The Citizen (Gauteng)

Gauteng on road to prosperity

GROWTH: MAKHURA EMBOLDENED BY INVESTMENT­S

- Eric Naki ericn@citizen.co.za

The province is expecting about R40 billion in investment­s towards the end of the year, says premier.

Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghin­i part of an ambitious plan on West Rand.

Gauteng is expecting about R40 billion in investment­s towards the end of the year, which is expected to boost the province’s already buoyant jobs situation and further accelerate its economic growth, according to Premier David Makhura.

The investment­s included expansion plans in various areas by companies such as AB InBev, train manufactur­ing operators, and Airports Company SA’s investment at OR Tambo Internatio­nal Airport.

During his State of the Province (Sopa) address yesterday, Makhura also announced CCL Labs and Cummings Engineerin­g’s planned investment­s in Midrand, Ford Motor Company’s plans to expand in Silverton, Tshwane, while Rainbow Junction is also set to undertake a mega investment in Tshwane.

There is also an ambitious plan to turn Chamdor in Krugersdor­p on the West Rand into a township automotive hub, in partnershi­p between Reggio Emilia and Italian original equipment manufactur­ers Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghin­i.

There are also plans on the West Rand for the developmen­t of an aggro-industrial area. Makhura was ecstatic that mining houses were keen to release their own land for aggro-industrial developmen­t and constructi­on of new human settlement­s in the area.

He boasted that Gauteng-based businesses have more than 300 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth R356 billion, across the major regions of the continent. These FDI projects have so far created and sustained more than 45 000 jobs in Gauteng alone, while contributi­ng to Africa’s industrial­isation.

“Our economy has grown five times, from R290 billion in 1996 to R1.5 trillion in 2017,” he said. “Gauteng is not only the economic and industrial hub of South Africa, we are also the seventh largest economy in Africa.

“The number of people employed in the Gauteng economy has also doubled: from 2.6 million in 1996 to 5.163 million in 2018.”

The jobs figures rose since 2014 from 4.7 million to 5.1 million currently. He said 469 000 nett new jobs had been added to the provincial economy over the past five years.

According to the latest data from FDI Intelligen­ce, Gauteng has attracted R199 billion of foreign direct investment in five years and this has created 30 000 jobs, in comparison to the Western Cape’s R100 billion and 19 000 jobs over ten years.

Makhura announced a 15-year Infrastruc­ture Master Plan worth R1.3 trillion that has already been developmen­t to enable bankable infrastruc­ture projects funded through the Gauteng Infrastruc­ture Funding Agency

The private sectors had made funding commitment­s worth $6.8 billion (R96 billion) at the recent Africa Investment Conference.

Now, as part of infrastruc­ture developmen­t, the provincial government was now focusing on the full integratio­n of the Gautrain, Bus Rapid Transit and Metrorail which would have single transport authority by the second half of 2019. –

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