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The Citizen
12 hours ago
- Business
- The Citizen
Magwenya: Ramaphosa optimistic after Trump meeting boosts US-SA ties
President Ramaphosa is confident SA's ties with the US have strengthened after meeting Donald Trump, opening new opportunities for trade and tariff discussions. Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya during a media briefing at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Picture: GCIS President Cyril Ramaphosa believes that South Africa's relationship with the United States has significantly improved, and that new opportunities for trade engagement have opened following his meeting with US President Donald Trump. This is what the president's spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said on Thursday afternoon during a media briefing at the Union Buildings. The presidential spokesperson briefed the public on Ramaphosa's schedule and addressed key national and international issues. Ramaphosa confident SA's ties with US have strengthened Magwenya said the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) team has presented a proposal to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and that formal engagements on a new trade relationship are planned for mid to late June. 'A lot of people based their analysis of that meeting on what they saw on their TV screens in the Oval Office, and the real meat of the meeting was what transpired in the closed session,' Magwenya told journalists during the question-and-answer session of the meeting. ALSO READ: Ramaphosa mourns passing of photographer Rashid Lombard Ramaphosa's spokesperson said the president is enthused and satisfied with his discussion with Trump. He added that the president remains hopeful about the continuation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) trade scheme, but he is prepared to discuss a new trade relationship framework if necessary. Talks on trade and tariffs advance Regarding tariffs imposed on South Africa, Magwenya said the country has included the tariff issue in a proposed trade package it has submitted for consideration. 'One of the key elements of that trade relationship will be to look at the tariff regime that must be balanced in the context of working towards a mutually beneficial trade relationship,' he said. Watch Magwenya's media briefing here: Meanwhile, the question of whether Trump will be attending the G2 Summit in November remains unanswered. ALSO READ: WATCH: Malema should apologise for 'Kill the Boer' chant — Trump advisor Magwenya said Trump has not openly opposed the invitation and that it remains open. He said Ramaphosa made a strong point about the US's role in creating the G20 during his meeting with Trump. 'We are very hopeful. We are far more hopeful now than before the visit to the White House that he will attend, and hopefully we'll be able to throw in a round of golf there,' the spokesperson said. President seeks full report on Nkabane's conduct in Parliament Magwenya also addressed Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Nobuhle Nkabane's recent conduct during a committee Q&A session, where she appeared to chew bubble gum. The president has requested a detailed report on the decorum and substance of Nkabane's engagement with the portfolio committee. ALSO READ: Ramaphosa urges employers to give BEEI youths their 'next opportunity' 'The request for the report is in view of the president's expectation that ministers, deputy ministers and senior executives in the public sector conduct themselves professionally, transparently and cordially in engaging with Parliament and other accountability structures,' he said. The report is also expected to cover the process of appointing board members to the Sector Education and Training Authority. Condolences on death of Zambia's Lungu Lastly, the president has offered his condolences to Zambia's former president, Edgar Lungu, who died at 68 on Thursday. Lungu had been receiving medical care in a clinic in Pretoria for an extended period prior to his passing. 'Government, the Lungu family and the Zambian High Commission will undertake the necessary process to give effect to the wishes of the Lungu family. May President Lungu's soul rest in peace,' Magwenya said. NOW READ: Premature to claim White House encounter as a South African slam dunk
Daily Maverick
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Forget the lie of ‘white genocide' – the real crisis is a broken economy
