Category: Good News

South Africa’s skies are opening up to women like never before. The country now counts more than 33 500 licensed aviation professionals, and almost 6 800 of them are women, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy announced at the 2026 National Aviation Gender Summit in Pretoria on Thursday.

That is a remarkable climb from just two years ago, when South Africa had a little over 25 800 licensed aviation professionals, of whom roughly 5 000 were women. Today women make up just over 20 percent of all licensed aviation personnel in the country.

“Women now account for just over 20% of all licensed aviation personnel in South Africa and that is progress we should acknowledge,” Creecy told delegates, according to SAnews.

A new generation takes to the skies

The most encouraging number of all? Women now account for more than a quarter of South Africa’s student pilot population, which means more young women are choosing aviation than ever before.

“It is no longer simply about encouraging women to enter the field; it is about ensuring that they complete their training, secure meaningful employment, progress into leadership positions and remain within the profession long enough to become captains, chief engineers, regulators, executives and mentors for the generations that follow,” the Minister said.

The training pipeline is already delivering. In the 2024/25 financial year, the Airports Company South Africa Aviation Academy trained more than 6 400 aviation professionals, including over 2 500 women. In the same year, 44 percent of bursaries went to young women studying aeronautical engineering, aircraft maintenance engineering and pilot training, while over 70 percent of the current South African Civil Aviation Authority internship intake are women.

At Air Traffic Navigation Services, 13 of the 25 youth recruited for air traffic services training in the first quarter of this financial year are women, five of the six candidates in technician training are women, and 51 percent of the air traffic service staff complement is female.

Backing women-owned businesses

The support extends well beyond the cockpit. Creecy highlighted that the Department of Transport awarded 317 of its 460 contracts in the 2025/26 financial year to women-owned enterprises, worth R312.3 million, a striking 96.5 percent of the total awarded value.

The Civil Aviation Authority spent over R54 million on goods and services from women-owned small businesses in the same period, while Airports Company South Africa contracted 118 black women-owned businesses.

These investments feed into ambitious national goals: moving 42 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of air freight through the ACSA airport network by 2029.

“As African aviation grows, so too will the demand for pilots, engineers, air traffic controllers, airport professionals, safety and security specialists, regulators and many other skilled professionals. We must therefore ensure that the employment and economic opportunities created by that growth are made accessible to women,” Creecy said.

With a quarter of tomorrow’s pilots already female, Mzansi’s daughters are cleared for take-off.

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South Africa and China are joining forces to improve the lives of persons with disabilities, with a partnership that reaches from smart wheelchairs and artificial intelligence to accessible buildings and better data. The commitment was showcased this week when a delegation from the China Disabled Persons’ Federation visited South Africa, hosted by Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga.

The visit builds on high-level discussions held in China in October 2025, and according to the Minister, the two countries are now moving from dialogue towards measurable, practical implementation, grounded in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and South Africa’s White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Rights-Holders, Innovators, Equal Citizens

At the heart of the cooperation is a simple but powerful principle: persons with disabilities are not merely recipients of services, but rights-holders, economic contributors, innovators and equal citizens. Chikunga stressed that disability inclusion should not be a stand-alone programme, but must be woven through government planning, budgeting and digital transformation.

One flagship idea is a proposed Disability Nerve Centre of Excellence, conceptualised as a G20 legacy project for South Africa. The centre would work with Statistics South Africa, universities and other disability-data stakeholders, while the two countries exchange expertise on disability-disaggregated data, census methodologies and the ethical use of digital platforms, so that policy can be guided by a clear picture of who is being excluded and where barriers exist.

Technology With Dignity

Some of the most exciting terrain lies in assistive technology. The proposed cooperation covers smart wheelchairs and intelligent mobility devices, AI-supported speech-to-text and text-to-speech tools, navigation systems for blind and visually impaired people, accessible digital interfaces, AI-supported learning tools, rehabilitation technologies and smart-home solutions.

Chikunga was clear that innovation must reach the people who need it most, describing the goal as combining innovation with inclusion, technology with dignity and artificial intelligence with human rights.

Universal design is another major pillar. Accessibility, the Minister said, should be a normal, non-negotiable part of national development from the start, built into public buildings, transport networks, housing and digital platforms rather than added as an afterthought. Joint training on universal design and compliance auditing could benefit officials, architects, urban planners and IT professionals in both countries.

