Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) Announcement

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The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which provides finance and support for industrial development, has announced that it is allocating more than ZAR3 billion to support vulnerable firms.

It has also launched a ZAR500 million facility for trade finance to import essential medical products.

No other trade measures, such as import tariff reductions on personal protective equipment (PPE) or rebates on inputs required to produce PPE or other essential products, or export restrictions or permit requirements, have yet been announced.

Enterprises essential to the production and distribution of food, basic goods and medical supplies will remain open, and employees responsible for essential functions are exempted from the provisions to be home-bound.

Essential staff include those looking after the ill and elderly; those in essential security services; those in human resources, to ensure that wage and salary payments are managed; transportation/delivery of food, medical supplies and other essential goods, including to countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC); media and broadcasting; and of course government officials, Members of Parliament, Provincial Legislatures, and Municipal Councils who are required to support implementation of COVID-19 related measures.

Grocery stores, supermarkets, pharmacies, petrol stations and spaza shops will remain open, and are to ensure safe practices – using sanitisers, cleaning surfaces and practising ‘social distancing’.