The minister of communications has been tasked with issuing policy direction to ICASA for the licensing of spectrum.
This is the word from Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, who made the announcement with the rallying cry of “Data costs must fall!”.
He adds: “I will work relentlessly with the minister [Stella Ndebeni-Abrahams] until this matter is resolved. This includes resourcing ICASA for this mandate.”
This is one of the actions being takes to accelerate inclusive economic growth and create jobs, as outlined in Budget 2019.
“The private sector is the key engine for job creation. Government’s policy actions aim to end the uncertainty that has undermined confidence and constrained private sector investment,” Mboweni says.
“The R300-billion worth of pledges made at the Investment Conference last year demonstrate that there is pent-up private sector demand if we grab hold of the opportunity.”
Other measure being taken include the relaxation of visa requirements and an increase in the income eligibility thresholds for the employment tax incentive scheme.
In addition, government has allocated R19,8-billion for industrial business incentives; and raised the allocation to the Jobs Fund to R1,1-billion over the next three years. A further R481,6-million has been allocated to the Small Enterprise Development Agency to expand the small business incubation programme.
In terms of the land debate, the budget allocates R1,8-billion for the implementation of 262 priority land-reform projects over the next three years, with a further R3,7-billion set aside to assist emerging farmers seeking to acquire land to farm.
The Land Bank aims to disburse R3-billion in the next fiscal year to support smallholders, and leverage partnerships with other financial institutions.
Education is recognised as being of primary importance, and more than R30-billion has been allocated to build new schools and maintain schooling infrastructure.
An additional R2,8-billion is added to the School Infrastructure Backlogs grant to replace pit latrines at over 2 400 schools.
Fully subsidised education and training for the poor is government’s flagship higher education intervention. Over the medium term government will spend R111,2-billion to ensure that 2,8-million deserving students from poor and working class families obtain their qualifications at universities and TVET colleges.