While many manufacturers have scaled back or abandoned operations in Nelson Mandela Bay, Aberdare Cables has doubled down on the city.
The cable manufacturer, founded in the city in 1946, celebrated its 80th anniversary on Thursday after weathering economic downturns, power crises and growing competition from cheap imports.
It has emerged as one of the largest cable producers in the southern hemisphere.
With more than 1,200 jobs — about 490 at the Stanford Road plant — the company is looking into the future by diversifying and tapping into the electric vehicle market by possibly building charging stations.
Aberdare marketing, sales and distribution executive director Mishack Matla said the company’s longevity could be attributed to a culture built on quality, compliance and customer service.
“The backbone of what Aberdare stands for is its obsession with quality,” Matla said.
“Compliance with compulsory standards is non-negotiable in our business.”
He said the company was positioning itself for future growth by expanding beyond cable manufacturing into related sectors, including cable accessories, installation services and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
“We are currently investigating the possibility of participating in electric vehicle charging stations and are in the advanced stages of finalising a strategic plan,” he said.
However, Matla said the company was facing significant challenges, particularly from imported products entering the local market at lower prices.
“SA still lacks the capacity to source some of the key raw materials required to manufacture cables,” he said.
“In many cases, we have to import and stockpile materials, which ties up significant amounts of capital.”
He said the influx of imported cables had intensified since the start of the year, with some foreign suppliers undercutting local manufacturers by as much as 10%.
“We’ve had a huge influx of imports that have taken opportunities that we should have serviced, and a lot of companies are purchasing that, those guys are 7% cheaper, 5% cheaper, 10% cheaper.
“If you are talking R100m worth of cables, you save 10%, it’s not small money, but we think it’s very short-sighted on their part, because firstly, they need to make sure that those cables are compliant with the compulsory standards of this country.
“We are convinced that many of these imports are not always compliant, but because the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications does not have the capacity to inspect every shipment, they get away with it at the expense of local companies and local jobs.”
Matla also criticised the lapse of the government’s local procurement designation policy, which previously required public entities to prioritise locally manufactured cables in tender processes.
“Government intervention is important.
“The designation framework expired about two or three years ago and was never renewed.
“At the moment, that protection does not exist, and everybody is getting away with it,” he said.
He said the trade, industry and competition department had indicated it was working on reinstating the policy, though no timeline had been provided.
The company offers cable designs, product development, installation support, commissioning and diagnostic testing through its engineering service division
Aberdare Cables has three manufacturing sites in SA, with two of them in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
In 2016, Aberdare was acquired by global telecommunications and power infrastructure company Hengtong.
Hengtong operates in 147 countries, has 11 manufacturing bases outside China and owns seven brands, including Aberdare.
Aberdare Cables chief executive Ken Wang said the company had lasted this long due to its firm stance on compliance with SA laws and reliable products.
“Our foundation has enabled us to last this long and go further,” Wang said.
“From a Hengtong point of view, it’s also a cable manufacturer and younger than Aberdare, but the partnership has created a lot of skills transfer.”
Since 2016, Aberdare Cables has invested R850m in capital expenditure, including the development of a high-voltage production line.
Factory operations and technical executive Wayne Munilall said Aberdare’s range was broad, fitting requirements from state-owned entities to municipalities and Eskom.
Munilall said that, in response to infrastructure challenges outside the plant, the company had invested in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems to ensure operational continuity.
“We’ve also invested heavily in a borehole system.
“So our factory here is completely independent in the sense that it can switch off the mains anytime and pump off the borehole.”
Supply chain executive Stuart Carter said one of the key things about Aberdare in the city was that the factory had never moved.
“It’s put its roots down and just stayed here.
“If you look at other big companies throughout SA, they all tend to move when they’ve grown.
“Stanford Road, as we call it, has always been seen as the mothership.”
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