The Conversation - 14 June 2022 by Gaylor Montmasson-Clair

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Engineering News - 13 June 2022 by Darren Parker 

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BusinessTech - 13 June 2022

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Engineering News - 13 June 2022 by Darren Parker 

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The Q3 2021 analysis identified 13 projects with a total pledged investment value of R45.4 billion from nine projects. The Tracker further recorded 8 487 employment opportunities. Most of the jobs (8 000) stem from a single project, De Beers Venetia Underground Project. Progress updates were reported for 10 projects this quarter.

Decarbonisation efforts in South Africa have focused on Eskom electricity generation and Sasol petrochemical production. However, given the absolute CO₂ emissions associated with these operations, as pressure increases to decarbonise all sectors of the economy to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5⁰C by 2050, it will also be necessary for South Africa to decarbonise its transportation sector. This in turn would have an impact on the jobs in the South African liquid fuels value chain. This paper develops an overview of the impact on the jobs in the refining and logistics sectors, due to termination of operations in these sectors for economic and/or decarbonisation reasons. Detailed job data for job numbers and skill levels for different categories of jobs in these sectors are not available in the public domain at this time; however, a study by FTI Consulting, The economic contribution of the downstream oil industry to South Africa in 2019, presents some high-level job data for the Industry. These data have been used in this study.

The research forms part of the Making Sense of Employment in South Africa's Just Energy Transition project. TIPS and WWF South Africa, with the support of GIZ, are implementing an initiative to support policymaking for South Africa's just transition. This focuses on employment and the relevant challenges and opportunities in the country's just energy transition.

Related research

Research report: Exploring alternative options for coal truckers in a biomass supply chain

Policy Brief: Employment metrics in South Africa’s electricity value chain

The Import Localisation and Supply Chain Disruption study is a quarterly report that seeks to identify goods from the list of imports identified in the Import Tracker report that South Africa could possibly viably manufacture. Each quarter focuses on five manufactured items from the list of imports in the corresponding quarter's Import Tracker report. The five products in this report are: 

Product 1: Tricycles, scooters, pedal cars and similar wheeled toys; dolls' carriages; dolls; other toys; reduced-size scale "recreational models, working or not; puzzles of all kinds": other 
Product 2: Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, n.e.s. in chapter 85
Product 3: Television cameras, digital cameras and video camera recorders: other
Product 4: Whiskies in containers holding two litres or less
Product 5: Ammonium dihydrogen orthophosphate, whether or not mixed with diammonium

See: Import Tracker - Third Quarter 2021

This anniversary publication celebrates and reflects on TIPS and its 25-year history. TIPS, like the country, has evolved significantly over the past 25 years. The publication covers the organisation's journey, the people involved over the years, as well as its current role and future challenges, with messages from board members and staff. 
Read online @: https://www.tips.org.za/images/TIPS25web.pdf 
Download a copy @:https://www.tips.org.za/about-tips/history

Regional value chains have gained increasing popularity in promoting sustained market opportunities, job creation, and sustainable development among countries. With the enactment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, access to larger economic markets will mean larger economies of scale, development of specialised capabilities, increase in productivity, as well as increased obligational relationships among Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries through regional industrial value chains. This research investigates how South Africa can promote regional value chains in SADC by importing more from its fellow SADC countries.

The analysis investigates the export potential from SADC countries, using the Revealed Trade Advantage (RTA), the Revealed Import Advantage (RMA) and the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) indexes. These indexes will establish which sustained export opportunities (products) are available for SADC countries to export to South Africa, and these opportunities are detailed for each country. The analysis then looks at the regional perspective of these export opportunities from SADC countries, as most lie within the Clothing, Textiles, Footwear and Leather industry. Last, the analysis discusses the existing barriers to trade for SADC countries. The intention is to promote sustained export opportunities with South Africa importing more from SADC countries. The results from this paper can be a starting point for policymakers to think about strategies to enhance utilisation of sustained export opportunities for SADC countries into South Africa.