/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies says Manufacturing should be the leader of industrialisation in the country. Minister Davies was speaking at the Bell Equipment's manufacturing facility and head office in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal on Friday 31 January; where he  celebrated the handover of the company's 50 000th  vehicle.

According to Minister Davies, the manufacturing sector has proven that it can be the driver of industrialisation and Bell Company’s success story is evident to that.

“The manufacturing sector has the highest economic and employment multipliers, with the strongest backward and forward linkages within and between manufacturing sectors. Manufacturing enables and strengthens linkages between primary, industrial and services sectors and it is a driver of innovation and technology. The production and export of manufactured, value added goods has very significant macro-economic benefits including with respect to the trade and current accounts”, said Davies.

The Minister stated that although the Industrial Policy Action Plan has registered significant achievements over the last 5 years, it lacks the aspect of recognising the champions.

“One of the areas of improvement and focus must be to increasingly identify and support ‘champion’, winning SA companies and increasingly strengthen their efforts with the range of policy instruments we have in our armoury – industrial financing, incentives, trade measures and export promotion – in a more focused and strategic manner. The reason for this is that  SA’s growth path is currently consumer driven, import intensive and characterised by significant fault-lines”, he added.

The Chief Executive Officer of Bell, Mr Gary Bell says the company did not reach the milestone alone of its 60th  year of existence and 50 000th  vehicle.

“We achieved these through the assistance of the government and other stakeholders; and we want to encourage government to improve on the support to the industry and other industries in order to take the country forward. As a company we are committed to support the government’s vision of 5 million jobs by 2020 and the infrastructure programme support. Currently we employ 3500 people and 2000 hails from Richards Bay alone”, said Bell.

In line with Bell Equipment's strategy to build closer relationships with the three tiers of government, the City of uMhlathuze in Richards Bay also took delivery of a Bell Tractor Loader Backhoe (TLB), handed over by Minister Davies. The TLB which is locally produced will assist the Municipality with its responsibility of eradicating infrastructure backlogs.

Appropriately, the 50 000th  vehicle of the company's production line was an Articulated Dump Trucks (ADT) from the company's new E-series generation of trucks,  was presented to Radds Transport, a loyal Bell customer and a local company providing logistical support within the Port of Richards Bay.

The co-owner of Radds Transport, Mr Suren Radhalal says the company is privileged to accept Bell Equipment's 50 000th vehicle into their fleet.

“Our D-series trucks perform well and we are confident that the new E-series trucks continue the company's proud heritage. We've never had any problem with our Bell ADTs - they are the best”, adds Radhalal.

The visit also provided an opportunity for Minister Davies to meet with Bell management to further discuss ways of improving synergies between the local manufacturing and Government in line with the dti's policy of industrialisation and localisation. Bell has previously benefited from the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP), which has been recently superseded by the Automotive Production and Development Plan (APDP).