R47-m automotive centre supports global competitiveness drive

THE EASTERN Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) has invested R47-million in an Automobile Industry Development Centre (AIDC) in the Eastern Cape. Its aim is to assist the province’s strong automotive sector, which helped the region record the largest export growth of all provinces in 2000. Four of the country’s top automotive manufacturers and more than 150 component manufacturers are based in the Eastern Cape. Gauteng’s Blue IQ initiative and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which jointly started the country’s first AIDC, have thrown their weight behind the ECDC effort. Zola Tshefu, ECDC regional manager and the organisation’s automotive sector specialist, says the primary focus of the AIDC in his province is to support the automotive industry in its drive to become more globally competitive. To achieve this, technical services to the industry across all tiers of suppliers and assemblers are essential, she says. One major area of focus is education. Key training areas that have been identified include development and basic training, shop-floor training, technical training, managerial skills training and automotive engineering. Partnerships have been established with the Port Elizabeth and Border technikons, Buffalo City College in East London, Port Elizabeth College, Queenstown’s Ikhala College and Uitenhage’s Midlands College. A project with the Rhodes University Business School will see the establishment of courses leading to diplomas in international management and operational management. A mechatronic centre is also being planned with computer-aided design (CAD) being introduced into the curricula of the province’s schools.