This week, three seemingly unrelated events unfolded within 24 hours that, when viewed together and holistically, paint a sobering picture of the state of our nation. On Monday, 12 May 2025, 59 white Afrikaners boarded a chartered flight to the United States under the guise of seeking refuge from a so-called 'white genocide' in South Africa. It's a false concept that has been peddled by well-funded right-wing disinformation networks, a dangerous narrative designed to distort the truth of our country for political currency. At its core is a grievance about race-based laws and an apparent inability to remain in South Africa due to exclusion from economic opportunity. The following morning, I sat as a member of the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition (dtic) portfolio committee as the department presented to Parliament its latest report on B-BBEE. What was meant to be a tool of redress, of economic justice, and of meaningful participation has instead become deeply flawed. Ownership is still not transformed. Most Charter Councils aren't even operational. Reporting is dismal. Only 35% of JSE-listed companies submitted reports in 2022. Black ownership in the formal economy has stagnated. And the poorest remain the poorest. Also on Tuesday, Stats SA released the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the first quarter of 2025. Data is by its nature straightforward and devoid of bias or emotion. And the data showed the following: since 2014, unemployment among black South Africans has increased by 6.7%. Among white South Africans, it has declined by 1%. At the same time, the average monthly income of a white-headed household is R24,646. For a black-headed household, it is five times smaller at R5,297. When the myth of 'white marginalisation' is fed to the world, we must confront it not just as false, but as an inversion of the truth. Still, it would be dishonest to pretend that things are going well for anyone. They aren't – and this is the tragedy. Everyone is suffering. There is no group that is thriving in this stagnant, failing economy. We are, quite frankly, in a lose-lose scenario, in a race to the bottom. When there's no growth, we are forced to fight over scarcity. Like animals circling a drying watering hole, we begin to turn on one another instead of challenging the real cause of our hunger: a government that has failed to deliver growth, failed to transform and failed to govern. In Tuesday's dtic committee, I made the point that transformation must become truly broad-based. Empowerment without ownership is tokenism. And it is showing in these numbers. We must stop fighting for crumbs in the old economy and start building new economies, these being township economies, rural value chains and digital frontiers. That's how we create ownership from the ground up. But even this alone is not enough. South Africa's crisis is not just a crisis of stagnation, which breeds inequality. For over a decade, we've grown at an average of just 1% per year. That is slow collapse. And until we get serious about expanding the economy, we will remain trapped in this cycle – fighting each other, instead of fighting for a better country. Build One South Africa has proposed a Growth Charter, which we consider a serious roadmap to 5% GDP growth in three years. It includes: Investing in SMMEs, which already contribute 40% to GDP, but receive only 6% of bank loans; Modernising infrastructure, particularly through public-private partnerships to unlock water, transport and energy solutions; Reforming the labour market to make hiring easier and promote youth employment; Securing energy and ending load shedding by diversifying generation and decentralising the grid; and Expanding trade and industrial policy to open new markets and back value-added manufacturing. South Africa needs not just transformation, but a growth-driven economy. We need both equity and expansion. We need both ownership and opportunity. We need to build. So yes, let's confront the lies. Let's reject the myths of 'white genocide'. But let's also reject the false comfort of symbolic policies that fail to deliver real change. And let us remember that when the economy grows, hope grows. When people work, dignity returns. And when a country believes again, it can begin again. Let's stop managing decline and start building growth. DM
IOL News
02-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Tau says Transformation Fund aims to consolidate black empowerment efforts
Minister of Trade, Industry and Comeptition, Parks Tau, on Wednesday addressed the media on the Transformation Fund a bold, coordinated initiative between the dtic and private sector partners to support black-owned MSMEs, cooperatives, and township/rural enterprises. Image: Supplied Banele Ginidza Minister for Trade Industry and Competition (the dtic), Parks Tau, has clarified that the newly proposed R100 billion Transformation Fund will not leverage Competition Commission settlements as a means of financing. This statement comes in light of growing concerns regarding the Fund's financial structure and its necessity given ongoing black empowerment programmes already in place. During a media briefing on Wednesday, Tau asserted that the establishment of the fund is not intended to undermine existing empowerment initiatives. On the contrary, he described it as an aggregator of all current efforts, designed to augment resources from both government and private sector empowerment allocations, including direct equity contributions. "Competition processes with large transactions, mergers and acquisitions date from a process that fundamentally deals with competition issues and you cannot predetermined the outcome of that," Tau said. "Competition Commission settlements to a large extent go towards the national revenue fund and that is where the resources are, so there is not a fund that is dedicated to supporting initiatives at the dtic. So we can't necessarily use them should we go through the competition processes as a means to capitalise the transformation fund. "I think that would undermine competition issues, we want competition authorities to exercise their authority inline wit their mandate." Tau said the fund will seek to aggregate the funding that JSE-listed groups, State-owned enterprises, and unlisted private companies spend collectively on enterprise and supplier development (ESD), as well as some of the funding multinationals direct towards equity equivalent schemes to secure their B-BBEE compliance, without selling shares in their companies. Deputy Director-General for Incentives, Susan Mangole, revealed that over the past four years, R100bn had been spent from entities measured and reported to the Competition Commission. