Luis Monzon | 22 April 2026 South Africa’s communication regulator, ICASA, is working on a new licensing framework for satellite Internet operators, and specifically named Elon Musk’s SpaceX among firms it will target. In its annual performance plan for 2026/27, ICASA said it was developing the framework to address the widening digital divide in remote areas and encourage investment. “The goal is to create a transparent, efficient, and sustainable regulatory environment that

Lisa Beyers | 22 April 2026 Civil rights organisation Solidarity has confirmed it will proceed with its Constitutional Court challenge against South Africa’s Public Procurement Act, with the case scheduled for 18 and 19 May this year. The development comes as National Treasury published new regulations under the Act, which Solidarity argues will significantly increase costs for taxpayers and undermine service delivery. According to the regulations, state institutions must r

Lehlohonolo Lehana | 20 April 2026 Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi met with legal practitioners in a stakeholder engagement as part of government’s efforts to strengthen collaboration and advance transformation within the legal sector. This engagement provided a platform for constructive dialogue with legal practitioners on matters relating to transformation and the empowerment of previously disadvantaged professionals within the legal sect

Bianke Neethling | 20 April 2026 The National Treasury has published the draft General Public Procurement Regulations for public comment, which could lead to sweeping changes to procurement legislation and black economic empowerment (BEE) in South Africa. The Treasury explained that, due to the length and complexity of the draft General Public Procurement Regulations, a longer consultation period has been given for submitting public comments. These regulations, if passed, wi

Likho Mbuka | 16 April 2026 Group highlights procurement spend and skills development as key drivers of sustained top rating. MTN Group and its major subsidiary MTN South Africa have maintained their Level 1 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) contributor status in 2025, marking six consecutive years for the group and seven for its South African unit. The rating, verified by an independent agency, reflects continued performance across key elements of the B-BBEE sc

Simon Majadibodu | 15 April 2026 President Cyril Ramaphosa has dismissed criticism from Elon Musk over South Africa’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) laws, insisting the policy is not racist, despite being labelled “extremely racist” by the billionaire. Musk, who was born in South Africa, claimed his satellite internet service, Starlink, was denied a licence because he is not Black. He described the regulations as “extremely racist” and a “shameful disgrace”

Phiri Cawe | 14 April 2026 While birthdays are typically marked by festive gatherings and decorated cakes, Afrika Tikkun, a non-profit organisation based at the Zolile Malindi Centre, has chosen to celebrate its milestone by continuing its mission to uplift and empower disadvantaged children, youth, and families. For many in the Mfuleni community, the organisation has become a beacon of hope, particularly for families struggling to make ends meet, with its ongoing commitment

Siphelele Dludla | 14 April 2026 South Africa’s struggling Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector is being repositioned as a cornerstone of inclusive growth, with a new policy proposal placing public-private partnerships (PPPs) at the heart of a sweeping reform agenda aimed at tackling youth unemployment and unlocking long-term investment. A research paper, compiled by sector specialists and published by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) on Tuesda

Nokukhanya Mntambo | 10 April 2026 The US government continues to put pressure on South Africa to scrap its redress policies – including the controversial broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) legislative framework, which has been at the centre of a rift between the two trade partners . US Ambassador to SA Brent Bozell doubled down on Washington’s calls on Wednesday, after President Cyril Ramaphosa received letters of credence from 20 ambassadors at an official cred

Thembelihle Radebe | Joburg Newsroom | 7 April 2026 The City of Johannesburg Council has taken a significant step toward strengthening youth development and economic inclusion by approving an increase in the monthly stipend for undergraduate interns. This decision was made during its 48th Extraordinary Council meeting on 31 March 2026. Effective from 1 July 2026, the monthly stipend for student interns will increase from R3,500.00 to R4,951.88. The adjustment aligns with th

Duncan McLeod | 8 April 2026 A decade after it was first published, the ICT sector's black economic empowerment code is heading for a full review. The B-BBEE ICT Sector Council has launched a formal review of the 2016 ICT sector code and published an updated framework governing equity equivalent investment programmes (EEIPs) – the very mechanism at the heart of the political storm over Elon Musk’s Starlink and its attempts to enter the South African market. In a statement on

Xolile Mtembu | 5 April 2026 Former president Thabo Mbeki received significant backlash after his comments on South Africa's unemployment crisis this week. During an interview with eNCA, Mbeki attributed the country's joblessness to shortcomings within the workforce, drawing sharp criticism from various quarters. He ignited outrage when he told the broadcaster: "Why are millions of our people unemployed? The reason they are unemployable is because they don't have the skills t

Boitumelo Kgobotlo | 6th April 2026 Cell C and non-profit organisation GirlCode have partnered in effort to tackle high youth unemployment rates in South Africa. The partnership aims to train and certify 500 unemployed young people in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing as these are considered skills in demand across various industries worldwide. Zandile Mkwanazi, GirlCode CEO, emphasised that unemployment amongst the young women remains above 60%, saying that t

BBQ Online | 31 March 2026 Our country’s future hinges on the aggressive implementation of BEE with the sole purposes of wiping out poverty and unemployment and integrating blacks into the economy, writes Dr Thami Mazwai. One shudders in disbelief at efforts to scrap black economic empowerment (BEE). If truth be told, BEE never started the full journey but they now say it must be scrapped. This begs the question: “Are blacks the children of a lesser God”. In May 1998, the Bla

Refiloe Benjamin | 30 March 2026 The Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) calls on the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) to consider the weight of opposition to its proposed amendments to the B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice. CDE is one of many organisations that have submitted a formal response to the Department calling for the immediate withdrawal of the proposed amendments on the grounds that that they are reckless and will undermine the stated goal

Ann Bernstein and Stefan Schirmer | 30 March 2026 Almost 12.5-million South Africans are unemployed. Many of them are young people desperately trying to find their first job. However, President Cyril Ramaphosa recently said only that “too many South Africans remain unemployed”, and “too many young people struggle to find their first job”. In a country facing one of the world’s worst unemployment crises, those statements sound like a dramatic underestimation of the crisis. The

Belinda Bantham | 24 March 2026 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges and universities are central to solving South Africa’s skills crisis, bridging the gap between practical training and academic knowledge to drive economic growth. It is within this context that the North-West University (NWU) and Vuselela TVET College held high-level talks on 23 March 2026, setting the stage for a strategic partnership aimed at reshaping skills development, strengt

Nkosinathi Mahlangu | 25 March 2026 Public discourse following this year’s National Budget has focused heavily on tax relief and easing pressure on household finances. That’s understandable. When the cost of living rises, any talk of relief tends to dominate the headlines. But amid the discussion about consumer relief and fiscal stability, one of the country’s most urgent structural challenges struggled to cut through the noise: youth unemployment. South Africa is a predomina

TUT | 24 March 2026 The Technology Station in Electronics (TSE) at TUT has empowered 89 youth and women from Mabopane, Pretoria, through a smartphone repair and entrepreneurship programme, boosting employability. The programme, offered by TSE at the Tshwane University of Technology, focuses on youth and women and combines smartphone repair skills with entrepreneurship development, aiming to improve employability and enable participants to start sustainable micro-enterprises i

William Saunderson-Meyer | 23 March 2026 More than R1 trillion has been transferred to fewer than 100 politically-connected individuals. The scale of the damage that the ANC has inflicted defies easy comprehension. Take economics, where black economic empowerment (BEE) – I’ll flag my bias by ignoring the government’s preferred “broad-based” acronym, B-BBEE – has become perhaps the most fiercely contested terrain in South African politics. Here, the numbers are so sprawling, t