Automotive industrial park pulled from Illovo
The Toyota Automotive Supplier Park is expected to be built at the old Durban International Airport.
BY ALL indications, the Toyota Automotive Supplier Park in Illovo, which was earmarked to be built near the N2, has been canned.
eThekwini Municipality recently revealed that talks are ongoing to move it to the old Durban International Airport.
Also read: EDITORIAL: Automotive park augurs well for Upper South Coast
If that is the case, it will dash the hopes of thousands of people who had hoped for employment and a boost to the Kingsburgh economy.
The 100-hectare site is west of the N2 and sits between the Umgababa and Illovo rivers. The R11.5 billion Toyota Automotive Supplier Park project was to house a hub for manufacturing Toyota car parts and other auto-related industries.
In April 2023, the site was illegally invaded by people from Umgababa and Lovu who sectioned off plots for themselves, intending to build homes. The police managed to drive them off after a few days.
eThekwini Municipality’s Medium Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework 2023/2024 to 2025/2026 report released towards the end of March revealed that the site was ditched because of delays in obtaining environmental clearance.
“Dube Trade Port is now undertaking feasibility studies on an alternative site to be used for Phase 1A. The new site to be used for this purpose is the old Durban International Airport. Discussions are at an advanced stage to conclude an agreement with Transnet who is the landowner,” read the report.
Plans for the Toyota Automotive Supplier Park were first announced in 2014, and construction was set to begin in 2019. It was hoped it would create 6 000 jobs during the construction phase and 2 600 permanent ones once completed.
In response, Dube Trade Port’s Vincent Zwane said his organisation still has industrial plans for the Illovo site.
“Dube TradePort is in the process of acquiring the necessary environmental and planning approvals for the Illovo site with the intention of developing a new industrial precinct that will accommodate new manufacturing investment including the automotive sector,” he said.
At the time of publishing, Toyota had not responded to questions.
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