ƒ† ‡š–‡†• Ž‘••‡• About R80bln generated by black industrialists in SA
J– The South African (SA) Rand weakened in early trade on Friday, extending the previous day’s losses to hit its lowest level since late October, with analysts citing the impact of this week’s 2024 budget on investor sentiment.
At 8am GMT the Rand traded at R19.2350 against the US Dollar, about 0.3 per cent weaker than its previous close.
The Dollar index was little changed. The Rand initially strengthened after the Finance minister’s annual budget presentation on Wednesday, but the gains were short-lived.
Reserves
The Minister, Enoch Godongwana, announced that government would draw down R150 billion (US$7.8 billion) from contingency reserves at the central bank over the next three years to limit rising debt, but he offered little in the way of broad structural reforms to fix problems such as high unemployment and stagnant economic growth.
“Once everyone has had a chance to dissect the data and assess it for what it is, it is not surprising to see the general reaction and narrative turn negative,” ETM Analytics said in a research note.
The Dollar, meanwhile, was supported by a senior US Federal Reserve official saying that the Fed should be in no rush to reduce interest rates, which also contributed to the Rand’s weakness, ETM added.
SA has elections on May 29 in which the governing African National ConcǮ autious. gress (ANC) party is widely predicted to lose its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years, which analysts say has made some investors – SABC
OHANNESBURG – The African National Congress (ANC) says investing in energy infrastructure will assist the country to permanently end rolling blackouts.
The statement follows as ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa, addressed the manifesto launch at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban.
Eskom continues to battle with aging coal-fired power stations.
The electricity supply disruptions have a negative impact on small businesses and the country’s broader economy.
JEconomic
“We are investing in energy infrastructure and in roads, also railways and to make sure that there is meaningful economic growth. Investment in energy is necessary for us to end rolling blackouts and ensure a secure supply of energy and that’s what we are going to be facing our attention on.”
While promising the creation
J– About R80 billion was generated by black industrialists in South Africa during the 2023/24 financial year alone. This is according to the Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel.
Patel revealed this while briefing the Portfolio Committee of the National Assembly in Parliament on Friday last week. of new jobs, Ramaphosa said the ANC will overcome the country’s electricity challenges.
“We will continue comrades, to fix our constraints in energy and transport and logistic sectors. There are important network industries and strategic assets that are critical to our industrialisation and growth and development,” he added.
He said about 600 of the industrialists were financially supported by the DTI during the current financial year.
“On transformation, 690 black industrialist firms that were supported by the DTI were surveyed. And what the survey indicated was that in the reporting period they generated a turnover of more than R8 billion.
“These numbers will increase further because, in quarter four, we have done additional work to include more firms.”
The DTI says it has managed to assist more than one million workers with skills development in the workplace. It says these include relevant help even for those who are looking for employment.
Protecting
least covering one million workers with the programmes of the DTIC group. And during Q2 and Q3, it met the target. If you look at all the areas of work and you take the number of workers covered, there would be just an over a million.
“But what we must now do is deepen the impact of those programmes on workers and entrepreneurs with greater impact on saving jobs and expanding new jobs,” said Patel.