After years of delay, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has published draft regulations to give effect to South Africa’s Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act, which was passed in 2023.
The public has until 28 January 2026 to comment on the regulations, which outline how the law should be implemented in practice.
Why these regulations matter
Although the Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act was approved by Parliament in 2023 and signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in May 2024, it cannot be fully enforced without regulations.
The new rules specifically relate to sections 8(1)(a) and (b) and 10(2)(c) of the Act and provide practical guidance on the information that police must document when registering hate crime and hate speech cases. They include examples of the various forms that would be used by the police and court officials to both record and report incidents.
Without these regulations and documents, the Act remains largely symbolic — a major concern for communities facing persistent violence and discrimination.
What is a hate crime?
The regulations reinforce the Act’s definition of a hate crime as any existing criminal offence committed against a person, group or property motivated by prejudice or intolerance. This includes bias based on characteristics such as sexual orientation, gender identity, sex characteristics, race, religion, disability and nationality.
Hate speech is the publishing, sharing or communicating of anything that demonstrates the clear intention to be harmful or to incite harm, and promote or propagate hatred, on the basis of the same characteristics.
The draft regulations place the responsibility on the South African Police Service (SAPS) to properly identify suspected hate crimes and incidents of hate speech, and to capture this information using the prescribed forms.
This will ensure that prosecutors, magistrates and judges are empowered to prosecute hate crime cases, with the prejudice involved considered as an aggravating circumstance that may result in harsher sentences.
Those found guilty of hate speech could face a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years, or both a fine and imprisonment.
The importance of accurate data
Accurate record-keeping is particularly significant, as the lack of reliable hate crime data has long hampered advocacy and accountability. Activists hope that the implementation of the Act will allow civil society and the authorities to better understand the scale of hate crimes and hate speech and to better tackle these challenges.
According to the regulations, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is tasked with maintaining a database of reported hate crimes and hate speech incidents. This data must be available on the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development website and be updated quarterly.
The information must also be provided on an annual basis to the South African Human Rights Commission, the Commission for Gender Equality, and the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities.
Criticism over delays and urgency
While the publication of the draft regulations is a positive step, activists have expressed frustration that more than two years have passed since the Act was passed.
During this time, LGBTQ+ South Africans have continued to face violent hate crimes, online harassment and organised attacks — including on dating apps — often without clear recognition of bias in criminal cases.
Human rights organisations argue that the delays undermine confidence in the state’s commitment to protecting vulnerable communities.
How to submit public comments
Members of the public can submit written comments on the draft regulations to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development until 28 January 2026. Submissions can be emailed to MaKhosa@justice.gov.za or LSebelemetja@justice.gov.za.
