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President Cyril Ramaphosa says eThekwini has moved from the brink of decline to early recovery but warned that stabilisation must now give way to structural economic reform if the metro is to achieve catalytic growth. 

Addressing stakeholders at the Presidential eThekwini Working Group meeting at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre on Tuesday, the President said tangible progress had been made over the past two years.

“When we first met in early 2024, we were navigating uncertainty. Confidence was fragile. Service delivery challenges were acute. Today, there are tangible signs that the decline has been arrested, that stability has taken root and that recovery is underway,” the President said. 

Business confidence at record high

Central to the President’s address was the sharp improvement in business sentiment, with the latest Durban Business Confidence Index recording its highest level since inception.

President Ramaphosa attributed the turnaround to stronger political leadership, improved administrative stability and coordination across all three spheres of government, supported by business and labour.

Tourism figures underscore the recovery. During the recent festive season, nearly 1.2 million visitors travelled to eThekwini. Occupancy rates climbed to 77%, while tourism spend reached R2.7 billion.

“Durban is once again a destination of choice,” the President said.

Manufacturing confidence also rose by nearly 16% quarter-on-quarter in a metro that hosts the country’s second-largest manufacturing sector and is intrinsically linked to the Port of Durban.

Infrastructure and water reforms underway

President Ramaphosa welcomed the municipality’s approval of a Partnerships Framework in September 2025, which creates a transparent system for public-private collaboration on infrastructure and catalytic projects.

He stressed that water security remains foundational to economic growth. Projects such as the Southern Aqueduct Upgrade are under construction, while bulk dam levels remain stable.

However, he acknowledged that challenges persist. Non-revenue water stands at 55% far above acceptable benchmarks, representing lost revenue and capacity.

“While we applaud this progress, stabilisation is not the same as transformation,” he cautioned.

Environmental management, roads and water services remain areas of concern, with two-thirds of surveyed business leaders still doubtful that service delivery complaints may not be resolved timeously.

Second phase to focus on economic growth

The President announced that the second phase of the Presidential eThekwini Working Group will pivot towards economic development and reform.

Through the Partnerships Framework, government aims to unlock infrastructure investment at scale, reduce red tape in development planning and reform cost structures that deter investors.

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition is expected to play a greater role in tackling illicit trade, dumping and industrial vulnerability.

Addressing derelict and hijacked buildings in the city centre will also be prioritised, with the President framing the issue as one of redevelopment and restoring dignity rather than enforcement alone.

To strengthen capacity, the National Business Initiative will support the establishment of an Independent Public-Private Partnership Office within the City Manager’s office.

From precipice to threshold

President Ramaphosa described the extension of the Working Group requested by social partners as both a vote of confidence and recognition that the recovery journey is not complete. 

“Two years ago, eThekwini stood at a precipice. Today, it stands at a threshold,” he said.

While green shoots are visible in tourism numbers, revenue performance and infrastructure upgrades, the President warned against complacency.

“We must not confuse early recovery with guaranteed success. The work ahead requires discipline. It requires courage. It requires partnership,” he said. 

He concluded by reiterating the goal of restoring eThekwini as a gateway to the continent and a beacon of resilience, partnership and shared prosperity. – SAnews.gov.za

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Africa stands at the centre of the global energy transition at a time when the global order faces evolution and recalibration.

This is according to Electricity and Energy Minister, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who addressed the Africa Energy Indaba, which kicked off at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Tuesday.

The Minister highlighted that the gathering comes at a “moment of profound historical consequence” with rising geopolitical tensions, intensifying conflicts around the world, and a global energy transition underway.

“The global order, as we have known it for decades, is not merely evolving; it is being recalibrated in real time.

“The energy system that fuelled successive industrial revolutions is undergoing structural transformation. Supply chains are being reorganised under the pressure of strategic rivalry.

“Industrial policy has returned as a central instrument of statecraft, with major economies deploying unprecedented subsidy regimes to secure supply chains, protect domestic manufacturing and reposition themselves within emerging clean technology value chains,” Ramokgopa said.

Africa, with its critical minerals, stands as a key actor in the global transition.

“Energy now sits at the epicentre of this global reordering. Energy has become the silent architecture of global power. In this reconfigured world, Africa is not a peripheral actor.  Africa is a structural anchor in the global transition.

