Latest news with #R900-million
Daily Maverick
21-07-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Maverick
Almost R1-billion to fuel Ford's journey to transform dealerships and keep customers for life
After 103 years in South Africa, Ford is doubling down on its dealer network and customer experience in the face of economic pressures, global disruption and a changing local market. Ford has weathered world wars, oil shocks and economic downturns since setting up shop in South Africa in 1923. Now it faces a market hit by affordability pressures, global supply shocks and a tidal wave of overseas competitors. Ford South Africa president Neale Hill believes the answer to this is a better customer experience. 'The experience we want to give our customers is not only in terms of the vehicles that they drive, but the ownership experience coming into dealerships needs to match that positioning in our vehicles,' Hill said. This repositioning comes after Ford ranked fourth in Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) market share with 6.5% and 3,058 units sold, trailing Toyota, Suzuki and Volkswagen in June. A 'family promise' Central to Ford's strategic pivot is its so-called 'Ford family promise' – a set of 22 initiatives aimed at smoothing out the pain points of owning a car. Unlike a guarantee, Hill calls it a 'proactive approach'. This ecosystem leans on Ford dealerships across the country with the goal of covering the entire customer journey, such as servicing, extended plans, warranties and finance under one roof. As Ford shifts up in terms of its market positioning with vehicles it describes as 'premium quality', the service experience needs to match the positioning of its vehicles, said Hill. In June 2025, Ford overtook Hyundai in new vehicle sales volume, according to data from the Automotive Business Council. (Data visualisation: Kara le Roux ) R900m and a new look Big promises demand big money. Ford's dealership partners are investing more than R900-million into upgrades and new facilities by 2027. In 2024 alone, 20 projects were on the go, said Ford network operations manager Kuda Takura, valued at R292-million. The company operates across 118 dealerships, supporting 10,600 jobs, according to Takura. Investments are split between 'greenfield projects' (new builds) and 'brownfield' upgrades to existing facilities. Ford is rolling out a new 'signature design' across its network, a concept dreamed up with input from its research team in the US. Forget showroom floors packed with cars. 'One would think the first thing you want to see when you walk into a dealership is a motor vehicle. Instead, you see what we call the 'social hub', a space where you come together,' Takura said. It's designed to be a comforting space customers want to spend time in, as an emotionally connected customer tends to spend twice as much and stay loyal, said Michael Zahariev, co-founder of Luxity, a designer reseller in South Africa. 'While the product might get you through the door, the experience is what keeps you coming back.' Ford's data seems to align with this retail trend. 'Dealers who invest in retail design and design standards see an uptick in their vehicle sales together with overall profits,' Takura said. A game of 'three-dimensional chess' Hill describes the auto industry as being in 'a very interesting state of flux' – a diplomatic way of describing a sector in which automakers are playing 'a game of three-dimensional chess', he said, with propulsion choices, new energy vehicles and battery electric in the mix. Indian and Chinese imports are flooding South Africa. In 2024, India accounted for 57% of imported passenger cars and lightweight vehicles; China was second at 17%, the Automotive Business Council's (Naamsa) data shows. South Africa now has 14 Chinese brands in play, Naamsa said, six of them launched last year alone. Growth is strongest in passenger vehicles and mini and small utility segments, according to Ford sales director Ryan Searle – categories Ford no longer serves. That shift has cost Ford market share, though it still grew sales by 8% year on year, said sales chief Ryan Searle. Its workhorse Ranger bakkie remains the backbone, making up 70% of volume, with the Territory SUV gaining traction. Tariff wars, protectionist policies and fractured supply chains have turned the industry into a geopolitical pressure cooker. 'It's going to take quite a while for this to settle down and for absolute clarity to come to the fore in terms of what the auto industry as a whole looks like at the end of it. You've got markets that are now seeing that tariffs are an acceptable form of defence,' Hill says. 'The first six months of Mr Trump being in the White House, he's certainly thrown the proverbial – I wouldn't even call it a cat, I'd probably call it a fox or a lynx – among the pigeons.' What this means for you Ford dealerships will start to look and feel more like luxury lounges than showrooms. Servicing your vehicle might become easier with online bookings and pickup options. Imported brands may keep vehicle prices competitive, but tariffs could change that. Local auto jobs remain at risk if manufacturing slows. An industry on edge South Africa's auto sector is one of the country's largest manufacturing segments, employing about 112,000 people directly and supporting about 320,000 jobs when you include the supply chain, according to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition's 2035 Master Plan. That's why Hill bristles at the idea of losing local production to imports. 'When you lose a manufacturing sector, you never get it back,' he warned, pointing to Goodyear's recent decision to shut its Kariega plant. 'That's testament to low to no growth rates, no economic development and an economy that is stagnating.' The fear is that if local OEMs falter, the ripple effect will gut suppliers, jobs and export earnings. Hill argues that some form of government intervention – incentives, support – is non-negotiable to keep the industry viable. DM
Daily Maverick
12-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Drama, deals, disregard – how another 12,000 Nelson Mandela Bay ratepayers were denied a capital budget
