At the invitation of the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), Deputy President Paul Mashatile will on Friday, 05 April 2024, break bread with the Muslim community in Cape Town who have been observing a month-long period of fasting during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
 
Ramadan brings to the fore the spirit of sharing and Ubuntu. The Deputy President is pleased to share in this celebration, which calls for unity, not only within the Islamic faith, but communities at large. 
 
 
Media enquiries: Mr. Keith Khoza, Acting Spokesperson to the Deputy President on 066 195 8840
 
Issued by: The Presidency 
Pretoria

At the invitation of the University of Johannesburg’s School of Public Management, Governance and Public Policy, in partnership with the College of Business and Economics, Deputy President Shipokosa Paulus Mashatile will on Tuesday, 09 April 2024, deliver a Distinguished Special Public Lecture on the 30 Years Celebration of South Africa’s Democracy. 

Priding itself as an international University of choice, anchored in Africa and dynamically shaping the future, the University of Johannesburg will host the Deputy President at its Auckland Park Campus.

The public lecture will be delivered under the theme: “ Inspiring the Youth in South Africa to imagine a better, prosperous future ”.  

In this regard, the Deputy President's lecture is expected to highlight considerable progress made by the democratic government in fostering a more inclusive and equitable society since 1994. 

Members of the media are invited to attend and cover the event as follows:
Date: Tuesday 09 April 2024
Time: 10h00 (Media to arrive at 08h30)
Venue: University of Johannesburg Arts Theatre, Auckland Park Campus, Corner Kingsway and University Road, Auckland Park.

Members of the media who wish to attend and cover the event should send their details to Ms Tshiamo Selomo on 066 118 1505 or Ms Masego Panyane on 084 067 7528

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

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria
 

Programme Director;
Premier of Kwa Zulu Natal, Ms. Nomusa Dube-Ncube;
His Excellency Hakan Juholt, Ambassador of Sweden to South Africa; 
Managing Director of Tetra Pak Southern Africa, Mr. Klaus Plenge;
Tetra Pak staff;
Guests;
Ladies and gentlemen;

Good afternoon.

It is a pleasure to be here at the reopening of this expanded Tetra Pak facility that will support our goals as government and business to create jobs, drive innovation, promote localisation and advance the low-carbon, circular economy.

This factory upgrade forms part of a R500 million investment by Tetra Pak in the South African economy, that in turn forms part of the Presidential Investment Mobilisation Drive.

When we set our R1,2 trillion target in 2018 we knew it was an ambitious one, and also that investment decisions often take several years to come to fruition. 

Today’s launch is one of many promising signals of investment commitments being practically realised. 

A substantial number of other commitments made by domestic and international investors have resulted in brick-and-mortar projects across South Africa since 2018.

Despite a strained domestic and global economic climate, this factory expansion demonstrates that South Africa continues to be an attractive destination for investors.

This gives us renewed impetus as government to forge ahead with our partnership as government and business to overcome challenges in the energy, logistics and other sectors. 

The structural reforms we have been driving as this administration will in the long-term result in wide-ranging, transformative change across the South African economy, and improve the business operating environment.

Tetra Pak has announced that through this expansion it will be exporting products to the continent. This export potential amounts to approximately R500 m annually.

This is very timely, given South Africa’s recent commencement of trade under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area or AfCFTA. Exports to the rest of Africa already include Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Nigeria and Kenya. We have no doubt this expanded facility will be able to harness the benefits of the AfCFTA.

Tetra Pak is a global leader in packaging and processing solutions for the food industry and has had a presence and manufacturing footprint in South Africa since 1963. 

This factory was originally built 45 years ago, in 1979, and its longevity is testament to the power of innovation. 

From the early days of producing standard packaging solutions like the humble milk carton, its scope has broadened over the years as Tetra Pak adopted new technologies, particularly to bring them in line with global efforts towards less carbon intensive production processes.

Now Tetra Pak South Africa has reached a new milestone, with this being the only facility in Africa that will produce carton aseptic packaging for the domestic market and for export to the continent.

