Tau says local manufacturing capacity key to R100bn procurement target

By Lebone Rodah Mosima

South Africa is aiming to procure R100 billion in locally manufactured goods and services this financial year, but achieving the target will depend on continued government support to build domestic engineering and manufacturing capacity, Trade and Industry Minister Parks Tau said on Saturday.

Speaking at the opening of black-owned engineering company Brimis Engineering’s facility in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, Tau said the government had provided about R46 million in incentives to support the company’s investment and expansion.

He said the market alone did not always provide the capital needed to build industrial capacity, particularly for black-owned businesses.

“State support exists to close that gap: to de-risk the first investment, to back the entrepreneur who has the engineering insight but not yet the balance sheet, and to make sure that when a company is ready to grow, that growth happens in townships like Middelburg, in Mpumalanga, in South Africa,