Pretoria - Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies has approved the revised Manufacturing Competitiveness Enhancement Programme (MCEP) guidelines.
The revised guidelines came into effect on Tuesday.
The programme offers incentives designed to drive growth and promote competitiveness in the manufacturing sector. It includes a package of incentives specifically designed for established manufacturers, with the aim of promoting competitiveness and retaining jobs.
The programme has been implemented by the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) since 4 June 2012.
“As at 31 March 2014, 524 applications were approved, with over R4 billion committed to support manufacturers and over 100 000 jobs to be sustained,” said departmental spokesperson Sidwell Medupe on Thursday.
Consultation with various stakeholders during the 2013/14 financial year necessitated the amendments of the current MCEP guidelines, which resulted in the latest revision of the guidelines that were also published on Tuesday.
“It was learnt that the highest percentage grant benefit of 61% went to larger enterprises, whilst only about 39% of the grant went to small and medium size enterprises, following which it was decided that some tightening measures are required.
“These measures are meant to support as many entities as possible and to ensure that the MCEP continues to support the entities targeted by the programme,” said Medupe.
Analysis of the total grant approved also indicated that 4% of the total grant commitment went to small entities (with assets below R5 million), while 10% went to those with assets of between R5 million and R30 million, 25% went to entities with assets between R30 million and R200 million and 61% went to entities with assets above R200 million.
Components and focus areas affected by the recent revision are the introduction of total grant limit under Capital Investment, Green Technology, Enterprise-level Competitiveness Improvement and Resource Efficiency as well as Cluster Competitiveness Improvement, which now has separate guidelines.
Furthermore, clarification has been provided with respect to the registration requirements, bonus grants and the inclusion of manufacturers in the private sector defence industry.
Over and above these amendments, the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) requirement of MCEP has been amended to align it with B-BBEE policy as well to ensure that applicants meet this requirement within the period of three years since the launch of the MCEP.
MCEP guidelines were reviewed in July 2012 following various consultations and that review resulted in the relaxation of minimum requirements on capital investments and provided a clearer definition of total assets.
Further comments and inputs were received and Version 3 of the guidelines was published in November 2012. – SAnews.gov.za
