At 85 the Industrial Development Corporation is staking a claim to relevance

CONCEPTUAL clarity adopted in its founding principles and a strong mandate to drive sustainable industrialisation has largely defined the history of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).

- 

Although shortages of manufactured goods, caused by disruption to trade between Europe and South Africa following the first and second world wars were key catalysts for the rapid industrialisation of the local economy, the core objective to industrialise South Africa still underpins the corporation's foundational mandate, alongside its commitment to job creation. Established in 1940 through an Act of Parliament, the IDC turned 85 years old, in October, last month.

For context, this institution has contributed significantly to shaping South Africa’s manufacturing and industrial base over the past eight and half decades. The corporation helped birth the likes of Ouma Rusks, Da Gama textiles, Foskor, Mossgas (since renamed Petro SA), Richards Bay Minerals, Palabora Mining, Karsten Boerdery among others.

World-class companies such as petrochemicals giant Sasol and international pulp and paper group Sappi also had their roots watered by IDC funds. By any metric, it is safe to suggest that every South African household or consumer wakes up to an IDC associated product to begin their daily grind. From a face cloth and bathing towel woven at Glodina, to Satin bath products produced at Amka factory in Centurion, IDC’s impact extends to households beyond our borders.

However, to assume universal agreement of IDC’s impact merely because one is accustomed to its products or can attest to familiarity of its legacy investments would be shortsighted. Times have changed. As such, growth without transformation would only have reinforced the inequitable patterns of wealth inherited from the past. Accordingly, government's promulgation of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) legislation post the new democratic dispensation ushered in a new era of transformation.