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'ANCYL does not have luxury of infighting' - Mbalula urges decisive leadership

African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Fikile Mbalula on Friday urged the party's youth league, the ANCYL, to play a central role in ensuring that the party wins back its electoral power.

Mbalula was delivering the closing remarks at the ANCYL's 2nd National General Council in Kimberley where he said electoral outcomes have the effect of altering South Africa's landscape, citing the advent of the Government of National Unity (GNU).

The ANC celebrated its by-election victories in Limpopo, Free State, Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, after winning wards on Wednesday.

"This reality demands of us to sharpen our focus and put our best foot forward in using State power to make a better life for all. A lived reality for all our people, as we advance the objectives of the National Democratic Revolution," he said.

He said the ANC does not want a youth league with "directionless militancy"; urging the members to not fight amongst themselves.

"We do not have the luxury of infighting; we do not have the luxury of inward looking. The struggle to liberate our people is out here, and we are needed. The ANCYL is going to be in the forefront and at the centre of the struggle of ensuring that the ANC wins back power," he stated.

Mbalula said bickering, infighting, and the choices of leadership in the youth league, is not necessarily the one needed by South Africans.

"… you may despise Mbalula and like Collen, you may despise that comrade and like that one, but South Africans are not looking for that from us. They want real leadership for real change for their lives," he said.

ECONOMIC REVOLUTION

He said decisive leadership is needed for the evolution of domestic political factors, underpinned by economic conditions and their interplay with geopolitical factors.

Meanwhile, he said the deepening crisis of youth unemployment requires the organisation to build an economic model that places young people at the centre.

"Young people should not be merely recipients of such interventions but should play a central role as its architects and midwives. They should lead the efforts to build a new economy, where young people are on the driving seat of mineral beneficiation, technology that includes artificial intelligence services and many more," he said.

South Africa's youth unemployment rate reached 46.1% in the first quarter and remained at that rate in the second quarter.

Mbalula said young people must lead the "economic revolution", where youth development is not an afterthought, but an integral programme of development.

ANC celebrates by-election victories in Gauteng, Free State and E Cape

The African National Congress (ANC) said by-elections wins in Limpopo, Gauteng, Free State and the Eastern Cape are proof that the party's renewal project is succeeding.

In Gauteng, the party retained ward 130 in Soweto.

ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said this demonstrated the "enduring bond" between the ANC and the Sowetan community.

"We thank the community of Johannesburg for their loyalty and support, and we congratulate Nduduzo Mzolo, who must carry this mandate with humility and dedication to the daily needs of our people," she said.

The party also won ward five in Bela Bela in the Waterberg region, in Limpopo; ward seven in the Lejweleputswa region, in the Free State; and ward one of the Kou-Kamma municipality in the Eastern Cape.

The ANC extended its appreciation to voters, volunteers and activists for campaigning, and congratulated Limpopo's Malesela Michael Ramashala and Free State's Manana Anna Mohapi.

"These results are not ordinary, but they are proof that the renewal project of the ANC is yielding fruit. The people are responding to the stability, unity and discipline that is returning to the organisation, and to the visible commitment of the ANC to serve communities better," stated Bhengu-Motsiri.

Now the party is looking ahead to its Special National Executive Committee on local government over the weekend, followed by the Roll Call of Councillors on Monday.

Bhengu-Motsiri said this process will reaffirm the pledge taken by councillors in Ekurhuleni in 2021 to sharpen the focus on service delivery and intensify consequence management.

DA refers Nersa to Public Protector, calls for board reconstitution

The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Thursday formally referred the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to the Public Protector for investigation over the R54-billion error made in its recent Eskom tariff determination.

Nersa agreed to a court order that Eskom can collect an extra R54-billion in tariffs over the next few years, as a result of errors made by the regulator in its sixth multiyear price determination (MYPD6) revenue decision.

DA spokesperson for Electricity and Energy Kevin Mileham said the party also wanted a reconstitution of the Nersa board with "competent professionals".

The DA said it was outraged by what it termed the "most staggering regulatory failure in recent memory", noting that the error, admitted to in writing by Nersa chairperson Thembani Bukula, would directly result in higher electricity tariffs for South African households and businesses, with increases now projected at 8.76% in 2026/27 and 8.83% in 2027/28.

Last week, the party wrote to Bukula demanding public accountability and answers.

In a letter to the DA, Bukula conceded to errors in Nersa's calculations, citing a "clerical error" and a "version control issue".

The letter to the DA also said a remedial process to find the origin of the errors was underway, and that consequence management would also take place to ensure accountability.

"Instead of defending its decision in court, Nersa chose not to oppose Eskom's judicial review and quietly settled for an additional R54-billion in allowable revenue over the MYPD6 period. This deal was struck behind closed doors, without any public consultation, despite the fact that it will directly impact the cost of living for millions of South Africans," stated Mileham.

