oyota SA Motors CEO Andrew Kirby , with President Cyril Ramaphosa, former KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala, and former dtic minister Ebrahim Patel at the launch of the Toyota Cross Hybrid production line at its Durban plant in 2021. Image: Supplied
Ramaphosa did not provide any time scale for implementation of these incentives or indicate how they would be funded, but more detail could be revealed by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in the Mid-Term Budget speech on 30 October. He added that the industry looks forward to working with Tau and his two deputy ministers and other government departments on implementing these policies to ensure the industry remains future-focused and globally competitive.Ramaphosa told the conference the incentives and support are not just about creating a greener future but also about ensuring South Africa remains competitive in the global market.
Former Department of Trade, Industry and Competition minister Ebrahim Patel said in December 2023 at a briefing that coincided with the release of the government’s Electric Vehicle White Paper that South Africa’s electricity challenges had contributed to the government focusing on a two-phased policy approach to the transition to EVs, with the focus firstly on the production and export of EVs rather than on stimulating domestic demand and sales.
“We need to keep that technology open focused, so that we can ensure we get the maximum production allocation to our South African plants and serve the world. Kirby said this means it will need to transition to NEVs, especially to continue exporting to Europe. Kirby stressed that support to make NEVs more affordable and attractive for the SA public is very important – as is the acceleration of decarbonisation of the vehicle market, and that this cannot just be export-driven.