President Cyril Ramaphosa responds to questions for Oral Reply in The National Assembly

QUESTION 

1. Mr M Ntuli (ANC) to ask the President of the Republic:

Given that in the State of the Nation Address on 6 February 2025 he emphasised the importance of infrastructure in enhancing economic growth, and considering that the balance sheet of the Republic is estimated to be R49,3 trillion held by various financial institutions including pension funds, how does he intend to leverage the balance sheet of the Republic to direct the accumulated surpluses in the financial sector to support the country’s infrastructure and industrialisation efforts?
NO599E

Honourable Members, 

For South Africa to achieve the levels of economic growth it needs, it is essential that government and business work together to scale up investment in infrastructure. 

This includes undertaking structural reforms to remove the binding constraints of energy supply and inefficient freight and logistics.

Government has committed to a very ambitious infrastructure build programme. 

Infrastructure spend by government will encourage and enable greater private sector investment in sectors such as electricity generation, electricity distribution, rail rolling-stock as well as water distribution. 

However, there is an important distinction to be made between public and private resources. 

Resources held by financial institutions, including pension funds, are the funds of pensioners or workers whose hard-earned money will be used for their retirement. They are not state resources. 

To facilitate infrastructure investment, the government needs to provide these savers with a reasonable return and ensure that these funds are safeguarded. 

The National Treasury amended Regulation 28 of the Pension Funds Act in 2022 to enable longer-term infrastructure investment by retirement funds as are relvelant here. 

The amendments introduced a definition of infrastructure and set an upper limit of 45 percent for investment by pension funds in infrastructure. 

To further facilitate investment in infrastructure and economic development, the limit between hedge funds and private equity has also been split. 

There will now be a separate and higher allocation to private equity assets. It is increased from 10 percent to 15 percent to allow for greater investments in infrastructure by these entities. 

In the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement of October 2024, the Minister of Finance announced that work is underway on mechanisms to complement the changes to Regulation 28 through the development of specific investment vehicles to simplify and incentivise institutional investors. 

I do believe that details on these mechanisms will be published in the upcoming Budget.

I thank you.  

QUESTION
 
2. Mr G Michalakis (DA) to ask the President of the Republic:

Considering that the United States of America (USA) is the second-largest trading partner and the fourth largest investor in the Republic, with 600 USA companies employing approximately 143 600 people in the Republic, what measures has the Government put in place to maintain a positive relationship with the USA towards growing the economy and creating jobs?
NO693E
 
Honourable Members, 

The United States of America remains a strategic and historic partner to our country. 

South Africa maintains its active engagement with the United States through political, diplomatic, and economic channels. 

Soon after the establishment of the Government of National Unity last year, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation as well as the Minister and Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition all undertook official visits to Washington DC for engagements with the administration, members of Congress, business and academia and think tanks in the United States. 

Following the election of President Trump in November last year, I had a telephone call with the President-Elect to congratulate him on his election and to reaffirm our own commitment as South Africa to strengthening relations between our two countries. 

Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool has recently been posted to Washington DC for his second stint as our country’s envoy to the United States. Ambassador Rasool briefs me regularly and he is on the ground with his team, engaging with various stakeholders to underscore the importance of deepening economic, political, and cultural relations between these two historic partners, the United States of America and South Africa. 

We have taken note of an Executive Order and recent statements by the current US administration about South Africa and aspects of our domestic and foreign policy.

We have expressed concern about the mischaracterisation of the situation in our country and certain of our laws and our foreign policy positions.

We will continue to engage with the United States of America and other stakeholders to correct this mischaracterisation and to restore the ties between our two countries.

I thank you.

QUESTION 

3. Leader of the Opposition (MK) to ask President of the Republic:

Given that the report of the World Bank in 2022, which stated that the Republic was the most unequal country in the world and that the inequality is a result of the legacy of apartheid and colonialism, noting that the Government has done very little to systematically address issues of racism and inequality in the Republic in every measurable socio-economic indicator as white South Africans remain the most privileged racial group, how will the so-called Government of National Unity eradicate the glaring disparities of inequality and unequal wealth distribution which remain in line with apartheid racial classifications?    
NO694E

Honourable Members, 

South Africa remains a highly unequal society. 

Despite progress that we have made in several areas, inequality still exists in South Africa.

Participation in the economy and the distribution of wealth still reflects the racial and gender divides of the past of both the colonial as well as the apartheid past. 

In responding to this fundamental challenge, we are guided by our Constitution, which places a responsibility on the state to take measures to redress the effects of past racial discrimination.

Successive democratic administrations have introduced various transformational measures such as broad-based black economic empowerment, employment equity, and other transformational policies. 

To assess progress in this regard, the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Commission undertakes annual assessments.

Based on the asseessments they make, it has established that yes, black ownership in our economy is steadily improving, and it has also established that women ownership in our economy is also improving. 

The Commission has found that since 2017, there has been a cumulative increase of assets acquired by black people through a variety of transactions, and they have been rising on a continuos basis. 

As outlined in the State of the Nation Address last month, our focus is on empowering those people who were deliberately excluded from playing a key role in the economy. This includes black people, women, and persons with disabilities.

We are therefore setting up a transformation instrument in the form of a fund over the next five years to fund black-owned and small business enterprises. 

We are continuing the Black Industrialists programme, which is helping to expand the country’s industrial base and develop a new generation of black entrepreneurs. 

We are working with industry partners through master plans and other initiatives to increase black ownership in key sectors of the economy. 

Government is also supporting the growth and development of small, medium, and micro enteprises, especially in townships and rural areas. These businesses are vital drivers of economic growth, as well as job creation and poverty reduction.

