Larry Claasen

Industrial Correspondent

THE East London industrial development zone is about to get a shot in the arm, with four companies poised to make a total investment of R288m in the area.

The development is touted as a possible turning point for the development zone concept, which has been criticised recently for failing to attract significant investment as intended.

Among the four companies are: Milltrans, a transport company, which will invest R11m; Universe Safety Glass, a vehicle windscreen maker, which is putting up a R156m facility; and Sea-teak, which will construct a R21m abalone farm.

Another investor in the East London zone, vehicle component manufacture Otto Fuchs, is putting up a plant in a yet-to-be developed part of the zone as part of a separate R100m deal.

The investments are expected to create about 500 jobs in the East London development zone over the next three years.

Eastern Cape premier Nosimo Balindlela said the investments by the private sector showed the zones were paying off and contributing to job creation and investment, putting paid to criticism that the zones were not economically viable.

Balindlela said that without the zones the province would struggle to create jobs.

According to Statistics SA, employment in Eastern Cape increased 10% between March last year and September. However, unemployment for the province at 29,6% was still above the national average of 26,2%.

The development zone concept is being pioneered in Eastern Cape.

The new investments follow an announcement by the Coega development zone near Port Elizabeth last month that Belgium’s Sander International had committed to building a R200m niche textile plant, creating employment for up to 1200 workers.

Zone officials said the site Otto Fuchs was using would be serviced by the Buffalo City Municipality, and would only later be incorporated into the zone.