As for many South Africans, heritage has been on my mind recently. The topic of heritage becomes more prominent in September of course, when we reflect in and around Heritage Day on our cultural history.
I have been contemplating a different kind of heritage though: our regional history of export excellence.
Though the export industry certainly looked different in its early days, the Eastern Cape has been exporting its products to the rest of the world for about 300 years. Algoa Bay was officially awarded port status in 1825, though it took many years before a safe protected harbour was established for trade.
Today the Bay boasts two ports, the Port of Gqeberha and the Port of Ngqura, operated by Transnet and handling the export and import of various products. These ports are the backbone of the region’s export industry.
Similarly, the industries of export within the region have expanded over the course of three centuries. In the 19th century, exports were predominantly from farming, including wool. The mohair industry, in fact, was founded locally after a sultan gifted Angora goats to South Africa in the 1830s. From this humble beginning, the industry grew to establish South Africa as the mohair capital of the world: our country currently produces more than half of the global mohair supply, and Nelson Mandela Bay is the main export hub for this.
Another longstanding industry for the Eastern Cape is of course citrus. The Sundays River Citrus Company (SRCC) has been operating in the region since 1924, though the first experimental citrus planting in the Sundays River Valley was already done in the 1880s. Today, SRCC is the largest exporter of citrus from South Africa, distributing their products to customers in North America, Europe and Asia.
The automotive industry is one of the strongest contributors to exports today, though automotive exports from the Eastern Cape began in the 1960s. One of the consistent roleplayers in the automotive space has been Volkswagen Group Africa, who recently celebrated their 75th anniversary in South Africa and who exports their locally-built vehicles to 38 markets around the world.
Finally, I must mention Aspen Pharmacare, which has been operating in Gqeberha since 1850. In its original form, the company was established as a chemist and druggist, Lennon Ltd, by Berry Grey Lennon, nephew to the governor of the Cape of Good Hope. The company went public in 1898, and Aspen as we know it today still carries this registration number. Aspen still calls South Africa its headquarters but has a presence in 115 markets and offices in 48 countries and territories.
I am certain there are many more examples like these, because that is the heritage of business in the Eastern Cape. Even our own organisation, Exporters Eastern Cape, has been supporting exporters in the region for 46 years. Our province has a history of success and sustainable business, for a number of reasons. Aside from the conditions that are conducive to thriving industry, there is an underlying belief in the potential of the Eastern Cape. It is what brings investment here, it is what motivates the business community to support one another and drive growth and improvement, and ultimately, it is what makes business build a long legacy here.
By Quintin Levey, Exporters Eastern Cape Chairman
Published in The Herald, September/October 2026