Day: June 10, 2022

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister, Thoko Didiza, will be attending the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference on agricultural negotiations, scheduled to take place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 12 to 16 June 2022.

The negotiations are based on Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture, which provides for the continuation of the negotiations on issues relating to agricultural support and protection.

The last major decision relating to agricultural negotiations was taken at the Nairobi WTO Ministerial Conference held in December 2015, with the elimination of export subsidies.

The department noted that during the Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires in December 2017, no joint declaration or work programme could be agreed upon by the WTO membership.

“To date, progress has been limited with members mainly repeating known positions. The divide remains largely between developed and developing member states,” the department said in a statement.

The department said that South Africa’s priority in agricultural negotiations is to achieve a substantial and real reduction of trade distorting domestic support and to ensure sufficient policy space to carry out developmental policies that seek to address poverty, inequality and low economic growth.

For South Africa, the department said, the negotiations need to follow a certain sequence with domestic support as a priority.

“South Africa’s view is that market access negotiations should start once substantial progress has been made with domestic support. This is to ensure that historical imbalances are addressed and the playing field is levelled before engaging in further market access negotiations.

“Approximately 70% of South Africa’s agricultural exports are already duty free, incorporating the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Trade Protocol, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) with the United States of America and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (this agreement is not yet implemented),” the department said.

South Africa’s major challenges regarding market access are in the sanitary and phytosanitary field, and those are not negotiated with the Agreement on Agriculture, the department added.

Source: South African Government News Agency

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Presidency is steadfast in lending its support to law enforcement agencies in South Africa’s war against corruption and is fully focused on rebuilding South Africa’s public institutions.

The President was addressing Parliament in reply to the house’s debate on the Presidency’s budget vote.

“Accountability is the cornerstone of any transformative vision if it is to be realised. No more critical is this than in the fight against corruption. We will…continue to lend the support and weight of the highest office in the land to the work of the multidisciplinary Fusion Centre, the Hawks, the SAPS (South African Police Service), the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) Investigating Directorate, and all entities involved in the war against corruption,” he said.

"To further strengthen the fight against corruption at the local government level, the President reported that the work undertaken by the SAPS Clean Audit Task Team is “ongoing and has seen a number of arrests for fraud and corruption at local government level.”

Institutional credibility

The President reported that the task government has undertaken to rebuild and restore credibility to state institutions like the NPA and the South African Revenue Service is bearing fruit.

“It was this Presidency that instituted high-level commissions of enquiry into the workings of the South African Revenue Service and the NPA. Credibility has been restored to these institutions as they implemented the recommendations of the respective commissions.

“By way of example, last financial year SARS collected record revenues of R1.564 trillion. Four years since I appointed a commission of inquiry into administration and governance at SARS, its turnaround has been spectacular. This revenue enables the state to fund social support, social infrastructure, and many other projects,” he said.

He added that the Presidency is working to ensure that recommendations made by the Special Investigating Unit in respect of investigations into departments and state institutions “are acted upon”.

“As The Presidency, another focus for us this year is supporting the respective departments to implement the recommendations of a number of high-level commissions appointed by the President.

“As I indicated…a number of the recommendations made by the expert panel into the 2021 July unrest, have already been implemented. Notably, restoring stability to the leadership of the State Security Agency, the South African Police Service, and SAPS Crime Intelligence,” he said.

Turning to crime prevention and investigation, President Ramaphosa said government has its eye trained on improving policing in the country.

“The Honourable Groenewald has called on government to focus on strengthening the criminal justice system to deal decisively with all forms of criminality that impacts people’s daily lives.

“This begins, fundamentally, with improving policing. The re-establishment of CPFs (Community Policing Forums), the entry of new police recruits, and strengthening public order policing will further support our hardworking SAPS members whose job is difficult and an often thankless task,” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Sihle Zikalala, has welcomed a R1 million donation from Harmony Gold Mining employees to assist the province in responding to the recent floods that left over 7 600 people homeless.

The donations, including 200 mattresses, 283 blankets, 130 pillows, 242 fitted sheets, clothes, toiletries, groceries valued at R400 000, and a R600 000 cheque were handed over today by the global mining company’s Executive Director, Mashego Mashego, on Friday.

This comes after Harmony Gold Mining chairperson, Patrice Motsepe, visited KwaZulu-Natal a few days after the devastating floods.

Zikalala said the provincial government is hard at work to improve the living conditions of the people of KwaZulu-Natal, despite the setbacks suffered by the province due to COVID-19, the devastating riots in July 2021, and the floods.

“We are inspired by the support from Harmony Gold Mining employees and various stakeholders... during this time. We also acknowledge the help our province has received from the Motsepe Foundation in the form of the R30 million donation used towards the burial of flood victims.

“All the resources allocated for flood relief, as well as the recovery and rebuilding process, will be used in line with fiscal rectitude, accountability, transparency and openness. The Department of Social Development will coordinate the relief support, working with NGOs, to ensure that all shelters receive support,” Zikalala said.

Zikalala said any monetary donations will go to the account of the provincial government, which is managed by Treasury [and] will be fully accounted and audited.

Speaking after the handing over of the flood relief donations at the Department of Public Works in Mayville, Mashego said the devastating floods "touched Harmony Gold Mining Company employees and they also wanted to lend a helping hand by contributing towards the relief".

“The effects of natural disasters continue to be felt long after they have occurred. That is the reason we are here with donations that have been contributed by Harmony Gold employees across all our operations, in response to a call to assist.

