Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies
Photo by: Duane Daws
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has provided R550-million in finance to five companies that have been approved for participation in the department’s Black Industrialists (BI) programme, Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies has revealed.
Speaking at a media briefing following the presidential broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) advisory council meeting at the Union Buildings, in Pretoria, on Tuesday, the Minister said the financing, which was in the form of capital and DTI incentives, would maintain 300 current jobs and help facilitate the development of 600 new jobs.
The five companies were “quality industrialists” and comprised a syringe manufacturer based in the Coega industrial development zone, in the Eastern Cape; a Gauteng-based rail engineering company; a locomotive transformer manufacturing company; and two agroprocessing companies located in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape respectively.
Davies pointed out that, to date, the BI programme had received 107 applications, many of which had already been “scrutinised”. He explained that some of the applications required “further particulars” and that only three applications had been rejected outright.
“Many of the applications are still under consideration, while others are still eligible to receive support,” said Davies.