Committee Hails First Ever SABS Local Content Verification Certificate Handover
The Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry received a briefing by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) on local content verification processes and participated in the awarding of the first local content verification certificate.
The Committee was informed that the auditing and certification by the SABS is designed to give the state proof that it is indeed local manufacturers who are benefiting from the local content requirements. The winning bidders in government tenders will now be required to have their local content declarations verified to ensure there is no misrepresentation, fronting or misstatement of local content.
The “local content verification” work forms part of government’s compliance monitoring of the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) intervention to leverage state procurement for industrialisation.
The Department of Trade and Industry has appointed SABS as the Local Content Verification Agency.
The Committee further heard that the major benefit from this centralised approach to compliance monitoring is that it is possible to build up a database of information covering localisation results across the designated sectors.
The first verification certificate award is based on a tender issued by the City of Jo’burg and awarded to Sandown Motors (PTY) LTD, a subsidiary of Mercedes Benz South Africa, for the supply of Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit engines and Chassis, with Marcopolo supplying the bus body against which there is an 80% designated local content threshold. The Minister of Trade and Industry handed the first certificate to Sandown Motors and Marcopolo at the Committee meeting.
Committee Chairperson, Ms Joanmariae Fubbs, said this is just another step in the journey to ensure localisation in products and goods, to grow the South African economy and to create jobs. Ms Fubbs also stated that the verification process is of international quality.
The Committee commends this step in the verification of local content as this will ensure that manufacturing companies using local content are the real beneficiaries of such contracts or tenders.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact:
Ms Rajaa Azzakani
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021403 8437
Cell: 082 560 9610
Email: razzakani@parliament.gov.za
