Cabinet has approved the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission's (PICC’s) second ‘Infrastructure Implementation Plan’ report, which includes a framework outlining an integrated management and delivery system for 17 strategic infrastructure projects (Sips) across all three spheres of government.

The report also lists 153 project components, five supply-side challenges, including the shortages of skills and bitumen, as well as five key enablers, such as rolling stock and port charges.

It includes geographic information system mapping, job-creation projections and project planning and oversight guidelines.

Over the coming three years, some R845-billion has been budgeted for public infrastructure projects and the PICC, which is chaired by PresidentJacob Zuma, has been established to support the delivery of the projects. Details of the 17 Sips were not immediately available, but it was likely that the five geographically focused projects listed by Zuma during his State of the Nation address would be included.

Among the projects listed was a plan to develop and integrate rail, road and water infrastructure, centred around the Waterberg and Steelpoort areas of Limpopo, to unlock coal, platinum, palladium, chrome and other minerals, as well as the stepped-up beneficiation of minerals.

There would also be initiatives to improve the movement of goods through the Durban-Free State-Gauteng logistics and industrial corridor by prioritising a range of rail and port improvements, supported significantly by a R300-billion investment programme by Transnet over the coming seven years.

A new ‘South Eastern node’ was also being planned for the Eastern Cape to bolster that province’s industrial and agricultural development and export capacity. Initiatives within the node would include logistics linkages with the Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, the construction of a dam on the Umzimvubu river to support farming and the Mthatha revitalisation project. It would also embrace a new 16-million-ton-a-year manganese export channel through the Port of Ngqura.

An initiative was also outlined for the roll-out of water, roads, rail and electricity infrastructure in the North West, including the upgrade of ten priority roads.

A range of projects was also planned for the West Coast, including the expansion of the Sishen-Saldanha iron-ore corridor to above 80-million tons.

The Budget Review also lists Eskom’s power generation projects, the renewable energy independent power producer programme, the private open-cycle gas-turbine initiative, as well as plans to beef up the power transmission and distributions networks.

Transnet rail and port projects were also highlighted, along with the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s plan to acquire new rolling stock over the coming 20 years. Several roads, water, housing and telecommunications projects were also listed in the review.

Government promised that all public-sector infrastructure projects would be subjected to rigorous feasibility assessments and that the most cost-effective projects would be pursued.

Speaking at the launch of the Dube TradePort project in Durban, Zuma said government had “decided to invest in infrastructure in an unprecedented manner”.

“To be able to build dams, power stations, bridges, roads, viable ports and railway lines and even new cities and towns, we need a single-minded approach towards a seamless infrastructure development programme over at least 20 to 30 years,” he said.

Edited by:Creamer Media Reporter

Please check the link for Address by President JG Zuma at the launch of the Dube Trade Port in La Mercy, KZN:

http://www.presidency.gov.za/pebble.asp?relid=5767

Strengthening bilateral trade and investment relations with African countries is a key trade and economic strategy for South Africa, Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies told the sixth Africa Economic Forum in Cape Town. “We have realised for a long time that the African continent is inextricably linked to our own destiny.”

Davies added that Africa had experienced an economic “growth spurt” driven by the mineral commodities boom, an increase in consumption, more infrastructure investments and improved economic governance in African countries, which included having weathered the international economic crisis. “The real challenge is to turn that growth into a real developmental process. I think that the continent will not be able to continue indefinitely to have a commodities boom-driven growth. It will have to turn that commodities-driven growth into a serious effort to create value-added products,” he cautioned.

With many other countries, especially most of its top-ten trade partners (only two of which were in Africa), South Africa currently has a trade deficit. However, with its African trade partners South Africa was able to run a trade surplus and unlike its export trade with developed partners, which mostly comprised commodities, exports to the African continent had a high proportion of value-added products.

Davies said that an initial tool to promote further regional trade was the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which would be fully implemented during the current year, allowing for over 90% duty-free trade between SADC countries. Extending the FTA to a tripartite agreement with the East African Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa would compound these integration efforts ultimately incorporating 26 countries with a gross domestic product approaching $1-trillion and population of approximately 600-million. A tripartite FTA could then be built on and ultimately extended to the entire African continent. However, the primary emphasis would be that the SADC FTA should first be consolidated before continuing with deeper integration on the continent.

