1. HI-TECH ADVANCED
Manufacturing Cluster
INNOVATE | MAINTENANCE | REPAIR | OVERHAUL | R&D CAPABILITIES
CENTURION AEROSPACE VILLAGE
THE MANDATE OF THE CAV
The Centurion Aerospace Village (CAV) is an initiative of the Department of Trade and Industry
(the dti) in developing a sustainable Industrial Supplier Park to support South Africa as a Global
Player in the Aerospace and Defence Industries’ value chains thereby attracting foreign &
domestic direct investment in the CAV.
CAV is an intended Hi-Tech Advanced Manufacturing Cluster with maintenance, repair,
overhaul (MRO), innovation and R&D capabilities aimed at attracting and retaining key industry
leaders as anchor tenants and service providers.
The aerospace and defence industries have always been important contributors to the national,
Gauteng provincial and local Tshwane economies. CAV supports the industries through
economies of scale and agglomeration, improved processes, increased productivity and cost
competitiveness of local manufacturers. Facilities and services would promote, develop and
mentor SMEs & B-BBEEs, create business opportunities in the area and benefit communities
by supporting job creation and strengthening the industries in general.

2. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
»» Stimulate economic development by the
formation of an industrial park cluster that
business will prefer to locate in, in order to gain a
competitive and cost effective advantage;
»» Develop a sustainable supplier base and
contribute to the growth of the Aerospace and
Defence Industry;
»» Attract and retain key industry leaders as anchor
tenants and service providers;
»» Develop and mentor SMEs & B-BBEEs to create
opportunities for New Entrants to the Industry;
»» Provide facilities and services to complement
high levels of technical competency;
»» Stimulate Hi-Tech innovation and Research &
Development;
»» Create economies of scale & agglomeration to
develop and sustain clustering effects;
»» Promote shared services’ efficiency;
»» Create logistics efficiency through co - location;
»» Allow knowledge generation and spill – over;
»» Facilitate the creation of direct and indirect jobs;
»» Promote local Industry integration into the Global
Supply Chain;
»» Improve export performance (by the Aerospace
and Defence Industry);
»» Facilitate foreign & domestic direct investment
to Contribute to improved balance of payments;
and
»» Create optimised ‘time and place’ utility.
OVERVIEW
the Company & its Development
The CAV is an initiative of the Department of Trade and
Industry (the dti). It was incorporated as a company not
for gain in 2006 in terms of section 21 of the Companies
Act, Act 61 of 1973, which now is a Non-Profit Company in
terms of the new Companies Act, Act 71 of 2008.
This Supplier Park Development (SPD) is aimed at
strengthening the supply chain by bringing aerospace
and defence industry suppliers in proximity to one another
and to locate them next to tier 1 supplier companies and
Anchor partners. The CAV is being developed on State-
owned land provided by the Department of Public Works
(DPW) for a period of 99 years for which a Head Lease
Agreement was signed between the dti and DPW with
agreed terms and conditions.
The CAV was designed to unlock the growth potential of
the aerospace and defence sectors in order to contribute to
the above objectives in a meaningful way, amongst others,
the following:
• The local (national) aerospace and defence Industry
will benefit from the development of the CAV that will
contribute to the industry remaining internationally
competitive;
• Local OEM representatives; OEM suppliers of
components, parts and tools, as well as service
providers will likewise benefit from synergistic and
economy of balanced applications. Other relevant
industries and sectors (Automotive, Metals, Chemicals,
etc.) will directly or indirectly benefit from the
establishment of the CAV; and
• The SMME sector will likewise benefit from a
numerous opportunities that will be identified for
further development.
The project consists of two areas mainly:
Landside Development and Airside
Development.
m LANDSIDE DEVELOPMENT
CAV Landside was envisaged to house industry
sub-tier suppliers who do not require runway access
that specifically conduct design and manufacturing
operations; and
m AIRSIDE DEVELOPMENT
CAV Airside was envisaged to house industry
sub-tier suppliers who require runway access that
specifically do upgrades, aircraft maintenance,
repair and overhaul (MRO) and aircraft
refurbishments.
Both Landside and Airside developments were
planned to be implemented in phases. Both
developments were to be made possible by the
application of sourced funding that would be
supportive of the industrial policy of the dti, and
will accordingly be aligned with the following key
elements thereof:
»» Plan, develop and operate the Landside
and Airside Developments of the CAV as
an Aerospace and Defence Supplier Park:
The CAV strives to balance the pursuit and
achievement of business objectives and
compliance with the principles of good
governance.
»» Generally directed towards B-BBEE and
Human Resource Development;
»» Focused on the encouragement of new small
and medium (SMME) sized entrants;
»» Contributing to skills development;
»» Directed towards innovation, technology
development and support for associated
infrastructure development.
OUR TEAM
The functional structure of the CAV includes three main
areas of focus namely: “Development”, “Operations”
and “Support” functions. The intention is to appoint a
responsible manager in each area who would drive the
function to ensure that the CAV continues to deliver world-
class, result oriented services and facilities.
