Wired for action

The Ilembe Chamber of Commerce paid a visit to Hesto Harnesses in KwaDukuza last Wednesday to take a look at the warehouse responsible for assembling the wiring for thousands of locally produced vehicles.
Chamber CEO Cobus Oelofse said the Chamber is always looking to widen its support base and having the likes of Hesto on board, who employ over 2000 people in Stanger alone, could help build relationships between businesses and government.
The executive committee of the chamber held a meeting in the company’s boardroom before being taken on a tour of the 16 000 square metre facility by Hesto Harnesses managing director, John Chandler.
The factory makes harnesses for Nissan, Chevrolet and a number of Toyota models. Hesto makes all the harnesses for Toyota Fortuner’s that are assembled in the country.
According to Chandler, the factory employs more people than all General Motors or Nissan’s factories in South Africa.
All these stats are put in perspective after taking a walk through the massive facility. The factory runs on the clock as efficiency is key to the success of the operation.
Each individual’s job function is key to making each harness.
Oelofse was impressed by the scale of the operation.
“The word impressive is sometimes overused but I think appropriate in this context – the common conclusion from all the members of the Exec team was that Hesto has an operation and team that sets a business benchmark for our region, if not for the province and country,” said Oelofse.
Oelofse also hammered home the importance of businesses coming together.
“The more business support we can get helps us to work effectively with government agencies. The chamber needs to talk to these agencies to sort out different issues that businesses are facing,” he said.
Hesto Harnesses are also doing their bit to help out local communities.
They have partnered with Samsung and are in the process of providing a Solar Powered Internet School, which is a container housing 24 computers, to Zilungisele Primary school in Stanger.