Star 2023-02-13

Finance Minister Godongwana will be rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic when tabling the Budget FINANCE Minister Enoch Godongwana will be rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic next week when he tables the Budget amid demands to reappropriate money to fund a raft of social security spending on the back of a shrinking economy. This comes after a number of promises made by President Cyril Ramaphosa during his State of the Nation Address on Thursday in a bid to alleviate the hardship brought about by the ongoing energy crisis on businesses and households. Ramaphosa said Godongwana would outline how households will be assisted and how businesses will be able to bene- fit from a tax incentive through the roll-out of rooftop solar panels. However, economists on Friday began…

SOUTH African markets closed deep in the red on Friday, with the rand and stocks tanking to their lowest in more than two months on the back of softer emerging markets and a firmer US dollar. President Cyril Ramaphosa's failure to impress investors about concrete solutions to end the energy crisis during his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday also added bitterness to the markets. The rand on Friday plunged 0.8% to close R17.90 against the greenback, its lowest since December 2, when Ramaphosa was rumoured to be considering resigning on the back of a damning report about his possible culpability in the Phala-Phala scandal. Citadel Global director Bianca Botes said the rand was mostly affected by international monetary decisions and events and less so by local factors,…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa last week reiterated the government’s plan to introduce a remote working visa, which it promised a year ago in a bid to solve South Africa’s skills crisis. In his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday, Ramaphosa said one of the key ingredients for economic growth and competitiveness was the ability to attract skills that the economy needed. “Having completed a comprehensive review of the work visa system, we will move quickly to implement the recommendations put forward. “These include establishing a more flexible points-based system to attract skilled immigrants, implementing a trusted employer scheme to make the visa process easier for large investors, and streamlining application requirements,“ he said. The government would also be introducing a remote worker visa and a special dispensation for high-growth…

BARELY singed by load shedding because of extensive investment in power back-up systems, pharmaceutical manufacturers said there were only a few take aways from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address on Thursday, which failed to deal with the less than inflation price increases granted in December. In an interview, chairperson of the Pharmaceutival Task Group Dr Stavros Nicolaou said the industry was left questioning the government’s capacity to deliver on making the manufacture of essential medicines conducive. “We have a mixed reaction to the State of the Nation address (Sona). Though we have not extensively been affected by load shedding because of back up measures, which have pushed up the cost of production, the 3.28% increase granted to the industry places the future supply of medicines into question. We are facing very…

THE ANC-CREATED Eskom disaster impedes digital transformation. The past week I had to accompany an elderly friend to the Department of Home Affairs in Caledon to collect an identity card. But what a catastrophic experience. I was wondering why so many people were waiting outside Home Affairs in the blazing sun, until I realised it was Caledon’s “privilege” to pay for the incompetency of government through load shedding from 10am to 12pm. Although the doors of Home Affairs were open, it was dark inside and since the computers were down, nobody could be served. It was only an hour after the power came on that some people were allowed in. The officials were lethargic and progress was slow. It was only at 3pm that the collection of an identity card…

WHILE Agri SA welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s focus on the electricity crisis in his State of the Nation Address (Sona), the sector remained deeply concerned about the ongoing and devastating impact of load shedding on the agricultural sector, said Agri SA chief executive Christo van der Rheede. Reacting on Friday morning to the president’s address, Agri SA said it questioned the necessity and value of the declaration of a national state of disaster to address the crisis. “The announcement of a new ministry of electricity in the Presidency also requires further detail. The powers of this ministry and its distinction from the ministries of mineral resources and energy and public enterprises must be clearly set out to avoid creating a bureaucratic nightmare that hinders rather than accelerates the resolution of…