Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau has expressed confidence that the upcoming South Africa Investment Conference (SAIC) will not be undermined by hostile geopolitical developments, reporting that delegates from more than 31 countries are registered to attend.

The sixth edition of the SAIC is scheduled to take place at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on March 31 and Tau gave assurances on Monday that the event was continuing to attract interest from both domestic and international investors following a two-year pause.

Since the first investment conference in 2018, South Africa has registered investment pledges of R1.56-trillion across all nine provinces and multiple sectors, from mining and manufacturing to agro-processing and data centres.

There has, however, been much scepticism over implementation, with ongoing questions about the lack of a visible impact on employment and gross fixed capital formation over the period.

InvestSA’s Yunus Hoosen said that government’s ongoing monitoring of the status of pledges indicated that R600-billion had been invested in line with announcements made at the previous five conferences.

He attributed differences between actual and announced values largely to the long gestation of some of the projects pledged.

At the upcoming conference, Hoosen indicated that a further 65-plus pledges would be made from companies representing a total of 21 countries, with the new investments to be distributed across all of South Africa’s nine provinces.

President Cyril Ramaphosa was expected to announce the “surprise” investment value at the conference itself.

At the fifth and most recent investment conference in 2023, Ramaphosa set a R2-trillion investment target for the period to 2028.

No update has been provided in relation to pledges made or the overall target since, with no conference held last year or in 2024, when a multiparty government of national unity was formed following national elections.

Tau said the first cycle between 2018 and 2023 had focused on building a framework of trust and partnership.

“This new cycle is about translating pledges into implementation that demonstrates economic growth and jobs,” he said.

Tau acknowledged that some invitees had indicated that it might be difficult for them to travel, owing to the war launched by Israel and US against Iran.

However, the global character of the event would be sustained partly through the fact that the 2026 event would be livestreamed.

“History does not wait for perfect conditions,” Tau said, in response to questions about escalating geopolitical tensions and South Africa’s ongoing strains with the US.

Most recently, South Africa was included among the 60 economies that the United States Trade Representative would investigate to determine whether sufficient steps had been taken to prohibit the importation of goods produced with forced labour.

Describing relations with the US as fluid, Tau stressed that South Africa continued to engage with the US on the trade issues being raised.

However, he said that the overall message to investors remained that South Africa could be an investment destination of choice and that the economic reforms under way in the country were creating new opportunities for investment.