Key topics:
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SA govt finalises EV programme to boost manufacturing and jobs
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Chinese firms plan nationwide EV charging rollout via BYD
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EV sales surge in SA driven by imports and BYD growth
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By Hanno Labuschagne
President Cyril Ramaphosa said his administration was finalising an official electric vehicle programme for South Africa, and that Chinese EV makers plan to roll out charging stations across the country.
Ramaphosa’s comments came in response to a question in Parliament from Rise Mzansi leader Mmusi Maimane.
Maimane wanted to know what the president was doing to address unemployment, particularly in the manufacturing sector.
He highlighted that Morocco surpassed South Africa as the largest vehicle producer on the continent in 2025.
Maimane warned that if Ramaphosa did not act, major manufacturers like Volkswagen would move to Morocco, costing the country more jobs and devastating carmaking hubs like Gqeberha.
“Mr President, I want to ask you, and I am willing to work with you on this, to introduce reforms that will introduce EVs into our market so that we can ramp up manufacturing,” Maimane asked.
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Ramaphosa acknowledged that EVs were the future and that many companies worldwide were now switching to electric vehicles.
The president said the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition was finalising a comprehensive EV programme so that “manufacturers can come to the fore.”
“I’ve been to some of them in China, for instance, and they want to speed up their own production processes for EVs,” he said.
“A number of them have even said they will lay out the charging system throughout the country so that South Africa could migrate to EVs.”
Ramaphosa said South Africa had the most developed industrial base on the continent, and the transition to EV manufacturing would be quite easy and quick.
For years, South African automobile manufacturers have lamented the government’s slow response to the global transition to EVs.
Aside from a few startups specialising in electric tricycles used for last-mile deliveries, no company is building EVs in South Africa.
As with petrol vehicles, Chinese brands are seeing significant adoption of their imported EV models, even though they do not operate any local factories.
Instead of focusing on incumbents’ concerns, Ramaphosa has courted Chinese carmakers to begin making their cars in South Africa.
To date, only the country’s top-selling Chinese brand, Chery Group, has firm plans to set up local manufacturing.
The company is taking over Nissan’s plant in Rosslyn. However, it has yet to launch any fully-electric models in South Africa or confirm that it will build EVs locally.
One of the companies Ramaphosa visited in China was BYD, the country’s top new-energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturer.
A few months after the president’s visit, BYD’s second-in-command, Stella Li, announced that the company would roll out 200 to 300 of its fast-charging stations across the country in 2026.
The rollout was set to begin in the second quarter of 2026, but BYD has yet to officially announce the launch of any public charging stations.
BYD recently unveiled 1,500kW Flash fast-charging stations, which can charge supported models’ batteries from 10% to 97% in 9 minutes and add nearly 1,000km of range on high-capacity models.
Despite the lack of local EV manufacturing, the retail market for electric cars has recently experienced significant growth.
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Imported models have gained traction among car buyers in South Africa, with sales buoyed by surging petrol and diesel prices.
In March 2026, a monthly record of 389 new units was sold, including 316 from BYD, led by its Dolphin Surf model.
While full EV sales figures for April 2026 have not been released, the total sales across the top five best-selling models reached 360. The Dolphin Surf accounted for 302 of those units.
It should also be noted that those figures exclude sales of Geely’s E2 compact hatchback, which became South Africa’s cheapest electric car when it launched in early April 2026.
This article was first published by MyBroadband and is republished with permission.
