Since the establishment of Operation Vulindlela in October 2020, government implemented structural reforms to stabilise South Africa’s energy supply, establish a competitive logistics network, reduce the cost and improve the quality of digital communications and reform the visa regime to enable businesses to attract the skills they need to grow, and to make it easier for tourists to experience a world-class African destination. 

Operation Vulindlela (OV), which is a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury, is focused on accelerating the implementation of 35 priority reforms which have been identified for their potential impact on economic growth and job creation. New reforms which have been identified since OV was initiated include creating an enabling environment for hemp and cannabis; developing a strategy for the devolution of passenger rail; putting in place an enabling regime for State-Owned Enterprises to procure efficiently; and eliminating the backlog in title deeds for subsidised housing.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS IN Q1 2023 

• Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill: The ERA Bill, which aims to establish a competitive market in the electricity sector and will support the unbundling of Eskom, was approved by Cabinet and has been tabled in Parliament.
• Digital migration: Cabinet has approved a final date for analogue switch-off, which will be gazetted by the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies. Five out of nine provinces have already been switched off, and set-top boxes have been provided to the majority of households who registered for the subsidy.
• The Rapid Deployment Policy and Policy Direction was approved by Cabinet on 27 March and gazetted on 3 April 2023. This is a significant milestone for reforms in the telecommunications sector, as it will accelerate the rollout of infrastructure such as towers and fibre.
• Streamlining wayleave approvals: The standard draft bylaw for wayleave approvals was gazetted on 24 February 2023. This bylaw standardises and simplifies the process for obtaining permissions for telecommunications infrastructure.
• Titling reform: A joint steering committee has been established with the National Department of Human Settlements to oversee reforms aimed at addressing the backlog of title deeds for subsidised housing and making the titling system more efficient and accessible.