summary

Advert

Advert – scroll down

Reasons for the review

    • Global decarbonisation commitments present new opportunities for the growth of a strong South African supply base of renewable energy components and finished products, battery storage units, as well as green consumer goods;
    • The domestic demand trajectory, raw materials resource base, technological capacity and manufacturing experience places South Africa in a potentially strong position to become a key player in regional and international supply chains; and
    • When carefully balanced, an improved tariff structure will increase the demand for, as well as the supply-competitiveness of, locally manufactured products and components; this will further enable export market opportunities; and will enhance the competitiveness of the local renewable value chain.

Increasing customs duties

The possibility of increasing ordinary customs duties on some of the tariff lines listed in Table 1 below to their respective WTO bound rates, to the extent that there is capability or potential to manufacture them locally in order to improve the overall tariff structure and the effective rate of protection;

Rebate provisions

The possibility of creating rebate provisions for some of the products on this list to the extent they are input materials to downstream manufacturing activities, and they are not manufactured locally.

Ending duty-free status of solar panels

The potential discontinuation of rebate item 460.16/8541.43/01.06 that makes provision for the duty-free importation of solar PV panels, provided that installed domestic capacity reaches at least 50% of domestic demand, in order to incentivise further investments in the domestic assembly and manufacturing industry.

Adding additional items to the 'local-only' list

Proposals on the identification of additional products in the renewable energy value chain to be subjected to local content requirements. This is to be done in collaboration with the Department pf Trade, Industry and Competition under the framework of the new Public Procurement Act 28 of 2024, once the regulations for the policy have been developed.

Amendment of import and export control regulations for battery storage products/minerals

The potential relaxation of Import Control Regulations for any critical minerals, or any other product, used as input material in downstream manufacturing activities in the renewable energy industry, particularly in battery storage technologies, to the extent that this would incentivise domestic manufacturing and investment.

The potential introduction of export control regulations for any critical minerals, or any other product, used as input material in downstream manufacturing activities in the renewable energy industry, particularly in battery storage technologies, to the extent that this would ensure security of supply and incentivise domestic manufacturing and investment.

Have your say on the new tariffs

List of proposed tariffs

Download [1.57 MB]

Gazette notice

Download [1.17 MB]

In the News

STATEMENTS AND MEDIA RELEASES

Click on a logo to view.

Want to display your organisation’s statement? Click here. 

en English
af Afrikaansen Englishst Sesothoxh Xhosazu Zulufr Frenchpt Portuguese
Close

Freedom of Religion SA (FOR SA)

TEMPLATE PROVIDED BY FOR SA

I strongly oppose the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill [B9B – 2018], which I believe to be unconstitutional and unnecessary, for the following reasons:

  1. The Bill violates our constitutional rights as religious persons to express our religious beliefs without fear of punishment or persecution (section 15, read with section 16). Increasingly, around the world but also in South Africa, various holy scriptures (particularly on contentious issues) are regarded as “politically incorrect” or “offensive”, allegedly causing emotional and/or social harm.
  2. I specifically oppose the Bill’s:
    1. wide definition of “harm” (in Clause 1);
    2. the failure to define “hatred” (in Clause 1); and
    3. definition of, and creation of, the crime of “hate speech” (in Clause 4).
  3. The creation of the crime of “hate speech” for saying / distributing something which could possibly be construed as “harmful”, will have certain unintended consequences, namely the criminalisation of good / well-meaning people who will be prosecuted for saying what they sincerely believe (according to their holy texts) and sent to jail.
  4. There are already sufficient existing laws dealing with “hate speech”.
  5. For all of the reasons given, I ask:
    1. For the scrapping of the “hate speech” sections from the Bill altogether;
    2. Alternatively, should the “hate speech” provisions remain part of the Bill, we ask:
      1. That “harm” be defined as: “gross emotional and psychological detriment that objectively and severely undermines the human dignity of the targeted group”; and
      2. That “hatred” be defined as: “strong and deeply-felt emotions of enmity, ill-will, detestation, malevolence and vilification against members of an identifiable group, that implies that members of that group are to be despised, scorned, denied respect and subjected to ill-treatment based on their group affiliation”.
    3. That Clause 4(2)(d) (the “religious exemption clause”) be strengthened as follows to protect:
      “expression of any religious conviction, tenet, belief, teaching, doctrine or writings, by a religious organisation or an individual, in public or in private, to the extent that such expression does not actively support, instigate, exhort, or call for extreme detestation, vilification, enmity, ill-will and malevolence that constitutes incitement to cause gross emotional and psychological harm that severely undermines the dignity of the targeted group, based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion or sexual orientation”.