by Thinus Ferreira
Hisense SA, which started its local operations in the country in 1996 as Hisense's first overseas operation, marks its 30-year anniversary this month, and recently did a tour of its Atlantis manufacturing plant in Cape Town.
Unfortunately, the exclusive factory tour was only for Cape Town-based media, so the rest of the press lucked out on the milestone and seeing the factory for themselves in the behind-the-scenes look.
Hisense calls its South African factory in Atlantis in the Western Cape province "one of its most significant global manufacturing operations" where the company produces televisions and refrigerators.
Established in October 1996, Hisense started this factory at a cost of R350 million together with the China-Africa Development Fund.
According to Hisense SA, the Atlantis factory can produce up to a million TV sets and 500 000 refrigerators a year.
By mid-2024 it had produced approximately 4.5 million televisions and 2.9 million refrigerators in total.
Refrigerators were exported to Europe for the first time in 2022.
"Quality assurance is built into the plant's daily rhythm rather than treated as a periodic audit," says Luna Nortje, Hisense SA deputy general manager, in a supplied quote.
Hisense SA's factory employs more than 1 000 South Africans, most of them from Atlantis and surrounding communities such as Melkbosstrand and Mamre.
"A formal skills-transfer programme pairs Chinese engineers and technicians with local staff, with the aim of enabling South African employees to run departments independently. Many have grown with the plant," says Luna Nortje.
"South Africa was Hisense's first overseas operation, and 30 years later it remains central to our global story. This anniversary isn't only a chance to look back - it's a chance to ask what we build next, for our customers, our employees, our communities and South Africa."
To strengthen pathways into employment, Hisense launched its Hisense-Northlink Technical Academy in Cape Town that supports appliance-repair training and workplace experience.
