Importers and exporters taking advantage of the government’s incentive programmes offering financial support to small, medium and large enterprises have already helped create more than 18 000 jobs, according to top officials from the Department of Trade and Industry (Dti). Senior managers in the Dti, Tumelo Marivate and Marumo Moeketsi, told manufacturers at a breakfast briefing organised by the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday that efforts to stimulate investment in the manufacturing sector were already bearing fruit. “The grants have been running for over two years with 656 projects worth R14.9 billion up to May having been approved, creating 17 900 jobs in a range of sectors,” Marivate said. The aim of the briefing was to give manufacturers tools to act on manufacturing and capital projects incentives available from the department. The incentives, which are non-refundable grants, provide investment and competitiveness support to new projects and expansion projects. Marivate says manufacturers in South Africa and abroad apply for grants as part of the department’s Enterprise Investment Programme or Automotive Investment Scheme (AIS), both of which offer generous tax allowances, especially if there is a strong job creation element. As part of the programme, investment projects of R5 million and below may qualify for an investment grant equal to 30% of their total qualifying costs, payable over three years; investment projects between R5 million and R30 million receive grants of between 15 and 30% over a two year period; while investments above R30 million may qualify for grants of up to 15% of investment costs. Applicants must be legal entities in South Africa and projects must show commitment to the planned investment project, have a viable business plan and, among others, achieve industrial policy targets. Marumo, the director of Incentive Administration at The Enterprise Organisation, says the initiatives were aimed at supporting a knowledgebased economy while nurturing labour-intensive industries. Already, he says 488 jobs have been created since they began approving projects, suggesting that the initiative established to fill a gap in which there has been a failure by the market to operate, has been a success.
