Gqeberha can become the electric vehicle hub of SA, read the headline of an article published in this newspaper on Wednesday. With a bit of foresight and clever positioning, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) believes this city could establish itself as the main harbour for exporting and importing electric vehicles.
In doing so, it could create 2,000 jobs, the association said.
And as expected, the reaction to any mention of electric vehicles in SA is seen as a joke, and understandably so, because, well, electricity is in rather short supply at the moment.
One reader commented on social media: “Excluding the obvious electricity problem, the cost of these vehicles are way above what the average South African could afford.
“Then there is the battery life and replacement cost, service, cost and time to charge, charging stations that would be vandalised or used to rob people coming to charge their vehicles.”
And that sums up the litany of problems the nation is bogged down by.
What the reader is implying is that, until we fix the other problems, we should forget about big, forward-thinking projects.
But that approach does not help us move forward as a country.
We should be demanding that the basics are attended to, and expect catalytic projects that will bring investments and jobs.
At a business breakfast on Wednesday, CEO of Urban Issues Consulting, Lorenzo Davids, spoke about building a sustainable democracy and a vibrant civil society.
He spoke about the responsibility of each South African to help change the narrative from this being a “pothole country” to a “bullet train country”.
One of the more profound things he mentioned was that, as a nation, we had committed to mediocrity for far too long and that it was time to commit to excellence.
Having Gqeberha become an electric vehicle hub would signify excellence — a game-changing kind of excellence that could help propel our city forward.
There is, of course, the elephant in the room — load-shedding — which stands in the way of our advancement to electric vehicles.
However, if industry leaders come together, and are given the leeway and permission to provide solutions to the electricity problem, electric vehicles need not be a pipe dream in SA.
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