In this second report in our series on wards in Nelson Mandela Bay receiving a zero capital budget, Ward 39 is a large residential area that includes suburbs and the peri-urban area of Theescombe. Some of its residents pay the highest rates in Nelson Mandela Bay, and yet its capital budget was reduced from R1.5m to nothing. When Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor Babalwa Lobishe joined the residents of Ward 39 at their integrated development plan meeting, she presented them with the 2024 budget instead of the 2025/6 budget. In that 2024 budget, the ward had a capital budget of R1.5-million – but ward councillor Margaret de Andrade and her ward committee soon pointed out to Lobishe that she was presenting the wrong budget. 'I told her there is a zero under capital budget in the new budget,' De Andrade said. 'We received nothing but R100,000 for a humanitarian fund that is almost impossible to access.' The R1.5-millon referred to by Lobishe had, in any event, already been spent on resurfacing part of a crucial road, adding traffic calming measures and fixing a busy sidewalk. This is the second ward in the metro, with mostly ratepaying residents, whose budget has been cut to zero. Ward 8, covering Lorraine, a densely populated area, also had its capital budget reduced to zero. The Nelson Mandela Bay council was to meet for the third time on Thursday to try to pass the budget. But according to a letter seen by Daily Maverick, even the National Treasury has become worried about the numbers – the metro's collection rate is at 73% and the budget is based on a collection rate of 76%. This means that there is a shortfall of R1.3-billion. Grants totalling R900-million from the national government that could have been used for capital projects were returned unspent in the past two financial years. For the current financial year, the metro has only spent 38% of its R1.9-billion capital expenditure budget. While the four wards that received zero capital budgets are wards with Democratic Alliance councillors, De Andrade, who sits on the budget and treasury subcommittee, said many ANC councillors were unhappy with the budgets for their wards. 'Hugely disrespectful' De Andrade, who has been a councillor for 19 years, said she had not had to deal with a zero capital budget before. Water leaks, sewage spills and street lights can still, in theory, be fixed under operational budgets for the metro. 'I want a million rand,' she said. 'We have a track record of looking after a capital budget of a million rand. You can't give me zero.' She said they had asked for specific evidence for this decision. She said over the medium term, the situation didn't look much better as the ward would receive only R500,000 for the next financial year. 'That is just stupid. I can tar maybe 500 metres with it.' Below are the projects the ward presented to the municipality to be taken into account for the Integrated Development Plan and the budget: Walker Drive needs to be resurfaced as it is riddled with potholes; Riverstone Road needs an upgrade and drainage; there needs to be a taxi rank constructed for Kragga Kamma; the railing of the low water bridge in the Kabega Road dip should be fixed. Parts of the ward are in urgent need of high mast lights. A substation needs fencing. Kragga Kamma Road, which carries around 5,000 vehicles a day, needs pedestrian walkways and cycle tracks to cut down on accidents. Walker Drive needs a stormwater upgrade, and several gravel roads in the peri-urban areas need tarring. Trees growing into powerlines have to be cut and old electrical infrastructure must be replaced. The ward also has illegal cables running over busy Kragga Kamma Road that often set the area on fire. De Andrade also asked for this to be dealt with. 'I think our ratepayers accept that 80% of their rates go to other areas, but it is hugely disrespectful to give us no capital budget,' De Andrade said. She said that after receiving advice from a city official, she managed to get R500,000 in unspent money to cut trees before the end of the financial year. She said that as she had her meetings about the zero capital budget, acting city manager Ted Pillay had told her to agree to this budget so that 'they can get it through' as they needed the new electricity tariffs to be approved — they would then adjust the budget in August. The electricity department projects a loss of R1.3-billion for the coming year and needs rates to ensure that it doesn't default on its payments to Eskom. In the current financial year, the municipality has already spent R600-million more on purchasing electricity than it received from sales to the public. 'But I said no,' De Andrade said. 'Councillors are delaying the approval of the budget because we want to see the capital budgets in print before we vote.' Municipality's response Municipal director of communications Sithembiso Soyaya said a mistake had been made in presenting the wrong budget to Ward 39 residents. 'During engagements in Ward 39, it was brought to the municipality's attention that the previous year's budget figures may have been presented during an initial consultation session. This matter is currently under internal review, within the relevant framework, and corrective measures will be implemented to ensure such administrative oversights do not recur. 'The concern has been noted and considered during the revision of the draft budget, and the updated, corrected figures should be reflected in the final 2025/26 budget being presented to Council on Thursday. 'The municipality remains committed to ensuring that communities receive accurate, up-to-date information in all budget consultation processes. 'On the response by the city manager, we wish to clarify the context and emphasise that any amendment to the municipal budget must follow a legally compliant process, as provided for in Section 28 of the Municipal Finance Management Act, which allows for a formal adjustment budget to be adopted by council under defined conditions. 'No informal or arbitrary changes can be made outside this regulated process. The municipality upholds these legislative requirements and remains committed to full compliance with the law.
