Durban — The managing directors of a multimillion-rand chemical manufacturing company, Synergy Blenders, which was launched in La Mercy on Thursday, have pledged to not cause any harm to the environment and communities while manufacturing products.
Haroshen Govender, one of the directors, said this at the launch of the R120 million plant at Dube Trade Port in La Mercy on Thursday.
The 47% caustic soda liquid dissolution and blending plant covers 10 000m² and will be built at the trade port.
Govender said the plant was designed according to world-class manufacturing standards in the areas of safety, occupational safety, operational excellence and quality.
“The plant is stainless steel from end to end with all the necessary checks and balances in place. The plant has no emissions with zero liquid waste. All the liquid waste produced in this facility is actually recycled back into our process. The plant does not generate any waste.”
Govender said construction would start this month and would be finished in April 2023.
eThekwini Municipality councillor Nkosenhle Madlala said he was looking forward to tackling the recovery and the reforming of the eThekwini economy.
“It’s no secret that our country and our city have suffered greatly because of Covid-19, the July unrest and floods that hit the province. That has affected our GDP greatly. Durban lost 8% of the GDP which amounts to R32 billion. Despite the civil unrest, April and May floods the city has recovered 80% of its GDP. We are now at the final post to recover the remaining GDP,” he said.
Madlala said they were happy to see an investment in the manufacturing sector because it was one of the biggest contributors to the city’s economic recovery.
He said the sector was a high economic multiplier compared to other sectors.
“The sector creates decent-paying jobs, increases the city’s export footprint, boosts productivity and drives technology innovation in our country. We are also aware of the importance of the chemical industry. Almost 13% of the people of our city are hired in manufacturing firms and of these people close to 15 000 are hired in the chemicals industry and that is a key contribution to our economy,” he said.
Madlala added that with an average addition of R2.1bn per quarter worth of exports since 2020, chemical exports were the second-highest in value after vehicles.
The director of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, Rashmee Ragaven said this investment was timely after everything that the province had been through. She said the investment was critical to the economic development of the economy.
“The South African government is working hard in amplifying its effort to attract high-quality investment that will assist in achieving our economic objectives of enhancing the country’s industrial capacity,” said Ragaven.
KZN Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said with only three established producers of 47% caustic soda liquid in the country, the local manufacturers of caustic soda were currently unable to meet demand and hence an average of 370 000 tons are imported by the country annually.
“This highlights the potential for growth for this development by Synergy Blenders, which marks yet another step towards growing the economy of KwaZulu-Natal. As the provincial government, we are looking forward to seeing increased competition in the space and are anticipating a locally produced product that is of a high quality, meeting international standards, yet cost-effective for the benefit of the market and other stakeholders in the value chain,” said Dube-Ncube.
The MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Siboniso Duma said the number of jobs to be created by the plant was very important. He said with 24 permanent and 48 temporary jobs, the project will go a long way in assisting to make a dent in the unemployment rate of 33.2% in terms of the expanded unemployment rate as of the first quarter of 2022.
“As a department, we commit ourselves to ensure that this manufacturing plant becomes a success,” he said.
Daily News