Fiddle with it at your peril! That's the chorus from motor companies as the government ponders changes to motor industry policy after the Automotive Production and Development Programme ends in 2020. Relief that President Cyril Ramaphosa has retained Rob Davies as trade and industry minister in his first cabinet is tempered by concerns that Davies's department may water down a key APDP incentive that helps keep multinational motor companies in South Africa. Talks on the next phase of policy, from 2021 to 2035, are continuing between vehicle manufacturers, components suppliers, labour and government. Davies hopes a draft plan can be presented to the cabinet this year. Industry executives, however, say they are uncomfortable with the direction of some discussions. They worry that a duty rebate package, through which export earnings enable them to pay less (sometimes zero) duty on imported vehicles, may be diluted. Some government planners want to rein in rebates, which have grown fast...
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