Bell Equipment Chief Executive, Gary Bell

Manufacturers in South Africa face ongoing challenges in terms of lack of meaningful support, poor response from government in dealing with some of the hurdles faced and of course issues such as power supply, labour, skills development and broad-based black economic empowerment difficulties.

“Our positioning and location relative to the major markets is in itself challenging and few incentives are available to offset this fact,” says Gary Bell, chief executive of Bell Equipment.

Going forward, Bell says that short to medium term priorities are to grow the Bell articulated dump truck and associated parts and service volumes in the active global markets by increasing the group’s dealer network coverage.

“Plans are also in place with regards to product range philosophies and the extent of manufacturing and the manufacturing locations in the medium to longer term. This has become particularly important as the bulk of our core products, the range of trucks, are now sold in the Northern hemisphere,” concludes Bell.

Equipment Africa says: The country’s labour volatility doesn’t bode well for long-term investments in the growth of local manufacturing. It is a worrying situation as there is a big divide between industrial policy action plan and the situation on the ground. There is need to ensure the future of manufacturing in South Africa as no other plural economy has achieved sufficient, shared and sustainable growth without manufacturing.