Pretoria: South Africa’s automotive industry continues to demonstrate resilience and growth despite global economic challenges, as President Cyril Ramaphosa recently highlighted in his weekly newsletter. The President expressed confidence in the sector’s ability to safeguard jobs, foster innovation, and lead the transition towards green mobility.
According to South African Government News Agency, President Ramaphosa emphasized the importance of protecting existing jobs within the automotive sector, especially in the face of potential US tariffs. He stressed the need for diversification of South Africa’s export base, leveraging strong trade relationships within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region to expand the sector’s continental footprint.
The President underscored the long-standing significance of South Africa’s automotive manufacturing industry, which has evolved since the first assembly plants were established in the Eastern Cape in the 1920s. Today, major international auto brands such as Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz operate production plants in the country, with exports comprising approximately two-thirds of local vehicle production.
The automotive sector supports over 115,000 direct manufacturing jobs and more than 500,000 jobs across the value chain, contributing approximately 5.3% to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
However, the industry faces challenges, including new emissions regulations in key markets like the European Union and impending US tariffs. The President highlighted the importance of strengthening the sector to ensure its long-term sustainability, particularly given that exports account for a significant portion of local vehicle production.
Recently, President Ramaphosa attended the launch of BMW’s new X3 plug-in hybrid at the Rosslyn plant in Tshwane, marking South Africa as the exclusive global production site for this model. This investment aligns with the shift towards hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) in various markets and reinforces South Africa’s position as a favorable destination for automotive investment.
The government is actively working to create an enabling regulatory and policy environment to support growth in the automotive sector, with initiatives such as the Automotive Production and Development Programme positioning South Africa as a key global manufacturing base for future vehicles.
Beyond manufacturing, the President highlighted the sector’s role in youth development and skills training. BMW’s training academy focuses on competencies like EV assembly and robotics, and the company is a founding partner of the Youth Employment Service (YES), which provides work experience opportunities for young people. This initiative has supported more than 3,500 young individuals with training and placements across all nine provinces.
President Ramaphosa encouraged other companies to broaden their involvement in the YES programme and emphasized the importance of local production to create more employment opportunities. He acknowledged the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone’s Centre of Excellence, which includes an artisan training academy and STEM education initiatives for high school learners, as critical components in developing a skilled workforce for the future.