Today 1st July, the Executive Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Eugene Johnson met with a high-level delegation from the South African Breweries (SAB) who committed to invest R510 million to upgrade its ibhayi Brewery in Perseverance.
SAB is of the view that Nelson Mandela Bay will benefit immensely from the investment as it will lead to 14,000 additional jobs through the value chain and will generate R2, 5 billion in additional GDP for the economy.
This is a massive boost in the economy of the metro which is recovering from the devastating COVID-19 pandemic which cost many people their jobs.
The investment of R510 million is without question a catalytic business expansion by South African Breweries (Pty) Ltd and its parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) which will have a wide-ranging positive impact on the economy of Nelson Mandela Bay and the broader Eastern Cape. Firstly, by increasing the productive capacity of the region and, secondly, by creating direct and indirect work opportunities for the residents and smaller businesses of the metro through various multiplier effects.
SAB, and the beverage and bottling industry in general, has been a long-standing investor in the City and continues to demonstrate the value and commitment it places in Nelson Mandela Bay as a business destination of choice. Investment expansions of this nature by our top investors such as SAB are a draw card for attraction and retention of investments in the Metro and therefore consistent with the Metro’s investment facilitation, attraction, and retention strategies.
Without significant private sector capital investments such as this commitment made by SAB, significant gains in innovation, skills development, and sustainable job creation at a national and local level are simply not possible.
The metro’s commits itself to prioritising and expediting the timely implementation of SAB’s ‘Project Beyond’ investment in its regional operations and its distribution network.
The Executive Mayor Eugene Johnson said, “On behalf on the residence of the metro, I am grateful and appreciate South Africa Breweries for their continued confidence in the metro and the Eastern Cape Province”.
“As SAB, our intention is to grow our business responsibly. We also believe that beer is natural, beer is local, and beer is inclusive. Because of its locality, we are thrilled of the commitment by the Executive Mayor to collaborate with us and we look forward to a long term mutually beneficial sustainable relationship.”
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality will continue to ensure that there is ease of doing business in the City and wish SAB, a warm welcome to this our beautiful city named after our Icon Nelson Mandela.
The SAB delegation was led by Mduduzi Lokoftwako Director of Government and Stakeholder Relations, Kgosi Mogotsi, Regional Corporate Affairs Director and Tinumzi Lubelwana, Regional Corporate Affairs Manager in the Cape Region.