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Mangole said this highlighted the scale at which JSE-listed groups, State-owned enterprises, and private companies are engaging with Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) initiatives and equity equivalent schemes to meet Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) requirements without diluting their ownership. Simphiwe Hamilton, the newly-appointed director-general of the dtic, said the biggest threat to the Fund was public perception, partcicularly negative sentiment on lack of contriols. "It is a genuine concern, but we believe that the structuring that will be done in this regard will mitigate against any possibility of malfeasance, and it's good that we start with that lens right from the beginning," Hamilton said. Tau said the Fund would be established in partnership with the private sector and that a special purpose vehicle (SPV), with its own board and executive, be given responsibility for governance and the day-to-day running of the Fund, which would include the National Empowerment Fund as an anchor member. "In particular, we are designing the Fund to ensure there is good governance, transparency, and accountability, through the establishment of a SPV, which will report to an oversight committee and a board composed of individuals with the necessary technical and sectoral expertise," he said. At its core, the Transformation Fund aims to address the long-standing structural exclusion in the economy, according to Tau. "Allow me to emphasise that this Fund is not seeking to impose any new demands on business and industry but rather, it will consolidate funding efforts through ESD and other obligations as prescribed by the B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice," Tau said. "Let me stress that the Transformation Fund does not replace any well-functioning vehicles already in place. Instead, it seeks to amplify what is already required under existing B-BBEE legislation." BUSINESS REPORT
Zawya
11-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
South Africa: Digital business visa application system goes live
The Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition (the dtic) has launched the Business Visa Recommendation System (VRS), an online platform for business visa recommendation applications. The VRS is aimed at all foreign business owners applying for first, extension and/or permanent residence recommendation, in terms of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002. 'Business visa applicants will benefit from a more effective, transparent and user-friendly application process that goes live today,' the dtic said on Monday. According to the Acting Deputy Director-General of Investment and Spacial Industrial Development at the dtic, Yunus Hoosen, the main objective of the system is to enhance efficiency for business visa applicants, including faster processing, convenience and transparency. 'The VRS replaces the email application process with a digital platform, improving efficiency and accessibility for global investors looking to reside in South Africa for the purpose of establishing, expanding and/or investing in businesses. 'This initiative is part of... ongoing efforts to reduce red tape and simplify the ease of doing business in South Africa. 'From an administrative viewpoint, the VRS is a solution for collecting, managing, and reviewing applications online. In addition, it eliminates incomplete applications from being submitted, provides monitoring of applications received and finalised and provide investment-related information needed for reporting and planning, amongst others,' said Hoosen. The VRS is aligned with South Africa's broader e-governance initiatives, which seek to improve accessibility to government services through digital transformation. 'The VRS marks a significant milestone in modernising the country's investment facilitation framework, reinforcing South Africa's commitment to fostering a business-friendly environment,' said the dtic. Key features of the VRS - Online submission – Applicants can now submit business visa for first, extension and permanent recommendations applications digitally. - Document upload – Required supporting documents can be uploaded directly to the system. - Real-time tracking – Applicants can monitor the progress of their applications. - Automated notifications – Updates and final recommendations will be communicated through the system.
