CAPE TOWN, South Africa, October 21, 2025/APO Group: The Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade insisted for an urgent conversion pertaining to long-standing investment commitments into tangible jobs, exports, and industrial output at the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
The committee is currently conducting a week-long oversight visit in the Gqeberha area to assess the infrastructure networks surrounding the Coega SEZ and the Markman Industrial Park. Chairperson Sonja Boshoff commented that a key focus is the progress of large-scale strategic projects, including the green hydrogen and green ammonia initiative. “These projects have attracted strong international interest and have advanced to the engineering and planning phase. The committee has requested firm timelines for construction, local beneficiation, and industrial participation. We cannot have a situation where such infrastructure projects are perpetually kept in plans and reports. We want urgent implementation.”
She emphasised that announcements and ribbon-cuttings are no longer sufficient, stating: “Government has invested heavily to create the enabling environment. The private sector has made commitments. The time has now come to see operational results, with real jobs, local procurement opportunities, and improved export performance. Coega must be more than a strategic asset on paper; it must be a driver of inclusive growth in reality.”
Coega considered to be South Africa’s largest SEZ, having received R4.2 billion in funding from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, of which R2.5 billion has already been disbursed. This makes it one of the largest public investments in industrial infrastructure in the country.
This state funding has enabled Coega to attract R12.5 billion in private-sector investment from both domestic and international companies, positioning the SEZ as one of the most significant public-private partnerships in South Africa’s industrialisation programme. The committee made it clear that these partnerships must now translate into measurable outcomes – factories in operation, products being exported and South Africans being employed at scale
“Similarly, the Coega Pharmaceutical and Vaccine Manufacturing Precinct, supported by Aspen Pharmacare, has been identified as a key driver of Africa’s health sovereignty. While Aspen’s existing facility in Gqeberha is operational, the broader pharmaceutical precinct within Coega remains in early development. We have requested clarity on investor readiness, infrastructure timelines and projected job creation,” Boshoff added.
“This SEZ cannot exist in isolation. It must be the engine room that drives industrial diversification, attracts new investment and safeguards South African jobs in the face of global economic uncertainty.”
The committee also engaged with the Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the Eastern Cape Economic Development Agency to assess their contribution to investment attraction, provincial competitiveness and integration of township and rural economies into SEZ value chains while at the same time calling for a proactive response to global trade disruptions, including the recent announcement by the US administration of a proposed 30 percent export tax, which could affect South African manufactured exports. “Detailed mitigation strategies will be required to assure investors and protect South African jobs,” the Chairperson underlined.
