SPEDU at 41% job creation
2, 800 jobs created against 6, 800 Incentives delay fingered
SPEDU Chief Executive Officer, Dr Mokubung Mokubung says his organisation has facilitated the creation of 2, 800 jobs in the SPEDU region since the closure of the BCL Mine as opposed to targeted 6, 800.
He was speaking before the Parliamentary Committee on Statutory Bodies and State Enterprises on Wednesday. He said the delay in reviewing the PPADB Act to allow for 30% incentive is the main reason for failing to reach the target for March 2020.
“We had set a target of facilitating for creation of 6, 800 jobs by March this year and one of the keys to achieving this was implementation of investment incentives. This took forever with some incentives only kicking off this year being the market access. The bigger one of 30% uptake by government is yet to kick off as there is need to review the PPADB Act and now we have around 2, 800 jobs,” he said. Further pressed to explain the incentives issue, Dr Mokubung said there was a need to address, it stating that the Office of the President was made aware of the matter after they had a problem with facilitating for Ministry of Health and Wellness to approve 30% incentive certificate for pharmaceuticals for Oxygen Gas (Pty) Ltd
“The issue reached Permanent Secretary to the President through SPEDU Board of Directors as there was a fuss in terms of the clauses. The reservation Act is impenetrable since it disadvantages the Economic Diversification Drive. There is no clause that says you are to procure from a local company. The PPADB is also not clear on this and it was then agreed that the PPADB Act has to be reviewed. I believe that has been done and it now has to be passed in Parliament,” he said.
He said it was then agreed that in the meantime they could use certificates issued through a Directive to allow companies to continue with their operations.
SPEDU was established in 2015 with a mandate to promote economic diversification in the SPEDU region in sectors such as Agriculture, Tourism and manufacturing industries. It also provides business facilitation to attract inward investment to the region in order to create employment, exports and import-substituting products and ensure sustainability of the economy without over-reliance on mining activities.
The six categories of incentives put in place include Fiscal Incentives, Government Off-take, Provision of Land, Input Costs, SPEDU Region labour Laws and One Stop Service Centre.