Gauteng Premier David Makhura recommitted the provincial government's support to the revival of Gauteng's manufacturing base, telling the second yearly Manufacturing Indaba on Tuesday that policymakers would drive legislation that created an environment in which the provincial industrial base could thrive.

“We are conscious of the challenges facing us and are cognisant of the role that we have carved for ourselves and what we in government have to do. I want to emphasise that it would be difficult to imagine a manufacturing recovery without supportive government policy.

“Manufacturing is the backbone of any modern economy…[and] we share a vision that, in South Africa and the province, everything we do is [aimed at revitalizing] the manufacturing base,” Makhura said during a closing keynote address.

He placed particular focus on the relevance of “Africa’s industrial emergence” in the restoration of South Africa’s manufacturing industry, saying that a collapse of the local manufacturing base would undermine South Africa’s strategic position on the continent.

According to the Makhura, Gauteng’s manufacturing base had experienced a “significant” decline over the last 25 years, narrowing its contribution towards the province’s gross domestic product (GDP) from 27% to its current 19%.

“As we deal with our challenges, we need to have our eye on the prize, which is Africa…and we remain committed to ensuring that we work closely with the private sector in the province – particularly those in manufacturing sector – and focus them on Africa,” he commented.

Describing Gauteng as a “critical” manufacturing centre of sub-Saharan Africa, Makhura added that a collapse in the local industrial base would have devastating knock-on effects for the national economy.

“We don’t say this out of arrogance…but the province contributes 36% to of the country’s GDP and 10% of Africa’s GDP.

“We [thus] want to work closely with key players in the manufacturing industry because we have a vision of transformation, modernisation and reindustrialisation, and manufacturing is at the heart of that vision,” he said.