Deputy President Paul Mashatile will on Friday, 8 March 2024, attend and chair the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) Retreat in Johannesburg, Gauteng Province.

Chaired by the Deputy President, the HRDC is an apex national, multi-sectoral advisory body established to create a collective response to the national challenge of human resource development in the country.

The Council was established in March 2010, and its current term comes to an end on 31 March 2024.

Over the years, the Council has created a platform for social partners to deliberate on the country skills and human capital development in order to address bottlenecks in the human resource development value chain. 

Guided by the Human Resource Development Strategy for South Africa (HRD-SA) 2010-2030, the Council’s Retreat is aimed at reflecting on and evaluating its work in terms of the progress made thus far, underlying challenges faced by the country which serve as an impediment to achieving the Council’s mandate, lessons learned since the establishment of the Council, any need to change or restructure the Council, and key future focus areas to be attained in the remainder of the current term and beyond.

The Deputy President’s attendance is in line with his delegated responsibilities as the Chairperson of the HRDC, and he will therefore deliver welcoming remarks and Chair the Council Retreat. 

During his welcoming remarks, Deputy President Mashatile will highlight the significance of the HRDC as it seeks to contribute towards addressing some of the socio-economic problems faced by South Africa, such as poverty, inequality, and unemployment through the development and nurturing of skills that are relevant to the country’s needs.

Members of the media are invited to cover the Deputy President’s opening remarks as follows:

Date: Friday, 8 March 2024
Time: 09h00 (media to arrive at 08h00)
Venue: Radisson Blu OR Tambo, Estate 154, Corner 3rd & 6th Avenue Bredell,  Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa

Members of the media covering the event are requested to confirm their attendance for accreditation purposes, with Ms. Linah Ledwaba on 066 240 7635 (The Presidency) and Mr. Lesley Makhubele on 073 692 9100 (HRDC) by Thursday, 7 March 2024 at 16h00.
 

Media enquiries: Mr. Keith Khoza, Political Advisor and Acting Spokesperson to the Deputy President, on 066 195 8840

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

Government welcomes the release of the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures by Statistics South Africa, which show a slight growth of 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023, reflecting resilience and gradual economic recovery amidst ongoing challenges. 

Real GDP in the fourth quarter reached R1 158 billion, marking continuous improvement from the pre-COVID-19 level of R1 150 billion though still below the peak recorded in the third quarter of 2022. The increase, though slight, signifies continued progress in the country’s economic recovery. It signifies the resilience of our economy and the positive impact of government interventions. 

The Minister in The Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said: “This growth is particularly encouraging as it surpasses pre-pandemic levels. This indicates a resilient economy showing signs of recovery, and bettering previous strength. We are particularly pleased to see the transport, storage, and communication industries leading the growth. This modest uptick in GDP is a testament to the concerted efforts of various sectors and stakeholders in navigating the complexities that were posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and other domestic and global challenges”. 

The modest growth signifies a positive turning point. The Government remains committed to implementing policies that foster a conducive environment for further economic expansion, and to continue to invest in infrastructure development, support small businesses, and create an environment that attracts investment. 

Working together, we can build a stronger and more inclusive South African economy for all. 

Media enquiries: Nomonde Mnukwa, Acting Government Spokesperson, 083 653 7485

Issued by: Government Communication and Information System 
Pretoria

The South African Presidency, various Government departments, Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), Business for South Africa (B4SA), and Business Leadership South Africa continue to collaborate in strategic initiatives to address challenges within the key focal areas of energy, transport and logistics, and crime and corruption, in order to grow the economy and restore investor and public confidence.

On 05 March 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet with members of Cabinet, senior business leaders and technical experts from Government and business to receive a detailed report on progress made to date and constraints that need to be addressed.

Media are invited to attend a virtual briefing on Wednesday, 06 March 2024, where technical experts from Government and business, led by the Director General in The Presidency, Ms Phindile Baleni, will present a progress report on interventions to address challenges within the energy, transport and logistics, and crime and corruption focal areas.

Media are invited as follows:

Date: Wednesday, 06 March 2024
Time: 13h00 – 14h30
Virtual Platform: Zoom

To join the briefing, click on this link: https://gcis.zoom.us/j/96936775350?pwd=L1EwdHVYMkNhazhybG8vVkp2Sk9iQT09 OR use Webinar ID: 969 3677 5350 Passcode: 947294

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to President Ramaphosa - media@presidency.gov.za / Mpumi Mabuza, General Manager: Stakeholder Relations, Brand South Africa – mpumim@brandsouthafrica.com

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

Deputy President Shipokosa Paulus Mashatile has, in his capacity as Leader of Government Business in Parliament, welcomed the finalisation of key Bills by the National Assembly during the first three months of this year.
 
