Bakkie plant ‘door to the continent’

KWAZULU-NATAL has stepped up its efforts to position itself as a gateway to the African continent for international investment, says economic development, tourism and environmental affairs MEC Sihle Zikalala.

Speaking at the unveiling of a R95-million bakkie plant by Indian automobile giant Mahindra and Mahindra South Africa (MMSA) at Dube Tradeport, Zikalala said Mahindra would, through the department’s efforts, have access to the African market comprising 1-billion people.

Mahindra teamed up with Automobile Investment Holdings to establish the plant, which will reach full production in July.

At present the plant has 25 local full-time staff, and aims to source 40% of components for Mahindra’s Pik Up range from local suppliers.

The plant is expected to produce 2 500 units a year, increasing to 4 000 units a year. The Indian investment, Zikalala said, was a reflection of the efforts of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Business Council, and showed what could be yielded through the efforts of member countries.

“This will help us in creating more jobs as we have a challenge in terms of a high rate of unemployment. But more than that this will... inject growth to the economy of our country and province,” Zikalala said.

The department had initiated an aggressive drive to attractinvestment to the automobile sector in the province, with the aim of enhancing skills development among unemployed youth.

Indian high commissioner Ruchira Kamboj said India and South Africa aimed to double trade and investment between the nations, from $10 billion (R124bn) to $20bn, in the next five years.

“We’re also aware that President Cyril Ramaphosa seeks to attract investment to the tune of $100bn in the next five years, and this (the Mahindra plant) is India’s contribution to start with,” Kamboj said.

She was “very hopeful that... we will see many other projects in many other sectors”.