Contracts wrongly issued must be cancelled and re-issued according to Localisation Regulation-Minister Davies

All contracts that were wrongly issued for imports must be cancelled and re-issued according to localisation regulations. This was said by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies. Minister Davies was responding to members of Trade and Industry Portfolio Committee on State of the Nation Address on issues relating to the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) in parliament.

According to Davies, where the localisation regulations were applied, there was an increase of investments and job creation, therefore as government we are not apologetic for applying localisations tools.

“It is therefore imperative not only to get the money back in some cases but to cancel and re-issue contracts according to the localisation regulation. We are pleased with the process of rectifying these import leakages as a result of non-implementation and corruption of the programme,” said Davies

Davies said despite many challenges the localisation programme faces, significant investments, new capacity and capabilities have been created. He said that collaborative platforms with global original equipment manufacturer through inter alia technology and skills transfer programmes have been realised, new products were developed and factories launched at the back of rail localisation.

Davies also stated that 131 projects have been approved under the Black Industrialists Scheme which resulted in increased investments and job creation.

“The approval of these 131 projects of black entrepreneurs has leveraged over R13.2 billion of private-sector investment, about 9,500 new jobs created and 8,900 retained in a wide range of manufacturing sub-sectors. Going forward, the dti will increase efforts of providing financial, market access, capacity building, and technical support to approved Black Industrialists in collaboration with state owned companies, other government departments and the private sector,” said Davies.

Davies further announced that in 2018, 22 trade missions and 20 national pavilions were undertaken across the world, where the dti supported companies to showcase their products and services. He added that over 800 enterprises were assisted and approximately R4 billion export sales were recorded.

According to him, 15 National Pavilions are planned and 864 enterprises are expected to be supported in 2019.

With efforts to revitalise industrial parks to enable them to serve as catalysts for broader economic and industrial development in their host regions (townships and rural areas), Davies said R300 million has been approved for the second phase of the industrial parks revitalisation. To date six Industrial Parks have been launched and funded with the value of R511 million and four will be ready to be launched this year.

Industrial Parks Revitalisation Programme is one of the flagship programmes of government aimed at facilitating broad-based economic participation to achieve inclusive growth, as well as facilitating the transformation of the economy.

Minister further mentioned that 2019 will see the launch of Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Northern Cape and the Free State InvestSA One Stop Shops, in addition to the operational offices in Pretoria, KwaZulu Natal, Gauteng and Western Cape.  These one stop shops are critical to facilitating and increasing quality investments into the economy.

Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe-Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: (012) 394 1650
Mobile: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
Issued by: The Department of Trade and Industry
Follow us on Twitter: @the_dti

Share this:

Print Friendly, PDF & Email