Truck assembler relocates from Gauteng to Coega

There are now 21 companies operational in the Coega Industrial Development Zone, according to spokesperson Ayanda Vilakazi. Milestones for the first quarter of 2012 include sodbreaking on a truck assembly facility by First Automotive Works, which is moving its operations from Gauteng to the Eastern Cape, and the start of production by the Coega dairy. Cape Concentrate, which produces tomato paste, “expects to commence with its commercial activities in the first quarter of this year as well, following a 2011 setback due to crop failure,” he says. One of Coega’s largest employers, Dynamic Commodities, is expanding. It will create an additional 200 factory jobs, while supporting employment on farms in Kirkwood, Addo and Patensie. AGNI Steel commenced construction in April 2011, and is “on track” to commission a mild steel billet plant in June 2012. According to Vilakazi, Coega has created 3 276 direct jobs since it was established in 1999. Investment in manufacturing capacity amounts to around R7.5 billion. It is estimated that the development of the IDZ has cost taxpayers some R1.5 billion (excluding the more than R4.5 billion that has gone into the Ngqura port – a separate operation.) This would put the cost per job in the IDZ at around R2.74 million, which is good by international standards. Given that Eskom is warning of power blackouts for the next five years, a question mark hangs over powerhungry investments such as two manganese smelters that the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) says are destined for the IDZ. The corporation has plans to generate its own power through renewable energy and a peaking power gas-fired plant. German-based EAB Astrum Energy has signed an agreement with the CDC for the development of a 13MW Photo Voltaic (PV) solar farm.