This is a boost of confidence in our localisation programme. I’m pleased to hear that Tetra Pak is now under the Proudly South African umbrella, having received your certification last week.

The expansion of this facility will enable Tetra Pak to produce 80 per cent of its packaging material locally, compared to approximately 60 per cent in the past, when most of the material sold locally was imported from other Tetra Pak facilities around the world.

As more manufacturing capacity and expertise is retained here, new industries, businesses and value chains are able to emerge and be supported on South African soil. As a consequence, our efforts to build a more inclusive economy are boosted.

Customers will have the benefit of a broader range, the turnaround times for customer deliveries will be faster, and the factory will be able to better respond to the evolving needs of customers and the market.  

Localisation is about so much more than improving domestic industrial capacity. Localisation also ensures that jobs are created in South Africa, and that jobs are retained in South Africa. 

I am told that this upgraded plant will now have the capacity to produce 1,8 billion packs annually, utilising the labour of 99 employees.

I wish to commend Tetra Pak for not wavering in its commitment to create and retain jobs across their local operations, even as the production of solutions and products has become increasingly automated.

In line with your corporate social responsibility, you also continue to invest in the education, skilling and training of your employees, as well as providing a bursary scheme for their dependants. We commend you for this.

Tetra Pak is also playing its part in advancing a low-carbon, circular economy. This is being done by adopting innovative production processes, and through the company’s commitment to recycling. This factory adopts the global best practice followed at our other facilities worldwide and I am told you are aiming for carbon neutrality by 2030.

I congratulate Tetra Pak once more on this milestone and thank you for your ongoing confidence in South Africa. 

South Africa is an investment destination with significant untapped potential, and by leveraging our unique value proposition, we have the ability to attract higher levels of investment.

We look forward to working with you as Tetra Pak on your future pipeline of investments and hopefully on new announcements at the forthcoming South Africa Investment Conferences.

I thank you.

Programme Director;
Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr. Ebrahim Patel;
Premier of KwaZulu/Natal, Ms. Nomusa Dube-Ncube;
Chief Executive Officer of the Newlyn Group, Mr. Rajendra Balmukhun;
Chief Operations Officer of C Steinweg Bridge, Mr. Sheldon Cockcroft;
Managing Director of Access World Africa, Mr. Donovan Bissett;
Staff and workers;
Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen;

Good afternoon and welcome.

Today is a great day, marking a great achievement.

The completion and launch of the Newlyn Park Bayhead Rail Terminal project at the Port of Durban is not only a much-needed boost to South Africa’s logistics infrastructure network.

This terminal is also a symbol of recovery and resilience. For the city of Durban, for the eThekwini Metro, for KwaZulu-Natal, and for the country at large. 

Just four years ago we were gripped by the worst public health disaster in modern times in the form of COVID-19, and the country was forced into lockdown to contain its spread.

As we were just emerging from the pandemic’s shadow in 2021, parts of our country, notably KwaZulu-Natal, were the scenes of deadly unrest and an unleashing of violence, arson and mayhem that caused loss of life and cost our economy approximately R 50 billion.

Then, just a year later, in 2022, KwaZulu-Natal was one of the provinces that experienced devastating floods.

We all recall seeing the images of the damage to the Port of Durban at the time, especially in and around Bayhead Road. We know the extensive work and effort it took to restore operations and to get the port and its associated infrastructure up and running again.

These were all significant setbacks, yet the work that had commenced on this terminal continued, and now it is completed.

We can all be immensely proud of what has been achieved here, and of the persevering, pioneering South African spirit that this new terminal embodies. It also illustrates what can be achieved when government and business work together.

The Newlyn Park Bayhead Rail Terminal project was one of the announcements made at the South African Investment Conference in 2019, and it is significant in the context of expanding South Africa’s logistical infrastructure and enhancing our global competitiveness. 

It a multi-product terminal based on global best practice intermodal facility design, and I am told it is the single largest warehouse development in South Africa to date.

