THE official launch of the new cutting-edge Dräger facility was held at the East London Industrial Development Zone (ELIDZ) SOC Ltd recently.
Dräger Safety Zenith (Pty) Ltd has invested R135 million in the new facility. This coupled with a cash injection of R81 million from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) towards the building of the factory amounts to a combined value of R216 million.
Dräger Safety Zenith manufactures safety and medical equipment including dust masks utilised by mining houses, construction companies and wholesale and will target both the domestic and international markets. This is the only manufacturing plant Dräger has on the continent. Products will be supplied locally and will also be exported to countries such as Brazil, Ghana and Kenya.
The launch event was attended by multiple dignitaries including the Eastern Cape Premier, Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane, MEC for Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT), Mlungisi Mvoko, Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Executive Mayor, Councillor Xola Pakati, Drager Management, ELIDZ Board and Executive Management led by Professor Mlungisi Makalima and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Simphiwe Kondlo.
Delivering his keynote address Mabuyane commended Dräger management for choosing to locate their new facility within the ELIDZ in light of the province’s ongoing struggles with high unemployment rates, particularly among young people.
“This investment comes with a huge benefit to our province as it will be creating 96 direct employment opportunities. 96 people will be able to put food on the tables, take care of their families and call Drager their place of employment. For that we will forever be grateful to this company for not only choosing the Eastern Cape but choosing East London as their preferred place of location,” Mabuyane added.
The Premier continued by saying that the South African government is dedicated to fostering environments that are favourable for local businesses to thrive because through those businesses, the country is able to directly address socioeconomic concerns.
“As the ELIDZ we are very excited to be opening a world class facility on our platform. What excites us the most is the nature of this facility because now we have moved outside of the automotive sector to the manufacturing sector,” said ELIDZ CEO, Simphiwe Kondlo.
During the event, speaking on behalf of Dräger Safety Zenith (Pty) Ltd, Reinhold Eisenbarth, the global marketing manager, stated “With this plant we are demonstrating that Dräger continues to invest into Africa. This goes along with further expansion of our footprint in Africa, where we will open new sales and services organisations soon in Western Africa and Eastern Africa.”
Eisenbarth also made mention of what this expansion meant to Dräger in terms of production success “With our new manufacturing plan, we will also be prepared for future pandemics. We will have 11 automatic production lines in the country with the possibility of further expansion, with that equating to a 400% increase in the production capacity.”
