Durban, South Africa – Toyota South Africa will invest R10.4 billion in KwaZulu-Natal to expand the automotive sector and support the transition to hybrid vehicles, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced at the South Africa Investment Conference in Sandton on Tuesday, 31 March 2026.
The investment will see the production of hybrid electric vehicles, with the Corolla Cross Hybrid as the first model. The project is expected to create 575 jobs at the Toyota plant and 1,200 additional positions in supplier companies. Toyota plans to increase local content in South African-assembled vehicles to 60% and double total automotive sector employment to at least 224,000 over the next 15 years.
“This conference has demonstrated that our economy is entering a new phase of growth,” Ramaphosa said, noting the broader record-breaking pledges made at the event, much of it from domestic investors showing confidence in South Africa’s economic reforms. 
Other major commitments announced include Sasol’s R60 billion investment to upgrade plants in Mpumalanga and the Free State, South32’s R3.9 billion for rail infrastructure at Northern Cape manganese mines, and Teleperformance’s R145 million investment in business services in the Eastern and Western Cape, expected to create 2,600 jobs.
The KwaZulu-Natal investment is particularly significant as the province lost 41,000 jobs in the last quarter of 2025, leaving an unemployment rate of 32.3%. Nationally, unemployment fell slightly to 31.4% with 44,000 jobs added, showing marginal improvements in the labour market.
Toyota’s facility will also produce automotive components, including pressed steel parts for the Hilux and Fortuner, and the Corolla Cross Hybrid will be exported to 40 African countries, strengthening South Africa’s position in the regional automotive market.
