American refigerator manufacturing company invests R100 million in KZN’s Isithebe Industrial Estate
The massive investments currently being poured into different parts of KwaZulu-Natal by big conglomerates are a major vote of confidence in the stability of the province, said Transport, safety and community liaison MEC, Mr Mxolisi Kaunda in Isithebe Industrial Estate today.
Speaking during the launch of a major multi-million rand expansion at Whirlpool, the largest manufacturer of refrigerators in Southern Africa, Kaunda said the investments were signs that business confidence was on a high. Kaunda was speaking on behalf of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC, Mr Sihle Zikalala.
“The major expansion which has seen Whirlpool investing a whopping R100 million on plant and machine upgrades augurs well for our province’s growth and aspirations. Major investments have also taken place in our special economic zones in the recent past. We will continue to aggressively sell our province as a destination for investment. Working with the central government, we will also continue to ensure that we create an environment which is conducive for businesses to thrive,” added Zikalala.
Isithebe Industrial Estate, situated in Mandeni, is owned by the provincial government and it is home to many industries and factories that have contributed immensely to the growth of the economy of KwaZulu-Natal for many years.
Kaunda commended Whirlpool for expanding, saying that the provincial government’s long term plans for Isithebe Industrial Estate was to make it the mainstay of manufacturing.
“The area’s proximity to both the King Shaka International Airport and the Dube Trade Port Special Economic Zone lends further impetus to our goal of modeling Isithebe Industrial Estate into a development area for heavy industry. Work is also underway to explore the possibility of Isithebe being part of the broader Richards Bay Industrial Sector Special Economic Zone,” added Kaunda.
Whirlpool’s Trevor Graham said they had decided to expand the company operations to enable it to produce washing machines. “We have just begun manufacturing washing machines as part of expansion. We will produce machines every year and we are happy that plans are afoot to make Isithebe part of the Richards Bay Industrial Sector Special Economic Zone.”
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