“Without African platinum group metals, the hydrogen economy cannot achieve scale. Without African cobalt, manganese and copper, the battery revolution falters. Without African vanadium, long-duration storage remains constrained. Without African uranium, the renewed global interest in nuclear energy cannot advance at pace.

“The transition to net zero is materially dependent on Africa,” the minister stated.

Ramokgopa warned that “history urges vigilance” even as the new structural reality places the continent at the centre of “one of the most consequential economic transformations of our time”.

“Structural centrality does not automatically yield structural prosperity. For generations, Africa supplied the raw materials of industrial revolutions elsewhere, while value addition remained beyond our shores. We exported resources and imported finished goods. We bore environmental costs and absorbed volatility while others consolidated industrial advantage.

“Today, as industrial policy once again shapes global competition, Africa must define its own trajectory within this reconfiguration. We must ensure that the global transition does not replicate historical asymmetries under a new technological banner,” he emphasised.

The minister noted that while Africa’s mineral wealth “places us at the centre of the global transition”, minerals will not guarantee transformation.

“Beneficiation is not rhetoric; it is system design. A battery precursor facility cannot operate on an intermittent supply. Green steel production depends on stable hydrogen and firm baseload capacity. Electrolysers require grid resilience and advanced manufacturing demands quality, predictability and scale.

“Industrial transformation rests on the reliability, affordability and depth of our electricity systems. Minerals without energy do not become industry; industry without transmission does not become exports; exports without infrastructure do not become prosperity.

“If we are to move from quarry to factory, from pit to product, electricity becomes the decisive variable. Industrialising the minerals value chain requires industrialising the energy value chain itself. We must develop manufacturing capacity in transformers, conductors, cables, renewable components and storage systems,” he said.

He also called for investment in local engineering capabilities, technical training institutions and research partnerships that embed technological competence within Africa’s economies.

Energy infrastructure development is also key and must be seen as “industrial policy in action”.

“Each transmission line built, each substation expanded and each renewable facility commissioned should reinforce domestic capacity, skills transfer and enterprise development.

“Africa possesses unparalleled renewable potential, critical mineral wealth and a demographic dividend that positions it uniquely within the global energy transition. If aligned with integration, disciplined planning and fair financing, our continent can emerge not only as a supplier of materials, but as a producer of clean technologies, a centre of green industrialisation and a continent that defines its own developmental trajectory,” Ramokgopa added.

Bringing his address to a close, the minister issued a rallying call for Africa to move from rhetoric to reality.

“Let this Indaba serve as a platform where ambition is translated into execution, where continental priorities are structured into bankable pipelines and where Africa’s energy future is shaped with clarity and confidence.

“The African century will not be proclaimed; it will be constructed through planning, financed through discipline, wired through transmission, industrialised through policy and secured through unity.

“And it will be powered by us,” Ramokgopa concluded. – SAnews.gov.za

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Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela has appointed Dr Robert Nkuna as Administrator of the College of Cape Town,following what government described as disturbing evidence of governance failures at the institution.

The intervention follows the findings of a Stabilisation and Governance Support Team (SGST), which confirmed a widespread governance breakdown, procurement irregularities and a deteriorating institutional climate that was affecting teaching and learning.

Speaking at a media briefing in Pretoria on Tuesday, the Minister said the appointment forms part of decisive steps to restore stability, accountability, and proper governance at the college.

“In October 2025, following a parliamentary hearing at which the Portfolio Committee heard disturbing evidence of governance breakdown at the College, I exercised my powers as Minister, under section 46(1) of the Continuing Education and Training Act by establishing a Stabilisation and Governance Support Team (SGST),” Manamela said.

The SGST team was chaired by Advocate JB Skhosana SC and included Professor Busani Ngcaweni and Ms MJ Nkopane. The team was tasked with investigating allegations of maladministration, mediating internal conflicts and recommending measures to restore governance at the institution.

The team conducted extensive interviews and gathered evidence during October and November 2025. Its final report was submitted to the Minister on 5 February 2026 and was immediately shared with the College Council and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education.

According to the Minister, the report painted a concerning picture of institutional dysfunction.

“The report’s findings were sobering. It documented a collapse of governance oversight structures, irregular appointments and nepotism, and the Council’s decision to extend a security contract after a court had already declared it invalid,” Manamela said.