Key initiatives of the various trade Ministries were to encourage beneficiation of commodities in the SADC region, promote agro-processing which would turn crops into food, development of the capacity for the production of pharmaceuticals, especially to treat diseases that affected the region.

While Davies acknowledged that barriers to inter-regional trade in Africa include issues such as regulatory problems, more pressing issues were evident. These included the need for increased infrastructure to allow to effective movement of goods between countries, and production of more appropriate goods and services that would be usable in the African market, many of which were not being produced in Africa at present. “If we can’t produce goods that are going to sell in each other’s markets we aren’t going to get the benefits of each other’s markets,” Davies said.

In Engineering News

Honourable speaker

It is my privilege to introduce the third budget of President Zuma’s administration. Mister President, you have given us a clear and historic challenge to “write a new story about South Africa – the story of how, working together, we drove back unemployment and reduced economic inequality and poverty.”

This budget has been crafted at a challenging but hopeful time. We have to say to our people that economic uncertainty will be with us for some time, yet we have a programme of economic change that can steadily roll back unemployment, poverty and inequality.

We have demonstrated excellent resilience during the post-2008 crisis. We now need to introduce a new dynamism among all South Africans.

It requires an extraordinary national effort from all role-players, committed not just to identifying the barriers to progress, not just to proposing solutions, but also working together, over the long haul.

Our new story, our period of transition, is about building modern infrastructure, a vibrant economy, a decent quality of life for all, reduced poverty, decent employment opportunities. It is a story that must be written by all of us. Not just by government. Not just by business. Not just by unions. By all of us, South Africans from all corners of this country.

The legacy of our past is not only that of difficulty and despair. We can draw pride from the celebration of the ANC’s centenary, and build on this past to get things done today. The idea of unity in action, working together to realise practical goals, must be revived. The idea of an active citizenry, drawn into motion by dedicated activists and inspired by a compelling vision of the future, has to be renewed.

Every one of the last hundred years has seen our nation overcome obstacles that seemed insurmountable. Some may have been beyond our control, the result of changes to the environment to which we were compelled to adjust. Some were the result of our failure to act, even when the solutions were known to us. Others were the unintended consequences of our own successes.

A towering leader of our movement, Walter Sisulu, wrote from his prison cell on Robben Island, “In a certain sense, the story of our struggle is a story of problems arising and problems being overcome. It is understandable that many of the problems should generate much controversy and emotion. However cool and detached we may strive to be in our analysis, the fact remains that we are deeply involved and interested parties and the solutions we adopt are solutions we ourselves have to implement.”

We will not turn away from our challenges. We must confront them boldly, and with hope. In harnessing all the resources at our disposal, we have to do more, with less; we have to work smarter and harder. South Africans must focus on our strengths and opportunities, to identify and activate the levers of economic and social change at our disposal.

Mister President you have given effect to the wisdom of Walter Sisulu; through the work of the Planning Commission this country now has a 20 year vision, through your initiative we now have a massive infrastructure programme also extending over 20 years, which will increase the growth and job creating potential of our economy.

Overview of the 2012 Budget

We remain steadfast in addressing the challenges of creating jobs, reducing poverty, building infrastructure and expanding our economy.

In brief, Mister Speaker, today’s budget advises the following:

