President Cyril Ramaphosa returned from his make-or-break White House meeting on the charm offensive.
He was speaking at the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium SA 2025 (Sidssa 25) in Cape Town on Tuesday.
The event launched the second edition of the Construction Book, which lists a record 250 construction projects worth an estimated R238bn.
The president’s address at Sidssa 25 was his first public appearance as head of state since his visit to the US to meet President Donald Trump after months of tensions between Washington and Pretoria.
Ramaphosa said SA remained a highly sought-after destination for social and investment infrastructure, as he encouraged the private sector and international development finance institutions to contribute to the government’s infrastructure investment commitments.
“I’m told that this year, we have an even greater number of people who have come, and as I look across, I just see a clear representation of money. People with money are here. So I am going to speak proper English,” he said to the audience’s laughter.
Sidssa 25 also marked milestones for a variety of infrastructure projects and sought private sector investment to support the government’s ambition to invest R1-trillion in infrastructure over the next three years.
Far from being done with the wise cracks, he likened the dimming of the hall’s lights for his entrance at the symposium to last week’s moment at the White House where Trump asked for the lights to be dimmed before the viewing of video footage of EFF chanting “shoot the Boer” and other media masquerading as evidence of a white genocide in SA.
“So, when I came in, I saw the room going a bit dark. They darkened the room. And for a moment, I wondered, what is this happening to me again? Because at that moment, we were seated very nicely and I was beginning to get into a groove ... and I suddenly heard him saying ‘No, dim the lights’. And a lot of people have said, ‘This is an ambush.’ And I was bemused. I was saying ‘What’s happening?’”
We would not have an automotive sector in SA without equity equivalents. It’s not about Starlink. It’s about getting this emerging space and this sector in.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the symposium, Ramaphosa threw cold water on speculation that Mcebisi Jonas, the former deputy finance minister and special envoy he appointed to the US, had been sidelined in the middle of tensions between the two countries.
“Jonas was intricately involved in the preparation of this whole trip, discussing a variety of issues right at the centre. And he happened to be in London when we went to Washington, so he could not go to Washington, and he is now back here. And we are going to continue having discussions with him. He is very valuable, he makes valuable input, and I have a lot of confidence in him,” he said.
Asked about perceptions created by the government’s attempt to introduce business tycoon Elon Musk’s Starlink and other such satellite services to the SA telecom market, deputy finance minister Ashor Sarupen told Business Day on Monday that the equity equivalent programme was also used to get Walmart to invest in SA supply chain development.
“In ICT, we never had an equity equivalent programme. So, the question is, why are people objecting when we’ve done this? We would not have an automotive sector in SA without equity equivalents. It’s not about Starlink. It’s about getting this emerging space and this sector in,” he said.
Attending a Sidssa 25 panel on behalf of communications minister Solly Malatsi, special adviser Johan Krige said the minister’s gazetted proposals last week were not a “backdoor” deal done to appease Musk ahead of the White House meeting.
“It’s definitely not about creating backdoors, as is alleged. It’s more about creating regulatory certainty across the board, and that includes for licensing requirements.
“We understand that connectivity is becoming not just an economic necessity, but with the rapid development of the digital economy, it’s becoming something that is entirely important, or almost a human right for people to have connectivity to the internet.”
He said the policy was part of a larger regulatory reform approach to ensure that SA’s investor environment was more accessible and that licensing requirements did not become an impediment to investment, allowing for alternative to ownership through equity equivalents.
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