President Cyril Ramaphosa: Responds to questions for oral Reply in the National Assembly

 

Given that the South Africa Investment Conference 2026, which is now also replicated in other provinces, secured R415 billion in investment pledges, and noting that the Republic is grappling with a structural unemployment problem, where the economy is unable to absorb those who enter the labour market on an annual basis, what is the envisaged growth in employment that the anticipated investments will bring within the medium‑ to long term? NO2560E

 

 

Madam Speaker,

Honourable Members, 

 

 As I begin I ask that we remember those who have lost their lives, homes and livelihoods to the severe flooding that has struck many parts of our country over the last week.

 

At least ten lives have been lost and thousands of people have been displaced. 

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families mourning their loved ones, with those who have lost all they had and with the owners of businesses have been destroyed.

 

To the first responders, emergency rescue teams and disaster relief personnel in the affected provinces, we offer you the nation’s gratitude.

 

To the authorities, relief organisations and community-based structures on the ground, thank you for all you are doing to assist our people.

 

To every South African who has stepped in to help, Enkosi. Baie Dankie. Ngiyabonga. Ke a leboha. Thank you.

 

To all those who have been affected, we stand with you. We will spare no effort to reach you, ensure you are safe, that you get the relief you need and to help you rebuild your lives.

 

Madam Speaker,

 

To the question of the South Africa Investment Conference and its contribution to job creation:

 

The 6th South Africa Investment Conference, held in March, secured a total of R890 billion in investment commitments.

 

Around R415 billion of that total came from private sector companies and the remainder came from development finance institutions and multilateral development banks.

 

Of the 81 confirmed private sector investments, 53 companies submitted employment declarations at the time of signing.

 

These 53 investments are projected by the companies to create approximately 230,000 direct permanent jobs.

 

Not all investment capital creates employment at the same rate. 

 

Labour-intensive investments in global business services and financial services generate approximately 3,900 jobs per R1 billion invested. 

 

However, capital-intensive sectors such as renewable energy infrastructure and data centres generate between 13 and 248 jobs per R1 billion investments. 

 

While these investments that are critical for energy security and digital connectivity – and hence, economic growth – they do not create as many jobs directly. 

 

A number of the largest commitments – including those from Sasol, MTN, Vodacom and Coca-Cola Beverages Africa – involve expansion of existing operations. 

 

These investments sustain existing jobs and incrementally grow the workforce in these companies. 

 

Employment growth from these investments will be realised over many years as projects move from pledge to implementation. 

 

All 81 investments are being tracked quarterly through the Investment Conference Implementation Tracker.

 

Investments facing implementation blockages are referred for active resolution, with escalation to ministerial level where required. 

 

Declared employment figures will be verified against actual hiring outcomes as investments mature, and an annual implementation report will be tabled accordingly.

 

The structural unemployment problem is rooted in skills mismatches, spatial economic concentration, slow growth of the formal private sector and barriers to small business formation. 

 

The structure of the economy which is given rise to by concentration also acts as a barrier to creating broader employment.

 

These are challenges that require a systemic policy response beyond investment attraction alone. 

 

The South Africa Investment Conference is one instrument to create jobs within a government-wide strategy. 

 

This strategy includes our massive infrastructure investment, the revitalised industrial policy, an overhaul of our skills development system, removing the barriers to small business development and the completion of reforms in our network industries.

 

This year’s South Africa Investment Conference has encouraged us to increase our ambition, to raise R3 trillion in new investment over five years.

 

Through the progress we are making in our drive for inclusive growth and job creation, I am confident that we will reach that target.

 

I thank you. 

 

 

Whether the Government intends to use the SA National Defence Force and/or the Public Service to expand skills development and job placement as a response to youth unemployment; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, how will the Government ensure that such a programme is voluntary, constitutional and sustainably funded? NO2519E

 

 

Madam Speaker,

Honourable Members, 

 

There are various skills developmental programmes and job opportunity programmes within the public service, which include learnerships, internships, apprenticeships, graduate recruitment schemes and workplace-based learning opportunities.

