SoNA-in-Numbers – 11 February 2021

History

• 31 – years since President Nelson Mandela walked out of the gates of Victor Verster Prison a free person.
• Nearly 40 million – years since an extraordinary ecosystem has existed at the southernmost tip of the continent.

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

• Nearly one-and-a-half million – people in South Africa known to have been infected by the virus, by 11 February 2021.
• More than 45 000 – people known to have died of COVID-19 in South Africa, by 11 February 2021.
• 9 million – doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that government has secured.
• 80 000 – doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that will arrive in the country next week.
• 500 000 – further consignments of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine expected to arrive in the country over the next four weeks.
• 12 million – doses of the vaccine secured from the global COVAX facility.
• 20 million – vaccine doses Pfizer has committed, commencing with deliveries at the end of the first quarter.

Economy and employment

• 6% – the smaller level of South Africa’s economy in the third quarter of 2020 than in the last quarter of 2019.
• 1.7 million – fewer people wo were employed in the third quarter of 2020 than in the first quarter, before the pandemic struck.
• 30.8% – the rate of unemployment in South Africa by 11 February 2021.
• R500 billion – value of the social and economic relief package to provide cash directly to poorest households, to provide wage support to workers and to provide various forms of relief to struggling businesses.
• 18 million – people or close to one-third of the population who received additional grant payments through government’s relief measures.
• More than 5 million – poor people who benefitted from the social and economic relief package.
• R57 billion – value of the wage support that has been paid to over 4.5 million workers through the Special UIF TERS scheme.
• Over 4.5 million – workers who benefitted from the wage support worth R57 billion that has been paid through the Special UIF TERS scheme.

Business support

• More than R1.3 billion – money provided to support mainly small- and medium-sized businesses.
• Over R70 billion – value of the tax relief extended to businesses in distress.
• Around R18.9 billion – value of loans approved for 13 000 businesses through the Loan Guarantee Scheme.
• 13 000 – businesses that will receive loans approved through the Loan Guarantee Scheme.

Infrastructure

• R340 billion – value of the infrastructure investment project pipeline that government has developed in network industries such as energy, water, transport and telecommunications.
• 68 000 – households in Gauteng that will benefit from homes provided through two major human settlements projects of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan.
• 350 000 to 500 000 – people expected to benefit from homes built within the next decade, as part of the Lanseria Smart City project.
• R19 billion – value of roads projects covering the spine of the South African road network identified through the Infrastructure Investment Plan.
• R100 billion – the budget of the Infrastructure Investment Plan.
• 300 000 – student beds to be provided through the Student Housing Infrastructure Programme funded by the Infrastructure Investment Plan.

Local products

• 20% – the level of the planned reduction of South Africa’s reliance on imports over the next five years.

• 42 – products – ranging from edible oils to furniture, fruit concentrates, personal protective equipment, steel products and green economy inputs – that can be sourced locally.

• More than R200 billion – money that could potentially be returned to the country’s annual output by sourcing products locally.
• 1 000 – locally produced products that must be procured from small, medium and micro enterprises.
• R800 million – funds invested to upgrade production through the Poultry Master Plan.
• 1 million – additional chickens that South Africa produces every week through the Poultry Master Plan.
• 80% – quantity of sugar that large users of sugar have committed to procure from local growers, as part of the Sugar Master Plan.

• 85 000 – workers employed in the sugar industry.
• More than half a billion rand – money invested by the clothing, textile, footwear and leather industry to expand local manufacturing facilities, including small, medium and micro enterprises.
• Around 70% – the level of normal annual production that the auto sector had recovered by the end of 2020.

Investment

• R16 billion – value of the investment by Ford Motor Company to expand their manufacturing facility in Tshwane for the next generation Ford Ranger bakkie.
• 12 – small and medium enterprises in automotive component manufacturing to be supported to grow through the R16-billion investment by Ford Motor Company.
• R1.7 billion – value of procurement opportunities from nearly half of the procurement spend on construction of the bulk earthworks and top structure at the Tshwane Special Economic Zone to be allocated to small, medium and micro enterprises. 
• R108 billion – value of additional investment commitments raised by the third South Africa Investment Conference in November 2020.
• R773 billion – value of investment commitments received by 11 February 2021 towards government’s five-year target of R1.2 trillion.
• R1.2 trillion – government’s five-year target of investment commitments.
• R183 billion – value of investments that have reportedly flowed into projects that benefit the South African economy.
• More than 125 000 – new companies registered through the BizPortal platform in 2020.

Job creation

• Over 430 000 – job opportunities supported through the Presidential Employment Stimulus by the end of January 2021.

• 180 000 – job opportunities supported through the Presidential Employment Stimulus still in the recruitment process by 11 February 2021.
• Nearly half a million – people receiving an income, developing new skills and contributing to their community and the country’s economy through environmental programmes.

Youth economic empowerment

• 1 000 – young entrepreneurs who benefited from grant funding and business support provided by the National Youth Development Agency and the Department of Small Business Development, by International Youth Day on 12 August 2020.
• 15 000 – start-ups to be supported by the National Youth Development Agency and the Department of Small Business Development by 2024.
• 1.2 million – people on the National Pathway Management Network, which provides support and opportunities to young people across the country.

Energy

• 2 000 – megawatts of emergency power to be supplied by the successful bids to be announced by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.
• 11 800 – additional megawatts of power from renewable energy, natural gas, battery storage and coal that government will procure in line with the Integrated Resource Plan 2019.
• Between 4 000 and 6 000 – the estimated electricity supply shortfall over the next five years.
• 2 600 – megawatts from wind and solar energy to be supplied as part of Bid Window 5 to address the estimated electricity supply shortfall over the next five years.
• 5 000 – megawatts of additional capacity to be unlocked by the easing of licensing requirements for new embedded generation projects to help ease the impact of loadshedding.

Water-use licence applications

• 90 – days to finalise water-use licence applications within the revised timeframe.

eVisas

• 10 – other countries that will also benefit from the roll-out of eVisas to visitors from China, India, Nigeria and Kenya.

Land restitution

• Over 5 million – hectares of land, totalling around 5 500 farms, that government has redistributed to more than 300 000 beneficiaries, by 11 February 2021.
• 5 500 – total of farms with over five million hectares of land that government has redistributed to more than 300 000 beneficiaries, by 11 February 2021.
• More than 300 000 – people who benefited from over five million hectares of land, totalling around 5 500 farms, that government has redistributed by 11 February 2021.
• Over 2 million – land claimants who benefited from the land restitution process that resulted in the transfer of around 2.7 million hectares of land.
• Around 2.7 million – hectares of land transferred to over two million land claimants through the land restitution process.

Women-owned businesses

• 40% – quantity of public procurement that should go to women-owned businesses.

Gender-based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) Response Fund

• R128 million – value of pledges made by several South African companies and global philanthropies to the private sector-led GBVF Response Fund.

Special COVID-19 Grant

• R350 – value of the Special COVID-19 Grant.