A Seven-Point Plan for Real Results

To make sure the partnership produces tangible outcomes rather than more meetings, the Minister proposed a seven-point action plan. It includes:

• A South Africa–China Disability Inclusion Knowledge Exchange Platform
• Joint capacity-building programmes and university research cooperation
• Collaboration with technology developers and organisations of persons with disabilities
• Joint exploration of AI and assistive technologies
• Deeper cooperation on disability data and statistics
• Joint programmes on universal design and accessibility
• Structured exchanges between learners with disabilities in vocational programmes in both countries

The plan also embraces accessible communication in all its forms, from Easy Read materials, Braille and captioning to South African Sign Language services and accessible websites, so that no one is locked out of education, employment, healthcare or justice by the format of information. It is a partnership with heart, and a blueprint for a more inclusive future on both sides of the Indian Ocean, according to the report by SAnews.

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Seventy years ago, more than 20 000 women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 9 August 1956 in a defining act of courage. This Women’s Month, South Africa is celebrating how far their legacy has carried the country, from the Constitution’s recognition of women’s rights to boardrooms, benches and ballot papers led by women.

The 1956 march was led by women such as Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Sophie Williams-de Bruyn and Rahima Moosa, whose extraordinary courage, resilience and unity blazed a trail in a society where women faced both racial and gender discrimination. Others, including Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Albertina Sisulu, played pivotal roles in the broader struggle for freedom and equality.

From protest to leadership

Seven decades on, the gains are visible across public life: greater representation of women in Parliament, the judiciary, the public sector and the corporate sector, with women now occupying top leadership positions.

One of the most striking recent milestones came from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, which appointed Valdene Reddy as Group CEO, the first woman of colour to hold the position. She succeeds Dr Leila Fourie, who in 2019 became the first woman to lead the exchange.

“We have women running banks in the country; women taking positions of leadership as CEOs of mining companies, and that is what freedom and the struggle of the women of the 1950s have brought us,” Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said in an interview with SAnews.

Ntshavheni noted that women’s representation in Parliament has reached as high as 50%, and said government is challenging political parties to keep striving for equal representation. Government has also put in place employment equity measures, funding for entrepreneurship, and education and equality laws to support women’s economic empowerment across the board.

A year of powerful anniversaries

The 70th anniversary of the Women’s March arrives in a year rich with historic milestones. In 2026, South Africa also marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution, the 50th anniversary of the 1976 youth uprisings and the 60th anniversary of the forced removals from District Six, moments that together tell the story of the country’s long walk to democracy.

Each one, lift one

Looking ahead, the Minister encouraged women in leadership to actively mentor and support the next generation. “We were also mentored by others, and it is our job to mentor others,” she said, calling on women in positions of power to open doors for young women rising behind them.

Seventy years after the march, the women of 1956 would recognise the spirit of the country they helped to build: determined, hopeful, and still moving forward, together.

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South African motorists have a reason to smile this week: the price of petrol drops by 52 cents a litre from Wednesday, 5 August, putting welcome money back in drivers’ pockets at the start of the month.

Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe announced the adjustment on Monday, SAnews reports, with both grades of petrol — 93 and 95, LRP and ULP — coming down by the same margin.

What you will pay at the pump

In practical terms, a litre of 95 petrol in Gauteng falls from R26.10 to R25.58. At the coast, the same litre drops from R25.23 to R24.71. For a typical 50-litre tank, that works out to a saving of about R26 every time you fill up.

There is more good news for households that cook with gas. The maximum retail price of LPGas comes down by R4.41 per kilogram — and by R5.03 in the Western Cape — a meaningful saving for families as winter demand continues.

Why prices are falling

The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources said the adjustment reflects current local and international factors. Chief among them is the oil price: the average Brent Crude price decreased from 86.53 US dollars a barrel to 82.37 US dollars during the period under review.

According to the department, easing tensions in the Middle East played a central role. The impact of renewed US–Iran tensions, which briefly pushed prices towards the 100-dollar mark, was offset by the significant decreases already recorded in the previous month, supported by the ceasefire memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran and lower global demand for crude oil.

Average international product prices for petrol also decreased over the review period, feeding directly into the lower basic fuel price. Diesel and illuminating paraffin moved in the other direction owing to global supply constraints, with diesel rising by between R1.23 and R1.38 a litre — a reminder of how sensitive fuel markets remain to world events.

