Eastern Cape Business 2017 edition
The 2017 edition of Eastern Cape Business is the 10th issue of this highly successful publication that, since its launch in 2006, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to the Eastern Cape Province. The Eastern Cape enjoys an abundance of natural and human resources, as well as established industrial infrastructure that drives the economy of the province. This includes three ports and two industrial development zones which are home to a wide range of manufacturers and exporters. The 2017 edition includes an in-depth look at the province’s two Industrial Development Zones, a focus on skills development and investment climate information from the Nelson Mandela Business Chamber and the Border-Kei Chamber of Business.
The 2017 edition of Eastern Cape Business is the 10th issue of this highly successful publication that, since its launch in 2006, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to the Eastern Cape Province. The Eastern Cape enjoys an abundance of natural and human resources, as well as established industrial infrastructure that drives the economy of the province. This includes three ports and two industrial development zones which are home to a wide range of manufacturers and exporters.
The 2017 edition includes an in-depth look at the province’s two Industrial Development Zones, a focus on skills development and investment climate information from the Nelson Mandela Business Chamber and the Border-Kei Chamber of Business.
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
OVERVIEW<br />
Swedish concern Fagerhult<br />
Group has entered the South<br />
African market via an acquisition<br />
of the factory of Port Elizabeth’s<br />
Lighting Innovations, and the<br />
two subsidiary companies Arrow<br />
Lighting and Beacon Lighting.<br />
Aberdare Cables and<br />
Everyready Batteries are examples<br />
of companies in the medium-toheavy<br />
sector. East London has two<br />
First National Battery manufacturing<br />
sites.<br />
Montego Pet Nutrition is<br />
Graaff-Reinet’s biggest private<br />
employer, with more than 200<br />
staff members working in the<br />
Karoo town’s factory. Established<br />
in 2000, the company now makes<br />
about 200 tons of product daily<br />
and supplies more than 1 000 retail<br />
outlets across South Africa.<br />
Considerable potential exists to<br />
create more value from the excellent<br />
wool, leather and mohair that<br />
the province’s livestock produce.<br />
The production and working with<br />
merino wool and mohair fibres are<br />
skills that have been handed down<br />
from generation to generation.<br />
A fibre processing plant to spin<br />
wool and mohair fibre into yarn<br />
is planned, as is a textile mill to<br />
focus on cotton, poly-cotton and<br />
acrylic fabric. The latter is planned<br />
for the IDZ in East London, which is<br />
already home to Da Gama Textiles,<br />
whose factory has the capacity<br />
to produce 45-million square<br />
metres of fabric per annum. Da<br />
Gama makes the popular and distinctive<br />
shweshwe fabric, using<br />
its own unique printing process<br />
which makes it very difficult for<br />
fakers to copy.<br />
The BBF Safety Group invested<br />
R16-million in a new machine at<br />
its Port Elizabeth plant in 2016 which will take shoe production up<br />
to 5 000 pairs per day. The injection moulding machine can inject a<br />
moulded sole to the shoe upper every 15 seconds. The BBF Group was<br />
formed from a merger of several South African companies, to allow<br />
them to specialise and to compete with cheap foreign imports. The<br />
companies were Bagshaw Footwear, Beier Safety Footwear, Bronx<br />
Safety, United Frams and Wayne.<br />
The plastics industry is a key supporter of the automotive industry<br />
but it is not limited to vehicle applications: moulding, packaging and<br />
the construction industries are other important sub-sectors.<br />
GenTech, which operates out of Neave township, specialises in<br />
polyurethane elastomer components and sells to the automotive,<br />
tyre, textile and food industries and Maizey Plastics are suppliers of<br />
semi-finished thermoplastic materials.<br />
Incentives<br />
The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) offers a Competitiveness<br />
Enhancement Programme aimed at medium-sized manufacturers. It<br />
includes a cost-sharing grant of between 30% and 50% for investments<br />
up to R50-million and up to 80% if a group of smaller companies want<br />
to collaborate on matters such as advertising. The dti also oversees:<br />
• Critical Infrastructure Programme.<br />
• Research and Development Tax Incentive Programme.<br />
• Cash for new or upgraded production facilities.<br />
• The Foreign Investment Grant repays foreign investors for the cost<br />
of transporting new machinery and equipment to South Africa.<br />
• Companies are assisted in creating prototypes arising from their<br />
own research.<br />
• Clothing and Textile Competitiveness Programme is a cost-sharing<br />
grant.<br />
ONLINE RESOURCES<br />
Border-Kei Chamber of <strong>Business</strong>: www.bkcob.co.za<br />
Coega Development Corporation: www.coega.co.za<br />
Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs<br />
and Tourism: www.dedea.gov.za<br />
East London Industrial Development Zone: www.elidz.co.za<br />
Manufacturing Circle: wwww.manufacturingcircle.co.za<br />
National Agricultural Marketing Council: www.namc.co.za<br />
National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers:<br />
www.napm.co.za<br />
South African Bureau of Standards: www.sabs.ca.za<br />
41 EASTERN CAPE BUSINESS <strong>2017</strong>
Change language