Automobile sector to double black owned firms
The South African Automobile association says it is committed to transforming the industry by doubling the number of black owned firms by 2035.
The African National Congress (ANC) Treasurer-General Zweli Mkhize held a media briefing with stake holders from the industry to announce their transformation plan for 2035.
"We have been having engagements for the past few months with the private sector on issues around transformation. Our focus has been to raise the issue of economic growth and want to see the growth being inclusive in the form of radical economic transformation," says Mkhize.
Toyota South Africa's CEO, Andrew Kirby, says government has given policy stability that allows them to enter the phase of the automobile industry.
"We want to increase our total manufacturing volumes, we also want to double employment in our industry and the last target is to double the number of black owned enterprises in our value chain. We have developed a range of action items which form part of 6 key pillars," says Kirby.
Kirby says they are supportive of the transformation agenda and recognise it needs to be broad.
Tim Abbot, from BMW, says they have developed a fund that supports transformation in the industry.
"The fund will run into many billions of rands that we will hold through a black fund manager. The money will be allocated to downstream and upstream organisations. We are looking to develop black ownership so they can supply into our organisation, we are also looking into how we can get more black ownership," says Abbot.
Mkhize says this is one of the initiatives that will help remedy what is wrong with the economy.