The report also highlighted financial challenges linked to procurement irregularities and found that the institutional environment had deteriorated to the extent that both staff and students were operating in a climate of fear.

It further concluded that teaching and learning activities were being compromised.

Following these developments, the College Principal, Dr Mhangarai Muswaba, was dismissed after an independent disciplinary process conducted through the General Public Service Sector Bargaining Council.

The SGST recommended that the Minister dissolve the College Council and appoint an administrator in terms of section 46(4) of the Continuing Education and Training Act.

Manamela said the appointment of Nkuna is aimed at stabilising the institution and restoring governance systems.

Nkuna is a senior public servant who previously served as Director-General, most recently in the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. He brings extensive experience in governance, strategic management, and public administration.

Under the terms of the appointment, Nkuna will assume all governance and management functions of the College Council, which is deemed to have resigned upon the appointment of an administrator.

“His priorities will be to stabilise operations immediately, commission a forensic audit, implement consequence management, rebuild governance structures and ensure that students can continue their studies without disruption,” Manamela explained.

Nkuna’s appointment will be for a period not exceeding two years. During this time, he will oversee the stabilisation of the institution and work towards the reconstitution of a new College Council capable of providing effective oversight.

The Minister thanked Advocate Skhosana and members of the SGST for their work, describing their investigation as diligent and professional.

Governance reform cannot be held hostage to litigation

Manamela acknowledged that some of the department’s governance interventions in the post-school education and training sector have attracted legal challenges.

However, he stressed that litigation would not derail reform efforts.

“Governance reform cannot be held hostage to litigation. We are confident of the legal basis of each intervention. The courts will decide, however administration continues.

“Where legal challenges have been brought against these decisions, we will defend them vigorously,” Manamela said. – SAnews.gov.za
 

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President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that eThekwini will be the venue for the 46th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to be held in August 2026. 

The President announced this when he delivered remarks at the unveiling of the statues of struggle stalwarts, former President Nelson Mandela and ANC leader Oliver Tambo in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal, on Tuesday. 

The President described the decision as a worthy recognition of the progress that has been made together with all social partners in restoring confidence in the city and encouragement to complete the work.

“We look forward, as the chair of SADC, to invite leaders from across the region to gather here in eThekwini – where the African Union was launched – to deliberate on issues that are critical to the growth and development of Southern Africa. This would be a fitting tribute to the legacy of Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo,” he said. 

The announcement comes as South Africa assumes the interim leadership of the regional bloc.

President Ramaphosa was elected interim Chairperson of SADC during a virtual Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government held on 7 November 2025.

The decision followed the Republic of Madagascar’s move to relinquish its role as SADC Chair due to recent political developments that affected its capacity to fulfil the responsibilities of the position.

In line with provisions of the SADC Treaty, South Africa, as Deputy Chair, has assumed interim leadership of the regional body until August 2026, when the Summit is expected to make a formal determination.

SADC leaders had originally appointed South Africa as the incoming 46th Chair during the 45th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Antananarivo, Madagascar, in August 2025. The Summit is the highest policy-making structure of the regional bloc.

Due to developments in Madagascar, however, South Africa has taken over earlier than anticipated and, as interim Chair, will host all SADC meetings from November 2025.

According to the Summit communiqué, South Africa will steer SADC under the theme adopted in August 2025: “Advancing Industrialisation, Agricultural Transformation, and Energy Transition for a Resilient SADC.”

The hosting of the 46th SADC Summit in eThekwini is therefore expected to cement South Africa’s leadership role within the bloc, while positioning the coastal city as a centre for regional diplomacy and economic cooperation in the year ahead. – SAnews.gov.za 

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President Cyril Ramaphosa has described the unveiling of the 10-meter-tall statues of struggle icons Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo in eThekwini as a powerful affirmation of South Africa’s democratic journey and a call to active citizenship. 

Former African National Congress (ANC) Leader Oliver Tambo’s statue was installed at Durban’s Beachfront, and former President Nelson Mandela’s stands at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. 

Speaking at the ceremony in KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday, the President said the monuments honour the two struggle icons for their contribution to freedom, social justice and the empowerment of South Africans.

“Monuments of this nature are important for preserving our history and heritage. They anchor the collective memory of a nation,” President Ramaphosa said.