The latest Bills include the Public Administration Management Amendment Bill, the Public Service Amendment Bill, the Statistics Amendment Bill, the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill and the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill.
 
The public service Bills have now been referred to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for consideration.  As Section 75 (of the Constitution) Bills, the other Bills have been referred to specific parliamentary portfolio committees for processing. It bears reminding that the Constitution distinguishes between four categories of Bills, these being:
 
• section 74 Bills — Bills amending the Constitution;
• section 75 Bills — ordinary Bills not affecting the provinces;
• section 76 Bills — ordinary Bills affecting the provinces; and
• section 77 Bills — money Bills (that is Bills that deal with appropriations, taxes, levies or duties).

By the end of February, a total of 16 Bills had been sent to the President for assent. Deputy President Mashatile said: “This represents significant progress which we welcome. It takes us another step closer in the fulfilment of the mandate of the 6th democratic administration.”  

“We welcome this significant progress in the enactment of key legislation that will move our country forward in fulfilling the mandate of the 6th democratic administration. The significance of the legislative programme is that it is a linear and revolving responsibility to both enact legislation and fine-tune existing laws. We are confident that at the end of this term, all priority legislation will have gone through the rigorous parliamentary process, passed the constitutional master and become laws of the Republic, after the President has assented to the Bills,” said Deputy President Mashatile.

As Leader of Government Business, the Deputy President promotes accountability by the Executive. Among other things, he tracks the submission of responses to Parliamentary questions for oral and written reply as well as commitments made, monitoring programming and attendance of Members of the Executive before Parliament and Portfolio Committees, the implementation of the Legislative Programme and monitors the processing of priority Bills by Parliament.

Media enquiries: Mr Keith Khoza, Political Advisor and Acting Spokesperson to the Deputy President, on 066 195 8840
 
Issued by: The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Thursday, 07 March 2024, lead Government’s interaction - in the form of a District Development Model Presidential Imbizo - with communities and stakeholders in the Nkangala District Municipality in Mpumalanga.

Themed "Leave No One Behind, the 12th Presidential Imbizo promotes participatory democracy and inclusive development by allowing community members and stakeholders to voice proposals and express any concerns or dissatisfaction they may have about conditions in the district or province.

The Imbizo is directed at enabling successful implementation of the “One District, One Plan” District Development Model in which residents, traditional leaders, business formations, organised labour and faith- and community-based organisations work with government across all phases of planning, implementation, and evaluation.

This week’s visit to Emalahleni will allow the President and other leaders in Government to assess progress made and to be briefed on challenges associated with the improvement of service delivery since the President’s previous engagement with communities.

Details of the DDM Presidential Imbizo are as follows:

Date: Thursday, 07 March 2024
Time: 11h00
Venue: Sy Mthimunye Stadium (Ackeville), Emalahleni, Nkangala District Municipality, Mpumalanga

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President - media@enquires.gov.za 

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

The Minister of Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa notes the Opera Assessment Report undertaken by the VGBE consortium on the operations of Eskom’s coal-fired power stations, undertaken from March to May 2023. 

As is common cause the Minister was appointed in March 2023 and has since been directing a range of interventions to implement the Energy Action Plan (EAP) to restore the operational capability of Eskom. 

The period covered in the report predates the appointment of a Group Executive for Generation, which has since provided further impetus to numerous interventions aimed at improving operational capacity of Eskom plants. 

Following this appointment, a Generation Recovery plan has been consolidated and various elements have already been implemented resulting in the reduction of the severity of load shedding, and a sustained improvement in the generation performance, with all indicators showing a positive trajectory. 

Minister Ramokgopa working closely with Eskom has sought to address all plant related shortcomings resulting in significant improvement of Eskom’s output during the reporting period. 

The generation recovery plan continues to be monitored, measured, and re-evaluated, to drive further improvements to the generation system in all respects to re-establish continuity of supply, reliability, efficiency, and public trust. 

The Minister and Eskom have been working hard on further interventions and strategic initiatives to stabilise the utility which has created a pathway to address both the limitations of Generation and Transmission capacity, including funding requirements. 

Media enquires: 
Tsakane Khambane, Ministry of Electricity, on 082 084 5566 / tsakane@presidency.gov.za

Issued by: The Ministry in The Presidency responsible for Electricity
Pretoria