{"id":137401,"date":"2026-03-26T06:15:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T09:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automotive.einnews.com\/article\/901840965"},"modified":"2026-03-26T06:15:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T09:15:38","slug":"automotive-smmes-given-a-boost-in-shark-tank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/26\/automotive-smmes-given-a-boost-in-shark-tank\/","title":{"rendered":"Automotive SMMEs given a boost in shark tank"},"content":{"rendered":"

A joint initiative by the Durban Automotive Cluster (DAC), Toyota South Africa Motors, and eThekwini Municipality\u2019s Economic Development Directorate successfully hosted the inaugural Springboard Pitching Competition.<\/p>\n

Also read:<\/strong> UKZN secures funding to support postgraduates<\/a><\/p>\n

Held in Durban, the event brought together 26 small, medium, and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) who participated in a dynamic pitching competition, competing for a share of R60 000 in prizes. The initiative also created a valuable platform to connect SMMEs with leading industry firms.<\/p>\n

eThekwini spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said it formed part of the DACs SMME development programmes aimed at strengthening the local supplier network for leading firms within the automotive and manufacturing sectors.<\/p>\n

The deputy head of the City\u2019s Economic Development Directorate, Takalani Rathiyaya, applauded the cluster\u2019s efforts to stimulate economic activity and attract investment. He noted that developing local suppliers and manufacturers within the cluster\u2019s value chain will contribute significantly to expanding the City\u2019s manufacturing sector.<\/p>\n

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Three SMMEs emerged as winners from the competition. AGP Manufacturing secured the Best Elevator Pitch award worth R20 000, Phumelela Gasinga Engineering Solutions received the Best Booth award of R15 000, and XO Collection won the Best Innovation Award, taking home R25 000. XO Collection founder, Xoliswa Hlongwane, expressed her appreciation to the DAC and the City for their continued support.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt is such an honour to have come this far with the support of these programmes. Presenting my work to industry leaders and receiving recognition is truly a humbling experience,\u201d said Hlongwane.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Do you have more information pertaining to this story?<\/strong><\/em> Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A joint initiative by the Durban Automotive<\/span> Cluster (DAC), Toyota South Africa … network for leading firms within the automotive<\/span> and manufacturing sectors. The deputy head …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137401\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}