Chinese automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer JAC is at an advanced stage to establish a manufacturing plant in South Africa.
This was revealed on Wednesday by Heinz Göbel, CEO of JAC Motors South Africa.
He told Sunday World that despite the sporadic social unrests that have engulfed the country over the years, coupled with the disastrous effects of load shedding, the country was still an investment destination of choice for multinationals.
“We have over 60 dealership in South Africa, which has created many jobs. There is a good future in this country. We cannot just take out of the country, but we must also invest and assist in job creation, especially investing in the rural communities. We are in the process of establishing a manufacturing plant. Although we have not decided where it will be located. But because most of our vehicles come through [the] Durban harbour and with all the economic zones, KwaZulu-Natal has a beautiful opportunity,” he said.
The company has established manufacturing plants in Kenya, Egypt and Algeria, and if the move materialised, South Africa will be the fourth producer of JAC vehicles.
The company was part of a strong delegation that visited the AmaZulu king MisuZulu kaZwelithini in the ancestral palace of KwaKhangelamankengane to formally introduce their investment plan.
Sicelo Nyandeni, who is the chief operations officer for Halfway Auto South Coast, the vehicle dealership that has been leading a campaign to track, find and fund community organisations making a difference in their communities, explained that private/public partnerships were the future.
“The visit was about introducing ourselves to the king [and] was about introducing the company and the role we can play in reducing unemployment. We are seeking to build good relations with the king and the people of KwaZulu-Natal.
“We talked about smart partnerships because our view is that it is not always about the business, but about the people. For instance, if we put more dealerships in the Zululand area, more jobs will be created. There are also robust ideas that we are engaged on and in a few months we will share this with the public,” said Nyandeni.
Other public figures who formed part of the visit included Ukhozi FM’s traffic announcer Ayanda Msweli, who runs his own foundation assisting marginalised communities and Ngizwe Mchunu, of the acclaimed hashtag “Azikhale”, a phrase which gained popularity during the July 2021 civil unrests that started in KwaZulu-Natal and spread through the country.
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