Producing for the future at Whirlpool SA

Despite the uncertain business mood, Isithebe industrial estate is now home to not only the Whirlpool manufacturing hub of fridges and freezers, but also the twin tub.

Whirlpool SA director, Trevor Graham said their newly launched production facility for the twin tub washing machine has already created 25 new jobs.

“For the moment, we are importing the twin tub kit from Whirlpool India and assemble the product here. We currently make about 4200 twin tubs a month. In time, we will start running a night shift, which will double our workforce. We also hope to start localising the parts which will add to job creation,” said Graham.

He said South Africa has a very similar consumer market to India and based on the popularity of the twin tub there, they decided to bring it to Isithebe.

“The twin tub does not need water pressure – it can be filled with a bucket of water and requires 30 litres for one load of washing. It also has a scrub station on the side for those tough stains.”

He said they have further expansion plans for the future and already have spent about R100 million on the plant, machinery upgrades and increasing their capacity.

To keep expanding, they do however need to have more stability in the area.

“We are concerned about the infrastructure of the area not developing as well as the political scenario and the low skills. We are working on improving our relationship with the local leadership and we want to work with our local schools to improve skills.

“We have a training centre of our own for our employees. If we can achieve stability with the support of the local government, there is a lot of opportunity for the people here.”

Also read: Ilembe business mood plummets

Whirlpool HR manager, Leslie Nkosi said despite the depressed business climate surrounding them, they are here to stay.

“We have seen a number of factories closing down. Whirlpool is still committed to further investment and job creation in Mandeni. Already, we directly employ 950 people, with another 300 working for our direct suppliers in the estate. Each of our employees support eight to 10 people, which means 10000 to 12000 people in the area rely directly on us.” said Nkosi.

Ilembe Chamber CEO Cobus Oelofse agreed with Nkosi and said they needed input from the municipality and government to keep Isithebe alive.

“Isithebe industrial estate is the biggest in the country. It employs 21 000 and supports about 200 000 people, which is a third of the population in the Ilembe district. Let’s look after this industrial estate and the people who benefit from it. These businesses are being courted by Dube Tradeport and Richard’s Bay to move and if we do not make our businesses feel comfortable here, they will end up leaving,” said Oelofse.

Transport, safety and community liaison MEC, Mxolisi Kaunda, who was speaking on behalf of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC, Sihle Zikalala, commended Whirlpool for expanding.

“The area’s proximity to both the King Shaka International Airport and the Dube Trade Port Special Economic Zone lends further impetus to our goal of modeling Isithebe Industrial Estate into a development area for heavy industry. Work is also underway to explore the possibility of Isithebe being part of the broader Richards Bay Industrial Sector Special Economic Zone,” said Kaunda.

Meanwhile, news of the factory’s expansion has already spread, with people queuing outside the gates hoping for a job.

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