Day: September 14, 2023

Despite the prevailing difficult global economic conditions, South Africa’s economy continues to demonstrate its resilience, with multiple gains being achieved towards the country’s economy, investment and trade.

These include the 0.6% expansion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2023, a R5 billion investment pledge by auto component manufacturers, job creation at the Rainbow Chickens facility in Hammarsdale and an investment by Stellantis to develop a greenfield manufacturing facility.

“Cabinet is pleased with the resilience of the South African economy as shown by South Africa’s GDP second quarter data, as released by StatsSA. This is despite the prevailing difficult global economic conditions and the persistence of the electricity situation in the country,” Minister in The Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said on Thursday.

According to Stats SA, six industries on the supply side of the economy grew in the second quarter, with manufacturing and finance driving much of the upward momentum.

“The manufacturing industry increased by 2.2% in the second quarter, contributing 0.3 of a percentage point to GDP growth. The continued improvements in manufacturing data indicates improvements in the production capacity, which in turn contributes to an increase in total manufacturing employment.

“The petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products division made the largest contribution to the increase in the second quarter. The basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products and machinery division also made a significant contribution to the growth in this industry,” the Minister said.

The finance, real estate and business services industry increased by 0.7% in the second quarter, contributing 0.2 of a percentage point to GDP growth while the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry increased by 4.2%, contributing 0.1 of a percentage point to GDP growth.

The personal services industry increased by 0.7% in the second quarter, contributing 0.1% of a percentage point to GDP growth.

The Minister made these remarks during a media briefing in Pretoria on the outcomes a Cabinet meeting that was held on Wednesday.

Cabinet had at the meeting also welcomed a pledge for an investment worth approximately R5 billion by auto component manufacturers made at the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (NAACAM) show recently.

“These pledges by companies operating in South Africa show the confidence of the industry in the South African market and the opportunities to localise the production of components, providing auto assemblers with a more resilient supply base.

“Shortly after the announcement, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition officially opened the Benteler plant extension in the Eastern Cape, producing components for local car assemblers. The expansion of production is estimated to replace imports worth R1 billion and the workforce grew to 743 workers,” Ntshavheni said.

Gains in poultry sector

Cabinet said the recent job creation for 750 people at the Rainbow Chickens facility in Hammarsdale demonstrates the success of the implementation of the Poultry Masterplan.

“During 2017, Rainbow Chickens had retrenched more than 1 000 workers and closed operations. After adoption of the masterplan, government implemented a variety of measures to safeguard the local poultry industry including placing anti-dumping duties on poultry imported from producers in five countries.

“This, together with increased investment and measures to transform the industry and bring more black-owned firms into the market, has seen real successes,” Ntshavheni said.

Rainbow Chickens has since re-opened and invested R220 million.

In addition, the overall employment within the poultry industry has been reported to have increased by 2 780 jobs and more than R2 billion in fresh investment has been implemented.

Meanwhile, Cabinet welcomed the confirmation by Stellantis of its intention to develop a greenfield manufacturing facility in Coega, South Africa. The greenfield manufacturing project is planned to be completed by the end of 2025.

“The first launch, planned for early 2026, is for a 1 T pick-up truck, with volumes expected to reach up to 50 000 annually, including for export, in line with the industry masterplan, known as the Automotive Production Development Program (APDP).

“Direct employment to support the first capacity step is expected at 1 000 jobs. Stellantis will be massively investing in over 500 000 hours in training and skills to develop and support the local teams to the level of global standards. We are targeting a localisation rate over 30%,” the Minister said. – SAnews.gov.za

Source: South African Government News Agency

Cabinet is forging ahead with “its firm commitment for the implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI)”.

This according to Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who held a post-Cabinet media briefing on Thursday.

Ntshavheni explained that the NHI represents a way to ensure that all South Africans have access to quality healthcare.

“The commitment to NHI is premised on the fact that both public and private health sectors are not sustainable. The current parallel and fragmented systems must be integrated into a national system so that all resources are accessible to all people.

“The implementation of the NHI is premised on the implementation of a comprehensive approach to accelerating infrastructure improvement in the public sector. This is not something that should be contemplated separately from the reforms in the NHI Bill,” she said.

Ntshavheni explained that through the NHI, the pressure on “congested public facilities” will be lifted.

“Focusing narrowly on the intended reforms of private financing of healthcare has detracted from the Bill’s intended reforms of public and private provision of services. It is in reforming the service platform that space will be created for decongesting public facilities.

“When the NHI Fund is able to purchase services from both public and private providers, we will begin to see the pressure lifted from highly pressured public facilities,” she said.

The Minister emphasised that during every phase of implementation of the NHI, progress is monitored.

“The intentional distortion that the passage of the Bill will reform everything overnight is mischievous at best. The transitional provisions are clear that the implementation will take time and that the reforms will be implemented in phases.

“At each and every phase there will be evaluation of the impact and the necessary gaps and corrective measures will be taken,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za

Source: South African Government News Agency

Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, says Cabinet has been updated on Eskom’s current planned maintenance plan which has resulted in higher stages of load shedding.

The increased maintenance is aimed at ensuring the sustainability of Eskom’s plants.

“The concerted implementation of the planned fleet maintenance programme has resulted in increased stages of load shedding in recent days.

“The implementation of Stage 6 load shedding in the last week was a regress from the trends that prevailed in the previous weeks of lower stages of load shedding,” she remarked.

The Minister was briefing the media following this week’s Cabinet meeting.

She said “the current implementation of increased stages of load shedding is a short-term phase as Eskom prepares for more sustained and lessened stages of load shedding in the not-so-distant future”.