The completed site consists of 640 000m2 of warehousing, rail sidings and open storage. The facility has the capability of receiving 7 full block trains of 100 TEU’s each daily. 

The Terminal will facilitate the movement of sea, rail and road cargo through the Port of Durban via a multimodal hub providing for the handling, storage, loading and movement of a variety of cargo type. 

This includes hard and soft commodities in bulk and breakbulk, containerised cargo and project cargo. 

The embedded rail capacity in this terminal will accelerate the movement of cargo from road to rail in line with the objectives of the National Land Transport Framework.

This project is good model of public private partnership. 

The Terminal has been built on land leased from Transnet, and the partnership with Newlyn will assist in improving operational efficiency across the board. 

This precinct will address some of the challenges we have been experiencing in the logistics, infrastructure and network industries that have had a negative impact on economic growth and job creation.

In order for this rail terminal project to deliver full benefits to South Africa for the purpose that it was designed, it has to have trains and slots to be made available to clients. 

This will lead to a significant increase in revenue for Transnet on the Natcor Corridor through the migration of cargo from road to rail.

Aside from the investment of approximately R 3,4 billion, some 4,013 direct construction jobs have been created.

More than 1 000 employees are currently employed full time and this number is expected to grow as the facility handles more cargo.

Much of the investment spend has been on local suppliers and service providers, the bulk of which are in the province. 

Upgrading local port infrastructure is critical to the success of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, and this new terminal will facilitate the swift movement of goods from South Africa to the continent and beyond.

We also commend Newlyn’s pledge at the 2023 South Africa Investment Conference to invest R 4 billion into the development of a near-zero dust emission manganese back- of-port storage and handling facility project at Coega, as well as in a similar facility for iron ore at Saldanha Bay.

We wish you well with the completion of these projects that will benefit South Africa, established and emerging miners and the communities of the Eastern and Western Cape. 

We recently hosted the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium where priority infrastructure development projects were announced in port, rail and roads.

I urge the private sector to partner us on these. As I have said before, infrastructure is the flywheel of our economic growth and development.

I commend all who were involved in the construction of this facility.

I would also like to acknowledge C Steinweg Bridge and Access World, two foreign investors in the logistics sector in South Africa who are using this facility, for committing to be part of its exciting future. 

Congratulations once more to Newlyn and Transnet. We have no doubt this world-class facility will play a pivotal role in improving our logistics sector well into the future.

I thank you.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa has lost a champion of human rights, non-racialism and the role of the media in reflecting and shaping society with the recent passing of former Cape Times Editor Mr Tony Heard.

Mr Heard passed away on 27 March 2024 at the age of 86, following a short illness.

President Ramaphosa offers his deep condolences to Mr Heard’s partner, Ms Jane Porter, his children Vicki, Janet, Pasqua and Dylan and their partners, and all members of the extended family.

Mr Heard was a distinguished journalist who had a long association with the Cape Times newspaper, from his debut as a junior reporter to his appointment as Editor in 1979.

Among his many distinctions, Tony Heard was awarded, in 1985, the Pringle Award by the South African Society of Journalists and the Golden Pen of Freedom Award by the World Association of Newspapers for his publication of a discreetly planned and courageous interview with the then-banned African National Congress leader Oliver Tambo.

The interview led to Tony Heard’s arrest by security police for his alleged contravention of the Internal Security Act. While the state pursued a case against him, he was ultimately presented with a small fine.

Mr Heard was a media consultant to the Rector of the University of the Western Cape, the late Professor Jakes Gerwel, during South Africa’s political transition and under the presidency of Nelson Mandela, he was a special advisor to Kader Asmal, who served as Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry and Minister of Education. 
 
He also served as special adviser in the Presidency until January 2010.

President Ramaphosa said: “Tony Heard was brave in his resistance to apartheid and was an influential thought leader who challenged the conscience and beliefs of South Africans who benefited from apartheid.

He deployed significant newsroom resources to expose the brutality of the apartheid state and to portray the everyday suffering of oppressed and impoverished communities.

