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Ramaphosa welcomes EU's investment in South Africa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed a Team Europe investment package worth nearly €12-billion, announced at the Global Gateway Forum, in Brussels, Belgium, last week.

This package builds on the €4.7-billion package announced at the EU-South Africa Summit in March, as previously reported by Engineering News.

"This innovative partnership focuses on priorities that South Africa has set for itself as it strives to improve the lives of its people. These priorities include investment, the clean energy transition, skills and technology, connectivity and developing strategic industries. Importantly, the partnership will contribute to the work being done to create jobs," the President writes in his latest weekly letter.

He points out that the investment package covers areas such as critical minerals, e-battery development, green hydrogen, renewable energy and vaccines.

"This will lead to the creation of a number of jobs, skills development and transfer of technology," Ramaphosa posits.

He adds that the investments will support the effort to "build the economy of the future in the South Africa of the present", and will help to accelerate the country's transition to a low-carbon economy that is "just and inclusive".

The package aims to mobilise financing to invest in local processing and refining of minerals that are critical to the energy transition. It includes investments in projects to produce green hydrogen and derivatives to position the country as a leading producer for the local economy and for export, Ramaphosa outlines.

The investments are also expected to accelerate large-scale solar and wind power projects, while boosting energy efficiency in industry, housing and public services, he adds.

"These measures will reduce reliance on coal, lower costs and improve energy security for households and businesses.

"As a country, we have always insisted that our energy transition must be just and inclusive, and that we must take deliberate measures to protect workers, communities and businesses that would be affected.

"That is why part of the investment package is dedicated to re-skill, train and provide entrepreneurship opportunities. It will also be used to expand access to clean water, waste management and energy efficient public services," Ramaphosa emphasises.

The investment package will also support the work that South Africa is undertaking to develop its rail, road and ports infrastructure, logistics and digital connectivity, he highlights.

These investments are also expected to support the local manufacturing of pharmaceuticals through partnerships with regulatory authorities, as well as innovative research projects, training and capacity building on biotechnology and pharmaceutical infrastructure.

Ramaphosa avers that this investment package is being announced against the backdrop of the progress being made in addressing some of the critical impediments to inclusive economic growth, including energy supply constraints and port inefficiencies, and with investments being made in infrastructure, and regulations being streamlined.

"The EU investment takes place in the context of a more volatile global environment. There is a significant realignment of trade and investment between countries. In addition, rapid advances in technology and the escalating climate crisis are contributing to greater uncertainty," Ramaphosa notes.

South Africa investigates how it made a part for Russian drones

South African authorities said they are investigating how electronic equipment made in the country ended up in Russian drones used to attack Ukraine.

The part in question is a laser range finder made by Lightware Optoelectronics, which is based on the outskirts of Pretoria. It can be used to measure distances and trigger detonation, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukraine's special envoy for sanctions, said in a social media post.

It's unclear how Russia obtained the equipment, which isn't designed for military use, Lightware said in a response to questions this week. It blamed "unscrupulous" purchasers. The range finder was named among components that Ukraine's intelligence services said on their Telegram channel were discovered in Russian drones.

Under South African law a company is prohibited from exporting arms to a country engaged in active conflict without the permission of the government's National Conventional Arms Control Committee, or NCACC.

"The entity in question is not registered to trade with munitions and dual-use goods and technologies," Sipho Mashaba, the acting director for conventional arms control at the NCACC, said in an emailed response to questions. "This matter will be referred to the inspectors who will visit the premises of the entity to establish the scope of their business as well as the application."

The technology built into Lightware's sensors is used in driverless cars and in applications ranging from monitoring ore movements at mines to counting endangered wildlife. The company has reduced the size and weight of the sensors, making it easier to deploy in drones.

The sensor was found in a Russian Garpiya-A1 drone, a long-range so-called suicide drone that explodes when it reaches its target, Vlasiuk said this week.

Lightware said there was no need to seek export permits because the equipment is only for civilian use. "We do not fall under the ambit of the NCACC," Nadia Nilsen, the company's chief executive officer, said by email. "It appears an unscrupulous operator, without our knowledge, purchased our sensors elsewhere and used them unlawfully in Russia."

Following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia sought to ramp up drone production. Documents seen by Bloomberg earlier this year detailed how Moscow used ties with Beijing, for example, to skirt sanctions and gather the know-how and capability to build more of them. Russia has increased its aerial drone barrages in recent months.

