PRETORIA, Gauteng — The newly launched Chery South Africa manufacturing plant in Pretoria marks a major milestone for the country’s automotive sector, transitioning the historic Rosslyn facility from an importer hub to a full-scale production center. Following a multi-billion-rand acquisition and three years of negotiations, the Chinese automaker has officially taken over the site from Nissan, bringing promises of thousands of new jobs and significant industrial expansion.
Securing Jobs and Expanding Production
The transition secures the future of approximately 700 to 900 existing Nissan employees who have worked at the Rosslyn facility for the past 60 years. Chery Auto Vice President Charlie Zhang announced that the company’s immediate target is to create nearly 3,000 direct jobs, alongside numerous indirect opportunities across the supply chain, manufacturing, and services sectors.
Zhang outlined a long-term vision to transform the site into a comprehensive automotive center featuring research, training, and supply chain integration, with the ultimate goal of exceeding 100,000 annual vehicle sales locally. The JU J5 is slated to be one of the first models produced at the plant.
For the workforce, the takeover brings immense relief. An employee representative highlighted the emotional weight of the transition, noting that Rosslyn is more than just a factory—it is a place where generations have built careers, developed skills, and forged lifelong friendships.
Government Vision and the Automotive Master Plan
The launch was headlined by Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who framed the investment as a glimmer of hope for the nation’s employment crisis. Mashatile tied the development to the national Automotive Master Plan, which sets aggressive targets for the sector: boosting domestic production to 1.4 million units (roughly 1% of global output), increasing local content to 60%, doubling sector employment, and transitioning to new energy vehicles by 2035.
During his address, Mashatile also acknowledged the need to improve infrastructure, service delivery, and crime-fighting efforts to retain and attract global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), signaling to global investors that the country remains a trusted destination for industrial investment.
Union Support and the “Assembly vs. Manufacturing” Debate
While the investment is widely celebrated, it has also sparked a critical debate about the nature of foreign automotive investment in the country. Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, spokesperson for the Motor Industry Staff Association (MISA)—which represents 79,000 workers in the retail motor sector—welcomed the influx of Chinese automotive brands, noting a massive recent growth in dealerships and vehicle sales.
However, Hlubi-Majola raised a crucial concern: ensuring South Africa becomes a true manufacturing hub for the African continent rather than just a destination for vehicle assembly.
Demands for Strict Localization Conditions
To prevent the country from becoming a mere assembly line, MISA is calling on the government to impose strict conditions on foreign investors. Hlubi-Majola pointed to BYD’s $1 billion investment in Turkey, which included firm commitments to localization, as a benchmark for what should be expected.
MISA is demanding the local production of components, robust skills development programs, genuine local manufacturing, and strict adherence to South African labor laws and practices.
The urgency for these conditions is underscored by warnings from the national automotive component manufacturers association. Employers in the component sector have raised alarms that an influx of cheap Chinese components is flooding the market, causing severe distress and even forcing some local factories to close. Hlubi-Majola emphasized that the real job-creation potential lies in local component manufacturing, urging the government to mitigate the risk of product dumping and ensure that the benefits of the new manufacturing era extend deeply into the local industrial ecosystem.