The unveiling coincides with 30 years since the adoption of South Africa’s democratic Constitution. The President highlighted the historic role both leaders played in shaping the country’s constitutional democracy. 

It was Tambo, he noted, who initiated the drafting of the ANC’s Constitutional Principles while liberation movements were still banned and apartheid repression was at its height. A decade later, President Mandela signed the democratic Constitution into law.

“It is one of the great coincidences of our history that the two partners of Mandela and Tambo Attorneys were each to play such pivotal parts in the development and adoption of our democratic Constitution,” he said.

A shared legacy of justice

President Ramaphosa reflected on the partnership between Mandela and Tambo, founded on a shared commitment to justice. Through their law firm, they defended the rights of the poor and marginalised, and later, as leaders of the ANC and founders of Umkhonto we Sizwe, took up arms against apartheid. 

Even during nearly three decades of separation – Mandela imprisoned and Tambo in exile – both leaders remained committed to the same vision of a non-racial, democratic South Africa. 

The President said the statues are not merely artistic works but enduring reminders of the values the two leaders embodied: integrity, service, peace and unity.

“They remind us of what we value as a society,” he said, urging South Africans to reject racism, tribalism and sexism, and to continue building a country that belongs to all who live in it.

Call for peace and ethical leadership 

Describing Mandela and Tambo as men of peace, who sought dialogue over conflict, President Ramaphosa said they would have been deeply concerned by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and would have called for adherence to the United Nations Charter and an immediate ceasefire.

He also stressed the need for ethical and selfless leadership in contemporary South Africa.

“They would have joined us in calling for an immediate ceasefire and for the conflict to be resolved through meaningful and earnest negotiations.

“These are leaders that we need today. Leaders that will serve. Leaders that are selfless. Leaders that are honest and ethical,” he said.

Quoting the National Development Plan, the President emphasised that leadership applies in every sphere of life and that citizens should strive to follow the example set by the country’s liberation heroes.

Boost for tourism and regional diplomacy

President Ramaphosa said the statues are expected to enhance tourism in eThekwini, one of South Africa’s premier tourist destinations. He noted that more than 6.8 million people visited the city’s beaches and promenade over the festive season, with over 1.2 million bathers recorded at municipal swimming pools.

In a further boost for the city, the President announced that eThekwini will host the 46th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in August 2026.

As chair of the regional bloc, South Africa looks forward to welcoming leaders from across Southern Africa to deliberate on issues critical to the region’s growth and development, he said.

Preserving memory for future generations

President Ramaphosa recalled eThekwini’s historical significance in the lives of both leaders, including Mandela’s final night in the city before his arrest in 1962 and Tambo’s handover of the ANC presidency to Mandela at the organisation’s 48th National Conference in 1991.

“These statues are more than just art. They are promises – promises made by a free people to themselves that they will not forget what it cost to be free,” he said. 

By erecting the statues, the nation affirms its gratitude to Mandela, Tambo and their families for the sacrifices made in pursuit of freedom, the President added.

“It is said that a nation that forgets its past has no future. We choose to have a future by remembering our past,” the President concluded. – SAnews.gov.za 

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The Department of Water and Sanitation has reaffirmed that access to sufficient, safe and reliable water is a fundamental human right and a cornerstone for advancing dignity, gender equality and social justice.

The department’s remarks come as South Africa marks National Water Month in March, which coincides with Human Rights Month and International Women’s Day on 8 March.

The alignment of these commemorations, the department said, reinforces a rights-based approach to addressing the country’s water challenges and underscores government’s constitutional obligation to progressively realise the right to water for all.

“In communities without safe drinking water, inequalities disproportionately affect women and girls,” the department noted.

South Africa is currently facing water supply challenges in several regions due to systemic issues, including inadequate planning and investment, years of infrastructure neglect, rising water demand driven by economic and population growth, urbanisation and unsustainable practices. Pollution has further reduced the availability of usable water.

In response, President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared water supply challenges a national crisis. During the State of the Nation Address (SONA) in February 2026, the President announced a comprehensive national intervention, drawing on the successful multi-agency model applied to stabilise the energy sector.

“To centralise and accelerate recovery, government has established the National Water Crisis Committee, chaired by the President. This body will coordinate all state efforts to address the water crisis, drive the required reforms in the water sector, and deploy national resources and technical experts to struggling municipalities,” the department said. – SAnews.gov.za

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