President Cyril Ramaphosa led an African effort to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and continues to push for a settlement. South Africa is also trying to repair strained relations with the US after the Trump administration criticised the country's relations with Moscow and Tehran.

In February 2023, the US was angered by South Africa holding military exercises with the Russian navy. A few months later, Reuben Brigety, then US ambassador to South Africa, accused the country of shipping arms to Russia. South Africa carried out a judicial probe that found no evidence to substantiate Brigety's claims.

After Trump earlier this year falsely accused South Africa of perpetrating a genocide against White people, the US imposed 30% trade tariffs on many imports, the highest for any sub-Saharan African nation, slashed aid and some of its officials boycotted Group of 20 meetings hosted by the nation.

With the discovery of the drone part, "certain people are going to jump up and down," said Helmoed-Roemer Heitman, a Cape Town-based military analyst. "It is embarrassing. It's a murky sort of area."

South Africa's government communications department didn't respond to a request for comment.

In his post on X in August, Ukrainian envoy Vlasiuk described the range finder as being an SF-20/B, a model that Lightware CEO Nilsen said was discontinued in 2020. On Telegram, the intelligence service listed it as an SF-20 range finder. Lightware sel...

DA calls for prosecutions following asset seizure in Tembisa Hospital case

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has welcomed the seizure of luxury vehicles and other assets from businessman Hangwani Maumela, one of the central figures in the R2-billion Tembisa Hospital corruption case, and the party is calling for urgency relating to arrests and convictions by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) raided Maumela's home in Sandton in connection with corruption at Tembisa Hospital.

In its interim report last month, the SIU revealed that syndicates, including the Maumela Syndicate, linked to Maumela, who is the nephew of President Cyril Ramaphosa, through a previous marriage, were responsible for looting over R2-billion from hospital coffers.

DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC Dr Jack Bloom said while the SIU deserved credit for the progress made, its findings were only an interim report.

"The final report will only be completed next year, and we know from experience that the NPA is far too slow when it comes to acting on such findings. The NPA must move faster. The evidence is already clear. It's time for prosecutions," he stated.

He said while asset seizures were a "good and necessary" step by the SIU, it could not stop here.

"South Africans want to see arrests, charges, and convictions. We need the masterminds of this looting in court, not just their cars being loaded onto trucks.

"We cannot afford another Life Esidimeni situation, where nine years later not a single person has been charged. The same culture of delay and impunity must not take hold here. The theft at Tembisa Hospital cost lives and crippled basic healthcare. Those responsible must be held to account," he said.

Bloom said the next step must ensure stolen funds were recovered and returned to the Gauteng Health Department.

The party vowed to keep pressure on the case until justice was done for Babita Deokaran, the whistleblower who was murdered after reporting corruption at the Gauteng Department of Health.

South Africa is on track to meet key fiscal targets, Treasury head says

South Africa is on track to meet its two main fiscal targets this year, stabilising its public debt and increasing the size of its primary budget surplus, the head of the National Treasury told Reuters.

"We are in a period of fairly healthy budget dynamics," Director-General Duncan Pieterse said in an interview. "Our expectation is that we will meet our primary balance target and we will meet our debt-to-GDP target."

Africa's biggest economy has struggled to curb rising public debt after more than a decade of runaway spending that outpaced revenue growth.

But this year the fiscal picture looks much better, with Treasury data for the first five months of the 2025/26 financial year showing revenue is up more than 10% and spending only about 4%.

Pieterse said spending had slowed in part because of the protracted approval of this year's main budget, which was held up for months by political wrangling between the two main coalition partners, the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance.

"There was a little bit of uncertainty at the beginning of the year because we were still busy finalising the budget and our sense is that uncertainty has found its way through into spending," said Pieterse.

Mkhwanazi's call for State Security Agency to investigate journalists condemned

Civil society organisation the Campaign for Free Expression wants the Parliamentary ad-hoc committee investigating allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi to ensure that the platform is not used to make "unverified smears".

This after Mkhwanazi, during his testimony before the committee, called for journalists to be investigated by the State Security Agency and even face imprisonment for misinformation.

Campaign for Free Expression executive director Nicole Fritz said Mkhwanazi's accusations against members of the media were particularly sinister, pointing out that his remarks were made without any substantiation.

"…such exhortations do not merely impugn reputations; they place journalists in real danger and threaten those who might approach them with vital disclosures about wrongdoing," she said.

Fritz added that credible and verified journalism was indispensable.

