South Africa has significantly exceeded key investment and procurement targets for the 2025/26 financial year, with industrial investment reaching more than R31 billion against a R10 billion target, and local procurement totalling R86 billion against a R50 billion target, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) has reported.
Presenting the department’s Annual Report to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition this week, Minister Parks Tau described the performance as evidence of a strategic shift from crisis management to focused industrial execution.
“While facing significant headwinds, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition is shifting from crisis management to implementing a focused industrial development strategy,” Tau said. “The goal is to move away from merely producing paper documents toward measuring actual outcomes for the South African economy”.
EXPORT PERFORMANCE ALSO STRONG
The report also highlighted strong export performance. Global exports reached R142 billion against a R120 billion target, while continental exports reached R146 billion and exports by small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) reached R764 billion.
Tau said the department is working to diversify markets through trade preferences with the European Union, SADC, BRICS Plus, the United States, the United Kingdom and the rest of the continent.
“Efforts are being made to strengthen export promotion for manufacturing, including SMMEs and black-owned enterprises,” he said. “The dtic Group aims to achieve targets despite global uncertainty, amid conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, and attacks on rule-based trade structures”.
ELECTRICITY ONE-STOP SHOP EXCEEDS TARGETS
One standout achievement was the electricity one-stop shop, which successfully unblocked Independent Power Producer (IPP) projects. The initiative surpassed its target threefold, increasing operational projects from 38 to 92 during the financial year.
SECTORAL PRESSURES AND OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES
Despite the headline successes, the report did not shy away from structural vulnerabilities and operational friction points.
Manufacturing growth hovered just below target at 0.4%, falling short of the 0.5% target .
Industrial Parks faced severe funding constraints, with only 10 of the targeted 45 parks receiving financial backing.
Logistics and rail imports reduction efforts were impeded by ongoing domestic logistics crises, necessitating temporary concessions to keep supply chains functional .
Automotive negotiations regarding electric vehicles with the UK remain protracted due to domestic capacity concerns and future investment security .
Poultry faces heightened US market demands and quota complexities, while domestic steel producers grapple with steep tariff pressures from the EU that constrain broader market access .
INDUSTRIAL FINANCING PERFORMANCE
The Incentive Branch approved R4.2 billion in total incentives, with a projected investment of R31.2 billion over two to five years. A total of R5.03 billion was disbursed, supporting 6,060 permanent new jobs and 3,857 digital new jobs .
Key outcomes from industrial funding included:
- R11.7 billion in service exports
- R1.4 billion support to enterprises outside the five main metros
- R688 million support to Black Industrialists and black-owned businesses
- R612 million financial support to SMMEs, women- and youth-owned businesses
Funded projects in the automotive industry and critical infrastructure reported the highest number of new permanent jobs. The Global Business Services (GBS) incentive generated more than R11 billion in export revenue, with projects creating over 3,800 new permanent digital jobs, of which at least 80% were youth.
WHAT’S NEXT: R100 BILLION PROCUREMENT TARGET
For the current financial year, the dtic has set a target of R100 billion in localisation procurement, up from the R86.6 billion achieved in 2025/26.
“The market alone does not always provide the capital needed to build industrial capacity, particularly for black-owned businesses,” Tau said at the opening of Brimis Engineering’s facility in Middelburg. “State support exists to close that gap: to de-risk the first investment, to back the entrepreneur who has the engineering insight but not yet the balance sheet”.