Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane, Cllr Steven Mokgalapa
Colleagues from the Department of Trade and Industry (the Dti)
Colleagues from the Gauteng Department of Economic Development (DED)
Colleagues from the City of Tshwane (CoT)
Members of the Tshwane City Council (Councillors)
Community members and organisations present here
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen.

I wish to express my deepest gratitude to you all for setting aside time for this very important public engagement on the expansion of the OR Tambo SEZ to integrate the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (Tshwane Auto SEZ).

The public hearing on this expansion today bears testimony to our commitment as the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) to transform, modernise and re-industrialise the Gauteng City Region. This is indeed an important milestone in tackling the persistent racialised and gendered challenges of poverty and unemployment in our communities.

The Tshwane Auto SEZ is designed to play a crucial role in facilitating inclusive and sustainable economic development for all in the Gauteng City Region, and possibly beyond our borders. This will, without any doubt, go a long way in lowering the rampant joblessness of our time, stimulate demand and ultimately contribute to economic growth.

The ANC led government has made significant strides in the past 25 years to improve the lives of our people in the social front. Millions of our people now have access to decent housing, healthcare, education, electricity and clean water. There is no doubt that significant work has been done to build a better life for all.

The plan to expand/establish the Tshwane Auto SEZ forms an integral part of our unwavering commitment to the people of Tshwane, and Gauteng as a whole, to further improve their people’s lives by creating real, sustainable decent jobs and economic opportunities for SMMEs, particularly for women and youth, and the excluded generally.

The concept of the SEZ constitutes a key component of South Africa’s industrial development agenda, as articulated in the National Industrial Policy Framework (NIPF), Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) and National Development Plan (NDP). These plans are intended to drive our industrial and economic agenda in the medium to long-term.  

Consistent with the national policy on SEZ, among the key goals/objectives of the Tshwane Auto SEZ includes:
•    Facilitate the creation of an industrial complex, having strategic national and regional economic advantage for targeted investments in the automotive manufacturing sector ranging from Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) level all the way down to Tier 3 suppliers;
•    Develop infrastructure required to support the development of targeted industrial activities;
•    Attract foreign and domestic direct investment;
•    Increase investment and growth in the manufacturing industry, particularly the automotive manufacturing industry;
•    Take advantage of existing industrial and technological capacity, promote integration with local industry and increasing value-added production;
•    Promote regional economic development and create decent work and economic and social benefits in the region in which it is located, through the development of mix used facilities within the SEZ
•    Broadening of economic participation by promoting small, micro and medium enterprises and co-operatives, and promoting skills and technology transfer
•    Take advantage of existing SEZs and promote collaboration with these SEZs
•    

As part of the Provincial Government’s Apex Programme on Industrialisation and Multi-Tier SEZ, the Tshwane Auto SEZ is designed to play a catalytic role in stimulating the economy at the local (Tshwane), provincial (Gauteng) and national (South Africa) level. The automotive sector has particularly been one of the most visible sectors receiving foreign investments, and this SEZ provides the necessary impetus for attracting both foreign and domestic direct investments into the economy.

These investments could also potentially trigger other sectors of the economy in the manner that expands and diversifies other primary and secondary economic activities and promote innovation for a better, inclusive tomorrow. As the provincial government, we will ensure that the Tshwane Auto SEZ fully realises all these potentialities. Every SEZ in Gauteng should be designed in a way that promote socially inclusive diversification and innovation.

More importantly, in addition to this potential, we will ensure that there is more functional integration across all SEZs in Gauteng—this informs our bold plan as a provincial government to build a Mega Multi-Tier SEZ as pronounced in the State of the Province Address by Premier Makhura. We will never fail in our resolve to turn the Gauteng City Region into an SEZ economy.

In conclusion, I would to implore all tiers of governments, the community and stakeholders to continue working together to ensure that this project becomes a success.

Thank you.

Ms Morakane Mosupye, MEC for Economic Development, Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development