Government has announced that data centres will be considered as critical as electricity, ports and transport networks.

TechCentral

South Africa's finance minister Enoch Godongwana has declared data centre infrastructure as strategically critical as electricity, ports, and transport networks in his 2026 budget speech. National Treasury will explore incentives to expand data centre investment, potentially including special economic zone tax benefits (15% vs 27% corporate tax), accelerated depreciation, and priority grid connections. The announcement comes amid a major data centre building boom: over 55 facilities already built, R50-billion in investment expected over three years, with major players including Microsoft (R5.4-billion committed), Google (first African cloud region in Johannesburg), AWS, Teraco, and Vantage Data Centers all active in the market. The biggest constraint remains electricity supply, and the policy signal could unlock streamlined power approvals and dedicated grid allocations for the sector.

South Africa puts data centres on par with energy, ports in big policy shift