Daily Maverick
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
A tale of two dams — Grasslands restoration is as important as engineering solutions to ensure SA's future water security
In his State of the Nation Address, President Ramaphosa boasted of the preparations to build the Ntabelanga Dam in the Eastern Cape. However, this R10-billion construction will quickly go to waste if the grasslands above it aren't repaired, and catchment restoration is dead in the water after government funding cuts and stagnant tendering processes. From a bird's eye view, this bank on the Tina River in the Eastern Cape highlands looks like it's suffering a failed hair transplant. The satellite photos capture row upon row of round plugs in neat symmetry in the ochre ground. Some have a faint shadow where grass has sprouted. Most are the leftover contours of hand-dug ponds, each not much wider than the diameter of a car tyre, which were sunk into the cement-hard ground in the hope that they'd become islands of plant growth that would allow the veld to recover. If the grass regrows and stabilises the riverbank, it should slow the flood of topsoil and sand that has clogged up the Mount Fletcher weir, a small downstream reservoir that cost R900-million to build, but now can only hold a third of its intended capacity. The weir has become something of a personality in conservation circles, but for all the wrong reasons. Just four years after a low, scalloped wall was built across an elbow of the Tina River in 2014 on the outskirts of a town that shared its name — today, the town falls under Tlokoeng — the weir had lost roughly two-thirds of its holding capacity. The upstream grassland is so threadbare from overgrazing that the soil had been scoured away by rain and dumped into the belly of the reservoir. Just 50km from here is the site of the proposed Ntabelanga Dam, a R10-billion project that has been on the cards for a decade and which was a talking point in President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address this February. Natural resource managers inside government, as well as conservationists with civil society organisations, warn that if the grasslands in the dam's catchment aren't repaired, this costly investment will face the same plight as the Mount Fletcher weir. Back in 2014, the department's chief director of the then Department of Environmental Affairs' Natural Resource Management Programmes, Dr Christo Marias calculated that for just 5% of the total cost of the project – which covers the building of the dam, a water treatment plant and the bulk water distribution network – spent over a 12 year period, these grasslands can be stabilised enough to keep the Ntabelanga Dam relatively silt-free. That amounts to R532-million in total, or around R44-million a year. But government funding for wetland and grassland restoration, including the clearing of invasive alien plants under the Working for Water and related ecosystem restoration projects, has been throttled so dramatically that it has brought restoration work here in the Eastern Cape and in many other parts of the country to an indefinite halt. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) attributes this to the response by its then-minister, Barbara Creecy, to post-Covid budget cuts by the Treasury, which hit all departments hard. But people close to the DFFE say a shift in spending priorities is to blame, along with a change in 2015 to an onerous and slow tender process for distributing funds. The abandoned riverbank repair job upstream of the Mount Fletcher weir was among the victims, as were the many people who were paid to wield shovels as part of the restoration work. Rob Scholz is known in these parts as the guy who mends broken wetlands. It's a miserable Eastern Cape day in February, and he's explaining why the municipality was paying locals to dig 40,000-odd pint-sized ponds in the banks of the Tina River, and how these might help the riverbank recover. '(Rain) just runs off (hard soil). You get hardly any absorption of water. With that ponding you're making little water traps.' Each pond can hold about 25l of water. Even if a pond is only half-filled during a storm, a catchment with 40,000 such indentations can store half a million litres of water, allowing it to seep slowly into the soil rather than flashing off the top and stripping away anything unmoored in its path. Over time, they become islands which hold moisture and in which plants germinate and take root. 