KwaZulu-Natal-(KZN-) based aluminium alloys manufacturing company Bingelela Alloys is “a perfect example of the objectives that the South African Automotive Master Plan 2035 has [sought] to achieve”, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) stated in a release last month.

It listed these objectives as: Increasing local content in vehicles assembled locally; doubling employment; achieving industry transformation across the value chain; and deepening value addition across selected commodities.

The dtic explained that Bingelela produces aluminium alloys that are supplied to companies that manufacture aluminium rims for vehicles. Its clients supply the rims to companies that manufacture vehicles. In the industry, Bingelela is known as a Tier 1 supplier.

Bingelela Alloys CEO Sizwe Khumalo reportedly “speaks fondly and contently” about company’s contribution in the implementation of the Master Plan, which has been boosted by the support it received from the Automotive Industry Transformation Fund (AITF).

The dtic noted that the fund was created to support the implementation of the Master Plan by multinational automotive manufacturers. Its objectives include supporting black-owned entities, driving job creation, and enabling meaningful transformation and growth of the automotive sector across the value chain.

“We are pleased to be an example of what the implementation of the Automotive Master Plan can achieve. We are ticking several boxes of the objectives of the Master Plan in that our company is contributing [to] localisation, import substitution, job creation, black economic empowerment and transformation, and industry skills development. We also contributing [by] growing the economy of KZN,” said Khumalo.

He added that Bingelela owes its existence and success to the support it received from the AITF.

“The support we obtained in the form of a working capital loan was critical as it allowed us to continue operating, as well as to grow and sustain our business. Without it we could have probably even [shut] down, because of the high costs of the raw material that we use in our operation,” he noted.

The company was established in 2020 to fulfil the needs of companies that wanted to source products locally, in line with their localisation commitments as part of the objectives of the Master Plan.

“Before we entered the value chain, the two main manufacturers of wheels in South Africa were sourcing this raw material from abroad. Our intention was to substitute these imports. We were aware that our two potential customers were also under pressure from the original-equipment manufacturers as government, and the industry in general, was propagating localisation while they were importing their raw material. As a result, they were looking for alternative local sources to supply the product and we were available to plug the gap,” recalled Khumalo.

He added that he was pleased that, since 2021, Bingelela’s production volumes have increased consistently, as the two companies that it supplies have progressively gained confidence in its capacity to reduce their product imports.

“It has been a process. But we are glad that, from 100% imports, one of the companies that we supply has increased [its] local sourcing of the product from us [by] 70%. This has contributed in us increasing our production. As things stand, we are in the process of expanding our business. Part of the process is setting up a new production facility as our lease of furnaces [. . .] comes to an end,” said Khumalo.

He reported his excitement that the company’s expansion would create more job opportunities. As of December, the company employed 18 people but was planning to introduce a 24-hour production schedule, which would require more employees.