 

These are undertaken by various departments with the support of the Department of Public Service and Administration.

 

The public service provides a valuable platform for skills development and youth employment placement. 

 

Consideration is being given, for example, to strengthening workplace exposure opportunities by assigning youth participants to senior managers as adopted trainees.

 

The Department of Public Service and Administration has begun exploratory initiatives to provide permanently employed youth and interns within the department with work exposure opportunities aligned to the African Peer Review Mechanism.

 

The National School of Government, in collaboration with other government departments, is currently conducting training programmes for unemployed youth participating in special projects and developmental initiatives.

 

The Department of Defence is involved in tackling unemployment in partnership with other government departments and the private sector in what was referred to as a whole of government and a whole of society de-siloed skills to industry training. 

 

The SANDF supports the National Rural Youth Service Corps – NARYSEC – which aims to reduce unemployment among young people in rural communities through skills development, leadership training and community service. 

 

The SANDF has also established the South African National Service Institute, focusing on young people not in employment, education or training.

 

The institute is mandated to implement a comprehensive youth development programme in partnership with stakeholders from the private and public sectors. 

 

The programme seeks to recruit unemployed young people and equip them with a combination of classroom-based training and practical workplace experience through structured internships.

 

In the course of 2025, 584 matriculants trained in a character-building programme. Of these, 200 are currently on an artisans programme sponsored by MERSETA. The remaining students will be commencing with Health Promotion Officers training in 3 months.

 

This training is distinct from the conventional military training offered by the SANDF to recruits entering the Defence Force on a full-time basis.

 

I thank you.

 

 

 

Whether he has found that the roll-out of Operation Prosper has succeeded in meeting its objectives thus far; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details? NO2562E

 

 

Madam Speaker,

Honourable Members, 

 

Since the commencement of Operation Prosper, the joint deployment of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has yielded significant progress in stabilising priority hotspots and disrupting organised crime across the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, North West, Gauteng and Free State. 

 

Given the recent commencement of deployments in certain priority action areas, it is too early to draw definitive conclusions regarding impact. However, indicators suggest a reduction in selected crime categories within the operational action areas.

 

More than 1,000 arrests have been affected, most notably 550 in the Western Cape and 238 in the Eastern Cape. There has been a strong focus on dismantling drug networks and illegal mining syndicates, alongside arrests linked to serious violent crimes. 

 

Operational intensity has been sustained through the execution of over 38,000 coordinated actions, including roadblocks and targeted tracing operations, resulting in the seizure of 18 firearms, 792 rounds of ammunition and 186 explosives. This directly weakens the operational capacity of criminal networks. 

 

These outcomes are underpinned by robust command-and-control structures established through the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure, ensuring integrated planning, daily joint briefings and unified execution between SAPS and SANDF commanders. 

 

While there is tangible progress toward reclaiming territory, stabilising communities and advancing broader security outcomes, we need a government-wide and society-wide effort to prevent crime and address its social and economic causes.

 

There is much that Operation Prosper can achieve, but it needs to be reinforced and supported by an integrated crime prevention strategy undertaken by all parts of the state and all sectors of society.

 

I thank you. 

 

 

 

(1) In view of the serious allegations made against a certain person in his Cabinet (Minister of Social Development), that are raising urgent questions about accountability, what are the reasons that he has not acted decisively by suspending and/or removing the person from Cabinet; 

 

(2) whether he commits to act decisively in this regard; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? NO2559E

 

 

Madam Speaker,

Honourable Members,

 

On the basis of various reports in the media and representations in Parliament, I requested the Minister of Social Development to furnish me with a report on these matters.

 

I had a discussion with the Minister and gave her an opportunity to set out her case. 

 

Having considered the submissions made by the Minister and mindful of the conduct expected of Members of the Executive, I have decided to remove Minister Tolashe from the position of Minister of Social Development in terms of section 91(2) of the Constitution.