“The Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, will continue to update the nation on the progress being made to address the current electricity challenges and the steps being taken to ultimately end load shedding,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za

Source: South African Government News Agency

Cabinet has approved the publication of various draft bills for public comment, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said on Thursday.

She was addressing the media on the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.

The draft bills include the Draft Aquaculture Development Bill and the Draft National State Enterprises Bill.

“The purpose of the [Draft Aquaculture Development] Bill is to promote the development of a responsible Aquaculture sector for meaningful contribution to food security and economic development for the country; support greater participation of small businesses, especially those owned by women and youth; and promote the transformation of the aquaculture sector.

“The Draft [National State Enterprises] Bill proposes the consolidation of State’s shareholdings in strategic state-owned enterprises [and the] establishment of the State’s Asset Management SOC Ltd as a holding company for state shareholding of strategic SOEs, with the State as a sole shareholder,” she said.

The Repeal of the South African Airways Bill has also been approved for publication for public comment.

“The Repeal of the SAA Act is aimed at giving effect to the changes of government no longer being a majority stakeholder of SAA. The repeal of the SAA Act does not change the continued corporate existence of the company under Companies Act; and [the] rights attached to government shares in SAA will be exercised by the designated shareholder representative on behalf of the State,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Draft Public Service Commission (PSC) Bill has been approved by Cabinet for submission to Parliament.

“Cabinet approved the submission of the Public Service Commission Bill to Parliament, which amends the PSC Act, no. 46 of 1997. The amendments will enable the PSC to operate as an independent and impartial constitutional body with the view to improve its effectiveness and efficiency within the public service.

“The Bill also extends the mandate of the PSC to municipalities and public entities and provides a legislative framework for the PSC’s oversight role in the implementation of the National Framework on the Professionalisation of the Public Sector,” Ntshavheni said. – SAnews.gov.za

Source: South African Government News Agency

Cabinet has reiterated that measures to address the budget shortfall must not impact negatively on service delivery.

This as a Cost Containment Letter was issued on 31 August 2023 with proposals to close the fiscal gap.

“Cabinet appreciates the current fiscal constraints which are not unique to South Africa but has resulted in-her budget shortfall. The Minister of Finance will shortly issue Guidelines clarifying the unintended misunderstanding arising from the Cost Containment Letter issued on 31 August 2023.

“In addition, as part of the in-year performance review of progress in implementation priorities agreed to with Ministers, the President and Deputy President will meet with individual Ministers to ensure that fiscal management does not derail the agreed to priorities,” Minister in The Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said on Thursday.

The Minister made these remarks during a media briefing in Pretoria on the outcomes of a Cabinet meeting that was held on Wednesday. – SAnews.gov.za

Source: South African Government News Agency

Government and its agencies, the Postbank and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), have assured social grant beneficiaries that they will get their payments for the month of September 2023.

The Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, and the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Mondli Gungubele, along with Postbank and SASSA held a joint media briefing in Pretoria on Thursday where they extended their sincerest apologies to social grant beneficiaries who have encountered difficulties accessing their grants this past week.

“Government assures South Africa and social grants beneficiaries that all social grants beneficiaries that have not yet received their social grants payments will be paid their money in full.

“Postbank and SASSA staff will be in communities this entire week to assess progress in the delayed payment of grants and to assist recipients who may require further guidance and assistance,” Minister Gungubele said.

On Tuesday, 5 September 2023, and Wednesday, 6 September 2023, Postbank experienced intermittent system challenges at ATMs and retailers, leading to failed withdrawal attempts by some grant recipients for the old age and disabilities grants.

Gungubele explained that the system challenges led to the transactions of some beneficiaries resulting in ‘transaction incomplete errors’ because of the system’s communication timeouts.

He said the ‘transaction incomplete errors’ are common payments systems errors within the banking space, however, normally go by unnoticed due to automated reversal functionality.

“The system challenges that affected Postbank unfortunately impacted the availability of the auto reversal functionality. Regrettably, this resulted in some social grants beneficiaries that were due to be paid on the 5th and 6th of September 2023 not receiving their social grants payments on time.

“We would like to reassure our social grants beneficiaries, the public and all stakeholders that the system challenges were as a matter of fact resolved on the morning of the 6th of September 2023. The Postbank system has been working optimally since the afternoon of 6 September 2023,” he said.

Gungubele confirmed that the payment of all other social grants – which involves a much bigger clientele number – was concluded on 7 September 2023 without any challenges across all National Payments Systems (NPS) channels including ATMs and retailers.

He said that more than four million individuals were paid their social grants money by Postbank through the SASSA Gold Cards on 7 and 8 September 2023.

However, the Minister acknowledged that there might be a few beneficiaries who have not yet received their social grants.

“Unfortunately, though, due to the automated reversal not working on the 5th and 6th, a number of clients, mainly the elderly, were unable to access their funds for a prolonged period of time as a manual process had to be implemented to credit their accounts.

“This is what Postbank is now contending with which is the source of the understandable nationwide concerns relating to the September 2023 social grants payments and the issue that as Ministers we saw the need to address,” Gungubele said.

The Minister announced that originally this affected approximately 600 000 beneficiaries, which translates to around 10% of the 5.3 million beneficiaries that are paid their social grants via Postbank’s SASSA Gold Cards monthly.

“We would like to confirm to South Africa that the majority of these accounts have now been corrected and clients have been able to access their money,” he said.

Postbank has completed more than 500 000 funds reversals to date and the affected beneficiaries have gotten their social grants payments.

However, the Minister said it is important to acknowledge that due to the manual processes involved, the process is time consuming and has taken a longer than desirable.

Clients who are still encountering challenges with accessing their grant money and require support have been encouraged to contact the Postbank call centre on 0800 53 54 55 or email to [email protected]. – SAnews.gov.za

Source: South African Government News Agency