WATCH: Ramaphosa opens two factories in KZN

It's part of efforts by government and the private sector to chip away at the high unemployment rate and grow the economy.

Newswatch was at one of the official launches in KwaDukuza.

The first facility is a Hesto plant which manufactures electrical components for vehicles such as Ford Ranger, VW Amarok, Toyota, Isuzu before these can be exported to global markets around the world.

The plant launched on Tuesday is an addition to other plants owned by Hesto. It took just nine months to build from scratch and is a product of pledges by business during the last investment summit led by the president. 

The 35 000 square meter plant employs some 4 000 workers and if taking into account the company's subsidiaries this takes the total number of employed people to 7 200 - all from the local area and 70% of which are female.

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The president then made his way to Umkomaas on the South Coast to the launch of SAPPI SAICOR, where a multi-billion rand injection saw an expansion project commence in 2018 but was later disrupted by the Covid pandemic.

The south coast mill puts food on the table for thousands of locals and with SAPPI KZN operations comprising three mills, forestry operations, sales and exports, a staggering R12 billion is pumped into the KZN economy.

The president said these operations can only be achieved if government and the private sector continue working together to ensure investment within our borders is further realised.