 

An announcement to this effect was made by my office earlier today.

 

I thank you.

 

 

 

Given that the government has historically intervened to assist in debt relief efforts for its strategic sectors, such as energy and municipalities, what is his position on introducing similar innovative measures to address student debt, which perpetuates poverty and inequality by preventing students from graduating and/or obtaining their certificates to access employment and/or further their studies? NO2561E

 

 

 

Madam Speaker,

Honourable Members, 

 

Government has previously intervened to assist with debt relief in higher education and training. 

 

This includes, in 2019, the provision of debt relief historically held by NSFAS-qualifying students to the amount of R967 million. 

 

This was directed at debt that pre-dated the new financial aid model, introduced in 2018. 

 

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme supports close to 900,000 students a year from low-income and working-class families in accessing higher education. 

 

Students supported by NSFAS who apply on time and meet academic eligibility and progression requirements should graduate from institutions of higher learning with no debt. 

 

While NSFAS funding supports the majority of undergraduate students and there are also alternative forms of support for students, including other bursaries, university-allocated funding and commercial loans, the university sector in particular still faces growing student debt.

 

This debt reached approximately R23 billion in the 2024 academic year. 

 

This student debt is not held by the government, but by public universities themselves. 

 

This is a concern for the financial sustainability of universities. 

 

In 2022, the Minister of Higher Education and Training reported that a Ministerial Task Team had provided advice on the development of a comprehensive student funding model.

 

This model would address financial aid for students considered to be in the “missing middle”. This is a diverse group of self-funded students, including those who do not meet NSFAS financial eligibility criteria and those who may struggle to access other forms of funding. 

 

Work on this comprehensive funding model is ongoing. 

 

In addition, the Department of Higher Education and Training is working towards a fee regulatory model that could regulate increases in tuition fees. This aims to ensure affordable, transparent tuition fees across the system. 

 

The Department is currently working with universities to provide detailed information on student debt to better understand the scope and levels of debt held by individual students, including those who have completed their studies. 

 

This information will assist government and the higher education and training sector to devise appropriate measures to address the challenge of student debt.

 

I thank you.

 

 

 

Noting that sections 8 and 9 of the South African Police Service Act, Act 68 of 1995, (SAPS Act) prescribes a mandatory board of inquiry and due process prior to the suspension or removal of a National Commissioner, and that section 86 of the Public Finance Management Act, Act 1 of 1999, (PFMA) criminalises financial misconduct only upon proof of wilful or grossly negligent conduct in a court of law, 

 

(a) on what lawful and rational basis did he bypass the peremptory procedures of the SAPS Act in favour of a so-called consensual precautionary suspension, notwithstanding that the PFMA threshold for criminal liability has not yet been judicially established and

 

(b) how does he justify appointing as Acting National Commissioner Lt-Gen Puleng Dimpane, the Divisional Commissioner responsible for Financial Management Services that is implicated in that her department allowed the payment of R48m in the same Medicare24 tender processes that is under investigation, rather than an independent appointee, without creating a reasonable apprehension of conflicted oversight and selective accountability? NO2558E

 

 

 

Madam Speaker,

Honourable Members, 

 

The National Commissioner of the South African Police Service General Fannie Masemola consented to be suspended. 

 

As a result there was no need to engage the processes in sections 8 and 9 of the SAPS Act, which processes are aimed at obtaining a basis for a suspension that is contested.

 

I considered the placement of General Masemola on precautionary suspension necessary to ensure the stability and effective functioning of the SAPS while the criminal process unfolded.

 

It is important that the legal processes be allowed to unfold without hindrance. 

 

I appointed Lieutenant-General Puleng Dimpane as the Acting National Commissioner because of her record and standing in the police service.

 

There is to my knowledge no evidence that implicates Lieutenant General Dimpane in relation to the Medicare24 tender and contact. 

 

I have full confidence in her ability to act in the position of National Commissioner.

 

I thank you.

 

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