South Africa’s National Industrial Participation Programme (Nipp) has already produced more than 6 000 jobs of the 14 000 direct jobs targeted by 2011, says Department of Trade and Industry Deputy Director General Lionel October.
Addressing the trade and industry portfolio committee on Monday, October said this figure would rise to over 9 000 in the medium term as companies involved went into production or expanded their production. Much of this was associated with the offsets related to the arms procurement programme.
Participation becomes obligatory when the imported content of any public sector purchase exceeds $10-million.
The size of obligations being monitored at present is about $14-billion — to be discharged by 2011 in the case of the defence procurement and 2013 in the case of South African Airways’s (SAA) acquisition of Airbus aircraft.
The defence procurement offset component has produced 674 jobs — counting the 390 existing jobs — by offset companies associated with the French global aerospace electronics company Thales, contracted to provide combat suites for the SA naval corvettes.
Jobs associated with offsets from the corvette platform building programme amount to 371 so far. The German Frigate Consortium, whose obligation is to be offset by Thyssen Rheinstahl Technik, a member of the consortium, won the bid to supply the SA Navy with the platforms.
Their industrial participation projects, according to the Department of trade and Industry are “diverse and focus on their core competences”.
Agusta, the Italian helicopter company, has created over 300 jobs through its offset operations, which include the manufacture of gold export jewellery. This is expected to rise to nearly 400 by the end of the year.
Non-defence offsets account for about 1 400 of the jobs created.
October did not indicate if they were temporary or permanent jobs. Daimler Chrysler accounts for 900 of these at the Atlantis Foundries in the Western Cape. This operation produces vehicle cylinder blocks.
Industrial participation credits accumulate under the project to fulfil part of the Airbus offset obligation resulting from the commercial aircraft purchase by SAA. – I-Net Bridge