100 new black industrialists

Ray Mahlaka

Brian Naidoo is a black industrialist with big ambitions to take on the manufacturing giants of automotive components for Toyota and Volkswagen.

He is managing director of Durban-based Microfinish, a manufacturer of automotive components such as valve guides and valve seat inserts, which are supplied to aerospace, marine, and heavy-duty vehicle industries in SA, Europe and the US.

Microfinish directly employs more than 50 people and is the only 100% black-owned company in the sector, says Naidoo.

It received R13.5 million from the department of trade and industry under its black industrialist programme in 2017, which assisted in the purchase of factory equipment to be more productive.

The concept of black industrialists may seem like more hyped jargon created by government to reboot the black economic empowerment (BEE) policy, which has been heavily criticised for creating wealth for a coterie of politically connected individuals.

But ardent supporters of the black industrialist programme argue that it’s about expanding SA’s industrial capacity, while upscaling black entrepreneurs and reducing their barriers to market entry. It is also about changing the ownership patterns of SA’s economy which, more than 20 years after apartheid, still benefits white people disproportionately.

After black industrialists receive funding, government uses its muscle to procure goods from industrialists to scale them up.

Department spokesperson Sidwell Medupe says 102 black industrialists have been given financial support amounting to R2.2 billion, with 48 companies receiving market access support.

“This leveraged R8 billion in investment and jobs created and retained is projected to exceed 18 484 jobs,” he adds. The department is planning to support another 100 industrialists over the next two years.

A department policy document describes black industrialists as “black people directly involved in the origination, creation, significant ownership, management and operation of industrial enterprises that derive value from the manufacturing of goods and services on a large scale; acting to unlock the productive potential of our country’s capital assets for massive employment locally”.

An industrialist must be part of an entity at least 50% owned by black people and actively involved in the management and operations of the business.