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One doesn’t hear the government speak much about datacentres, and then, out of the blue, two senior Cabinet members mention it at the same time. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said in his 2026 Budget Speech that this type of critical infrastructure is now on the same footing as electricity, ports and transport networks. “This year, we will be exploring options to help datacentres and related infrastructure expand these investments in South Africa,” said Godongwana, adding that this should solidify the country’s role as a regional hub for these technologies.

In a post-Cabinet briefing on February 26, minister in the presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said that datacentres were part of the country’s critical infrastructure that it needed to promote, and that there would be incentives for companies wanting to invest and build datacentres in Africa. These comments, if you’ve been following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s last two State of the Nation Addresses, are in line with the major digital infrastructure investments the country is planning, which aim to support the digital transformation agenda. Ramaphosa said that 55 datacentres have already been built locally and more than R50bn in investment is expected over the next three years.