'It was actually amazing. Within a year, some of those areas grassed up.' The before-and-after photographs bear up. The recovery at some sites where the teams worked is objectively quite remarkable. Scholz is interrupted by his phone. Someone wants advice on what kind of animal feed to buy. A trained forester, Scholz worked in the natural resource management office at the Joe Gqabi District Municipality (JGDM) for 24 years and was unit manager when he and his team lost their jobs in 2024. Now, Scholz works for a local agri-business operation based in Ugie and Nqanqarhu. The municipality's funding for the Tina River work came mostly from the pool of money aimed at ecosystem restoration work, the Working for Water and related projects that fall under the DFFE's budget for environmental programmes. But in 2015 the state changed how it distributes these funds, from a grant system, to one that requires municipalities to tender for funds alongside private contractors. The red tape proved to be onerous and the processing so slow that funding often came through too late in a financial year to allow the clearing and restoration work to be done on time. The uncertainty made planning difficult. By 2020, tender processing slowed and then ground to a halt. Scholz and acting municipal manager Fiona Sephton went as far as to travel to Cape Town to get some clarity from the DFFE on their applications. Meanwhile, the municipality was fast running out of money to keep its natural resource management office and its contractors afloat. To date, no tenders have been issued for Working for Water (WfW) projects in the Eastern Cape for two years. The post-Covid cash crunch also saw the Treasury cut budgets dramatically across all departments. Creecy's response within the DFFE resulted in the WfW's pot reduced from R1.7-billion in the 2020/21 financial year, to just R377-million in 2024. The department confirmed these figures, saying it reflected Creecy's response to general funding cuts at the time. Although the department's own figures suggest that the cuts to WfW were a shift in priorities rather than a shortage of cash. The total spend for the department's environmental programmes, under which WfW sits, remains relatively constant since then – R2.6-billion for 2020/21 and 2021/22; R3.2-billion for 2022/23; and R2.9-billion for 2023/24 — even while WfW has seen a 78% decrease on the previous budget. Several sources outside the department who are close to its senior structures, as well as staff inside the department, say this was a political decision reflecting changing priorities rather than a shortage of funding. The DFFE did not respond to specific questions relating to this decision. Either way, these events proved the death knell for the district municipality's grasslands repair work – which was positioned as job creation and economic development, not water catchment management since this isn't a municipal mandate – money for the team's salaries was gone, as were the funds to pay contracting teams drawn from the Tlokoeng community who did the heavily lifting in the restoration work along the Tina River. With no fixed contract, Scholz left his job of nearly 25 years at the municipality 'with nothing', not even a retrenchment package. 'It's one of those things,' he says pragmatically. Others are far worse off. 'We had about 850 to 900 people working in these programmes [across the wider district].' By his estimation, the district municipality is probably the second-biggest employer in the area, after the local private forestry company, PG Bison. There isn't much work for people in the town of Tlokoeng, formerly known as Mount Fletcher. Most families are dependent on social grants, so the Tina River restoration work was a boon when it happened, says Chief Montoeli Lehana of the Batlokoa Traditional Council. He was the main liaison between the Tlokoeng community and the JGDM for the Tina River work, and is understated when he says how 'sad' it was when the money dried up. 'It employed about 30 contractors, and each contractor employed plus-minus 20 people,' he says. The principal of the local high school even commented on how pupils were arriving at school with food in their stomachs when these jobs were in play. 'It was sad when we heard that there's no more budget for that project. Imagine, the number of people who suddenly had to stop [working] because there was no budget. The explanation was not enough.' There's no indication from the new environment minister, Dr Dion George, who took the helm of DFFE in July 2024, whether he will revisit the spending decisions for ecosystem restoration nationally, or grasslands rehabilitation here in the catchments of the Mount Fletcher weir or the proposed Ntabelanga Dam. But whatever shuffling of funds happens in budgetary spreadsheets in the DFFE's national office has real-world consequences for the future of water catchments of the Eastern Cape and the food that families can put on the table in obscure rural towns like Tlokoeng that are far from the corridors of power. DM This is part of the Golden Threads series for the Story Ark – tales from southern Africa's climate tipping points project, which investigates the state of the country's old-growth grasslands, the free natural services they offer and what South Africa needs to do to conserve and repair them. The series is a collaboration with the Stellenbosch University School for Climate Studies and the Henry Nxumalo Foundation, which supports investigative journalism.
