City of Ekurhuleni mayor lauds youth for rising to become industrialists

EKURHULENI – City of Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina has called on the city’s youth to move away from a consumption mentality to a production one.
 
Masina made the call while hosting young black industrialists who had established a company and turned it into a multi-million-rand establishment within three-years, the city said in a statement on Sunday.
 
These industrialists were “ordinary young people” who lived in the same conditions that many young people were experiencing, Masina said.
 
Based in Alrode in Ekurhuleni, United Industrial Cables (UIC) came into existence in 2014, formed by a group of young black professionals experienced in cable manufacturing, finance, and project management. 
 
The founders were Reginald Tshikota, Fhatuwani Belemu, Malwandla Siweya, Themba Mabunda, and Mark Horn. These black industrialists were investing more than R100 million in this venture to bring immense localisation, transformation, and much-needed employment, he said.
 
The company specialised in power cables, signalling cables, bonding wire, aluminium overhead conductors, and automotive/locomotive cables and flexible wires with UV and heat resistant insulation and sheathing materials, as well as bare copper conductors/wires.
 
The UIC currently provided services to Eskom and power utilities in high voltage transmission lines.
 
Masina said that looking at the meteoric rise of these young people, Ekurhuleni youth, which made up most of the city’s population of 3.4 million people, should stand up and grab opportunities.
 
“Our efforts are narrowed into a 10-point plan to revitalise our economy and our emphasis is on manufacturing. This is expected to create jobs while developing industrialists who will contribute immensely to our regional economy,” he said.
 
The UIC began its journey when they approached the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) with their business plan. Upon review of the business plan, the IDC called on UIC to prove the market by submitting orders, agreements, and letters of intent from potential customers.
 
“While this proved to be a challenge, the young professionals worked vigorously to win over a network of distributors through conducting extensive company visits until they met the requirement of the IDC.
 
“This is a story of courage and zeal, whose attitude should inspire young people of Ekurhuleni,” Masina said.
 
The UIC currently employs 11 Ekurhuleni-based people but has undertaken to employ 221 full-time and 17 part-time employees to contribute to reducing unemployment and job creation in Ekurhuleni.