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Country benchmark · 2026

OEE benchmark South Africa 2026: manufacturing data, sector targets and downtime cost

Name: OEE Benchmark South Africa 2026: Manufacturing Data, Sector Targets, Downtime Cost
Creator: OEE Benchmark
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

The short answer: Manufacturing is 12.8% of GDP in South Africa (2024) and employs about 1,263,000 people. Typical OEE in the country's leading sectors runs 70–85%; the sector world-class targets are in the table below.

Official manufacturing statistics for South Africa, the OEE ranges that apply to its leading sectors, a downtime-cost calculator preloaded with national labour and energy costs, and the incentives that can fund a monitoring project.

Key figures

Manufacturing share

12.8

% GDP

2024 · api.worldbank.org

Manufacturing value added

51.3

USD bn

2024 · api.worldbank.org

Manufacturing employment

1,263

thousand persons

2026 · statssa.gov.za

Manufacturing enterprises

not published in an official source we could read

Labour cost (manufacturing)

not published in an official source we could read

Industrial electricity price

1.68

ZAR per kWh

2026 · eskom.co.za

Robot density

not published in an official source we could read

Enterprises using AI

not published in an official source we could read

Leading sectors and the OEE ranges that apply

The first columns are South Africa's own sector mix (Statistics South Africa (Stats SA)). The OEE columns are the oee-benchmark.org editorial ranges for that sector type: they are benchmarks for plants, not national statistics.

Sector	Weight	Typical OEE	World-class target	Dominant loss	A × P × Q
Automotive (Toyota Prospecton ~140k/yr target; VW Kariega 167,084 in 2024; Ford Silverton Ranger) Automotive (Tier-1 assembly)	167,084 vehicles (VW Kariega, 2024 record) (2024)	70–85%	85%	Changeover & minor stops	92% × 95% × 99.5%

Downtime cost calculator: South Africa defaults

Change any input and the result updates. The labour and electricity defaults are the national statistics quoted above, not your plant's figures; replace them with your own numbers for a real estimate.

Hours of unplanned downtime per monthLines or machines affectedOperators per lineLoaded labour cost per hour (ZAR)Electricity price per kWh (ZAR)Average load per line (kW)Lost contribution margin per hour (your figure) (ZAR)

Estimated downtime cost

–

per year · – per month

labour–
energy–
lost margin–

Industrial hubs

Regions ranked by official manufacturing employment or output. Each hub page lists the plants that set the local benchmark.

Hub	Manufacturing employment	Key sectors	Notable plants
Gauteng (Pretoria/Rosslyn/Silverton, Ekurhuleni) ZA-GP province	not published in an official source we could read	automotive, metals & machinery, chemicals, food	Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa
KwaZulu-Natal (Durban – Prospecton) ZA-KZN province	not published in an official source we could read	automotive, chemicals, pulp & paper, food	Toyota South Africa Motors
Eastern Cape (Kariega/Gqeberha, East London) ZA-EC province	not published in an official source we could read	automotive, components	Volkswagen Group Africa

Funding and incentives for monitoring projects (status October 2026)

Programmes a production-monitoring or OEE project can use. Status was checked on the operator's page in October 2026; anything we could not confirm is marked unverified.

Programme	Operator	What it funds	Status	Source
Section 12I Tax Allowance Incentive	the dtic / SARS	Additional investment & training allowance for greenfield/brownfield manufacturing projects (min R50m / R30m)	closed closed – no applications accepted after 31 March 2020	thedtic.gov.za
Automotive Investment Scheme (AIS) – component of APDP Phase 2	the dtic	Non-taxable cash grant of 20% (OEMs) / 25% (component & tooling makers) of qualifying productive-asset investment; guidelines dated Jul 2025	open open	thedtic.gov.za
Manufacturing Competitiveness Enhancement Programme (MCEP)	the dtic + IDC	R5.8 bn over 3 yrs: Production Incentive (capex, green tech, competitiveness) + IDC working-capital facility up to R30m at 6%	unverified	thedtic.gov.za

Trade shows and events 2026–2027

Event	City	Dates	Source
Africa Automation Technology Fair 2027 (14th edition, Messe Muenchen India + RX Africa)	Johannesburg (Gallagher Convention Centre)	6-8 July 2027	africaautomationtechnologyfair.com

Editor's note

South Africa's formal manufacturing employs 1.26 million people (QES, March 2026) and output fell 1.8% in Q2 2026. Automotive at Prospecton, Kariega and Silverton is the reference cluster. Eskom's Megaflex tariff rose 8.76% in April 2026, so energy per unit is as important as OEE. The AIS grant remains open; Section 12I closed in 2020.

How to use this benchmark

Measure first. Log availability, performance and quality per line for four weeks before comparing with the sector ranges; a benchmark without your own baseline is a guess.

Compare within your sector, not with the national average. A packaging line at 72% may be world-class; a bottling line at 72% has room.

Price the gap. Use the calculator with your own labour cost and margin, then check the incentives table: several programmes fund the sensors and software that close it.

Free download

South Africa OEE Benchmark Pack 2026

Excel workbook: country profile, hubs, sector OEE ranges, downtime-cost calculator and incentives, with every source linked.

Country profile and hub table with sources
Sector OEE ranges: typical, world-class, A×P×Q
Downtime-cost calculator preloaded with South Africa labour and energy costs
Incentives and 2026–2027 events

You're all set ✓

Your download should start automatically. If not, click here.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good OEE in South Africa?

There is no national OEE statistic: OEE is measured per line, and the useful comparison is by sector. For South Africa's leading sectors the typical range is 70–85% and the world-class targets are listed above. Most plants that start measuring sit near 60%.

Where do these figures come from?

Manufacturing weight, employment, labour cost, energy price and robot density come from official statistics (Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), Eurostat, the World Bank and the IFR); every figure links to the page it was read from. The OEE ranges are oee-benchmark.org editorial benchmarks.

What is in the South Africa benchmark pack?

An Excel workbook with the country profile and sources, the hub table, the sector OEE ranges, a downtime-cost calculator with the national defaults already filled in, and the incentives and events lists. It is free; we ask for a work email.

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Sources and method

Figures are quoted as published, with the year and unit of each source; we do not convert currencies or estimate missing values. OEE ranges follow the oee-benchmark.org editorial process. Published by TEEPTRAK SAS, which sells production-monitoring and OEE software.

Data checked October 2026