..:: AUTO REPORT AFRICA ::..
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Right to Repair South Africa is well known for advocating for consumer choice. But consumer choice has a very important flipside and that is the creation of opportunity – an all-important word in a country such as ours.
Year-on-year figures from the Quarterly Employment Statistics survey, released by Stats SA this week, show that formal sector jobs in fact decreased by 552,000 in the first quarter of this year.
CEO of Right to Repair, Kate Elliott, says never have we needed an increase in broad-based economic growth more than we do now. She says in the automotive sector specifically, the implementation of the Guidelines for Competition in the South African Automotive Aftermarket has significant potential to help with job creation and boost the circular economy.
The automotive industry is the third largest sector in the national economy. While a large portion of this can be attributed to the manufacture and retail of new motor vehicles, the repair and service sector cannot be discounted. “There are about 12.7 million vehicles on the road in South Africa and all of these will need to be serviced and repaired during their lifetimes.”
Elliott says the importance of having a truly competitive automotive aftermarket is twofold. Firstly, it ensures access to the market for previously disadvantaged individuals thus creating jobs contributing to the alleviation of poverty, and secondly, if the sector is operating at maximum efficiency, the cost savings have an impact on all sectors of the economy, much as the petrol price does.
The Guidelines have opened up the market and paved the way for Government to support and drive growth and transformation as seen by initiatives like the Auto Franchise and Right to Repair Indaba being hosted in the Eastern Cape by AIDC early next month.
“The Competition Commission’s new regulations pertaining to the automotive aftermarket present a golden opportunity for new and emerging automotive entrepreneurs to enter the sector,” says Elliott.
This is particularly important when it is predicted that meaningful job creation will probably only resume once corporate profitability has been restored and balance sheets have been strengthened. It is even more key now to create a level playing field where both big and small business can compete fairly and effectively and where we can drive initiatives and programmes which facilitate entry into the market.
“We have the tools already in place to create a healthier economy in this sector. Let us not miss this opportunity to stimulate growth and employment. It is abundantly clear that we should support the implementation of the Guidelines to their fullest extent and this needs to remain a key focus of Government moving forward,” she concludes.
