Tellumat Manufacturing opened a brand new television manufacturing facility in Atlantis in the Western Cape, in a move that is seen as a show of confidence in the strength of manufacturing in the area.
The facility is approximately 15 000 m² in size and employs 115 people. Products made there include LCD and LED television display sets for global brands Sony and Hisense as well as local retailer Lewis (under the Tedelex brand), along with computer monitors for Mecer.
The facility was officially launched on the 12th of March during a visit by Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies, Western Cape Premier Helen Zille and Wesgro CEO Nils Flaatten.
Minister Davies told the gathering of his last visit to the area in 2010, when the then Tedelex plant was about to close its doors, putting 150 people out of work. But, he said, it was encouraging that a company such as Tellumat saw the importance of partnerships and the future for television technology in South Africa.
“Digital migration will create the demand for set-top boxes, and the manufacturing of these products will be important. As government, we have put in place measures to assist and to partner with industry, such as the requirement that the set-top boxes must have a local production element of at least 30%,” said Minister Davies.
“We have to be active in this technology for our future. We can assist with export promotion and finding new markets for our products. The African continent is an important market for goods manufactured in SA,” said Minister Davies. He also echoed a message of support that was sent to Tellumat from the Minister of Science & Technology, Derek Hanekom.
Premier Zille called the day “a special celebration of an extraordinary facility”. She said it was wonderful to see people on the cutting edge of technology, which for her held the future of job creation in South Africa.
“Government does not create jobs,” she said. “Instead, it creates the context in which businesses can have faith in the future, which encourages them to invest. Big world brands will then have confidence in South African companies, as we have seen here today.
“Technology is an important field with the potential to improve education and government and generally to transform the way we live. We must make sure that government steps up to the plate to assist business to take advantage of strong and growing export markets in Africa, which the Western Cape is well poised to do,” said Zille.
Wesgro CEO Nils Flaatten also congratulated Tellumat’s CEO Rasheed Hargey and his team on the launch of this new facility. Flaatten said he was forced to “suspend his disbelief” when he saw what was achieved at this facility. He said it was encouraging to see so many global brands that were on board with this project.
“Tellumat will continue to draw global brands to this country as manufacturing cost in other jurisdictions continues to rise,” said Flaatten.
“Many global brands have noticed the vast consumer spend in southern Africa on electronic goods and are actively seeking market positions in this country. The fact that these electronics goods have been manufactured in the Southern African Development Community region means that the goods will be tariff-exempt when exported to neighbouring states,” he said.
Hargey paid tribute to his team of partners who have helped make this facility a reality, and said he was particularly pleased by the fact that he could employ so many people that were without jobs when the Tedelex plant closed in 2010.
In 2010, Tellumat acquired the assets of the Tedelex television factory in Atlantis and continued to operate from the old factory building, producing close on 370 000 tele-visions since then. In October of 2012, they relocated to the newly launched facility.
For more information contact Murison Kotze, Tellumat, +27 (0)21 710 2241, [email protected], www.tellumat.com
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