President Cyril Ramaphosa. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP
“We are gathered here in a time of crisis,” Prime Minister Ramaphosa said in Sona 2023. He outlined the government's plans for the next 12 months, highlighting load reduction, unemployment, poverty and crime as some of the most pressing issues facing South Africa.
Now that that deadline has expired, Prime Minister Ramaphosa is preparing for a speech in 2024, although there is no guarantee of another speech. This is because the ruling ANC is perceived to be in a precarious position ahead of national elections later this year.
Africa Check followed up on some of the promises he made and found that some were kept and others broken.
promise: Seven commitments on power company Eskom, state-owned logistics company Transnet, road infrastructure, digital transition and more.
verdict: Two promises were kept, two were “in progress” and three were broken.
- Mr Ramaphosa has kept his promise to separate the national electricity transmission company from power utility Eskom, and has also introduced an inclusive student funding model to help fund middle-class students who do not qualify for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
- The president's pledges to provide funding to entrepreneurs through the Small and Medium Enterprise Finance Agency and develop the digital technology sector through the National Skills Fund were described as “progress.”
- Prime Minister Ramaphosa has failed to deliver on his infrastructure promises. Development plans for Durban and Ngurah ports have been delayed, as have the completion of Msikaba and Mtentu bridges in the Eastern Cape.
promise: “The national power transmission company will soon be run with an independent board of directors.”
verdict: kept
South Africa's state-run electricity company Eskom has come under intense scrutiny in recent years. The reduction in power generation capacity has led to rolling blackouts known as load shedding.
One proposed solution to these problems is Eskom's 'unbundling'. This includes splitting the company into his three separate companies for power generation, transmission, and distribution, each with its own board of directors and responsibilities.
To achieve this objective, Eskom established the national electricity transmission company South Africa SOC Limited (NTCSA).
Although initially hampered by conditions that were not met, including the lack of relevant consents, NTCSA was granted an operating license in September 2023, and a board of directors was announced in January 2024.
promise: “Transnet and the private sector have entered into a partnership on container terminals in Durban and Ngurah, enabling new investment in our ports.”
verdict: broken
Prime Minister Ramaphosa said on the urgent need to improve the efficiency of the country's ports, state logistics company Transnet would finalize private partnerships at two major terminals.
Transnet's shipping division, Transnet National Ports Authority, manages the country's nine major import and export ports.
Durban Port reportedly handles 60% of the country's imports and exports, but ranks near the bottom of ports worldwide in terms of efficiency. South Africa's other ports also rank poorly, according to the World Bank's 2023 report.
The partnership involves upgrading the ports of Durban and Ngurah in the Eastern Cape via a special purpose vehicle (SPV) between the organization's shipping arm, Transnet Port Terminals, and partner companies.
An SPV is an organization that a company can set up to transfer financial risk to investors. This creates new revenue streams for the company and investment opportunities for the partners.
This is intended to fund the expansion of the two ports. According to Transnet, the SPV will generate revenue from customers who use the terminals and customer contracts will be transferred to his SPV. However, Transnet said this did not mean it would sell any assets. The terminal will be returned to the company after 25 years.
In July 2023, Transnet completed the process of selecting a partner for the Durban Terminal. In its announcement, the company said it would provide updates on the progress of the Ngqura terminal “in due course.” No partners announced as of February 2024.
“There were no bids for Ngurah Container Terminal (NCT) as bidders could not guarantee volume increases. Transnet is considering options on how to best utilize NCT.” the company told Africa Check.
promise: “The construction of the Msikaba and Mtentu bridges has been completed and will make travel in the Eastern Cape even more comfortable.”
verdict: broken
Prime Minister Ramaphosa remained committed to infrastructure development, pledging to complete two bridges in the Eastern Cape.
Msikaba and Mtentu Bridges are part of the N2 Wild Coast Road Project by the South African National Highways Agency (Sanral). The N2 connects his four provinces: Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. Mr Sanral said the new Wild Coast Road would open up a strip between the coastal cities of Port St Johns and Port Edward, creating a “safer and , a flatter, faster link.
Mushikaba Bridge is a cable-stayed structure spanning the Mushikaba River valley. Supported by 127 meter high pylons, the bridge will rise 94 meters above the valley floor when completed. Sanral's website states that construction of the bridge is “scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023.” Lawrence Savage, project director for the Concor-MECSA Construction Joint Venture, which contracted the project, said the bridge is expected to be completed in April 2025 and is “on track.”
“All four anchor blocks of 21,000 tonnes of concrete each have been completed. All auxiliary tributary structures have been completed and the pylons are currently approximately 85 meters out of 127 metres. We are currently installing cable inserts. That's what we're doing,” Savage said.
Construction of the Mtentu Bridge is even more complex. The joint venture that originally won the contract withdrew from the project in 2019 following protests from local residents.
