The Richards Bay industrial development zone (IDZ) and the Dube TradePort IDZ, which was opened last month, were steadily expanding and growing support for KwaZulu-Natal’s manufacturing sector.

Speaking to Engineering News Online following a Frontier Forum on the topic ‘Special Economic Zones and Building Manufacturing in KZN’ held on Friday morning, Richards Bay IDZ business development and marketing executive manager Sihle Ngcamu stated that the country and province had not yet recovered from the 2008/9 global economic downturn.

“There is a decline, countrywide, in terms of the gross domestic product contribution from the manufacturing sector. [For example], the last big company established around Richards Bay was Tata Steel about seven years ago. That is an indication that there hasn’t been any big manufacturing activities happening within the area,” he said.

However, through the province’s two IDZs, KwaZulu-Natal’s manufacturing sector was being stimulated.

Dube TradePort CEO Saxen van Coller told Engineering News Online that the IDZ was specifically targeting light manufacturing in sectors such as aerospace and aviation and related services, agriculture and agroprocessing (including horticulture, aquaculture and floriculture), electronics, medical and pharmaceuticals production and distribution and clothing and textiles.

She noted that the Dube TradePort currently had 90% occupancy in its first trade zone, adding that the company was looking toward moving into the second zone towards the middle of next year, noting that this zone already had commitments for 70% of the area.

“We internally set ourselves a target for development of a ten-year timeframe. So by 2020 or 2024, we would like to be a major player in the KwaZulu-Natal industries in the aspects mentioned [above] as far as manufacturing is concerned,” Van Coller said.

She further noted that, while it was difficult to say how many zones would be declared over the tradeport’s 60-year master plan period, as this depended on land acquisitions, Dube TradePort would continuously acquire land for future expansion. 

Van Coller added that future expansion would be across a variety of sectors, indicating that the Dube TradePort currently had a memorandum of understanding with an Indian company on medium and heavy manufacturing in the prefeasibility stage.

Meanwhile, Ngcamu pointed out that the Richards Bay IDZ was expanding with another R320-million in investment projects expected to be signed before the end of the current financial year.

This IDZ was also planning to increase its current land allocation of 345 ha by 1 000 ha over the next three to five years.

The Richards Bay IDZ also planned to specifically create an aluminium hub to beneficiate the primary aluminimum produced in the area.