By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says South Africa’s infrastructure drive to revitalise the economy and create employment continues to gain momentum.
Ntshavheni was addressing a media briefing in Cape Town on the outcomes of Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.
The minister said on Thursday, the Minister of Transport, Sindi Chikunga, broke ground for the Ashburton Interchange Project, worth R2.4 billion, in Msunduzi Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, which will improve the seamless movement of cargo from the Port of Durban into the country and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
The Ashburton Interchange is part of the larger N2 and N3 upgrade programme to bolster the capacity of the North-South corridor.
The aim of the N2 and N3 upgrades is to bolster the capacities of these economic arteries from the Durban port to the rest of South Africa and the continent in line with the ambitions set out in the Strategic Integrated Projects programme.
“The projects connect the Port of Durban, the largest port in sub-Saharan Africa, to the largest economic hubs in the country as well as our neighbouring countries in the SADC region.
“The upgrades will also resolve the chronic traffic congestion and reduce road carnage, thus providing higher mobility, increased safety and a reduction in overall travel time,” the South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd (SANRAL) said.
In addition, the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Sihle Zikalala, has handed over 13 small harbours refurbished through the R501 million government’s Small Harbours Repairs and Maintenance Programme.
The refurbishment of these harbours will increase their efficiency and better serve the local fishing sector and other sectors in local economies.
Sudan Peace Talks
Cabinet has welcomed the start of pre-negotiation talks between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, which commenced in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 6 May 2023.
This comes after tensions erupted in Sudan on 15 April between the army and the Rapid Support, killing over 600 people and injuring thousands more.
“A peaceful Sudan, led by a civilian government, is essential not only for Sudan but also for the broader region and the continent. Cabinet therefore calls on both parties to negotiate an agreement to end the conflict and alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people, “said Ntshavheni.
Meanwhile, in the same Cabinet statement read by Ntshavheni, she said the Executive was pleased that all South Africans, who had indicated that they wish to return from conflict-stricken Sudan, are now back home.
Ntshavheni thanked the neighbouring countries for assisting in their efforts to safely transport South Africans who were stranded.
The Minister said President Cyril Ramaphosa participated in the 11th High-Level Segment of the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the Peace, Security and Cooperation (PSC) Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Great Lakes Region, in Burundi, as part of advancing the initiative by African Union to silence the gun by 2030.
The President also attended the Extraordinary Organ Troika Summit Plus in Namibia.
The summit, according to Cabinet, received a report from the SADC Field Assessment Mission in the eastern DRC and considered the regional response to the escalating security and humanitarian situation.
“The summit agreed that the AU [African Union] must coordinate the various peacekeeping and security improvement efforts on the Eastern DRC.”
Loadshedding Exemption Appeal
Cabinet says it welcomes the decision to appeal the recent North Gauteng High Court ruling that instructed Eskom to exempt public institutions from load shedding based on the implications of this judgement.
This comes after the high court found that load shedding constituted an infringement of constitutional rights and gave the Minister of Public Enterprises 60 days to ensure that public health facilities, schools and police stations are exempted from power outages or provide generators.
The Department of Public Enterprises on Monday said it was lodging an urgent appeal to set aside last Friday’s judgment on load shedding.
The Minister said intense work is underway at Eskom to increase the utility’s Energy Availability Factor through substantial maintenance.
In addition, Ntshavheni said Eskom is currently maximising the use of open cycle gas turbines, securing additional generation capacity from private investment in renewables and scaling up awareness to improve demand-side management from large electricity users and households.
“Acts of sabotage continue to plague Eskom’s infrastructure and, therefore, the continued deployment of 880 SANDF [South African National Defence Force] members to safeguard a number of Eskom power stations is part of measures to prevent attempts to collapse the national grid,” the Minister said.
Economy
Ntshavheni, says the country’s exports tally of R184 billion in March 2023 shows that the economy remains resilient, despite the turbulence in the global economy.
“These significant amounts, although marginally lower than in March 2022, demonstrate how robust the South African economy remains, even in the period of low economic growth, “Ntshavheni said.
“The manufacturing sector was the best performing, contributing over R85 billion through our manufactured products, and the mining sector contributing R84 billion and agriculture R11 billion.
“A total of R41 billion of these exports are to other African countries, indicating the strides South African industries are making in broadening their markets across the continent.
“The markets where trade has increased include China, Belgium, Italy and the United Arab Emirates indicating the direct benefits from South Africa’s economic diplomacy,” Ntshavheni said.
National Health Insurance (NHI)
Cabinet says it welcomes the adoption of measures needed to “recalibrate” the health system and accelerate National Health Insurance (NHI) reforms.
“These move our health systems closer to better serving South Africans,” said Ntshavheni.
This is after government hosted the second Presidential Health Summit last week, focusing on nine pillars of the 2019 Presidential Health Compact.
These include human resources; access to medicine, vaccines and health products; infrastructure; private sector engagement; quality healthcare; public sector financial management improvements; governance and leadership; community engagements; information systems and pandemic preparedness.
“One of the outcomes of the summit was the renewed commitment to implement the NHI. This is part of a programme to reduce disparities in accessing healthcare services by alleviating the financial burden for accessing healthcare services,” Ntshavheni added.
Tribute to Nelson Mandela
This week’s Cabinet meeting took place exactly 29 years to the day after President Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the first President of a democratic South Africa.
The meeting took place on Wednesday coinciding with the 10 May 1994 anniversary.
“After three and a half centuries of colonialism and separate development where one’s ability to have access to basic services were on the basis of one’s skin colour, a democratic South Africa set inclusive development goals to achieve a prosperous, non-racial, non-sexist and equal society.
“While many gains have been made since 1994, much more still needs to be done to realise the country’s development goals,” Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni.
The South African Reserve Bank recently released an upgraded series of banknotes and coins, which celebrate South Africa’s constitutional democracy and pay tribute to Madiba.
“The banknotes continue to pay tribute to South Africa’s first democratically-elected President, Nelson Mandela, with his portrait retained on the front of the banknotes while the Big 5 animals are now illustrated as a family on the back.
“We also celebrate our constitutional democracy with the preamble to the South African Constitution printed in microtext around Madiba’s portrait and the country’s flag featured on the front and the back of the banknotes,” a statement by the South African Reserve Bank said.
The theme of the coin series is deep ecology, which acknowledges the interconnectedness of living organisms as an integral part of the environment. These themes are depicted by the fauna and flora on the coin.
Banknotes and coin are regularly upgraded in line with international best practice to combat counterfeiting and to stay abreast with technological advancements.