'Most Notably' (23 March 2026)

We open this week's 'Most Notably' with a Department of Trade, Industry & Competition media statement announcing the creation of a "transformation fund special purpose vehicle". "Formally registered as the National Empowerment Fund Corporation SOC Ltd, the special purpose vehicle will "incubate, manage and control" a yet-to-be-established transformation fund according to the prescripts of a "transformation fund framework" apparently still being finalised. This notwithstanding, the media statement also called for applications from "suitable candidates" for appointment to the fund's board.

In our 2 February 2026 edition, we reported that the transformation fund is still very much a work-in-progress, despite having been somewhat prematurely "launched" in May 2025 by Deputy President Paul Mashatile. At the time, a draft concept document released two months earlier was still open for public comment.

We also drew attention to a website dedicated to the proposed new fund, which does tend to suggest that it's already up and running – with offices on Sandton's Grayston Drive. The site includes a document entitled "Phakamani" (isiZulu for "elevate yourself"), although quite where that fits into the process of finalising last year's proposals isn't at all clear.

Postbank

The Postbank has been registered as a licensed financial services provider with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, according to a recent Department of Communications & Digital Technologies media statement. Deputy Minister Mondli Gungubele is quoted in the statement as having underscored the significance of this move in the process of "obtaining a full commercial banking license from the South African Reserve Bank through its prudential regulator, the Prudential Authority". In turn, this "reflects important progress in rebuilding Postbank into a sustainable and well-governed state-owned retail bank" that "advances financial inclusion" by:

• "serving the needs of the unbanked", and

• "expand(ing) access to affordable financial services for communities that remain underserved by the traditional banking sector". 

metro trading services

National Treasury has launched a municipal financial management and service delivery reform measure targeting South Africa's largest cities. First announced in Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's 2026 Budget speech, according to Director-General Duncan Pieterse's address to delegates at the launch, the reform:

• introduces performance linked incentives "to restore the operational and financial sustainability of metro trading services", thus

• attracting lenders and investors for water, sanitation, electricity and waste infrastructure development, and in turn

• improving metro services.

"Strengthened by partnerships with the international development community", the metro trading services reform programme "is part of a comprehensive package of local government reforms ... detailed in the 2026 Budget". Aligned with Operation Vulindlela and government’s "structural reform priorities" in removing constraints to economic growth, the reform package:

• "moves beyond oversight of local government towards more active intervention to stabilise municipal governance and strengthen financial management", and

• includes:

  • "legislative changes"

  • the "stronger enforcement of funded budgets and financial recovery plans"

  • "targeted investments in municipal infrastructure and smart metering", and

  • "new approaches to ensure that public funds are matched to credible delivery".

In the context of non-metro municipalities, should "capacity constraints at a specific municipality threaten infrastructure delivery", instead of reallocating the funding concerned to other municipalities with the capacity to use it effectively, unspent funds will be "transferred to entities such as the Development Bank of South Africa and the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent", which will then provide the assistance necessary to "ensure ... spending takes place in that municipality to benefit the residents who live there".

human rights and responsibilities

Cabinet has adopted a programme "providing for a yearlong, whole-of-government and whole-of-society celebration" of the Constitution's Bill of Rights. Justice & Constitutional Development Deputy Minister Andries Nel announced this during a recent NCOP debate under the theme, "deepening a culture of social justice and human rights'.

According to the Deputy Minister, emulating the 1994-96 "constitution-making process", the national commemorative programme will be "an inclusive initiative involving multiple stakeholders" using public dialogues, civic education, cultural and historically symbolic events, youth engagements and other community-driven initiatives intended to "deepen constitutional awareness and social cohesion".

The programme's goals will include:

• celebrating and reaffirming "constitutional values"

• educating and engaging citizens, "especially the youth", on rights, responsibilities and their enforcement

• reflecting on and evaluating "the performance of democracy"

• promoting the rule of law "in everyday life"

• strengthening "institutional trust and accountability"

• fostering national unity and social cohesion, and

• "recommitting" to social transformation.

Parliament

This year, the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Appropriations decided to conduct hearings in Ethekwini, KwaZulu-Natal, on two Bills members are now responsible for processing: the 2026 Division of Revenue Bill (allocating funds to the three spheres of government and their entities in terms of the equitable share principle) and the 2025/26 Special Appropriation Bill (topping up allocations to certain national departments, as originally provided for in the 2025 Appropriation Act).

A media statement on the Ethekwini proceedings tended to point to a widespread perception of public participation as a "procedural formality" and no more than "a tick-box exercise". In that context, committee chair Mmusi Maimane is quoted as having refuted this – insisting that hearings lie at "the heart of South Africa's commitment to participatory democracy, ... ensuring the law is shaped by the people it serves".

While that may well be true of most pieces of proposed new legislation tabled in Parliament, changes are rarely if ever made to a Division of Revenue Bill or an Appropriation Bill once formally introduced. Instead, where allocations need to be augmented, the necessary changes are reflected in the Appropriation Adjustment and Division of Revenue Amendment Bills traditionally tabled with the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement.

In fact, NCOP committees processing these Bills regularly call for written submissions before they have been passed by the National Assembly. Which is what happened this year, as we reported for SA Legal Academy at the time. A statement from Parliament on this procedural anomaly would be most welcome.

Until next Monday ...

Policy Watch SA

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