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Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel today launched the Energy One Stop Shop and Energy Resilience Fund.

This is part of the Energy Mitigation Strategy through the National Energy Crisis Committee. President Cyril Ramaphosa had tasked Invest South Africa to establish an Energy One Stop Shop to deal with and fast track applications from energy developers.

The Energy One Stop Shop is expected to input to the streamlining of regulatory processes required for private investment in electricity generation, facilitate pre-investment screening for all energy projects and thereby fast-track the approval of energy applications.

This is to be achieved through timely intervention on blockages and red tape, and consequently reduce both the time and cost of getting energy projects onto the grid.

The requirement for predictable energy availability has led the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) to formulate a series of interventions, including alternative energy generation solutions, storage and efficiency measures aimed at supporting businesses to become energy resilient.

Speaking during the launch, Minister Patel said the Energy One Stop Shop was developed to address a key constraint that energy developers face, namely that the many regulatory and other measures that need to be complied with, can and do slow down approval of energy supply projects.

“The Energy One Stop Shop and Energy Resilience Fund are critical steps towards alleviating the challenges faced by our industries during this energy crisis. We are committed to fostering a resilient business environment and accelerating private-sector investment in electricity generation to secure a stable energy future,” Patel said.

Patel said government is committed to fostering a resilient business environment and accelerating private-sector investment in electricity generation to secure a stable energy future.

“While the Presidency is exploring ways to simplify these processes we have seen that having a dedicated resource available to the private sector, to address blockages, has worked in other parts of the economy.

“It is worth noting that we have also put in place several other instruments to support the energy transition – from new standards on light-bulbs issued in May this year, to exemptions granted to companies to collaborate on both the supply of energy and on demand-measures,” Patel said.

Acting Director-General at the dtic, Susan Mangole: Energy Resilience Fund Launch, said the dtic acknowledges the need to assist businesses in alleviating the impacts of load shedding through the implementation of alternative energy systems or processes.

“To contribute towards easing the impacts, the dtic, Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) established a blended funding facility, the Energy Resilience Funds (ERF) to support companies affected by loads shedding,” Mangole said.

Mangole said the support is provided to assist companies with alternative energy solutions including inverters, batteries, related electrical wiring and components, solar energy systems and any other energy efficient interventions.

“The supported alternative energy systems should not have any additional costs to operate. ERF supports any business adversely affected by the energy crisis across all sectors of the economy.

“The alternative energy interventions must be meaningful for a company to largely remain operational in times of loads shedding. Entities supported through this scheme must retain the same number of jobs or increase jobs for the duration of the term of the funding,” Mangole said.

Chief Executive Officer of Energy Council of South Africa James Mckay said South Africa is re-shaping the regulatory landscape to facilitate the energy transition to distributed, decentralised and traded energy.

“There is significant reform still required and the One-Stop-Shop will play a significant role in developing this evolving landscape,” Mckay said.

Mckay said they need all technologies, collaborative partnerships and significant investment.

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition said it had availed R240 million to be administered by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) under the Manufacturing Competitiveness Enhancement Programme’s Energy Resilience Fund to support companies through interest-free loans, while R150 million will be dispersed in partnership with the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) to support businesses operating in townships. – SAnews.gov.za

Minister of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi says if all spheres of government work together, unemployment – particularly that of the youth – can be tackled and reduced.

Nxesi was speaking at the Nasi Ispan ("Here is work") mass recruitment programme held at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.

The programme is the Gauteng Provincial Government’s plan to recruit thousands of youth into State jobs, with nearly 40 000 youth already recruited.

“As the Department of Employment and Labour, we applaud the good work being done by the Gauteng government to find work opportunities for unemployed young people. I believe that with the same level of commitment and ambition across government, we can make an impact on unemployment. If all of us at different spheres of government, in all the provinces, do this, it will be a big dent on unemployment.

National government is expected to join the Nasi Ispani programme and expand it even further.

“We are putting together the training programmes which are targeting the youth and we are saying, it’s not just going to be training. Once you have been trained, you are going to be placed in a job whether it’s in the private sector or in government. Those opportunities are coming.

“The numbers that we are talking about, with all the departments combined…we are talking job opportunities that will be not less than 400 000,” he said.

Nxesi said government remains concerned about South Africa’s unemployment which currently stands at 32.9%.

