SAB's multimillion-rand injection to boost hard-hit KZN economy

A new expansion project to the tune of R825m at the South African Breweries (SAB) plant in Durban is set to create thousands of jobs and give a leg up to local contractors.

This was announced by the company’s CEO Richard Rivett-Carnac during a visit by premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube on Monday.

“This is a very important project for SAB, which comes at the back of two challenging years. This is a reaffirmation of SAB’s commitment to the country and the province. What this means is a long-term investment,” Rivett-Carnac said.

This spoke to the company’s belief in the recovery of the province's economy, he said. Although the expansion would not offer significant direct jobs, it would add 25,000 jobs to the value chain throughout the country, and most of the jobs will be in KwaZulu-Natal.

“That means we would rely on more local supplies to transport and to sell. We have extensively used local contractors. It’s a very important boost for the economy,” he said.

The expansion will include a new “flavoured alcohol beverage blending plant” and a new option to create returnable packaging, which will mean changes to the production, innovation, maintenance, IT, and quality lines.

“We anticipate this expansion to further increase demand for raw materials, labour, utilities and equipment within the brewery,” said Rivett-Carnac.

Dube-Ncube hailed the move, saying it was proof that challenges experienced in the province were not insurmountable.

“Businesses still find that KwaZulu-Natal is a ground to invest in. This investment is not just for expanding SAB. It would benefit even more local people because many value-chain areas would benefit,” said Dube-Ncube, adding that communities were already doing business with the breweries by supplying maize and wheat.

“Their responsible drinking campaign demonstrates that SAB is serious about playing a role in reducing and preventing the harmful use of alcohol and in being a good corporate citizen,” she said.

Dube-Ncube said the province was stable after being thrust into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. “Our programme is to build investor confidence by ensuring that government has programmes tailored towards working directly with investors.”

She highlighted apps which helped the province connect with industry in case of any unrest or violence. “This would enable us to communicate directly with the industry and the SAPS,” she said.

The government was hard at work rebuilding and creating economies for small industries, she said. “We believe that if we can enable small businesses in the township and rural areas to grow the economy, we will not see the social unrest we have seen before.

“This expansion is a vote of confidence. We have been resilient to all the challenges. This also calls for us to remove the red tape that does not enable them to expand.”

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