In so doing, he mobilised and nurtured a generation of journalists who took a clear stand on critical issues in the country and scurried between typewriters and teargas to give a voice to those whose pleas and outcries were muzzled and repressed by the state.

He inspired quality journalism which enriched the profession and media audiences alike and contributed to the inevitable momentum that led to our freedom. We value the contributions he made as well as a senior advisor to government in his later years.

May his soul rest in peace.”

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

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa has concluded a courtesy visit to the His Majesty King Mswati III in Lozitha, eSwatini. 

On arrival in the Kingdom of Eswatini, the President first paid a brief visit to the Queen Mother, Her Majesty iNdlovukazi, before proceeding to meet with His Majesty the King.

The two leaders affirmed their commitment to strong historical bonds between their two countries, including growing political and trade ties. 

They also highlighted the historical success of collaboration between the two countries, where the two leaders  collaborated to work together for a better future.

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

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria
 

President Cyril Ramaphosa has assented to the National Veld and Forest Fire Amendment Bill, the Agricultural Product Standards Amendment Bill, 2023 and the Correctional Services Amendment Act.
 
National Veldfire Act
 
The amended National Veld and Forest Fire Act, 1998, will amongst other key provisions;  
 
• Provide for the facilitation of the formation of fire protection associations by a municipality and a traditional council; 
• Compel a municipality, state-owned enterprise, public entity or other organ of state     which owns land to join the fire protection associations; 
• Extend the powers of entry, search, seizure and arrest to peace officers and traditional leaders; 
• Amend the title of the Act to the National Veldfire Act.
 
The Agricultural Product Standards Amendment Act, 2023
 
The amended Act, will amongst other provisions, empower the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development to designate a person, an entity, undertaking, body, institution, association or board, who or which, as the case may be, has particular knowledge of the product concerned, or particular knowledge of the relevant management control systems, with no direct or indirect personal or financial interest, as an assignee to inspect the commodity for quality control and audit management control system. 
  
The Correctional Services Amendment Act
 
The amended Act complies with the 2020 Sonke judgement of the Constitutional Court, in providing for an adequate level of independence of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS).
 
The amendments include changes to section 30(7) to provide for an inmate that is subjected to solitary confinement, to be informed of their right to appeal. 
 
The amended section further provides that the Head of the Correctional or Remand Detention Facility must, upon request provide all relevant information relating to an appeal to the Inspecting Judge within 24 hours of receiving such information. 
 
The amended act further provides for;
 
• The appointment of the Chief Executive Officer of the JICS by the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services instead of the National Commissioner of Correctional Services. 
 
• The expenses incurred by the Judicial Inspectorate will be covered from budgets appropriated by Parliament. These costs were previously covered from the Department of Justice and Correctional Services budget. 
 
• Mandatory reporting obligations by the Department to the Inspecting Judge.
 
 
 
Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President - Media@presidency.gov.za
 
Issued by: The Presidnecy,
Pretoria
 

President Cyril Ramaphosa has assented to the Judicial Matters Amendment Act, 2023. The Judicial Matters Amendment Bills aim to amend numerous Acts which are administered by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and are intended to address mostly practical and technical changes in various pieces of legislation. 

Some of the notable amendments include amongst others:

•    Amendments which provide for the powers, duties and functions of the Chief Master, some of which were not part of the legislation before. These changes will allow the Chief Master to play a greater supervisory role over the Masters of the High Court and will lead to improved service delivery to the public and to legal practitioners.

•    A provision that allows the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, after due consultation, to determine certain categories of offences which, if the accused pays or has paid an admission of guilt fine, would not result in the accused receiving a criminal record.  

Following the Minister’s determination, persons who already have received a criminal record for the identified categories of offences will have their offences expunged.

•    A provision for the expungement of the criminal record of a person who paid an admission of guilt fine for violating the State of Disaster Regulations which were imposed during the COVID pandemic;

•    A new mechanism to fight corruption, by creating an additional offence to be included in the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act, 2004 (Act No. 12 of 2004) regarding the failure of members of the private sector or state-owned entities to prevent corrupt activities.  This is in line with recommendations made by the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector, including Organs of State (Zondo Commission).