On Wednesday Nersa appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Energy and Electricity, over the error, where the committee confirmed that Nersa knew of the error before finalising its decision in January 2025 - yet failed to correct it before publishing the Reasons for Decision in June.

"This is a textbook case of maladministration. Furthermore, the leadership of Nersa has 'passed the buck' - blaming employees and failing to take ownership of their own role in approving an incorrect determination without verifying its correctness," Mileham said.

He said this exposed "deep institutional rot" at Nersa, that highlighted governance failure, a transparency deficit and capacity gaps.

"The R54-billion debacle at Nersa is not an isolated blunder; it is the clearest evidence yet that the system is failing the very people it is meant to protect," Mileham said.

South Africa's current account deficit widens to 1.1% of GDP in second quarter

South Africa's current account deficit widened to 1.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2025, from a revised 0.6% deficit in the first quarter, central bank data showed on Thursday.

In rand terms the current account deficit rose to R82.8-billion, from a revised R47.8-billion in the first three months of the year.

The trade surplus narrowed to R177.1-billion in April-June from R211-billion in January-March, as the value of goods exports decreased more than that of imports, the South African Reserve Bank said in a statement.

Nersa apologises for R54bn tariff error

South Africa's energy regulator apologised for a R54-billion error in calculating electricity tariffs, a mistake that will be passed on to consumers.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa, which determines what State power utility Eskom can charge for electricity, announced the miscalculation last month, without providing further details.

On Wednesday, it put the blunder down to a "data input error" that was picked up by Eskom, according to a presentation to lawmakers.

While the mistake had been identified before the tariff determination was made in January, it wasn't rectified as indicated at the time, and only discovered five months later, the regulator said.

"The error is regrettable; it should not have happened," it said.

The incident brought into the spotlight South Africa's surging electricity prices and will result in them increasing by 8.76% in the next financial year, instead of the 5.36% originally agreed, and by 8.83% the year after, compared with 6.19%.

That adds to an eightfold surge in South African electricity costs since 2008, according to the Energy Intensive Users Group, whose members including Anglo American and Glencore account for about 40% of the nation's electricity consumption.

The EIUG has called for a review of the January tariff decision and asked Nersa to consider its pricing methodology and implementation.

''This error by Nersa has been a big blow for the affordability of electricity in this country," Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said in an interview.

"Because of it, we have to rethink our overall strategy" on power provision, he said.

ActionSA submits Bill to overhaul Cabinet to Ramaphosa

ActionSA has submitted its Constitutional Amendment Bill directly to President Cyril Ramaphosa for his consideration, following the party's direct question in the National Assembly on whether he and the African National Congress (ANC) would support the Bill.

The party on Wednesday said it submitted the Bill at Ramaphosa's request, saying it looked forward to his, the ANC's and the Government of National Unity's support.

In July, ActionSA gazetted its notice to introduce the Constitution Twenty-Second Amendment Bill, calling on South Africans to support the amendment, which would see a significant overhaul of the size of the South African executive.

Cabinet currently consists of 32 Ministers and 43 Deputy Ministers, which ActionSA has long described as "bloated".

ActionSA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said the party hoped to abolish the "redundant role" of Deputy Ministers and to strengthen Parliamentary oversight.

On Tuesday, while answering questions in the National Assembly, Ramaphosa stated that since the advent of South Africa's democracy in 1994, Deputy Ministers had played an "important" role in assisting Ministers in the performance of their functions and responsibilities.

"The Constitution provides for the appointment of Deputy Ministers to assist the members of the Cabinet. According to the Constitution, Deputy Ministers are accountable to Parliament for the exercise of their powers and the performance of their functions.

"Ministers and their respective Deputy Ministers agree on the delegation of responsibility in certain areas of work in terms of departments' Annual Performance Plans, ensuring that there is consistent political attention and oversight," he said.

Ramaphosa explained that following the May 2024 elections, there was a need to ensure that the National Executive was inclusive of all the parties to the GNU, therefore, it was not possible to reduce the number of portfolios in the National Executive.

"We have sought to ensure that the National Executive is representative of the people of South Africa, giving due consideration to gender, youth, demographics and regional distribution," he said.

He highlighted that Deputy Ministers appointed in June 2024 continued to "add value to the work of government".

Trollip noted that despite Ramaphosa's insistence that Deputy Ministers served an important role, the reality was different.

"…they are in fact redundant, often sit in committees without contributing meaningfully, hold no executive authority and mostly lack the experience or expertise relevant to the portfolios they are assigned," he said.

ActionSA also highlighted its Enhanced Cut Cabinet Perks Bill, aimed at slashing the excessive costs of South Africa's Cabinet.

