'Most Notably' (20 April 2026)

This week's 'Most Notably' begins with a brief reminder that the newssheet's intention is not to duplicate SA Legal Academy Policy Watch reports on key developments in the public policy and law-making space. Instead, the newssheet focuses on news items that may either have been overlooked by the mainstream media or reported out of context.

SA Legal Academy's free newsletter features all Policy Watch reports from the previous month – but does not include 'Most Notably' content.

sugar industry

"Transitioning from a sugar-based to a sugarcane-based industry is one of the apex ... objectives of Phase 2 of the Master Plan, ... which will focus on strengthening diversification". This is according to a backdated Department of Trade Industry & Competition media statement on the 10 April 2026 official Phase 2 signing ceremony.

The event followed widespread media reports on what Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen described in February 2026 as an "escalating crisis" requiring "urgent resolutions to secure sugar mills and protect livelihoods". Reporting on unfolding developments at the time, 'Most Notably' gave context to the "notion" that the sugar industry is in a "perennial" state of uncertainty (words attributed to Trade, Industry & Competition Deputy Minister Zuko Godlimpi in the department's backdated statement). Tongaat Hulett's impending liquidation has since been "temporarily averted" by a "last-minute funding agreement" with the Industrial Development Corporation – "pushing the hearing for provisional liquidation to mid-June 2026" (AgriNews).

Among other things, the backdated statement included several telling remarks from key stakeholders:

• the Deputy Minister is quoted as having noted the "foundational" role of small-scale growers in efforts to ensure the sugar industry's growth, while

• South African Sugar Association acting chair Rex Talmage reportedly acknowledged:

  • the importance of organised labour's "active involvement" in the process, and

  • the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa's "institutional rigour" in initiating its tariff levels investigation.

fiscal implications of Middle East developments

"A worsening economic outlook, particularly one heightened by global risk sentiment, requires even stronger fiscal management." Included in a written reply to questions from umKhonto weSizwe (MK) Party MP Des van Rooyen, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's observation was expanded to reiterate national Treasury's long-held position that, if South Africa is to "ensure that debt-servicing costs do not continue to consume an ever-increasing share of revenue and displace critical spending on services, then fiscal policy must be prepared to respond accordingly if growth and interest dynamics become more unfavourable". 

"Proactive fiscal discipline and the anchoring of sound fiscal principles in law are essential to

avoid a prolonged fiscal crisis and maintain the sustainability of South Africa's public

finances in the face of these external shocks", the Minister's response continued. Presumably, his reference to law was made in the context of a "fiscal anchor" featured briefly in the Minister's 2026 Budget speech. As 'Most Notably' has since reported, the concept is unpacked in a fiscal anchors discussion document published in May 2025 with the revised Budget for that year. At the time, according to the Minister, "consultations" on the paper with "a range of stakeholders and experts" were "ongoing".

The MK Party's Des van Rooyen once served South Africa as Finance Minister under former president Jacob Zuma – albeit briefly. Both politicians began their parliamentary careers with the African National Congress (ANC), as most readers will recall.

Less widely known is that newly appointed South African ambassador to the United States, Roelf Meyer, has been a member of the ANC since 2006 (Al Jazeera). Interestingly, however, an ANC media statement (PoliticsWeb) welcoming the appointment made no mention of that. According to IOL, Meyer applied to join the party in August 2006 – although it's not clear if he was ever formally accepted.

Until next Monday ...

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