Author: Agency
The first consignment of energy equipment donated by the People’s Republic of China is expected to be received by Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientso Ramokgopa. The consignment handover is expected to be held in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday. “The donation forms part of the Technical Assistance Programme that was entered into in August 2023 during China’s Head of State Visit to South Africa. The first consignment which has arrived in South Africa consists of 450 gasoline generators which will be distributed to public service facilities across the country. “The generators will be used as backup to alleviate the…
The South African Police Service (SAPS) Serial and Electronic Crime Investigations (SECI) unit has, in collaboration with the USA Department of Homelands Security, arrested three child online sexual predators in Gauteng. The trio was arrested in a simultaneous takedown operation in the past week, relating to a number of suspects who were identified as South African users who are involved in the possession, distribution, manufacturing, accessing and downloading of child pornography. Members of the SECI at Head Office and in Gauteng conducted the preliminary investigations on the users, and various provinces were identified where the suspects reside. After several months…
President Cyril Ramaphosa has emphasised that South Africa remains one of the preferred investment destinations and is an important gateway for markets and other business opportunities throughout the continent. The President was delivering remarks at the Procter & Gamble Plant launch in Kempton Park, in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. “As a clear demonstration of the value of trade between African countries, Procter & Gamble currently exports from South Africa to Namibia, Swaziland, Mozambique and Botswana. We understand that the company is set to supply the African continent from South Africa through the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area. “The African…
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reiterated President Joe Biden’s commitment to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) beyond 2025 when it expires. “President Biden fully supports the reauthorisation of AGOA. But we don’t just want to extend AGOA – we want to work with the United States Congress to make it better. And that’s what this week’s dialogue is about,” he said on Friday. Blinken was addressing delegates through a video speech at the three-day AGOA Forum at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg. Launched in 2000, AGOA grants exports from qualifying African countries duty-free…
An extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for a longer period of time can act as an instrument to entice investors to pour more resources into the African continent. “We would like you to look at the extension or renewal of AGOA for a sufficiently lengthy period for it to act as an incentive for investors to build new factories on the African continent. “As we were going around talking to a number of product producers, the recurring message and word I heard is ‘we can do more…if this opportunity is extended and we can build more…
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum creates a significant opportunity to elevate issues associated with labour standards and social justice. This is according to Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi who delivered opening remarks at the Organised Labour and Civil Society AGOA Forum on Thursday. “We exist within complex social and economic environments that are ever changing. But our goals should be to achieve social justice and decent work for all people through a focus on decreasing unpaid labour, increasing social protection, doing away with employment discrimination, increasing wages, and improving job security. “Through these efforts we could…
Work is underway to reconfigure the structure and size of the State as part of government’s efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public spending. “This Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) supports measures to lift our growth prospects over the medium term and restructures the State to become more effective,” Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana said on Wednesday while delivering the MTBPS in Parliament. Government is preparing a joint plan to rationalise departments, entities and programmes over the next three years The Presidency, National Treasury, Department of Public Service and Administration and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation…
SA’s Government has extended the COVID-19 Social Grant (SRD Grant) until March 2025 while it considers social security policy reforms and a funding model. The grant was introduced to support low-income individuals affected by the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Delivering the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) to Parliament on Wednesday, Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana said R34 billion has been allocated to extend the grant by another year. “Over the medium term, a provisional allocation is retained while a comprehensive review of the entire social grant system is finalised. The 2023 Budget indicated that the COVID-19 Social Relief…
The servicing of government’s rising debt is “crowding out” social spending in the country, says Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. The Minister on Wednesday delivered the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in Parliament, where he explained the challenge posed to spending on social services. “It is important… to point out that our debt levels and rising debt service costs are not problems in and of themselves. “Our challenge is that rising debt service costs are crowding out important social spending, and our economy has not grown fast enough to support increasing expenditure or our current debt levels. Therefore, this policy statement…
SA’s revenue collection is expected to fall by some R56 billion below the 2023 Budget predictions, according to the National Treasury Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). The MTBPS notes that slowing commodity exports, slower growth, downward revisions of the tax base growth, slowing corporate tax collections and lower net VAT collections have all impacted tax revenue. The 2023 Budget had projected collections would reach some R1.78 trillion but that has now been revised down to R1.73 trillion. “In recent years, revenue collection has benefited from a pattern of high prices for South Africa’s commodity exports. In the current year,…