Hon House
Chairperson, Minister Patel, Minister Ntshavheni, Deputy Minister Gina, officials of the three departments and distinguished guests, this debate takes place when our country is confronted by severe
challenges and our people continue to endure the persistent triple challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment. In the midst of these challenges, we want to reiterate our message of hope that as resilient patriots, we shall overcome.
Hon members, the elections are over now and the ANC has won those elections decisively. [Applause.] Our immediate task is to grow the economy and create jobs. In order to realise this remarkable accomplishment, we must extend our focus beyond the South African market of 57 million population and expand to the African market with a projected population of 1,2 billion people.
In this regard, one of the major milestones towards achieving economic sustainability for the continent is the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, which Minister Patel referred to.
The AfCFTA is one of the AU's Agenda 2063 flagship projects which are aimed at enabling Africa to significantly boost intra-Africa trade. It is intended to improve economies of scale, promote regional integration and place Africa on a sustainable industrialization trajectory.
The AfCFTA was unveiled in March 2018, in Kigali Rwanda. In June 2019, the 8th African Union Ministers of Trade, AMOT, meeting took place in Addis Ababa Ethiopia as part of the road map for the completion of the negotiations on the AfCFTA.
This meeting was followed by the Extraordinary Summit of the African heads of state and government. The summit took place in July 2019, in Niamey, Niger, to witness the historic moment of the official launch of the operational phase of the AfCFTA.
These remarkable events marked Africa's commitment to the creation of an integrated and diversified market of approximately US$2,5 trillion.
To date, 54 countries have signed the agreement. All member states are required to submit their initial tariff offers by September 2019 as alluded to by Minister Patel. The effective date of trade of the AfCFTA is July 2020.
The establishment of the AfCFTA can be a game-changer for our economy, providing a massive market for South African goods and services. South Africa is the largest contributor to intra-Africa trade, accounting for approximately a quarter of intra-Africa trade
in 2018 with a value of half a trillion rand in goods traded with other African countries.
Hon members, the survival of the South African economy is dependent on the consolidation of the African integration to forge ahead to a new way of thinking, the beginning of a new dawn and a step closer to the Africa we want.
Another significant milestone worth mentioning is the recent signing of 93 trade agreements between South Africa and China valued at an estimated R27 billion. This marks a realisation of our economic development objectives in line with the existing comprehensive strategic partnership agreement of 2010, signed by Forum on China- Africa Co-operation, Focac.
Hon Chairperson, galvanised by the vision of President Cyril Ramaphosa and our manifesto, we will continue to strengthen our work with our provinces to achieve our mission to grow the economy and create jobs.
The Special Economic Zones, SEZs, programme is one of the strategic tools that will help us realise our economic objectives through industrialization. The purpose of this programme is to, amongst
others, focus on a comprehensive long-term planning that is co- ordinated across and within the various spheres of government and key agencies; creation of new industrial hubs and to attract foreign direct and domestic investments.
To this end, government has designated 10 SEZs in seven provinces. Some of these were designated as Industrial Development Zones, IDZs, and are as such presently in the process of transitioning their institutional governance and ownership structures in compliance with the requirements of the Special Economic Zones Act.
In Gauteng, the OR Tambo Industrial Development Zone aims to develop land around the OR Tambo International Airport in order to stimulate economic development. This multisite development consists of several industry- specific precincts and will be developed in phases over a 10 to 15-year period.
The Coega Industrial Development Zone in Eastern Cape is the largest in Southern Africa. It is strategically located on the east-west trade route to service both the world and African markets. The IDZ has attracted investment in the agroprocessing, automotive, aquaculture, energy, metals logistics and business process services sectors.
The East London Industrial Development Zone, ELIDZ, remains one of the country's leading specialised industrial park characterised by innovation, efficiency, growth and sustainability. The ELIDZ offers growth oriented companies a specialised manufacturing platform, innovative industrial and business solutions and access to new markets.
The Musina-Makhado SEZ in Limpopo comprises two geographical locations that address unique industrial clusters. The site in Musina targets the light industrial and agroprocessing clusters and the Makhado site is a mineral beneficiation complex. A third site has been identified to target the petro-chemical industries.
This SEZ is strategically located along the N1 North-South route into the Southern African Development Community, SADC; very close to the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe. This makes it the location of choice for investment in the mineral beneficiation, agroprocessing and petro- chemical industries.
It forms part of the Trans-Limpopo Spatial Development Initiative and has been developed as part of a greater regional plan to unlock investment and economic growth and address the development of skills and employment.
The Nkomazi SEZ in Mpumalanga is conceptualized as an agroprocessing hub that will be supported by mixed services such as warehousing and logistics. The targeted value chains that will underpin economic activity within the proposed Nkomazi SEZ include secondary and tertiary stages of processing, amongst others, citrus fruits; sub- tropical fruits; aromatic plants; ground and tree nuts and sugar cane.
Complementing the SEZs programme is the structured programme for the revitalisation of the industrial parks located in old industrial areas across the country. These parks are recognised as catalysts for broader economic and industrial development.
Going forward, we will focus on the following identified future industrial parks; in Gauteng, we have identified Orlando West industrial park, Eldorado industrial park, Pennyville industrial park and Winterveld industrial park. In Eastern Cape, we have identified Fort Jackson industrial park and Butterworth industrial park. In Mpumalanga, we have identified Kabokweni industrial park and Siyabuswa industrial park.
Hon members, informed by our immediate task, working with the Gauteng province, we shall focus our energies on the finalization of
the business case for the proposed science and high-tech SEZ in Ekandustria in Bronkhorstspruit; designation of the Automotive SEZ in Tshwane and investment promotion for the OR Tambo SEZ.
In Limpopo, the focus will be on finalising the planning for bulk infrastructure and consolidation of the signed investments for the Musina SEZ and the finalisation of the business case for the proposed Tubatse SEZ in Burgersfort.
We shall continue to ensure that the incentive package offered by the government is continued.
As I conclude, I quote Madiba: "Sometimes, it falls upon a generation to be great. You be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom." I thank you. [Applause.]