Pretoria – Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition, Nomalungelo Gina has stated that the government is committed to finalising “with speed” the development of South Africa’s Electric Vehicle Policy.
The deputy minister made her remarks while speaking at the grand opening of the Daimler Truck Southern Africa (DTSA) headquarters in Centurion, Pretoria.
The 11-hectare newly refurbished campus not only serves as headquarters but accommodates a training centre, used and new vehicle retail facilities, in addition to a fully fledged dedicated Daimler Truck Financial Services company.
The new premises came as a result of the R190 million pledge made by the company at the 4th South African Investment Conference in 2022.
The investment amount was split between Centurion Campus and improvements at the company’s East London plant.
Gina said the transition away from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to Electric Vehicles (EV) calls for all Original Equipment Manufacturers to work with the government.
“Our approach of working with the industry associations like the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) on this policy framework will continue to the end,” said Gina.
“We all feel the pressure to move with speed so that we are not overtaken by other markets still at their foundation phase, like us.
“We all agree that the maturity of our South African automotive sector locates it at a vantage point to be part of the leaders in EVs, including component manufacturers.
“We therefore appeal for partnership and cooperation as we increase our speed to finalise strategic policy areas.”
Gina further commended DTSA for their sizable operational presence in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) market with a total 40 authorised outlets.
“This represents a remarkable market share. For us as government, this appetite to grow in the African market is in line with the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) that we are building as a continental free market of $3.4 trillion GDP and 1.3 billion people,” Gina said.
“The growing investment appetite into the continent by its own enterprises and multinational companies is a welcome attitude to this awakening giant of the continent – Africa.”
