The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) conceded to the parliamentary committee on the 3rd of March 2020 that the Industrial Development and Administration division failed to meet all 6 of its targets for the 3rd Quarter of 2019/2020.
Reflecting on the failing state of the economy, the Rand value generated for projected investment was just R2.8 billion against a planned target of R5 billion.
The division only created 751 jobs out of the 3000 it was projected to create and only retained 812 jobs out of the 3500 it was expected to retain.
Furthermore, due to a lack of investor appetite as well as challenges within the Automotive Incentive Scheme (AIS) and Section 12I incentives steering committee, the amount of incentives disbursed was only 135 in comparison to the 300 target set.
Considering the announcement by StatsSA yesterday that the economy is in a technical recession after GDP numbers indicate two consecutive quarters of negative growth – the country cannot afford for its key economic ministry to underperform on critical measures such as attracting investment and creating and retaining jobs.
The DA will continue to hold the department to account for its performance and shall not relent in holding government to account for its failures in the ailing economy.