Government’s priorities for 2018

SoNA 2018

Government will embark on a number of measures to address unemployment, forge ahead with localisation and ensure transformation in industrialisation.

“We are one people, committed to working together to find jobs for our youth; build factories, roads, houses and clinics; prepare our children for a world of change and progress; and build cities and towns where families are safe, productive and content,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address.

Government's localisation programme will help  stimulate manufacturing and designate products like textiles, clothing, furniture, rail rolling stock and water meters for local procurement.

“We have already spent over R57 billion on locally-produced goods that may have been imported from other countries,” said President Ramaphosa.

Special economic zones remain important instruments that government will use to attract strategic foreign and domestic direct investment and build targeted industrial capabilities and establish new industrial hubs.

President Ramaphosa stressed that industrialisation must be underpinned by transformation.

Through measures like preferential procurement and the black industrialists programme, South Africa is developing a new generation of black and female producers that can build enterprises of significant scale and capability.

The President said government will improve its capacity to support black professionals, deal decisively with companies that resist transformation, use competition policy to open markets up to new black entrants, and invest in the development of businesses in townships and rural areas.

“Radical economic transformation requires that we fundamentally improve the position of black women and communities in the economy, ensuring that they are owners, managers, producers and financiers,” he said. 

What to look forward to this year  

• This month, government will launch the Youth Employment Service initiative, which will place unemployed youth in paid internships in companies across the economy. Together with partners in business, government has agreed to create one million internships in the next three years.
• Government will convene a Jobs Summit in the next few months to align the efforts of every sector and every stakeholder behind the imperative of job creation.
• An Investment Conference will take place in the next three months, targeting domestic and international investors, to market compelling investment opportunities in our country. 
• President Ramaphosa will establish a Youth Working Group that is representative of all young South Africans to ensure that policies and programmes advance their interests.

Mining can revive the economy

Mining has massive potential for growth and job creation.

President Ramaphosa said that mining is South Africa’s sunrise industry in reviving the economy.

“With the revival in commodity prices, we are determined to work with mining companies, unions and communities to grow the sector, attract new investment, create jobs and set the industry on a new path of transformation and sustainability.”

 Government will intensify engagements with all stakeholders on the Mining Charter this year, to ensure that it is truly an effective instrument to sustainably transform the face of mining in South Africa.

“By working together, in a genuine partnership, underscored by trust and a shared vision, I am certain we will be able to resolve the current impasse and agree on a Charter that both accelerates transformation and grows this vital sector of our economy,” President Ramaphosa said.

In supporting the mining sector, government also oversaw the Framework Agreement for a Sustainable Mining Industry signed between government, business and labour to promote sustainable mining with decent living conditions.

President Ramaphosa said he was concerned by the rise in mining fatalities that occurred last year.

He called on mining companies to work together with all stakeholders to ensure that mine accidents are dramatically reduced.

“One mining fatality is one too many,” he stressed.