In November 2022, a new contract for Mtentu was signed to a joint venture between China Communications Construction Company and MECSA Construction. Construction of the bridge began in August 2023, making it impossible for it to be completed by the end of the same year.
MECSA Construction has not yet responded.
promise: “within this year [2023]Transition remaining households to digital television signals and complete the cessation of analog transmission. ”
verdict: broken
Broadcasting of audio and video over the airwaves was done using analog signals. In the 1990s, it became possible to transmit data in binary format. The process of switching from analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting is called digital transition.
In 2006, the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations agency responsible for information and communication technology matters, set a June 2015 deadline for countries to switch from analog to digital.
As a result of the missed deadline, South Africa is no longer protected from disruption of the airwaves used for analog television broadcasting.
The government has missed several deadlines since 2015. In his 2021 Sona address, Ramaphosa said the digital transition process would be completed by March 2022. He acknowledged the delay in delivering his 2023 speech, saying: “Better late than never.”
In June 2023, the government adopted a two-stage approach to digital migration. The first step involved the suspension of analog services above 694 megahertz in July 2023. The suspension of services below this frequency is expected to take place by December 2024.
In March 2022, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies announced that the number of TV viewing households in South Africa was approximately 14 million, citing 2018 data from Statistics South Africa.
Of these, 11.5 million households watched TV via satellite, and 2.5 million households watched analog TV.
Updating this to reflect the latest data for 2022, we calculate that 10.8 million households now watch television through digital transmission. This leaves approximately 4.3 million households still analog.
The ministry has not yet commented.
promise: “Through the Small Business Finance Authority (Sefa), we will provide R1.4 billion in loans to over 90,000 entrepreneurs. ”
verdict: in progress
Sefa is responsible for promoting the creation, development and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs). It is the implementing agency of the Small Business Development Authority.
Sefa CEO Mxolisi Mashamba told Africa Check that Sefa “has played an important role in supporting government efforts to accelerate access to finance.”
“During the financial year ending 31 March 2023, Sefa disbursed R2.4 billion to 74,762 entrepreneurs, according to Sefa’s 2023 Audited Annual Report.”
Mashamba said these figures were verified by independent external auditors. Figures for the next financial year, which runs from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, have not yet been audited and have not been published. We will update this report as soon as it is updated, but until then we will rate this commitment as 'in progress'.
promise: “This year, the National Skills Fund (NSF) will provide R800 million for skills development in the digital and technology sectors through an innovative model that links training payments to employment outcomes.”
verdict: in progress
NSF is part of the higher education sector. Fund skills development initiatives identified as national priorities in the National Skills Development Plan 2030.
The fund has been criticized for failing to account for billions of rands in the 2019-20 financial year. An investigation of the company's finances revealed evidence of fraud, forgery by service providers, and failure to provide services even though fees were paid. Some of the fund's top executives have been charged with wrongdoing.
In April 2023, almost three months after making this promise in Sona, Prime Minister Ramaphosa said in his weekly newsletter that the National Skills Fund would soon launch a new model of demand-driven skills development to fund training for the unemployed. We plan to provide R800 million.” Young people with digital skills.”
In November 2023, NSF and the Department of Higher Education and Training launched the Employment Outcomes Fund with research and consulting firm Crusum as an implementing partner.
“The fund is looking for companies, primarily training institutions, that can train young people and place them in long-term, high-quality jobs,” said Riyad Ebrahim, Kulsum's program director.
This fund is in the pilot stage. “Parties wishing to participate in the Fund may submit expressions of interest by December 15.” [2023] …by the end of January [2024]successful applicants in the first round will be invited to make a more formal proposal,” Ebrahim said.
Successful companies will be evaluated by the fund and paid in four installments based on specific requirements such as training, placement, and follow-up at three and six months post-placement. Mr Ebrahim said R300 million had been allocated to the fund by the NSF and the department.
“If the pilot phase is successful and young people are trained and committed, funding could be extended.”
Prime Minister Ramaphosa has pledged to more than double this amount in 2023, but the launch of the Jobs Promotion Fund is just the beginning. Therefore, we rate this commitment as “in progress.”
promise: “This year, the Government will finalize a comprehensive student funding model for higher education, particularly for students who fall outside the current NSFAS standards, reaching what is known as the ‘missing middle’. ”
verdict: kept
To be eligible for funding, a student's household income must total no more than R350,000 per year. This has led to discussions about the “missing middle class,” or students whose total household income exceeds this threshold but cannot afford higher education.
In January 2024, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande announced a funding model to address this issue. This model aims to support students with a total household income of between R350,000 and R600,000. The first phase of this model is expected to start in 2024 and the government has pledged R3.8 billion in support. Nzimande said this amount would fund 31,884 (47%) of the 68,446 estimated missing secondary school students.
This article was first published by Africa Check. See the original article here.