The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is calling for public input on the draft regulations for the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act, 2023. While South Africans overwhelmingly support action against real hate crimes, these draft regulations raise serious concerns about privacy, government overreach, and enforcement that could undermine free expression and justice. Seeing as this is a growing global concern, it is imperative that South Africans fight for our freedom to speak our minds.
This is our opportunity to influence how this law is implemented—before it goes too far.
This campaign closed on 28 January 2026
Key Concerns with the Draft Regulations:
1. Invasive Data Collection and storage
The proposed regulations require the Director-General to keep a database as part of DOJ infrastructure, which must enable transmission of information from SAPS, NPA, courts, generation of anonymised statistics, and reporting. This all sounds effective and necessary, but in essence it presents the possibility for large scale future privacy issues. The regulations aim to institutionalise permanent monitoring, not temporary enforcement. This is classic administrative state expansion rather than narrow law enforcement.
2. Disproportionate Reporting Burden
Police stations and prosecutors are required to produce multiple reports (every 6 months and annually) detailing cases, characteristics of victims, and outcomes. This will add to the already mountainous administrative task of the South African Police Service, and will present a broad picture, without solving the problem.
3. Broad Definitions
The Act already defines hate speech and hate crimes using broad terms, which could easily bent and skewed based on interpretation, and the regulations do little to narrow or clarify their application, which risks misinterpretation or misuse by law enforcement.
Submit your comment to the Department of Justice before 28 January 2026.
Under South African law, every public comment must be considered—this is your chance to help shape the final regulations. Whether you are concerned about human rights, free speech, or state overreach, your voice matters.
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