A boost where it counts

Petrol price cuts ripple well beyond the forecourt. Lower pump prices ease the cost of the daily commute, school runs and taxi fares, and give consumers a little more breathing room in the household budget. Coming at the start of August, the 52-cent cut lands just in time for the new month’s travel — a small but welcome win for millions of South Africans.

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One of South Africa’s most familiar institutions has reached a remarkable milestone. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is celebrating its 90th anniversary, and government has led the nation in congratulating the public broadcaster on nine decades of informing, educating and entertaining South Africans.

“As one of South Africa’s esteemed public institutions, the SABC has informed, educated and entertained generations of South Africans, while telling the nation’s unique story,” Acting Government spokesperson Nomonde Mnukwa said in a statement.

Ninety years of telling the nation’s story

Since it first went on air, the SABC has grown into a broadcasting presence that reaches into homes across the country through radio, television and, increasingly, digital platforms. For many South Africans, its stations have been a constant companion, from morning radio bulletins to evening news, sport and much-loved dramas.

Mnukwa said the broadcaster’s ability to transform alongside the country and adapt to the changing needs of audiences had been central to its long journey. “Through its transformation processes, the public broadcaster has remained a trusted source of news, information, education, sport, culture and entertainment for millions of South Africans,” she said.

A pillar of nation-building

Government used the anniversary to highlight the SABC’s role in knitting the country together. “Government recognises the SABC’s contribution to nation-building, social cohesion and the strengthening of democracy through programming that reflects South Africa’s diverse voices, languages and lived experiences,” Mnukwa said.

That diversity is one of the broadcaster’s defining strengths. In a country with eleven official languages and countless communities, the SABC has offered a platform where different voices can be heard and where citizens can see and hear their own lives reflected back at them.

Over nine decades, the corporation has captured many of the defining moments in South Africa’s history, serving as a vital platform for public information, dialogue and shared national memory. From historic broadcasts to everyday programming, it has helped shape how South Africans understand themselves and one another.

Looking to the next chapter

The anniversary also comes at a time of rapid change in the media world, with audiences moving fluidly between traditional broadcasts and online platforms. Mnukwa said the SABC’s continued role in providing universal access to credible and reliable information “remains crucial in a rapidly changing media environment.”

Government extended its warm wishes to the people who have kept the broadcaster on air. “Government wishes the Board, management, staff, and everyone who has contributed to its proud legacy continued success, as the SABC embarks on its next chapter of service to the nation,” Mnukwa said.

Ninety years on, the SABC remains woven into the fabric of daily South African life, a reminder of how a shared broadcaster can help tell the story of a nation, one bulletin, song and programme at a time.

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Mandela Month is closing exactly the way Madiba would have wanted — with generosity turned into action for children who need it most. The month-long campaign concludes on Friday with a R150 000 donation of educational equipment and learning materials to Thiboloha Special School in the Free State, in a partnership between the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) and the Chinese Embassy in South Africa, SAnews reports.

Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Seiso Mohai is leading the Mandela Month outreach at the school, which is situated in Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality in the Thabo Mofutsanyana District — the heart of the scenic QwaQwa region.

A school where every learner counts

Thiboloha Special School caters for learners from Grade R all the way to Grade 12 who live with deafness, blindness, autism and intellectual disabilities. The school has been identified for developmental support that goes well beyond a single donation, including learning aids, sports equipment, boarding-house essentials and infrastructure improvements.

The DPME said the donation would help address the educational needs of learners and assist teachers in creating a more inclusive learning environment — practical support that lands directly in classrooms and residences where it makes a daily difference.

Diplomacy with a human face

The initiative grew out of discussions between Deputy Minister Mohai and Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Wu Peng on possible support for the school and broader cooperation linked to District Development Model initiatives in the Thabo Mofutsanyana District. The Chinese Embassy subsequently agreed to support the Mandela Month initiative, along with planned work around an investment summit and related social compacting processes in the district.

According to the department, the partnership highlights the role of collaboration between government, international partners and communities in addressing local development challenges — and shows how international friendship can translate into desks, learning aids and opportunities for South African children.

The spirit of 18 July, all month long

This year’s commemoration of Nelson Mandela International Day is held under the theme “It is still in our hands to combat poverty and inequity” — a call to action the Thiboloha initiative answers in the most concrete way possible.

Mandela International Day is observed every year on 18 July, the birthday of former President Nelson Mandela, with the month-long campaign encouraging individuals and organisations to contribute to efforts aimed at addressing poverty, inequality and other social challenges.

