Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel has launched Aberdare Cables' new R135-million high-voltage power cables plant in Port Elizabeth, which is set to create jobs and contribute significantly to the South African economy.

Patel said Aberdare Cables' parent company, Hengtong – a major Chinese power and fibre optic cable manufacturer – had a much more ambitious investment plan of about R1-billion in a drive to modernise and strengthen its operations in South Africa, including building a new fibre optic plant.

“The investment was made possible by government's decision to designate power cables as a product that all government agencies must buy locally. To date, there has been one company producing high-voltage cables locally and the opening of the new plant will introduce competition in the market. It provides the industrial capacity as we ready for the African continental free trade area” said Patel.

Aberdare’s investment impacted positively on the six key priorities that had been identified for his reconfigured department being created through the merger of the trade and industry and economic development departments.

"The new department, which will be named the department of trade, industry, and competition, will pursue six core objectives - support expansion of industrial production in South Africa; open up new markets for local products in other export markets; increase the levels of investment; address economic inclusion and transformation; ensure equitable spatial economic development across the entirety of the country; and build a capable state,” he said.

Patel's spokesperson Sidwell Medupe said prior to Aberdare Cables' Port Elizabeth plant, there had only been two high-voltage power plants on the continent - one in Egypt and the other in Gauteng. 

The launch of the R135-million plant formed part of Aberdare Cables’ investment drive in South Africa as part of its business expansion strategy, and a direct response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s campaign to attract investment and grow the ailing economy. 

This new industrial investment saw the expansion of Aberdare Cables’ manufacturing capability of cables from a current level of 33 kV to a new product offering of up to 132 kV. The facility was anticipated to be fully functional towards the end of this month.

This latest investment was set to create 58 jobs in addition to the 429 jobs that Aberdare Cables had created in its Port Elizabeth offices to date - at both plant and commercial levels.