"Journalists, often operating under threat, have provided the public with critical insight into the activities of the security and justice sectors. It is essential that they be able to continue to do so," she said.

Threats and insinuations made against journalists from Parliament disable accountability, she warned.

She said while Mkhwanazi was allowed to set out his claims, Parliament must engage and interrogate them seriously.

Campaign for Free Expression wants the South African Police Service to reject any suggestion that counter-intelligence operations be conducted against journalists or news organisations.

"This is not to suggest that journalists are beyond criticism. They can and do err - as we saw during State capture. And yet without the media, the full predations of the State's capture would never have been exposed. But accusations of misconduct require evidence, not insinuation. Without substantiation, they serve only to erode public trust, chill whistleblowing, and embolden those who profit from secrecy," Fritz argued.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) laid its support for press self-regulation, and it condemned any attempt by the State or government officials to suppress media freedom and accountability in the country as "unconstitutional and undemocratic".

DA national spokesperson Willie Aucamp pointed out that media freedom was a cornerstone of South Africa's democracy and said any attempts by the State to intimidate, silence, or criminalise journalists, attacked the principles that support a free society.

He pointed out that journalists had been at the forefront in uncovering the looting of public funds, as in the Tembisa Hospital scandal, as well as exposing municipal failures.

"South Africa's journalists and media houses must continue to safeguard their credibility through accuracy, fairness, and ethical integrity, as well as recourse through the press council," he said.

Nathi Mthethwa to receive State funeral

Late Ambassador to France Nkosinathi "Nathi" Mthethwa will be given a Special Official Funeral Category 2 at KwaMbonambi in KwaZulu-Natal, on Sunday.

The Official Funeral Category 2 declared by President Cyril Ramaphosa will entail ceremonial elements performed by the South African Police Service.

Lat week, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola confirmed Mthethwa's passing, highlighting that the circumstances of Mthethwa's death were under investigation by the French authorities.

French media reports said Mthethwa was found dead at the foot of the Hyatt Regency hotel, a high-rise tower in Porte Maillot in the west of Paris.

This after he was allegedly reported missing by his wife Philisiwe Buthelezi.

Ramaphosa has also directed that the National Flag be flown half-mast from Thursday morning until the evening of the funeral on Sunday.

Mthethwa was appointed as Ambassador to France in December 2023, after serving in Cabinet for 15 years in the portfolios of Sport, Arts and Culture; Arts and Culture; Police, and Safety and Security.

Ramaphosa reiterated his condolences to Mthethwa's wife, and the extended Mthethwa and Buthelezi families, and said the nation appreciated the diverse roles in which Mthethwa served the country.

South Africa books 'big wins' on lower inflation, Kganyago says

South African central bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said lower inflation has delivered "big wins" by reducing government borrowing costs, vindicating his decision to anchor the rate at the bottom of the bank's 3% to 6% target range.

"There are benefits to having a low inflation economy," he told a parliamentary hearing in Cape Town on Thursday, noting prices double every 12 years when inflation averages 6%, but only every 24 years when it averages 3% - urging lawmakers to "make your pick."

Yields on South Africa's 10-year bond have fallen to around 9.1% from more than 11% in April, as price pressures eased below 3%. The decline accelerated after Kganyago's July 31 announcement that the central bank prefers inflation to settle at 3%.

"Inflation is relatively contained, remaining close to our target" although near-term overshoots "are expected, but are deemed to be temporary," he said. "Indications from the agricultural sector point to food inflation declining going forward."

While Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has not formally ratified the new anchor, the National Treasury and the central bank signalled in September that technical work to review the 3%-to-6% target band, which has been in place since 2000, is nearing an end.

They said in a joint statement that Godongwana will make an announcement as soon as is practical to anchor expectations.

"Sustained low inflation brings about lower and stable interest rates, which is good for investment, employment and growth," Kganyago told the hearing.

ActionSA rejects further ZEP extension

ActionSA has rejected further extended validity of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permits, saying this represents yet another act of "indecision and weakness" by a government that continues to avoid confronting South Africa's immigration crisis head-on.

Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber extended the ZEP until May 28, 2027.

He noted that pending the conclusion of consultations, existing ZEPs shall be deemed to remain valid for an additional 18 months after the current expiry date of 28 November 2025.

He further highlighted that no holder of the exemption may be arrested, ordered to depart or be detained for purposes of deportation or deported in terms of Section 34 of the Immigration Act for any reason related to him or her not having any valid exemption certificate.

