LETTER: SA needs factories in SA

I  support trade, industry & competition minister Ebrahim Patel’s localisation drive. DA MP Mat Cuthbert and trade advisory group XA International  have sought to discourage Patel with the usual pro-trade scare tactics. These two voices should follow their conversations with the question, “Can we not push factory work to other countries instead?” The DA has got this disastrously wrong. Patel  should hold firm — we need factory support to reindustrialise our country.

Arguments that we cannot produce here must be seen against the failure of other countries to deliver reliably through the last two years. Their inability has pushed up inflation around the world, and their production needs to be replaced with local manufacturing while the opportunity exists.

The rest of Africa has not been kind to us — just look at MTN in Nigeria. African trade is not urgent. Localisation is. Patel might consider increasing localisation to 70% instead, and employing a team of retired foreign trade ministers who have been successful in their trade mandates before. India has introduced localisation in its car industry. We won’t be alone.

Hitesh Naran
Johannesburg

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