South Africa’s pension funds are among institutional investors that have agreed to participate in the government’s Infrastructure Fund, President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed on Tuesday.
Ramaphosa was speaking at the Infrastructure South Africa Project Preparation Roundtable and Marketplace in Midrand, Gauteng.
R1 trillion in infrastructure investments
He said the government hopes to unlock R1 trillion in infrastructure investments over the next four years through the Infrastructure Fund.
The President explained, “[The Fund] is a blended financing instrument aimed at de-risking projects to make them attractive for private sector participation.
“It is significant, and most welcome, that the multilateral development banks, pension funds and commercial banks have agreed to participate in the governance structures of the Infrastructure Fund.”
Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, head of the Investment and Infrastructure Office in the Presidency, echoed Ramaphosa’s remarks about the participation of pension funds in infrastructure projects.
Pension funds ‘now at the table’
“Previously when we had conversations of this nature, the pension funds were not at the table. Now they are at the table, and are part of the exercise of co-creation, and we think in doing we will be able to tap into that big pool of liquidity,” he said.
Presenting his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement last week, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni also said the government will amend Regulation 28 of the Pension Fund Act.
This will “make it easier for retirement funds to increase investment in infrastructure – should their board of trustees opt to do so,” Mboweni said.
Ramaphosa has often stated that infrastructure development will underpin South Africa’s economic reconstruction and development plan.
The government held the inaugural Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium (SIDS) in June.
Together with the private sector, it identified 276 projects with a total investment value of over R2.7 trillion. It has since gazetted 50 of these projects valued at R340 billion.
They fall into various categories such as water and sanitation, energy, transport, digital infrastructure, agriculture and agro-processing, and human settlements.
11 Comments
More money to be stolen or misappropriated by a corrupt government
Dis Somer k*k dat ons geld waar voor ons werk moet gevat word Vir k*k die anc gaan nie ons geld trug gee nie gaan ons op pension hoe gaan ons lewe waar voor werk ons dis k*k dis my geld en ek Se nee vat hy my geld sal hy my rente trug betaal klaar
Find the 500 billion before touching pension fund money
There is no fucking way you touching my hard earned money. As I don’t give consent to this intention. Go and retrieve the 500 billion you’ll stole and can’t account for. I can’t understand why our members are allowing this to happen. Our GEPF ar going to get paid from government to allow this bullshit and we won’t have a pension to rely on when we eventually retire.
I do not give my pension fund nor the government permission to touch my pension…. That being said…. If they go foward with this, i will open a case of theft and fraud against my pension fund snd the government.
I don’t give permission for them to touch my money. This is bull***. Everything they want. They too greedy.
Under no circumstances can they touch our pension fund….We are retired….that is our income food medical and life….absurd suggestion…We pay tax on our pension…that is sufficient
I do not consent to you touching my pension.
If that is their best plan millions of ould people will live in poverty. Firstly there will be nou returns on such an investment. Seconly there is no guarantee that the money will not be stolen again. Looks like the final move to completion state capture .
Sure they did not agree but were forced to agree and will all receive a nice some of money to fill their own pockets. Like they did with COVID projects. Corruption continues.
Government workers are we gonna sit down fold our hands and let this government take our money just like that,while we gonna be for the coming years without increase! No man this is too much.