Schreiber said the holder of an exemption certificate may be allowed to enter into or depart from the Republic of South Africa in terms of Section 9 of the Immigration Act, read together with the Immigration Regulations, 2014, provided that he or she complied with all other requirements for entry into and departure from the Republic, save for the reason of not having a valid visa endorsed in his or her passport;

He explained that no ZEP holder should be required to produce a valid exemption certificate, visa or an authorisation letter to remain in the country as contemplated in Section 32(1) of the Immigration Act when making an application for any category of the visa for temporary sojourn in the country as contemplated in Section 10(2) of the Immigration Act.

ActionSA wants Schreiber to publish a comprehensive and time-bound transition plan that sets firm deadlines for the conclusion of consultations and implementation of immigration reforms.

"Every further delay deepens social tensions, weakens accountability, and tells law-abiding South Africans that their government lacks the political courage to lead," said ActionSA Parliamentary Chief Whip Lerato Ngobeni.

Ngobeni said while the party supported a humane and orderly approach to immigration, it rejected the ongoing pattern of temporary measures that erode public confidence, undermine border integrity, and perpetuate inequality between citizens and foreign nationals.

Schreiber said the Immigration Advisory Board appointed in April, had met on several occasions and deliberated amongst themselves on the immediate future and a long-term solution for holders of ZEP permits.

He explained that critical stakeholders would need to be part of a consultation process.

Ngobeni said South Africa did not need endless extensions.

"We need decisive leadership, firm timelines, and an unwavering commitment to the rule of law.

"The Minister's excuse of "ongoing consultations" with the Immigration Advisory Board offers no comfort to South Africans who have waited years for decisive action. There is still no clear, time-bound plan to resolve this long-standing issue, leaving our borders porous and our immigration system in disarray," she said.

The party have called on Schreiber to strengthen the Border Management Authority and internal enforcement capacity to decisively curb illegal immigration and restore the integrity of the country's immigration laws by ending this cycle of indefinite extensions.

Ramaphosa appoints panel to select next NDPP

Ahead of the end of National Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Shamila Batohi's term of office, President Cyril Ramaphosa has established a panel for the selection of the next NDPP, appointing Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi as chairperson.

Batohi will be required to vacate her office in January 2026, as she reaches the age of 65.

Ramaphosa said the next NDPP must be identified through an open and transparent process that reflects the importance of this vital position in the country's democracy.

The panel will comprise the chairpersons of the South African Human Rights Commission, the Commission for Gender Equality, the Auditor-General South Africa, and the Public Service Commission; as well as a representative of both the Black Lawyers Association and the National Association of Democratic Lawyers.

Ramaphosa assured that the process of appointing the next NDPP would be the same open and transparent process that led to the appointment of Batohi.

Ramaphosa's spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said Ramaphosa considered the NDPP a vital position in the country's democracy that made an essential contribution to upholding the rule of law and ensuring the efficiency and integrity of law enforcement.

"The NDPP must ensure that the National Prosecuting Authority exercises its functions without fear, favour or prejudice and should not be beholden to any vested interests, whether in politics, in business or elsewhere," he explained.

Ramaphosa highlighted that the NDPP needed to be able to take decisions independently and impartially.

Magwenya said for this reason, Ramaphosa had mandated the panel to call for nominations in an open and transparent manner, conduct shortlisting and interviews, ensure vetting of suitable candidates, and submit the names of three suitable candidates with a detailed report on suitability for his consideration.

The panel final report with recommendations to the President is required within three months of the panel's appointment, he explained.

Mandela's grandson returns to South Africa after deportation by Israel

The grandson of late South African president and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela arrived in Johannesburg on Wednesday after being detained and then deported by Israel, which prevented the flotilla he was part of delivering aid to Gaza.

Mandla Mandela, who returned home with four other South Africans, said he and the group he was with were held in an Israeli prison for six days before being released via Jordan.

"We were handcuffed with cable ties tied tightly behind our backs, taken off our boats, put on the platform and paraded for all ... to see," Mandela, 51, said at the airport, where he was greeted by supporters waving Palestinian flags.

"But it's nothing compared to what Palestinians have been subjected to on a daily basis," he said, referring to Israel's military offensive against Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's deadly attack on Israel two years ago.

Israel says reports of hunger in Gaza are exaggerated and dismissed the flotilla as a publicity stunt benefiting Hamas. It has denied mistreating the hundreds of people it detained, who included Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.