•    A provision that  relates to when a person willfully makes a false declaration in support of an application for a protection order in terms of the Domestic Violence Act, 1998 (Act No. 116 of 1998). The new provision penalises the making of such a false declaration and such a person will have committed an offence. The amendment also   enables applications for a protection order to be made without an affidavit.

•    A repeals of common law relating to the crime of defamation. Various international and local stakeholders and interested parties have expressed concerns about the alarming effect of such offences on journalists and have advocated for their abolition. (The crime of crimen injuria and civil remedies for defamation however continue to be applicable.)

Whilst the amendments may appear to be minor and technical in nature, they will significantly improve service delivery and the efficiency and responsiveness of the justice system in the related matters.

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

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Thursday, 4 April 2024, officially open the Newlyn PX Terminal and the Tetra Pak Manufacturing plant, respectively, in Durban, KwaZulu Natal as part of his investment promotion drive.

These entities made pledges through the South African Investment Conference,an initiative led by President Ramaphosa with an ambitious goal of attracting R1.2 trillion in investments over five years.

The multi modal rail terminal in Bayhead next to the port of Durban pledged R2 billion for the development of the largest multi modal rail terminal in Africa and has completed the last phase of the development exceeding the initial pledge by R2.6 billion.

The entity has over the last 26 years demonstrated its commitment as well as significant financial, technical and human resource development in developing transformational logistics infrastructure along the country’s major trade corridors.

The terminal has also been recognised as flagship development expanding the logistics capacity of the country as well as enhancing global competitiveness as part of the critical NATCOR trade corridor linking Johannesburg to the port of Durban.

The development will further facilitate an integrated ecosystem yielding benefits to freight owners, Transnet and logistics service providers.  This will also accelerate government’s objective of migrating of cargo from road to rail.

In 2022, the Tetra Pak Group invested more than R500 million in the manufacturing plant in KwaZulu-Natal. Tetra Pak is the world’s leading food processing and packaging company with presence in more than 155 countries.

Post the investment, the manufacturing plant is now the only state-of-the-art facility in Africa producing carton asceptic packaging for the domestic market and Africa export; meeting standards of sustainability; supporting a circular economy and propelling industrial growth.

These investments will form a critical industrial base for South Africa’s recent commencement of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), for export opportunities.

The Programme will unfold as follows:

PART 1

Time: 10h30 - 12h30
Venue: Newlyn PX Terminal, Bayhead, Durban
 
PART 2

Time: 14h00 - 16h00
Venue: Tetra Pak Manufacturing Plant, Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal

MEDIA ACCREDITATION:

For Newlyn Terminal, details using the accreditation form should be send to Moliehi Molekoa on 082 751 0420/ Moliehi.Molekoa@magna-carta.co.za and Shadi Baloyi on 072 571 6415/shadi@presidency.gov.za

For Tetrapak Manufacturing Plant, details using the accreditation form should be send to Tambudzai Jonhera 072 490 8501/tambu@ggisa.com and Shadi Baloyi on 072 571 6415/shadi@presidency.gov.za

MEDIA ACCREDITATION DEADLINE IS ON TUESDAY, 2 APRIL 2024, AT 13H00.
NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President – media@presidency.gov.za
 
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

Accreditation Form - President Ramaphosa to officially open new manufacturing entities

President Cyril Ramaphosa has conveyed his condolences to the Republic of Botswana and to the family and friends of the 45 bus crash victims that died in Limpopo earlier today. 

The bus which was transporting Easter pilgrims from Botswana to Moria was travelling on the R518 road near Mokopane, Limpopo when it crashed. 

President Ramaphosa extended his sympathies in a call to President Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana and pledged the continued support of the South African government during this time of need for the people of Botswana. 

President Masisi expressed his gratitude for the cooperation that the government of Botswana has received from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), as well as from the provincial and local government structures.  

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President – media@presidency.gov.za
 
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria