Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Economic Development MEC Tasneem Motara on May 30 officially opened the Batyi Automotive Component Supply (BACS) facility in Pretoria North.

The BACS facility is one of the successes of the Automotive Industry Development Centre’s (AIDC’s) incubation programme, which has been developed in collaboration with Ford Motor Company and its tier-one suppliers, with the aim of transforming the automotive industry and opening it up to black industrialists.

Empowered suppliers are trained at an incubation centre, with the assistance of tier-one suppliers, to be independent and globally competitive after graduating from the incubation programme.

BACS, which is involved in the assembly and manufacturing of car components, was founded by Lindisipho Batyi, who graduated from the incubation programme.

The AIDC says it identified a graduation opportunity for BACS recently. This opportunity is the result of a partnership between tier-one company Mothersons, which supplies Ford, and its supplier Easy Dent, extending an opportunity to BACS.  

The AIDC facilitated an agreement between BACS and Motherson for spray painting and assembly of its components, with the facility supplying three types of grills for Ford Motor Company.

Currently, the facility is supplying roughly upwards of 2 000 components.

Operations have already begun in the newly built facility.

Speaking at the AIDC’s Automotive Supplier Park, in Rosslyn, on the day of the launch, Batyi thanked all the stakeholders for the support he had received to bring this to fruition. He also indicated that the company would not be stopping here, but that it was looking to expand the facility to increase its capacity, and the automotive companies it supplied to.

Lesufi lauded the programme and facility as an important part of the efforts to transform and diversify the country’s automotive industry, as well as to create jobs and opportunities as the country looked to tackle energy challenges, unemployment, poverty and inequality.

The BACS facility currently employs 60 people, with 30 working the day shift, and 30 the night shift. Moreover, it was looking at bringing in young trainees to build up their skill sets.