IDC falls short of job creation target but excels in transformation funding

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau says IDC has preserved 15 732 jobs

- EDWARD WEST

THE Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) did not meet its job creation target for the year to end-March 2025, but it made good progress on its transformation funding, project development, and in growing manufacturing output, its results showed yesterday.

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau wrote in the State-owned IDC's Integrated Report released Thursday that the IDC had helped to create and preserve 15 732 jobs through its funding.

This was lower than the target for the year of 34 023, it only met 46% of the target.

Tau said the job-rich industrialisation was a central aspect of the IDC’s mandate, and he had instructed its board and management to prioritise this objective in the fiscal year 2025/26.

"While the impact of the IDC and the progress made in key priorities is commendable, sustained progress will require ongoing attention to job creation, operational agility, turnaround times, digital transformation, and gender equity in funding," he said.

CEO Mmakgoshi Lekhethe said in an online presentation she was "particularly pleased" about the funding for transformation, which had increased 20% to R26.6 billion, while funding for black industrialists more than doubled to R23.4bn from R10bn.

Some R5bn was invested in startups and R4bn in company expansions.