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South Africa on path to recovery: minister

Xinhua, May 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Africa is on a path to recovery and continues to be a viable investment destination, Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said on Thursday.

This can be proved by a growing number of investment initiatives that have been announced in the country which demonstrate confidence by the international investment community in South Africa's economy, Radebe said at a press briefing in Cape Town after a fortnightly cabinet meeting.

He said the Department of Trade and Industry has attracted investments of over 25 billion rand (about about 1.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the automotive industry in the past five years.

"This investment will support more than 4,000 jobs with total employment in the plant already exceeding 8,000 jobs," said Radebe.

Radebe said Toyota is about to inject 6.1-billion-rand (388 million dollars) investment into South Africa's manufacturing industry and the country's local vehicle production, while BMW will invest 6 billion rand (about 382 million dollars) in the construction of a new, state-of-the-art body shop.

The magnitude of the following investments demonstrates the continued confidence that global automotive producers have in South Africa as an investment destination, and the supportive policy environment that the government is providing, Radebe said.

He was speaking as international rating agencies Standard & Poor and Fitch were about to decide South Africa's sovereign rating. A decision by Standard & Poor is expected in early June. Fitch is expected to announce its decision within this year.

Radebe said the government remains focused on reigniting economic growth, preserving existing jobs and creating more sustainable jobs through working together with business and labour.

"Through our programme of structural reforms and fiscal consolidation, government will remain within its expenditure ceiling to ensure that our economy emerges stronger when the global economy recovers," the minister said.

President Jacob Zuma has led several effective interventions through partnerships, both domestically and internationally to boost economic growth and job creation, said Radebe. Endit