Automotive

Training is being prioritised.

The Durban Automotive Cluster (DAC) aims to drive competitiveness and transformation in the sector. Another important role is to promote training. One such series of training sessions culminated in a graduation ceremony for more than 400 graduates from the DAC and other similar groups in May 2022.

Participants are trained by a private contractor, B&M Analysts, through its Skills Development division which runs the Team Leader Development Programme (TLDP) and Emerging Leader Development Programme (ELDP).

At the graduation Natalie Kotze, from Bell Equipment, reported how she had used what she learnt on her course to reduce the amount of time it takes to manufacture a tube by 43% and free up more than 90 hours of team capacity.

A new programme introduced by DAC is TLDP Blitz Fundamentals Training, a two-day course that focusses on waste reduction and process optimisation. Participants receive a certificate on completion.

The DAC is working with firms and their supply chains to understand and map their carbon emissions at Scopes 1, 2 and 3 levels. The aim is to see if collaboration between firms in the same supply chain can help to reduce their carbon emissions and support the drive towards a net-zero future. KwaZulu-Natal has a substantial automotive components sector which includes large manufacturers such as GUD Filters.

In line with the policy of developing Industrial Economic Hubs, the Durban Automotive Supplier Park is planned at Illovo, south of Durban and near to the Toyota manufacturing plant. The Dube TradePort Corporation will manage the project, which covers 1 013ha. Other partners are the eThekwini Municipality, Toyota and the provincial government but the major floods which hit the province in 2022 have slowed progress on the project.

Toyota’s plant, just a few kilometres south of the harbour at Prospecton, received a R2.4-billion investment to produce the Corolla Cross which started production in 2021. Toyota sells about a quarter of the vehicles sold in South Africa, and accounts for the same proportion of export volumes. The company’s total investment

Online Resources

Automotive Industry Development Centre: www.aidc.co.za

Durban Automotive Cluster: www.dbnautocluster.org.za

National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (NAACAM): www.naacam.co.za

Sector Insight

of R4.2-billion between 2019 and 2021 includes other manufacturing projects and a huge increase in warehousing capabilities.

The other large-scale original equipment manufacturer in the province is Bell Equipment. Between the Toyota plant and the Richards Bay facility of heavyequipment manufacturer Bell Equipment, upwards of 11 000 people are employed.

Another manufacturer of earthmoving equipment is at Port Shepstone on the South Coast. Dezzi is part of the Desmond Group of companies that was founded in 1973 and now has 18 offices and branches. The Dezzi CMI backhoe loader is a popular part of the company’s range. ■