Gauteng Business 2020/21 edition

OVERVIEW
Manufacturing
The OR Tambo Aerotropolis is attracting manufacturing.
The Eastern Corridor of Gauteng, centred on the metropole
of Ekurhuleni, is consolidating its leading position in
manufacturing by leveraging the advantages of hosting
the OR Tambo International Airport and related Special
Economic Zones and industrial parks.
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality has the greatest
concentration of manufacturing enterprises, especially between
Wadeville and Alrode, south-west of Alberton. Germiston is the
country’s biggest rail junction and Transnet Engineering has invested
hundreds of millions of rands in new equipment at its facility there.
The Provincial Government of Gauteng has tabled plans to
bolster manufacturing capacity in the province’s western areas. The
priorities are mining and mineral beneficiation, capital equipment
and machinery, agriculture and agro-processing, tourism, retail
and economic development in townships. The industrial parks at
Babelegi, GaRankuwa and Ekandustria are to be renovated.
Manufacturing contributes 14% to Gauteng’s real economy
output and provides 40% of South Africa’s manufacturing overall.
Manufacturing related to the mining industry, historically the
lynchpin of the Gauteng economy, is still important.
Employer organisations like the Manufacturing Circle and
government at national and provincial levels are engaging in
initiatives to grow the sector, including incentives such as the
Manufacturing and Competitiveness Enhancement Programme
(MCEP) of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic).
Sectors that have received support include plastics,
pharmaceuticals, chemicals, metal fabrication, transport equipment
and agri-processing. The Support Programme for Industrial
Innovation (SPII), run by the Industrial Development Corporation
(IDC) on behalf of the dtic, promotes technology development.
Another IDC initiative has allocated R23-billion over three
years to support the Black Industrialist Programme to help existing
entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
Venter Consulting Engineers, manufacturer of precision
engineering equipment, recently attracted the attention of Italian
company Danieli and won a contract to create two sophisticated
globoid gear sets. Also called the hour-glass gear, this technology
allows for an increased number of teeth that are simultaneously in
mesh and improves the conditions of force transmission. A handful of
firms globally are in a position to make these gears, which can stand
massive amounts of stress.
SECTOR INSIGHT
A precision engineering firm
is gearing up for international
contracts.
Packaging company Nampak,
which in 2019 celebrated its 50th
year as a listed company on the
JSE, has metals, plastic, paper
and glass operations at various
locations. It is the market leader
in beverage cans. The country’s
biggest glass producer, Consol
Glass, has facilities in Clayville,
Wadeville and Nigel.
Household products
manufacturer Unilever
represents an example of the
lighter industrial capacity of the
East Rand. Kellogg’s, Kimberly-
Clark South Africa and Procter
& Gamble all have significant
manufacturing capacity in
the area. Corrugated paper
manufacturer Corruseal has
purchased the Enstra Mill in
Springs from Sappi, giving it
greater control of production.
The southern portion of
Gauteng around Vanderbijlpark
and Vereeniging is synonymous
with steel production. Flat iron
is made at the large plants
of ArcelorMittal. Scaw Metals
has a chain-making factory in
Vereeniging.
There are 35 aluminium
processing firms in Gauteng,
involved in both secondary
processing to produce foils,
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