R3.5BN TSHWANE SEZ TO SUPPORT DOUBLING PRODUCTION AT FORD PLANT

President Cyril Ramaphosahas officially kick-started
construction of the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

The R3.5-billion development, funded by government,
will be housed next door to the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA)
plant, in Silverton. It will act as an automotive component supplier industrial
park.

The SEZ, a private-public partnership, will support
FMCSA’s ambition to become the world’s largest Ford Ranger pickup plant. The
current biggest Ranger production site is in Thailand.

Speaking at the official sod-turning on Tuesday,
FMCSA MD Neale Hillsaid
current Ranger production was around 100 000 Rangers a year, with the aim
to increase this to 200 000 units a year over the “next three to four
years”.

The 162 ha Tshwane SEZ will be developed in phases,
with the first, 81-ha phase to house nine suppliers. Envisaged direct job
creation for phase 1 is 6,700 new jobs.

Some of the nine suppliers would be new, noted
Hill, while some would be relocating and others would be adding capacity by
expanding to the SEZ.

The SEZ is open to any component supplier – not
just those providing components to Ford.

Hill said he would like to see the first supplier
operational by the end of 2020.

The development of Phase 2 was imminent, he added,
as Phase 1 had been oversubscribed. Apart from the Phase 1 tenants, another
four suppliers had expressed interest in moving into the SEZ.

Hill said the SEZ would increase efficiencies at
the Silverton Ranger plant, as it would improve the speed at which materials
and components could be delivered to the plant. Ford’s suppliers are currently
spread around the larger Tshwane area.

Ramaphosa noted that SEZs – which had been revamped
under his watch – offered benefits, such as a preferential corporate tax
regime; building allowances; employee tax incentives; favourable customs
regulations; VAT exemptions and support for capital investment.

There are currently ten SEZs in South Africa.

“The government’s new region-based model for
special economic zones is an important new tool to attract domestic and
international investment, which will help businesses to become more competitive
on a global scale,” said Hill.

FMCSA’s domestic turnover contributes over 1% to
South Africa’s gross domestic product.

Ramaphosa referred to two incidents that epitomise
what government’s wide-ranging attempts to secure global investment will need
to address. One was an investor waiting three years for a water licence, and
another an investor which picked Brazil over South Africa owing to domestic red
tape.

“We now said that water licences may not take more
than three months.”

Ramaphosa added that entrepreneurs were “fast,
nimble and agile and that they get things done”.

“This is the psyche I would like to inculcate in
all of us as South Africans – that once a decision is taken we must immediately
move and implement and not sit on that decision. This should also include our
civil servants.

“Sometimes . . they move slowly. It’s almost as if
people are afraid to make decisions.

“I want to unlock the energy of all of us – let us get South Africa working and moving.” http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/r35bn-tshwane-sez-to-support-proposed-doubling-of-production-at-ford-plant-2019-11-05