Funding of major infrastructure projects to increase in South Africa
28 February 2013
South African finance minister Pravin Gordhan has confirmed that R827bn (£62bn) of financing for various large infrastructure projects is now in place, and is not affected by spending cuts in the country’s budget, presented yesterday (27 February) at the National Assembly.
Thu, 28 Feb 2013South African finance minister Pravin Gordhan has confirmed that R827bn (£62bn) of financing for various large infrastructure projects is now in place, and is not affected by spending cuts in the country’s budget, presented yesterday (27 February) at the National Assembly.
Slightly more than half of the money (R430bn) will be drawn from existing government financial resources, known as “the fiscus”, and spent on projects across courts and prisons, education, healthcare, housing, transport, and utilities. The rest will come from state-owned enterprises and be concentrated on utilities and transport.
This follows three years in which infrastructure totalled R642bn in South Africa. A total of R3.6trillion worth of projects are currently in progress or under construction, and in Recruiter's Global Spotlight article on South Africa at the beginning of 2012, infrastructure was noted as an area seeing strong demand for recruitment, alongside mining and utilities.
Gordhan’s announcement also proposed an employment tax incentive for firms taking on young, first-time workers, which will amount to R500m when implemented, and a tax deduction available to employers in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) taking on workers earning less than R60k annually.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) and the Department of Labour will work to “ensure that employers don’t replace older workers in favour of first-time workers just to take advantage of the tax incentives”, according to the South African Government News Agency.
Slightly more than half of the money (R430bn) will be drawn from existing government financial resources, known as “the fiscus”, and spent on projects across courts and prisons, education, healthcare, housing, transport, and utilities. The rest will come from state-owned enterprises and be concentrated on utilities and transport.
This follows three years in which infrastructure totalled R642bn in South Africa. A total of R3.6trillion worth of projects are currently in progress or under construction, and in Recruiter's Global Spotlight article on South Africa at the beginning of 2012, infrastructure was noted as an area seeing strong demand for recruitment, alongside mining and utilities.
Gordhan’s announcement also proposed an employment tax incentive for firms taking on young, first-time workers, which will amount to R500m when implemented, and a tax deduction available to employers in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) taking on workers earning less than R60k annually.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) and the Department of Labour will work to “ensure that employers don’t replace older workers in favour of first-time workers just to take advantage of the tax incentives”, according to the South African Government News Agency.