The DPME said the Thiboloha initiative demonstrates how partnerships can translate Mandela Day’s call to action into practical support for communities — particularly children with disabilities, whose right to a quality, dignified education this donation so warmly affirms. It is a fitting final note for a Mandela Month that has seen good deeds multiply across the country.

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As South Africa steps into Women’s Month, the numbers tell a story worth celebrating: women now hold 42.8% of the seats in Parliament, up from 33% in 2004, and the country’s march towards genuine equality is gathering pace in courtrooms, boardrooms and lecture halls alike.

The figures were shared by Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, at the Fray Media and Government Communication and Information System, GCIS, Rise and Shine Women in Media Breakfast in Johannesburg, held under the theme “Empowered women empower the nation”, as reported by SAnews.

Gains that changed who leads

Letsike reflected on how democracy fundamentally altered the legal and political standing of South African women. “These are not cosmetic gains. They have changed who makes law, interprets policy and leads institutions. Our Constitution made equality and non-sexism founding values,” she said on Wednesday.

The progress shows up across the institutions of state:

• Women’s representation in Parliament has risen from 33% in 2004 to 42.8% in 2024
• In the National Council of Provinces, women hold 44.4% of seats
• Women’s share of senior public service management reached 45.2% in 2023
• More tertiary-qualified women are entering physical, mathematical and engineering fields than before

Democratic South Africa, she noted, expanded reproductive freedom, strengthened protections for women, recognised women in customary marriages and advanced equality in employment.

The next chapter: from representation to ownership

Letsike’s message looked firmly forward. True empowerment, she argued, is “the collective redesign” of society so that every woman can thrive — not just a fortunate few. She called for a national care compact built on five commitments: recognising care work, reducing its burden, redistributing it across women, men, the state and the market, rewarding paid care workers with decent conditions, and representing care workers in the decisions that affect them.

That vision, she said, means accessible early childhood development, support for older persons and persons with disabilities, reliable water and transport, social protection, and parental leave that changes behaviour at home.

She also encouraged workplaces to become spaces of genuine dignity and respect, where every woman’s authority and belonging are beyond question.

Building an economy women own

Looking ahead, the Deputy Minister set out an ambitious goal: an information economy in which women own institutions, shape technology and receive a fair share of public and commercial value.

“Let it be said that we moved from visibility to ownership, from representation to redistribution, and from policy promise to lived freedom.”

Thirty years of progress, and a clear map for the next thirty — as Women’s Month begins, South Africa’s women are not just at the table; increasingly, they are building it.

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For hundreds of families in the Eastern Cape, long-overdue relief has finally arrived. The Department of Employment and Labour has paid out more than R1.2 million in benefits to former mineworkers and their dependants during a week-long outreach programme in Port St Johns, in the OR Tambo District.

The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) paid a total of R1 278 846.28 to 277 clients – money that, in many cases, was owed for years to men who spent their working lives underground, and to the families who supported them.

Project Thubalethu: services on wheels

The outreach formed part of Project Thubalethu, an initiative dedicated to tracing unclaimed and unpaid social benefits owed to former mineworkers. It was delivered in partnership with the UIF, the Compensation Fund, the Eastern Cape Provincial Government and the Port St Johns Municipality.

The department’s Acting Director-General, Jacky Molisane, said the programme addresses the legacy of labour migration, noting that South Africa’s mining industry historically recruited workers from rural areas, particularly the Eastern Cape.

“Project Thubalethu is an initiative to roll out services-on-wheels by relevant stakeholders and departments for ex-mineworkers in the Eastern Cape to address unclaimed and unpaid social protection benefits and occupational disease and injury claims due to them,” Molisane said.

Where beneficiaries have passed away, the benefits now pass to their dependants. As the department put it, the payments offer “a measure of relief to households that carried the weight of illness, injury or loss without the support that was due to them all along”.

Billions more waiting to be claimed

The Commissioner for Occupational Diseases, Barry Kistnasamy, said an estimated R18 million in benefits remains unclaimed by former mineworkers in the Port St Johns area alone, while nationally an estimated R10 billion is still waiting to reach ex-mineworkers and their dependants.

Kistnasamy said bringing services directly to the communities where former mineworkers live is the most effective way of ensuring beneficiaries receive the money owed to them – a model Project Thubalethu is proving in practice.

More than just payouts

The Port St Johns outreach delivered far more than cheques. In addition to the benefit payments, 319 former mineworkers were assisted with work-related injury claims, while more than 400 work seekers were registered on the Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA) database and received employment counselling.

Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane noted that the province is home to about 370 000 former mineworkers who spent years working underground. Integrated outreach programmes like Project Thubalethu, he said, help ensure that beneficiaries and their dependants finally receive the benefits owed to them.

It is government at its best: not waiting for people to navigate the system, but taking the system to the people – and putting money that was always theirs back into the hands of families who need it most. The full story is available from SAnews.

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South Africa and Namibia are joining forces to lift women up across the region. Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sindisiwe Chikunga met Namibia’s Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Dr Emma Kantema, in Pretoria to finalise a landmark bilateral agreement on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Fourth Session of the South Africa–Namibia Bi-National Commission at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation on Thursday, 16 July 2026 — with the agreement, first initiated in 2022, set for signing during the Commission itself.

Six priority areas for real change

The agreement provides a practical framework for collaboration in six priority areas, including:

• Working together to keep women and girls safe, and sharing expertise on national legislation, programmes and strategies;
• Exchanging strategies to ensure adequate representation of women in decision-making positions in the public and private sectors, including capacity-building;
• Joint programmes to empower women in agriculture and other economic sectors;
• Joint training of women and girls in conflict resolution under the Women, Peace and Security agenda;
• Joint participation in national, regional and international dialogues on entrepreneurship and women’s economic empowerment.

Chikunga welcomed the progress made by officials from both countries and insisted the deal must deliver measurable results.

“This must translate into a concrete Implementation Plan with clear targets and timeframes,” the Minister said.

A foundation of shared history

Chikunga noted that the two countries’ longstanding historical and political ties provide a strong foundation for cooperation on social and economic development, underpinned by shared history, geographic proximity and collaboration through the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and the United Nations.

South Africa steps up to lead SADC

The Minister also outlined South Africa’s priorities ahead of assuming the chairship of SADC, saying the country will work closely with member states, including Namibia, to accelerate the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020–2030. Her department, together with the SADC Secretariat, convened a virtual meeting of SADC gender ministers on 26 June 2026 as part of preparations, ahead of South Africa hosting the 46th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government in August 2026, SAnews reported.

From boardrooms to farms to peace tables, this partnership puts women’s empowerment at the centre of Southern Africa’s growth story — exactly where it belongs.

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South Africa’s greatest asset has never been its minerals or its mountains. It is the millions of ordinary people who quietly build the country every day – and this Mandela Month, government is asking the nation to celebrate them.

In a reflection published by SAnews this week, government communicator William Baloyi writes that a nation is not defined only by its institutions but by the people who give it meaning – “their values, their contributions, and their commitment to the common good of the country.”

Social cohesion at the heart of July

With Mandela Month under way this July, the piece places social cohesion – the trust, shared values and sense of belonging that let communities work together despite their differences – at the centre of the national conversation.

It is a moment, Baloyi writes, to honour South Africans who uphold the values that define the democracy: human dignity, compassion, equality and a shared commitment to building a better future for all. That spirit of responsible patriotism is rooted in generations who stood firm against injustice and laid the foundation for a society built on constitutional values.

The progress worth celebrating

The reflection points to real, measurable gains made since democracy arrived in 1994:

• More than 90% of households are now connected to electricity, with major strides in expanding access to water and sanitation.
• Education has become far more inclusive, with millions of learners in public schooling and women now making up the majority of graduates at public universities.
• South Africa runs one of the largest public health systems in the world, including a life-saving HIV treatment programme that has benefited millions of people.

These achievements, the piece argues, reflect the resilience of the democracy and the collective effort of government, communities, civil society and citizens working towards a united, inclusive and prosperous South Africa.

Nation building, one neighbour at a time

The heroes of the story are refreshingly ordinary: educators shaping future generations, healthcare workers serving communities, entrepreneurs creating opportunities, farmers strengthening food security, researchers advancing innovation and volunteers supporting those in need.

“Nation building is also carried forward through the everyday actions of ordinary South Africans,” Baloyi writes – the neighbour who helps in times of need, the parent who nurtures the next generation, the worker who serves with dedication.

While acknowledging that work remains to reach the fully inclusive society envisioned in the Constitution, the message of the month is unambiguous: the strength of the nation lies in its people, and building a better South Africa is a partnership that needs every citizen playing their part – in their homes, workplaces and communities.

That is a Mandela Month challenge worth taking up.

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