According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), over
the last year, 387,125 vehicles worth R148 billion, along with R53.7 billion worth of automotive
components, were exported from South Africa to 151 countries.
The international trend toward electric vehicles (EVs) is growing with NAAMSA expecting that 40%
of all European vehicle sales will be EVs by 2030.
“It is clear that we cannot ignore EVs if we want to continue doing business with Europe. It will have
a huge impact on the country if we lose R201 billion in export earnings a year,” said NAAMSA .
But domestic use of EVs in South Africa remains mute, with only 205 fully-electric vehicles (EV) sold
in South Africa during the first two quarters of 2022. According to the Naamsa’s second-quarter
business review, a total of 218 EVs were sold in the country throughout the entirety of 2021, 92 EVs
were sold in 2020, 154 in 2019, 58 in 2018, and 68 in 2017.
In May 2021, the department of trade industry and competition (DTIC) published an Automotive
Green Paper focused on the advancement of NEVs in South Africa.
The Green Paper highlighted that the NEV challenge in South Africa is two-dimensional,
encompassing both demand and supply side considerations, and that it is an inevitable transition for
the South African automotive industry, as it will be the future driving technology adopted by the
global automotive industry,” said Naamsa.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently green-lit the Just Transition Framework, which, under the
Presidential Climate Commission, sets out policy measures and undertakings by different social
partners to minimise the social and economic impacts of the shift away from fossil fuels.
