Patel hails success of SA’s motor industry policy
Minister flags production and export increases, and jobs boost, at Gqeberha meeting
Trade, industry and competition minister Ebrahim Patel has reflected positively on the SA Automotive Master Plan as the industry enjoys production and job growth which he points to as early success of the sector policy framework.
Patel yesterday highlighted the 633,332 vehicles produced in 2023 and the 116,000 jobs created through the sector value chain.
The industry achieved a record-high level of vehicle exports in 2023, totalling 399,594, and generated R270.8bn in revenue from vehicle and component exports in the same period, representing a robust 19.1% growth compared to the previous year.
Exports to African countries totalled 25,381 vehicles.
Patel was speaking at Isuzu Motors South Africa’s Struandale plant in Gqeberha after an executive committee oversight meeting with the country’s OEM executives, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa), the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (Naacam) and industry unions.
The SA Automotive Master Plan was launched in 2021 as a blueprint policy framework that will govern the local motor industry until 2035.
“In this administration, we have now reached the highest levels of exports ever and the highest number of jobs the sector has ever had,” Patel said.
“We have the highest level of bakkies made in SA in the last 10 years.
“We sold close to 50,000 additional bakkies in 2023 compared to five years ago.
“We have seen more than 6,000 additional jobs in the sector through a combination of the car assembly plants and the component manufacturers.
“It is an example of successful industrial policy.
“This industry has been a driver of the country’s foreign exchange earnings.”
The SA Automotive Master Plan has set a target for 1% of global vehicle production for SA.
Its targets include more than doubling vehicle production from 2019 levels of 600,000 to 1.4-million and increasing domestic production of components on vehicles driven on SA roads from about 37% in 2015 to 60% by 2035.
“We have been able to see a deepening of participation by black South Africans in the industry,” Patel said.
According to the Automotive Business Council, 137,493 vehicles had been produced in the country by the end of March, a 2.29 percentage point decline compared with the same period in 2023.
Looking ahead, Patel said the country would be looking to build on the African continent’s free trade area agreements.
“We were able to get agreements on rules of origin for some products, particularly minibuses made in SA, and we are continuing to engage with other African countries to get rules of origin agreed on all other vehicles,” he said.
Naamsa chief executive Mike Mabasa said Patel had put the industry in a good place as it looked to contend with changes in the next decade.
“As an industry, I think we are in a good place. We are under no illusion that the industry is going through a major transformation journey and we always argue that it will change faster in the next 10 years than it has in the last 100.
“But we are comfortable that the minister has laid a firm foundation for the industry to get into the next centenary,” Mabasa said.