• The global environment remains highly uncertain. While there are signs of a revival in the US economy, much of Europe is in recession, and significant financial risks cloud the global economic outlook.
• South Africa’s finances are in good health. A budget deficit of 4.6  percent of GDP is projected in 2012/13. We plan to reduce the deficit to 3  percent of GDP in 2014/15, and public debt will stabilise at about 38  percent of GDP.
• An expansion in infrastructure investment is one of the central priorities of the2012 Budget.
• Special emphasis is given to improving competitiveness in industry, investment in technology, encouragement of enterprise development and support for agriculture.
• Total spending will reach R1.1 trillion next year, representing some 32  percent of GDP.
• Education, health and social assistance will remain the largest categories of expenditure, sustaining and expanding the social wage over the MTEF period ahead. Investment in people is at the centre of our growth and development strategy.
• The budget continues to support job creation, with a particular focus on unemployed youth.
• The budget provides for personal income tax relief of R9.5 billion, with further measures to increase tax compliance.
• Measures are proposed to invigorate household savings.
• We will strengthen financial management in the public sector, pursue value for money with the greatest possible vigour and ensure that taxpayers’ money is well used.
• Fraud and corruption will be combatted through changes to procurement policies and practices and tough enforcement of the law.

Giving the budget practical effect cannot be a project of government alone. In Setswana, we say “Mabogo dinku a thebana” meaning “we have to work together to achieve more”. Government has supported the recovery from the 2008 recession, but as we expand infrastructure investment over the period ahead we have to see business investing in our future as well. Government has expanded social assistance to households over the past decade, but employment and economic growth have to be the main future drivers of income growth and poverty reduction. Government is responsible for developing effective municipalities and broadening access to services, but business, civil society and organised labour have to be partners in building cohesive communities and promoting social solidarity.

And so Mister Speaker, in tabling the 2012 Budget we have to say: this is what we undertake to do, not just as government, but as a nation. Our development requires every one of us to ask – what can I do for my country, my people, our future!

22 Feb 2012

To access the speech in full, please check

http://www.info.gov.za/speech/DynamicAction?pageid=461&sid=25270&tid=57402

2012 National Budget

http://www.treasury.gov.za/documents/national%20budget/2012/review/default.aspx

11 February 2012

The Minister of Finance, Mr Pravin Gordhan,

The Governor of the Reserve Bank, Ms Gill Marcus,

Ladies and gentlemen of the media,

Today is a very important day in the history of the democratic South Africa.

On 27 April 1994, South Africans from all walks of life came together and voted for the first time to bring about a free and democratic South Africa.

Dr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, an icon of our struggle, was elected as the first President of this new democracy, and began leading government and the people of South Africa towards a free, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society.

It was a difficult period. It was an era of uncertainty for all South Africans. At the same time it was a period of great expectations. They wanted to see all their problems of centuries disappearing overnight.

They wanted to see their political freedom translating to tangible socio-economic freedom without delay.

Madiba and the first democratic government brought the nation together, managing the expectations and fears to build one nation.

It needed a president like Madiba to lead a bruised nation like ours on a journey of forgiveness and reconciliation, and he acquitted himself exceptionally well, as he has always done, in every aspect of his life.

Our country has done extremely well in building this young democracy and ensuring stability, because of the foundation that was laid by President Mandela.

Before 1994, President Mandela had led his organisation the African National Congress, which has just celebrated a centenary, in a selfless, committed, dedicated struggle, to free all the people of our country.

This outstanding leader and patriot represents a group of exceptional men and women in our country who demonstrated their unfailing love for this country and its people, even in the face of repression and possible death.

Today, on behalf of Government and the people of South Africa, it is my honour and pleasure, to announce that new South African bank notes will bear the image of President Mandela, the first President of a free, democratic South Africa.

We are happy to make this announcement on the anniversary date of his release from prison, which marked the beginning of a new era of hope for our country and the world.

The South African Reserve Bank is in the process of producing the new bank notes.

It is a befitting tribute to a man who became a symbol of this country’s struggle for freedom, human rights and democracy.

With this humble gesture, we are expressing our deep gratitude as the South African people, to a life spent in service of the people of this country and in the cause of humanity worldwide.

The banknotes will make us remember and appreciate our achievements in order to continue the journey towards a more prosperous society.

The Mandela family is today burying the sister of Madiba, makhulu Nokuthamba Mandela in Mqanduli in the Eastern Cape. We extend our deepest condolences on this loss, and wish the family strength.

As we mark this historic day, let us remember Madiba’s words in his inauguration address in 1994: “We understand it still, that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well, that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world’’.

We thank Madiba for his love, guidance and leadership at all times.

I thank you.