As South Africa navigates an increasingly complex global environment, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Park Tau Reassuring the public that the country is strongly progressing, the government is focusing on encouraging investment, industrialization and combating illicit trade.
“The global environment has become increasingly volatile due to the ongoing war in the Middle East and the associated disruption to supply chains of energy, fertilizers and petrochemicals,” Tau said.
Presenting her department's budget vote in Cape Town on Tuesday, the minister said that as a net oil importer, South Africa faces real recession risks and threats to industrial competitiveness.
“Amid these adverse circumstances, and as this budget vote will signal, we are changing direction as a country, and as a policy, our work is at the center of this momentum,” Tau said.
Tau said South Africa's policy environment is now coherent and forward-looking and Cabinet has recently adopted the Industrial Development Strategy (IDS), which guides the country's industrial policy agenda.
“Our pathways to decarbonisation, diversification and digitalisation underpin an industrial growth strategy that reflects the reality that South Africa cannot compete in the world of the future using the tools of the past.
“We are reviewing our Automotive Production Development Plan (APDP2) with the aim of encouraging new investment in South Africa and supporting the growth of our component manufacturers,” he said.
Tau said the DTC's work in implementing localization is evidenced by the R86.6 billion in locally manufactured goods and services purchased in the 2025/26 financial year.
“Our target for this current financial year is Rs 100 billion in localization. This is possible with the collaboration of our social partners,” he said.
In relation to the systemic challenge of tackling the illicit economy, which causes losses of an estimated R700 billion to the South African economy, equivalent to approximately 10%. Gross domestic product (GDP)Tau said that important intervention is being done by the National Consumer Commission.
“As a measure to protect consumers from illicit trade in the economy, this fiscal year, we will publish a track-and-trace mechanism on commodities. This mechanism will primarily target illicit trade in tobacco, alcohol, food and consumer appliances,” he said.
Tau said the 2026 South African Investment Conference (SAIC) has achieved the highest ever value of investment commitments since its inception in 2018.
“Domestic companies led the way, with two-thirds of investment coming from South African companies, signaling strong confidence in the local economy. The conference formally launched South Africa's second investment mobilization campaign, which targets R3 trillion in new investment by 2030.
“Despite the challenging global business environment, the country's Special Economic Zone (SEZ) program is making a meaningful contribution towards attracting fixed capital investments. To date, spatial transformation efforts have resulted in 224 operational investments worth more than R31 billion, resulting in the creation of 28 821 active jobs,” he said.
The DTIC and its entities have been entrusted with consolidated resources amounting to approximately R130.6 billion over the medium term to advance South Africa's industrialisation, economic transformation and investment agenda. – sanews.gov.za