<p>The Minerals Council South Africa has welcomed the launch of both the Mineral Resources Development Bill and the Critical Minerals Strategy by the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR). Both documents come at a pivotal time to realise the potential for South Africa&rsquo;s mining industry and its contribution to economic growth and energy transition.</p>

New Minerals and Development Bill and Strategy launched

Focus on processing our minerals so that the country exports finished products

<p>The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) and the Lesotho&rsquo;s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Business Development have agreed to enhance trade and investment, to advance shared interests.</p>

Trade Investment enhanced

Reduce the high cost of investment and cross-border trade and address the structural decline in global competitiveness, including addressing constraints in logistics, energy, and other network industries and regulatory barriers

Launch One Stop Shops across all provinces for small and medium enterprises

Create an enabling environment for MSMEs, township and village enterprises, formal start-ups, and informal enterprises, targeting 1.055 million small businesses

<p>The cabinet has approved the submission of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade to Parliament for ratification.&nbsp;The protocol aims to enhance the participation of women and youth in trade under the AfCFTA, and it outlines specific objectives such as helping women and youth traders to participate in the markets effectively</p>

The cabinet has approved the submission of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade to Parliament for ratification.

Prioritise the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area to increase our exports to the rest of the continent

Continue with the visa reforms to attract skills and investment and grow the tourism sector

Increase employment and work opportunities, targeting 6 million jobs and reduce unemployment to below 28% by 2029

Accelerate growth of strategic industrial and labour-intensive sectors

Create an enabling environment for investment and improved competitiveness through structural reforms

Increase infrastructure investment, access, and efficiency

Improve the export environment through a review of industrial policy, localisation initiatives and sector-specific policies

Increase trade and investment by leveraging on existing partnerships such as BRICS+, Agoa and SA-UK

Achieve 2.7% GDP growth by  2027 and above 3% GDP growth by 2029

Establish a comprehensive and targeted export promotion strategy and export finance framework to address information asymmetries and ensure appropriate financial products and services are available

Implement practical partnerships between the state and sector-focused private sector bodies to promote investment, exports, and job creation in future-facing sectors

Create a dynamic science, technology, and innovation ecosystem for growth

Accelerate interventions for redress, economic empowerment, and spatial transformation in favour of previously marginalised groups

Create active support and access to finance, markets and public procurement opportunities for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities

Create an enabling environment for private sector investment and reduce the complexity of the PPP regulatory framework

Expand and strengthen the transmission network to enable new generation capacity in areas with strong wind and solar resources

Build over 14,400 km of new high-voltage transmission lines under the Transmission Development Plan (TDP)

Develop an Independent Transmission Projects Policy Framework

The Department of Employment and Labour, in consultation with the National Treasury, will ensure that the national minimum wage is regularly increased, in line with inflation

Implement the Freight Logistics Roadmap to enable private sector investment in ports and rail

Upgrade the e-Visa system to an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system

Improve airlift through new airline routes to South African airports

Increase destination marketing and improve security at key tourist sites

Strengthen the South African Revenue Service (SARS) to maximise resource mobilisation

Simplify and speed up planning and regulatory processes to make it easier for businesses to invest and operate in a municipality, thus creating more jobs

<p>Government has launched a project to prepare for investment on infrastructure, while upgrading and maintaining the current infrastructure.</p>

Government to spend more than R940bn on infrastructure

Increase the scale of investment in infrastructure

<p>President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the Expropriation Bill, which sets out how organs of State may expropriate land in the public interest for various reasons.&nbsp;</p>

President Ramaphosa signs Expropriation Bill into Law

Increase funding to land reform, prioritise the transfer of state land and improve post-settlement support by strengthening the institutional capacity of responsible structures.

<div class="ewa-rteLine">The Taxation Laws Amendment Bill has been passed by the National Assembly and transmitted to the NCOP for concurrence.</div>
<div class="ewa-rteLine">&nbsp;</div>

Taxation Laws Amendment Bill passed

Reduce the undue regulatory burdens that hold back businesses from creating jobs.

Complete the recovery of the passenger rail network across the country to enable people to travel from outlying areas to city centres

Expand the basket of essential food items exempt from VAT and undertake a comprehensive review of administered prices, including the fuel price formula

Manage public finances with a view to stabilising debt

Implement the Freight Logistics Roadmap

<p>The government of South Africa has allocated more than R219.2 billion to South Africa's green energy revolution, with the majority of the funds going towards strengthening the sector's infrastructure.</p>

Treasury aims to give R219.2 billion boost to power a greener future

Invest more than R1.5 trillion in a just transition, including support for workers and communities in Mpumalanga and other coal-producing regions.

Create a green manufacturing sector centred on the export of green hydrogen and associated products, electric vehicles and renewable energy components.

<p>The Department of Small Business Development has so far disbursed R6 million from the R500 million Spaza Shop Support Fund (SSSF). This initiative aims to support South African-owned spaza shops and food-handling outlets in townships and rural areas.</p>

R6million disbursed to the Spaza Shop Support Fund (SSSF)

Support small- and medium-sized enterprises in townships and rural areas

<p>Government has worked with the China-African Precious Metals Company as means of increasing investment and to create jobs. This company has opened a newly refurbished gold processing plant that is guaranteed to create about 4 000 work opportunities in Orkney in the City of Matlosana Local Municipality, North West.</p>

Government has supported and facillitated the expansion of China-African Precious Metals in North West

Work with stakeholders to develop and implement Master Plans to grow important industries, increase investment, create jobs and foster transformation

Pursue a smart industrial policy that focuses on the competitiveness of our economy, and that incentivises businesses to expand our exports and create jobs

Simplify the regulations on public-private partnerships to enable greater investment in both social and economic infrastructure development

Support the growth of rural enterprises and invest in public infrastructure in under-serviced areas.

Improve and uphold workers' rights

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Promise

Promise History

New Minerals and Development Bill and Strategy launched