ActionSA said it would await the feedback of Ramaphosa, the ANC, and the GNU coalition partners as they studied what it termed an "important legislative effort".

BEE solutions company criticises govt for allowing BEE to be tainted by unscrupulous

Black economic empowerment (BEE) ownership solutions company Tusker CEO Gareth Ochse told Polity on Wednesday that government has not been effectively proactive with BEE, urging government to incentivise black businesses to allow them to enter high-growth, high-value pockets of the economy.

Ochse unpacked Tusker's latest study, 'The elephant in the room: the BEE ownership landscape in 2025 (it's not what you've been told)', which debunks an increasingly prevalent narrative that "BEE ownership has only benefitted 100 black elite".

Ochse stated that while government needed to do more on the policy, BEE was being tainted by corruption.

"The BEE policy is very well intended, that we have this need to address that years after apartheid, we still have a very inequitable economy. We're still grappling with these issues. The fundamental thing though is BEE is being tainted by corruption," he pointed out.

While the country worked to address past injustices, he said corrupt individuals sought any chance or any form of legislation to use to their advantage.

"…but unfortunately, what happens is you have a corrupt semi mafia State starting to happen in South Africa, with very little legal action against it, very little consequence. And particularly anywhere where there's a pocket of money, you find people are registering a business that's got no expertise, no directors... getting a juicy tender. This puts the whole of BEE under scrutiny because it just becomes a real thorn in the side of people who legitimately do this and have the fees and costs associated with it," he stated.

He said the fundamental thing to do to ensure BEE was a success was to stop corrupt individuals from taking advantage of the policy.

He noted that, through Tusker's research, it had been established that there were more than 870 000 black shareholders, as a result of BEE.

The study found evidence that BEE targets directly affect BEE ownership totals in each business size bracket and that businesses have strongly responded to BEE ownership requirements in terms of Ownership and Procurement Scorecards.

"We then built highly conservative estimates of the number of shareholders for each business by size category and estimated that BEE ownership deals have benefitted at least 873 000 black persons directly (and many more families indirectly)", the Tusker study said.

It believes the actual number is significantly higher.

"So the important thing about our research is that we think 873 000 is the floor, not the ceiling. We think there's many more black shareholders than that as a result of BEE. But what happened here is that there's this very popular narrative. And you see it increasingly in the press, especially in the sort of more right-leaning press, that only 100 people have really benefited from BEE," Ochse said.

Read Tusker's research paper here.

ActionSA submits Bill to overhaul Cabinet to Ramaphosa

ActionSA has submitted its Constitutional Amendment Bill directly to President Cyril Ramaphosa for his consideration, following the party's direct question in the National Assembly on whether he and the African National Congress (ANC) would support the Bill.

The party on Wednesday said it submitted the Bill at Ramaphosa's request, saying it looked forward to his, the ANC's and the Government of National Unity's support.

In July, ActionSA gazetted its notice to introduce the Constitution Twenty-Second Amendment Bill, calling on South Africans to support the amendment, which would see a significant overhaul of the size of the South African executive.

Cabinet currently consists of 32 Ministers and 43 Deputy Ministers, which ActionSA has long described as "bloated".

ActionSA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said the party hoped to abolish the "redundant role" of Deputy Ministers and to strengthen Parliamentary oversight.

On Tuesday, while answering questions in the National Assembly, Ramaphosa stated that since the advent of South Africa's democracy in 1994, Deputy Ministers had played an "important" role in assisting Ministers in the performance of their functions and responsibilities.

"The Constitution provides for the appointment of Deputy Ministers to assist the members of the Cabinet. According to the Constitution, Deputy Ministers are accountable to Parliament for the exercise of their powers and the performance of their functions.

"Ministers and their respective Deputy Ministers agree on the delegation of responsibility in certain areas of work in terms of departments' Annual Performance Plans, ensuring that there is consistent political attention and oversight," he said.

Ramaphosa explained that following the May 2024 elections, there was a need to ensure that the National Executive was inclusive of all the parties to the GNU, therefore, it was not possible to reduce the number of portfolios in the National Executive.

"We have sought to ensure that the National Executive is representative of the people of South Africa, giving due consideration to gender, youth, demographics and regional distribution," he said.

He highlighted that Deputy Ministers appointed in June 2024 continued to "add value to the work of government".

Trollip noted that despite Ramaphosa's insistence that Deputy Ministers served an important role, the reality was different.

"…they are in fact redundant, often sit in committees without contributing meaningfully, hold no executive authority and mostly lack the experience or expertise relevant to the portfolios they are assigned," he said.

ActionSA also highlighted its Enhanced Cut Cabinet Perks Bill, aimed at slashing the excessive costs of South Africa's Cabinet.