“The total contribution from the Harmony Gold family amounts to R1 million, with our employees donating blankets, bed linen, groceries, water, toiletries and shoes amounting to R400 000. The company is also donating a cheque of R600 000 towards the relief,” Mashego said.

Mashego also commended Zikalala for his leadership role and being on the ground during the floods in order to assist affected people.

Source: South African Government News Agency

President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated government’s vision for South Africa, which is laid out by the National Development Plan (NDP), aimed at eliminating poverty and reducing inequality.

“In these intervening years, we have to redouble our efforts and work harder, because as elected representatives, we have an obligation to improve the material conditions of every South African man, woman, and child,” the President said on Friday.

He was replying to the Presidency Budget Vote debate at the Good Hope Chamber in Cape Town.

He emphasised that the enablers of this vision are an inclusive and transformed economy, enhanced State capacity, and partnerships across society.

The President said that in recent times a number of reports and studies have indicated that government will not meet its 2030 targets under the NDP.

“But this should not stop us from trying. We must ensure that the NDP is implemented,” the President said.

The President further thanked some members of Parliament for acknowledging the strides that have been made in reviving the economy through the Investment Conference, Youth Employment Service, and others.

“We have positioned ourselves as a transformative Presidency, and transformation takes time. It does not happen overnight. But when the right decisions are made, at the right time, guided by the right course of action, progress results,” he said.

Most importantly, the President said the foundations upon which any economic recovery is built have to be solid and coherent, and catalytic policy is critical.

Operation Vulindlela well underway

In the Presidency Budget Vote last year, President Ramaphosa outlined key economic reform measures that were underway or were in process, driven by Operation Vulindlela, in partnership with National Treasury.

He said the majority of these have subsequently been passed in key areas such as transportation, electricity, energy, telecoms and water infrastructure.

“This year, through Operation Vulindlela, supported by the Project Management Office in the Presidency and the Red Tape Reduction team, we aim to deliver even more,” he said.

Energy supply

Turning to energy supply in the country, President Ramaphosa said security of energy supply has had a direct and material impact on domestic and international investor confidence, which in turn leads to a favourable business environment that creates more jobs.

“That is why supporting the process of structural reform in the energy sector has been one of our foremost priorities as the Presidency. The energy reform process is aimed in part at addressing our immediate challenges,” he said.

In his Budget Vote speech on Thursday, President Ramaphosa outlined progress in the renewable energy procurement programme, the conclusion of power purchase agreements for three risk mitigation projects, and measures that we will be taking to close the electricity gap.

He said that the ultimate objective is to fundamentally transform the energy landscape, create a new competitive electricity market, and most importantly, decarbonise the economy.

“For this reason, the Just Transition partnership that the new Climate Finance Office in the Presidency will be mobilising resources for, will be a game-changer.

“This is the work being undertaken by a Presidency committed to transformative, inclusive, sustainable development,” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

President Cyril Ramaphosa says his office has been championing the drive to transform the capacity of the State.

Replying to the Presidency Budget Vote Debate on Friday, President Ramaphosa said the Presidency’s vision is to “realise a State that is fit for purpose to serve communities and brings targeted and inclusive development to where people live, study and work”.

President Ramaphosa said two years ago, the Presidency set its transformative sights on the labour market. He said at this time, private sector job creation was constrained and hampered by the pandemic, and many livelihoods were in danger or had been lost.

“Working with social partners and government departments, we designed and have been driving the implementation of the largest mass public employment programme in our country’s history.

“To date, the Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES) has successfully provided work opportunities to close to a million beneficiaries, who would have otherwise not been absorbed by the constrained job market,” he said.

The President acknowledged that he knows that the youth are the ones suffering most from unemployment and exclusion.

“That is why the majority of the close to one million beneficiaries of this ground-breaking programme have been young people. To be exact, 84% youth, and 62% female,” he said.

President Ramaphosa said the second phase is supporting the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention and the Social Employment Fund, where it’s also expected that young people will be the primary beneficiaries.

District Development Model

President Ramaphosa said the Presidential izimbizo have been a means through which the Presidency exercises oversight over the progress of the District Development Model (DDM),and he plans to visit the six remaining provinces this year.

The District Development Model is an initiative of the Presidency and was launched at a pilot site in the OR Tambo District Municipality in 2020.

“Although the onset of the pandemic set back our efforts to roll-out the DDM in more municipalities, the process has resumed in earnest,” he said.

As part of operationalising this model, the President said the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has been working with districts and municipalities to finalise their "One Plans".

These "One Plans" outline the respective approaches of districts to resolving service delivery challenges, economic development, job creation and key deliverables.

Responding to an MP's suggestion that the imbizo in the Western Cape should be held on the Cape Flats, the President said that the request will be given serious consideration.

“This will be an opportunity to listen to the life experiences and concerns of our people in the Western Cape, and no doubt such an imbizo will bring in people from number of surrounding areas where our people live,” he said.

He said district-based development is part of transforming government planning.

“It is a break from the past, where departments worked in silos, fruitless expenditure on irrelevant projects was common, and where development was not aligned to national objectives.

“Once this model is fully institutionalised, it will result in better use of resources, targeted development, and responsive planning,” the President said.

He said it will enable districts and municipalities to develop and also harness existing local economic initiatives such as Special Economic Zones, industrial parks, and agri-hubs.

President Ramaphosa said government has set the target of rolling out the DDM in all 52 of the country’s districts, and the Presidency will be conducting oversight in this regard.

Source: South African Government News Agency