DESIGNATION OF ELECTRICITY METERS AND BOATS BY the dti

DESIGNATION OF ELECTRICITY METERS AND BOATS BY the dti

The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), has announced that following on the Designation of Electricity Meters and Boats by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, earlier in the year, the National Treasury has issued Instruction Notes to all departments and state entities in this regard. This means that local procurement requirements set out in these Designations and Instruction Notes are binding on all government departments at national, provincial and municipal level and all state entities.

Minister Davies said boatbuilding has been identified as a strategic industry with strong and extended linkages for economic growth and with significant employment multipliers. 

“It is critical that SA retains and builds its capacity and engineering and technical capabilities to manufacture a range of ‘working’ vessels, to required global standards. The Operation Phakisa process which is due to conclude shortly, will also seek to ensure that government strengthens the general enabling environment, including with respect to infrastructure and services provided at ports, by the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA),” said Davies

‘Research indicates that Government and State Owned Companies (SOCs) have spent R19bn on working vessels since 1994, but only R900m of this total was spent on local procurement. The Designation of boats for local procurement is a significant step towards greater support for the industry. The Designation also makes provision for the importation of components not produced in SA. 

However the dti will be stepping up its work with boat-builders located in South Africa to ensure that further effort and conditional support measures go into increasing local manufacturing capabilities, especially with respect to components higher up the technology and value chain.

Davies added that he Designation of the Residential Electricity Meters is similarly binding on the public sector including and especially Municipalities.

‘South Africa possesses the capacity and capabilities to manufacture smart meters locally to the required high standards. It has proved very difficult in this space to get accurate economic data but it is safe to state that there has been significant import leakage. In other words, public procurement has been spent on imported products in conditions where local manufacturers have the capacity to manufacture locally, at competitive prices

`The Designation of electricity meters and Set Top Boxes for the digital migration, the localisation possibilities arising from the roll-out of Broadband and  the provision by government of a range of other policy measures inclusive of incentives – all these are contributing to the creation of an enabling environment to significantly grow the domestic electro-technical sector.

‘A supportive effort by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), which has been at the global frontier of this work, has ensured that the requisite standards for the industry have been set. Work by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) is also underway to ‘lock-out’ sub-standard and unsafe products in this sector, amongst others, in the interests of consumers. 

Minister Davies concluded by stating that in keeping with similar policies in many other jurisdictions, government is resolutely committed to support local manufacturers with a range of local procurement instruments.

“These Designations are part of this broader effort and must be accompanied by commitments from manufacturers to raise competitiveness, including in relation to export markets. Government also once again calls on large companies with significant procurement budgets to support the buy local, ‘Buyback SA’ campaign, including in this sector,” stated Minister Davies.