader platforms for trade, investment and industrial development.
“These corridors must carry power, data and people,” he said.

On energy, he highlighted planned interconnectors and greater power trading through the Southern African Power Pool, as well as the expansion of electricity access through mini-grids and off-grid solutions.

He also called for investment in renewable energy, green hydrogen and battery storage.

Digital economy, agriculture
President Ramaphosa warned that SADC could reproduce old patterns of economic dependency in the digital economy if it continued to export data and import processed intelligence.

He called for greater investment in computing capacity, connectivity and skills, among others.

“If we are serious about industrialisation, we cannot stop at refineries and smelters. We need to develop the computing capacity, connectivity and appropriate skills to ensure that the value of our data is extracted here at source,” he said.

He also called for the modernisation of agriculture, including investment in irrigation, climate-resilient seeds, veterinary science and agro-processing. This, he said, can create employment in small towns and villages.

President Ramaphosa said small and medium-sized enterprises would be central to the region’s industrial transformation, particularly in creating opportunities for women and young people.

“Southern Africa’s industrial revolution will ultimately not be driven by the large conglomerates listed on stock exchanges, but by the tens of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses that bring innovation, agility and competitiveness to the economy,” he said.

President Ramaphosa said the transformation envisaged under Vision 2050 requires the region to move beyond exporting raw materials and become a producer of higher-value goods and services. – SAnews.gov.za