The work underway to reduce inequality is not limited to these direct interventions in the economy. Around 60 percent of non-interest spending goes to programmes that form part of the broader social wage.

Significant progress is being made in areas like education, which is one of the most critical instruments to reduce inequality and foster prosperity for all.

We have significantly expanded access to education for children and young people. Today, more than 10 million learners go to public schools where they do not have to pay fees. Last year, over 900 000 students from poor and working class backgrounds received funding to study at universities and colleges.

We are making Grade R compulsory to ensure that all children have a solid educational foundation that will contribute to their success later in life. Success should be engendered when children are still young

Through the introduction of National Health Insurance, we are working to reduce the huge disparities in access to health care. This will improve the quality of life of millions of poor South Africans, reduce the cost of their health care, and improve their productivity.

Through the provision of subsidised housing, of free basic services for the indigent as well as land reform, we are helping to reduce inequality and better enable people to participate in the economy.

All of these interventions taken together contribute to reducing inequality and improving levels of participation by black people in the economy.

To achieve greater and more meaningful economic empowerment, we need to grow the economy at a far faster rate and create the jobs that are needed by the people of South Africa.

That is the central focus of this administration.

I thank you. 

QUESTION 

4. Mr M S Chabane (ANC) to ask the President of the Republic:

Given that, the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community convened a joint summit in Tanzania that resolved, among other things, that the chiefs of defence should provide direction in line with the summit resolution(s), following the developments in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), what is the current status of the process of the unconditional ceasefire and cessation of hostilities in the DRC?
NO600E
 
Honourable Members, 

On 8 February this year, there was a Joint Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the East African Community and SADC in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to deliberate on the security situation in the DRC.

In that meeting, the Joint Summit directed the EAC-SADC Chiefs of Defence Force to meet and provide technical direction on, amongst others, the immediate and unconditional ceasefire as well as the cessation of hostilities as well as the re-opening of Goma Airport.

An Extraordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government of the Organ Troika met on the 6th of March to receive updates on the security situation in the eastern DRC.

South Africa attended the summit as one of the troop contributing countries.

The Extraordinary Organ Troika Summit on deliberating on the Report of the Defence Sub-Committee felt that we should make recommendations that will be put forward to the Summit of the SADC Heads of State to be convened soon, this week.

South Africa remains committed to working with fellow SADC countries to contribute to an inclusive, as well as a negotiated settlement of the conflict in the DRC.

I thank you. 

QUESTION

5. Mr J S Malema (EFF) to ask the President of the Republic:

Whether, given the current diplomatic tension between the Republic and the United States of America (USA) over misinformation perpetuated by enemies of democratic progress within and outside the Republic, his call to Elon Musk, an unelected businessman, was used as a diplomatic channel; if not, (a) what are the reasons that he chose to engage the specified person directly instead of using the established diplomatic channels to convey his concerns regarding Musk’s alleged influence and commentary on the USA-SA relations; if so, what was the role of the Minister of International Relations and Cooperations in the arrangement of the meeting and the subsequent call?
NO692E

Honourable Members, 

Yes, I have spoken to Mr Elon Musk and on occasion I have been togther with the Minister of Trade and Industry and Competition and the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation and yes, I interacted with Mr Elon Musk when I wen to the United Nations General Assembly last year. We had a discussion about his would be investment. So yes, recently, I also spoke to him, and we continue to engage with a variety of people through diplomatic channels as well as engaging with them through various constituencies in countries that we have relations with.

Through this conversation that I had we were able to have a discussion on what was a mischaracterisation and what was being said about our country, as he is a person that is quite influential whether it is liked or not.

We interact with various people, business, academics, research or otherwise and we do interact with people who we believe are able to discuss issues with various people in very official categories. We do speak to non-state actors as well as with state actors and we will continue to engage with people both inside and outside South Africa to promote our country and to promote the intests of our country. So, there is nothing sinister about the various discussions that we hold with a variety of people on an ongoing basis. 

When people reach out to us, yes, we engage with them, but we always make sure that our foreign policy positions are advanced and they are not undermined or diluted.

I thank you.

QUESTION 

6. Mr N M Hadebe (IFP) to ask the President of the Republic:

Considering that, during his State of the Nation Address on 6 February 2025, he mentioned the introduction of a Graduate Recruitment Scheme to attract the best and brightest to the Public Service, (a) how will the Government ensure that the specified scheme is inclusive, merit-based and aligned with the broader goal of improving the public sector’s efficiency and service delivery and (b) what specific measures have been implemented to ensure that the scheme is effectively integrated into government departments and state-owned enterprises to build a professional and service-oriented public sector?
NO691E

Honourable Members,

The Framework for Graduate Recruitment Schemes in the Public Service is essentially aimed at recruiting graduates and young people who have already obtained tertiary qualifications but require specialised skills, especially in health, policing, infrastructure planning, engineering, finance and information technology and other related disciplines.
 
Recruitment into the Graduate Recruitment Scheme programme follows the principle of open competition. In line with Public Service Regulations, all would be employees and qualifying entrants to a department must be given a fair and equitable participation opportunity. 

The scheme has a considerable potential to respond to many of our country’s developmental needs. These include the reduction of unemployment, especially among designated groups, including youth, women and persons with disabilities. It also has the potential to make a contribution to the eradication of poverty, reduction of inequality and improved service delivery.

In December 2018, the Minister of Public Service and Administration issued the framework for implementation across the Public Service. 

Currently, the implementation of this framework is ongoing. Departments are required to submit implementation reports on annual basis.

Deliberate programmes to recruit the best graduates into the public service are an essential part of our strategic priority to build a capable state.

I thank you.