ActionSA said it would await the feedback of Ramaphosa, the ANC, and the GNU coalition partners as they studied what it termed an "important legislative effort".

South Africa has sent officials to US for trade talks, president says

South Africa has sent officials to the United States to prepare for trade negotiations after attempting for months to strike a deal with the Trump administration to roll back steep tariffs, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump imposed a 30% tariff on imports from Africa's most developed economy last month after Ramaphosa's government made several unsuccessful attempts to propose a trade agreement.

"The Presidency and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition have sent representatives ... who are preparing for the further formal negotiations with the United States government, which should be taking place in just a few days," Ramaphosa told parliament.

He said the South African officials would meet representatives of Trump's administration, lawmakers and business figures in New York and Washington.

The Office of the US Trade Representative did not immediately respond to a Reuters request to confirm the talks.

In the days before the tariffs were implemented, South African officials said Washington had not responded to their offers or come to the negotiating table. They submitted a revised proposal for a trade deal a month ago.

Ramaphosa said South Africa's leverage was its natural resources, particularly critical minerals, and that discussions with the US were revolving around that.

"Even as we may well want to export the critical minerals, we want them to leave the shores of South Africa as finished products ... So that is the type of discussion that we are having with them," he said.

South Africa's relationship with the US has reached a diplomatic low this year over a number of issues, including Trump's unfounded accusations of persecution against the white minority. Those claims prompted the creation of a refugee programme for white South Africans.

Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen told Reuters last month that to secure lower tariffs South Africa might need to address some of Trump's criticisms, including his opposition to affirmative action laws aimed at redressing apartheid-era racial discrimination.

ActionSA cites 'lack of growth' in new GDP figures, blames GNU

ActionSA has criticised the Government of National Unity (GNU) for failing to produce a credible plan to tackle the country's lack of economic growth and its unemployment crisis.

ActionSA Member of Parliament Alan Beesley pointed out that economic growth had remained below 1% since the formation of the GNU, after Tuesday's GDP statistics revealed 0.8% growth for the second quarter of 2025.

"These numbers are a damning indictment of a government unwilling or unable to work together to deliver solutions for South Africans," he said.

Statistics South Africa on Tuesday pointed out that following marginal growth of 0.1% in the first quarter of 2025, real GDP strengthened by 0.8% in the second quarter of April to June.

Manufacturing, mining and trade led growth on the production (supply) side of the economy. The expenditure (demand) side was also positive, lifted mainly by stronger household consumption and softer imports.

Beesley called on all GNU partners - the African National Congress, Democratic Alliance, Inkatha Freedom Party, Patriotic Alliance, Freedom Front Plus, United Democratic Movement, the GOOD Party, Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, Al Jama-ah and Rise Mzansi - to use pragmatic solutions to fix the economy.

He accused government of industrial policy failures, citing this as a reason for potential job losses in the manufacturing sector.

"ArcelorMittal South Africa is winding down its Long Steel operations, directly affecting 3 500 workers in Newcastle and Vereeniging, and threatening over 100 000 downstream jobs.

"In the automotive sector, nearly 500 Ford employees across Pretoria and Gqeberha face retrenchment, while Goodyear's closure of its 78-year-old tyre plant in Kariega will cost around 900 direct jobs and thousands more in the supply chain," he said.

He noted that over the past two years, 12 companies in the automotive sector had closed, with more than 4 000 jobs lost.

"These are not just numbers - they are families plunged into insecurity and inequality because of government failures. High electricity costs, loadshedding, inefficient ports, and collapsing rail and road infrastructure are strangling South African industries and the workers who depend on them," he stated.

ILLICIT TRADE

Beesley pointed to illicit trade that he said was thriving.

"The GNU limps along at less than 1% growth while illicit markets are expanding at multiple-percentage-point rates: illicit alcohol volumes have grown by around 55% since 2017 and illicit cigarettes now account for roughly 60% of the market," he explained.

He noted that the South African Revenue Service loses about R18-billion to illicit cigarettes a year, while losses from illicit alcohol are around R16.5-billion a year.

"These criminal markets are expanding because government is not addressing illicit trade with the urgency it demands, costing the fiscus tens of billions that could have been used to fight unemployment and rebuild public services," he said.

It is also worth noting that South Africa's official growth outlook has deteriorated sharply this year, he stated.

Beesley said when Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana first tabled the 2025 Budget in February, National Treasury projected GDP growth of 1.9% for the year.

"Annual growth now stands at 0.6%, underscoring how quickly confidence is collapsing under this government. Statements by President Cyril Ramaphosa supporting Zimbabwe's catastrophic land reform further erode confidence in our already fragile economy," Beesley claimed.