The International Trade Administration Commission of SA (ITAC) has moved to bar cash transactions in scrap steel, part of a review of the 2013 price preference system.

The move is part of the review of the 2013 price preference system (PPS) for scrap metal, and comes as South Africa’s finally been removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list. ITAC’s mandate is to foster economic growth by establishing an efficient system for the administration of international trade subject to the International Trade Administration Act.

In an interview broadcast on The Money Show, Chief Commissioner Ayabonga Cawe explained that they are targeting the scrap that would otherwise be destined for (legal) export.

“Under our export control regulations, this scrap would require a permit from the Commission, and if it indeed constitutes a duly completed offer to the domestic buyer, then that transaction must not happen in cash.”

“Looking at the broad questions around the FATF, there is this need for these transactions on controlled metals to be undertaken through the national payments system so that they can be picked up there.”

Cawe notes that this development of government moving towards these transactions having to be undertaken through an electronic system rather than cash on delivery, was already signalled in 2022.