Co-ordination occurs at CAV Management level, i.e.
by the team responsible for the overall implementation
and operations of Africa’s first aerospace supplier park.
The core process of development incorporates various
specific elements from the marketing stage, through the
finalisation of various contracts and lease agreements,
the construction process, as well as the commissioning
and hand-over process in order for the facilities and
infrastructure to be operated effectively and efficiently. All of
these activities are underpinned by a strong support team,
including financial and administrative staff, legal expertise,
as well as HR, communication and technical expertise.
The CAV’s core operations’ process is responsible for
property management (assets and services), value-added
facility and services management, as well as logistics
management (as may be required by the CAV, its tenants
and its suppliers).
The offices of the CAV are temporarily located within the
offices of the ITC2 building until such time as a future office
facilities have been completed as part of the CAV Landside
Development.
The CAV was earmarked to be an initiative that would be
developed to achieve the following:
»» To attract public support from national, provincial and
local government, as well as from interested parties in
the private sector locally and abroad;
»» To promote local innovation, new business (including
B-BBEE and SME development) and export
opportunities in the aerospace and defence sector;
»» To provide opportunities for incubation and entry level
manufacturing through skills development; and
»» To directly benefit local OEM suppliers of components,
parts, assemblies and tools, as well as service
providers from synergistic and economies of scale/
scope;
»» To develop other relevant industries (tooling) and
sectors (electro-technical, metals, chemicals,
thermoplastics, etc.) directly or indirectly benefit; and
»» To establish shared services.
LOCATION
CAV is located along the eastern boundary of the
WATERKLOOF AIR FORCE BASE
(Farm Waterkloof 378 JR; portion 11, 97,98,34,29 and the
remainder of portion 28) in Centurion.
HI-TECH ADVANCED MANUFACTURING CLUSTER: INNOVATE | MAINTENANCE | REPAIR | OVERHAUL | R&D CAPABILITIES

3. BENCHMARKING
A cursory glance at the similar experiences both locally and internationally indicate that there is more scope
of commercial sustainability of the CAV type development if projects of this nature are operated outside of the
government administration albeit with government initiation and even funding the process, at least initially with
infrastructure and services’ development funding.
The following are two of the comparable examples that lay credence to this proposition:
»» Aerospace Valley (Toulouse, France); and
»» Automotive Supplier Park (Rosslyn, Gauteng)
The CAV cluster development, described as an Industrial
Park, more specifically a Supplier Park Development,
is aimed at strengthening the supply chain by bringing
aerospace and defence industry suppliers in proximity
to one another and to locate them next to tier 1 supplier
companies and anchor partners such as Aerosud, Jonker
Sailplanes, Denel and International OEMs. Both Denel
and Aerosud have developed and built smaller aircraft
locally. One of the main strengths of the CAV is that these
manufacturers are already performing well as exporters to
large global OEMs such as Airbus and Boeing.
Aerosud is both a founding partner to the CAV as well
as an anchor tenant and has been experiencing growth
despite the sluggish global economic environment.
Aerosud and Denel already have representation on the
Board of the CAV.
The CAV, as a Supplier Park Development, is structured
to attract interested parties to provide manufacturing, as
well as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capability
infrastructure and services within the Park for its anchor
tenants and other users of facilities. This is also to be
provided for users of facilities at the CAV and a range of
large to small enterprises attracted by the opportunity
to do business related to the growth of the aerospace
industry cluster.
The CAV embraces the ambitious vision to support the
following developments as a phased approach:
»» CAV Landside is envisaged to house industry sub-tier
suppliers who do not require airport runway access;
»» CAV Airside is envisaged to house industry sub-tier
suppliers who require airport runway access that
specifically do upgrades, aircraft maintenance, repair
and overhaul (MRO) and aircraft refurbishments.
»» The CAV Board discussed the possibility of engaging
with the SA Air Force (and DPW) regarding possible
acquisition of land to the North and East of the current
Landside Development for potential future expansion
of the CAV. This would be required if CAV was to be
considered as a possible future SEZ development
»» Developments are to be made possible by the
application of sourced government funding. A revised
approach was considered to allow anchor tenants
to use their own financing for their buildings. This is
encouraged particularly where a company’s corporate
footprint resides within the CAV industrial park. The
CAV will focus on mobilising financing for infrastructure
and utility services, as well as for buildings for smaller
companies and an intended incubator.
»» The site development and financing will be supportive
of the industrial policy of the dti, and will accordingly
be aligned with the following key elements thereof:
»» Planning, development and operation of the
Landside and Airside Developments of the CAV as an
Aerospace and Defence Supplier Park:
»» Generally directed towards B-BBEE and Human
Resource Development;
»» Focusing on the encouragement of incubation
opportunities and the development of new small and
medium (SME) sized entrants with the establishment
of ‘mini-factories’;
»» Contributing to high end skills development; and
»» Directed towards innovation, technology development
and support for associated infrastructure
development.
THE CAV CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT
+27(0)12 662 5379 | info@cav.org.za
FOR MORE INFORMATION - PLEASE CONTACT
CENTURION
AEROSPACE VILLAGE