Policy Paralysis

South Africa customs duty decision delays cost jobs, leave businesses in the dark

By David Whitehouse

Reserved for subscribers

Posted on April 5, 2023 04:00

© Workers inspect cars newly manufactured from a nearby plant before being loaded on a cargo ship at a port, in East London, in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa, March 19, 2023. REUTERS — Workers inspect cars newly manufactured from a nearby plant before being loaded on a cargo ship at a port, in East London, in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa, March 19, 2023. REUTERS

South Africa’s inability to make timely decisions on customs duty relief costs jobs and leaves the country unable to effectively execute trade policy.

Customs duties account for less than 5% of tax collected in South Africa. Their importance lies in trade policy rather than revenue generation. Their impact is being squandered because of slowness in decision-making, Donald MacKay, CEO and founder of XA Global Trade Advisors, told a briefing.

There's more to this story

Get unlimited access to our exclusive journalism and features today. Our award-winning team of correspondents and editors report from over 54 African countries, from Cape Town to Cairo, from Abidjan to Abuja to Addis Ababa. Africa. Unlocked.

Subscribe Now

cancel anytime

Already a a subscriber Sign In

More Business

© Tanzania is constructing the Central Corridor Standard Gauge Railway. (photo: twitter)

missing links

Tanzania’s Standard Gauge Railway: Most advanced, but victim of minor private sector investment Tanzania’s standard gauge railway project – that seeks to open up quicker transport corridors towards the vast hinterland of Burundi, DRC, Rwanda, and...

Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, in Paris on 10 November 2021. © Damien Grenon for JA

leverage accelerator

AfDB tackles climate change at annual meeting in Sharm al-Sheikh More than 4,000 people have travelled to Egypt to attend the 58th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and ...

© Eskom technicians perform maintenance in Villiers, South Africa, on May 10, 2023. (Shiraaz MOHAMED / AFP)

Electric shock

South Africa prepares for the worst in load shedding It only took one statement to bring South Africa’s Eskom shares into the red. On Thursday, 18 May, Calib Cassim, acting CEO of the publicly-run nation...

© The International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters building in Washington, U.S., April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

money matters

African Debt: Three proposals to reform the SDR system Hanan Morsy, Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), shares insights on new proposa...