President Cyril Ramaphosa’s investment drive to attract R100 billion investment over a period of five years is bearing fruit. In less than a year, companies have committed an estimated $20 billion in investment into the country.
Speaking at the Mining Indaba underway in Cape Town, Ramaphosa says the amount already raised indicate that the investment drive is well on track to meet its target.
“Just in a few months, we were able, and seven months at that, we were able to mobilise full commitments that are backed up by projects, 20 billion dollars meaning that clearly indicating that we were already ahead of the target that we had put in place and these announcements mean that the SA economy does indeed have a lot to offer and opportunities are in abundance.”
President #Ramaphosa: We are certain that the Mining Leadership Compact will enable all social partners to each do their part in contributing to the sustainable growth, transformation and competitiveness of the industry.
#InvestinSAMining #MiningIndaba2019 pic.twitter.com/QzhdxdApOg— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) February 5, 2019
It was a historic occasion as President Ramaphosa is the first sitting President of the country to address the Mining Indaba on its 25 years anniversary.
South Africa has just emerged from technical recession. Ramaphosa says government has decided to re-prioritise spending in order to turn around the economy. He says they’re addressing concerns raised by investors on prices for ports, rail and electricity, as well as infrastructure bottlenecks.
He’s also says both the Mining Charter and the Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill provides certainty on policy issues.
“Significant work has been done to remove the uncertainty that held back the development of the industry. We have emerged from a period of strained relations where the courts became the main platform of engagement between the industry and government; we want to put that behind.”
Ramaphosa has allayed fears of investors on expropriation of land without compensation. He says everything will be done in accordance with the constitution.
“The measure we are proposing will apply to land for purposes of land reform only and with a clearly defined set of circumstances. This measure will be undertaken in a way that promotes economic development and growth investors need not fear that their investment and assets will be taken away from them.”
President #Ramaphosa: We are certain that the Mining Leadership Compact will enable all social partners to each do their part in contributing to the sustainable growth, transformation and competitiveness of the industry.
#InvestinSAMining #MiningIndaba2019 pic.twitter.com/QzhdxdApOg— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) February 5, 2019
He says the government is committed to make sure that Eskom keeps the lights on. He adds that measures will be announced to stabilise and improve Eskom’s financial woes.
