South African Business 2024
Welcome to the 12th edition of the South African Business journal. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa, supported by an e-book edition at www.southafricanbusiness.co.za. A special feature in this journal focusses on the relationship between tertiary education, training and the jobs market. The youth unemployment rate is referenced in a discussion of the various measures that are being taken in the public and private sectors to help prepare young people for work, or to encourage them to start businesses. The role of the country’s Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) is highlighted. Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy. This includes tracking the rapidly evolving renewable energy landscape and reporting on the progress of exploration and discoveries of oil and gas off the coast and on land. Landmarks such as BMW’s 50-year celebration of making cars in South Africa are noted and a snapshot of each of the country’s provinces is provided. South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. The e-book editions can be viewed online at www.globalafricanetwork.com and www.southafricanbusiness.co.za. These unique titles are supported by monthly business e-newsletters. The Journal of African Business joined the Global African Network stable of publications as an annual in 2020 and is now published quarterly.
Welcome to the 12th edition of the South African Business journal. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa, supported by an e-book edition at www.southafricanbusiness.co.za.
A special feature in this journal focusses on the relationship between tertiary education, training and the jobs market. The youth unemployment rate is referenced in a discussion of the various measures that are being taken in the public and private sectors to help prepare young people for work, or to encourage them to start businesses. The role of the country’s Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) is highlighted.
Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy. This includes tracking the rapidly evolving renewable energy landscape and reporting on the progress of exploration and discoveries of oil and gas off the coast and on land. Landmarks such as BMW’s 50-year celebration of making cars in South Africa are noted and a snapshot of each of the country’s provinces is provided.
South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. The e-book editions can be viewed online at www.globalafricanetwork.com and www.southafricanbusiness.co.za. These unique titles are supported by monthly business e-newsletters. The Journal of African Business joined the Global African Network stable of publications as an annual in 2020 and is now published quarterly.
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OVERVIEW<br />
Manufacturing: automotive<br />
BMW celebrated 50 years of making cars in <strong>South</strong> Africa in 2023.<br />
During the celebrations around the 50th anniversary of<br />
making vehicles at its Rosslyn Plant in Tshwane, BMW Group<br />
announced that from <strong>2024</strong> the BMW X3 will be made as a<br />
plug-in hybrid for export. This will entail an investment of<br />
R4.2-billion in adapting the factory to electrical specifications. More<br />
than 300 employees will receive specialised training at the plant,<br />
which was BMW’s first-ever foreign facility. Since then, Plant Rosslyn has<br />
produced more than 1.6-million vehicles to date and exported them to<br />
more than 40 countries worldwide, including 14 <strong>African</strong> nations.<br />
Apart from BMW, Pretoria is also home to Nissan and Ford. The<br />
Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (TASEZ) is a project<br />
of the Gauteng Province, the Department of Trade, Industry and<br />
Competition (dtic) and the City of Tshwane.<br />
Ford Motor Company has initiated discussions about the<br />
feasibility of developing a sophisticated rail corridor between<br />
Gauteng and the Eastern Cape because the company assembles<br />
diesel engines in Gqeberha, pictured. Ford wants to send parts to<br />
Pretoria and export cars through the Port of Gqeberha.<br />
Ford makes engines for the Ford Ranger pickup and Everest SUV<br />
at its Struandale plant and it has committed to invest R600-million for<br />
modernising and growing its local operations, which employ about<br />
850 people. A further R5.2-billion will enable hybrid-electric Ranger<br />
bakkies to be built in Gauteng.<br />
The 520 963m² facility of Volkswagen <strong>South</strong> Africa in Kariega<br />
(formerly Uitenhage) is one of four plants worldwide that makes<br />
right-hand-drive Polos but the only one in the world that makes the<br />
Polo GTI.<br />
Both the Coega Special Economic Zone and the East London<br />
Industrial Development Zone (ELIDZ) have areas dedicated to<br />
automotive and automotive components manufacture.<br />
Mercedes-Benz <strong>South</strong> Africa’s new C-Class project (W206) has sparked<br />
several other related investments, which collectively will create 2 078 new<br />
jobs over two years at the East London plant.<br />
Home-grown manufacturer of powertrain and catalytic converter<br />
assembly systems, Jendamark, exports to 18 countries from its<br />
facility in Gqeberha. Continental Tyre <strong>South</strong> Africa is producing a<br />
ONLINE RESOURCES<br />
Automotive Industry Development Centre: www.aidc.co.za<br />
Naamsa | The Automotive <strong>Business</strong> Council: www.naamsa.co.za<br />
National Association of Automotive Component and Allied<br />
Manufacturers: www.naacam.org.za<br />
SECTOR INSIGHT<br />
Ford is investing R5.2-billion to<br />
build hybrid-electric Rangers.<br />
19-inch tyre for the first time<br />
at its New Brighton facility in<br />
Port Elizabeth and Isuzu SA has<br />
completed its consolidation<br />
project, with truck and bakkie<br />
manufacturing now taking<br />
place at its new headquarters in<br />
nearby Struandale.<br />
The Automotive Production<br />
and Development Programme<br />
(APDP) has been extended<br />
to 2035, 15 years beyond its<br />
original expiry date. State<br />
support for the industry<br />
has helped it thrive, but<br />
manufacturers are expected to<br />
increase local content levels.<br />
The industry itself is looking to<br />
Africa for new markets and is<br />
urging national government<br />
to release policy guidelines on<br />
electric vehicles. ■<br />
PHOTO: Ford Motor Company<br />
43 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS <strong>2024</strong>
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