Automotive sector introducing township entrepreneurs

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n his State of the Province address, the premier said the province would like to mention the automotive industry, which has made "significant strides" in introducing township entrepreneurs to the automotive industry.

In Diepsloot, about 160 township entrepreneurs involved in light manufacturing and other productive activities would benefit from the R1.6-billion investment in the Riversands-Diepsloot SMME Incubation Hub, with state-of-art facilities, Makhura said as he delivered his annual speech.

The Riversands Incubation Hub will provide mentorship and enterprise support to ensure that when SMMEs graduate from the programme, they are better placed to grow and expand.

Makhura also said the province continued to support the automotive sector in the Rosslyn cluster through the Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC).

In the coming months, the AIDC would launch its second incubation centre in Rosslyn to accelerate the development of sustainable SMMEs within the vehicle assembly industry, he said.

The establishment of a freight and logistics hub that would support the automotive industry was currently being investigated, he said.

The provincial government, Makhura said, spent at least 5% of its R10 billion procurement budget for goods and services on township enterprises.

"We have now committed to set aside 30% of public procurement budget for township enterprises over the next five years. Some of our government vehicles will be repaired by township-based enterprises at selected repair hubs supported by our Automotive Industry Development Centre," he said.