For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines: Ramaphosa calls for new ventures with Vietnam, as he points to low investment; South Africa boosts deportations amid jobs crisis, Schreiber says; And, Lower CPI goal may save S Africa R900-billion in debt costs

Ramaphosa calls for new ventures with Vietnam, as he points to low investment

President Cyril Ramaphosa today urged the Vietnamese to explore new ventures to diversify into untapped sectors and to build partnerships, to generate jobs, transfer skills and stimulate inclusive growth, as he noted low investment between South Africa and Vietnam.

Ramaphosa was speaking during a State visit to Vietnam, where he stated that there was no record of Vietnamese investments in South Africa.

He said there were several financial and non-financial support measures available for Vietnamese companies keen to invest in South Africa to diversify their supply chains.

He said both countries’ cooperation must extend into strategic sectors that define the economies of tomorrow.

These sectors include electric vehicles, battery manufacturing, renewable energy, agro-processing and digital innovation, he said.

However, Ramaphosa noted that in recent years, trade between South Africa and Vietnam expanded significantly.

South Africa ran a sizable trade deficit with Vietnam, importing significantly more than it exported, he pointed out.

He said the imbalance between the countries called for a move beyond the traditional trade in raw materials.

He said South Africa had much to offer Vietnam, in terms of mining, agriculture and manufacturing, while Vietnam, in turn, brought strengths in electronics, textiles, machinery and renewable-energy technologies.

South Africa boosts deportations amid jobs crisis, Schreiber says

South Africa is pushing to deport more undocumented migrants who compete with citizens for jobs in an economy with one of the highest unemployment rates globally, the minister overseeing the programme said.

The nation “is a neglected part of the global migration story,” with the contestation between foreigners and locals for positions becoming “a real tinderbox,” Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said today.

The department has deported 51 000 people in the last year — that’s more than France and Germany combined.

South Africa has the continent’s most industrialised economy and sees a constant influx of job seekers from neighbouring countries, including Zimbabwe and Mozambique. But with the unemployment rate running at 33.2%, tensions between locals and foreigners run high. About 8.4-million people are eligible to work yet don’t have jobs.

And, Lower CPI goal may save S Africa R900-billion in debt costs

Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago emphasised the benefits of a lower inflation goal, saying it could save the government as much as R900-billion over a decade in debt-service costs.

South Africa currently spends 22 cents of every rand on debt-service costs, crowding out investment in health and education.

Kganyago noted the debt-savings would dwarf the R60-billion the National Treasury expected to raise in the current fiscal year from a two-percentage-point value-added tax hike that was later scrapped after opposition from members of a coalition government, including the Democratic Alliance.

The governor announced in July that the central bank’s monetary policy decisions will now be guided by aiming at the floor of its 3%-to-6% inflation target instead of its previous objective of the midpoint of that range.

The South African Reserve Bank has argued that the current inflation target, which has not been reviewed since it was first adopted in 2000, is too high and wide, and that striving for 3% would help lower borrowing costs and make the nation more competitive among its trading partners.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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