“Government is very mindful of the unacceptably high rate of unemployment in South Africa and the terrible waste of human talent this represents, both for the individual concerned and for the society as a whole.

“Government takes the view that whilst ultimately, we need economic growth to impact unemployment, government is also an economic actor and a major employer and has a duty to mitigate the high unemployment rate,” he said.

The Minister said government, through programmes similar to Nasi Ispani, is making its own attempts to curtail unemployment.

“You’ve heard about the Presidential Youth Unemployment programme. We remember the thousands of jobs, close to a million, which were created. As the department… we’ve worked with the President to develop the National Pathway Management Network to digitally link young people to the work and training opportunities.

“We have established the national public employment programmes… [such as] the EPWP and CWP. We are now upgrading those programmes, including NARYSEC, which is the youth leadership development programme. It is providing work experience, some training and it’s giving astipend to young participants,” Nxesi said. – SAnews.gov.za

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) has signed a technical cooperation agreement with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to promote quality and productivity improvement technologies in South Africa.

This, according to the department, will be done through the implementation of a training programme called Quality and Productivity Improvement (QPI), also known as Kaizen, across the country for the lower tier component suppliers in the automotive value chain, including the steel and metal sectors, across the country. 

Kaizen is a hands-on and practical expertise developed through a participatory, learning-by-doing, human-focused and process-oriented approach.

One of the key objectives of the project is to strengthen the competitiveness of the suppliers in the automotive sector, in line with the South African Automotive Masterplan 2035.

The main beneficiaries of the training project are organisations that form part of the dtic’s National Quality and Productivity Network (NQPN).

Among these are training institutions and service providers that support business management and skills support for the companies.

The Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Nomalungelo Gina, says the programme's objectives will promote cooperation between management and workers in companies and organisations that assist to improve the quality of services and products.

"The benefits created by the QPI activities should be fairly distributed among management, workers and customers to promote the welfare of people and reduce disparity in society. Creating a functional training delivery system is one of the most critical issues for the success of the project.

“Members should share common values of QPI promotion in South Africa in order to strengthen business competitiveness and create job opportunities,” Gina said.

The countrywide training programme will begin in Gauteng on 31 July 2023, with a launch ceremony to be held in Sandton. – SAnews.gov.za

South Africa’s tourism sector continues to exhibit strong recovery post-COVID-19, with the first half of 2023 recording more than 4 million tourist arrivals.

This is a significant increase from the 2.3 million tourist arrivals between January and June 2022.

The total number of tourist arrivals to South Africa between January and June 2023 showed a 78.2% surge in the first half of 2023 when compared to the same period in 2022.

“There has also been a substantial increase across all regions in the same period. Although the current growth demonstrates signs of recovery, we are still operating at 80% of our pre-pandemic capacity. In 2019 South Africa welcomed more than 5 million tourists between January and June,” Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille said.

De Lille said the African region continues to bring the largest share of tourist arrivals to the country.

“We are pleased with the number of visitors that our country continues to receive from the rest of the African continent. This is a testament to the marketing efforts that we have implemented to attract tourists from this region. 

“Africa remains a key source market for us, and we are committed to collaborating as a tourism sector to make sure we welcome visitors from this region and that we cater for their needs and preferences.

“Beyond the African continent, South Africa has welcomed more visitors from other regions too. These robust figures showcase South Africa’s charm and attractiveness as well as the work that we are doing in marketing South Africa as a tourist destination of choice,” de Lille said.

De Lille said the substantial increase, particularly from Australasia and Asia, reflects the global trend towards post-pandemic travel recovery. 

“We are growing stronger each day and we are determined to pass pre-COVID-19 arrival numbers. South Africa is open for tourism, and we are ready to welcome more tourists from across Africa and the globe to experience our diverse cultures and heritage.

“I wish to express my deepest gratitude to all travellers who chose to explore our country and contributed to the tourism sector’s growth and to our economy. The support of travellers, both domestic and international, has played a crucial role in revitalizing our economy and restoring the vibrancy to our tourism sector.

“I also wish to thank the tourism private sector across the country for all your hard work to grow our tourism offering, promote South Africa as a must-see destination and for your amazing hospitality in welcoming and hosting our visitors,” the Minister said.

South Africa was recently honoured by readers of the UK’s Telegraph Travel publication with the title of "Best Country" while Cape Town claimed the coveted title of "Best City in the World”. – SAnews.gov.za