Ramoabi previously held the position of Deputy Manager of the plant, which celebrates its 75^th birthday this year.

The Gqeberha plant is the German tyre manufacturer’s only plant in Africa, producing world-class tyres for the original equipment (OE) and replacement tyre sectors in South Africa, as well as exports around the world. Moeng replaces Ahmed Boualam who has left the company to pursue other opportunities.

“I am delighted to announce that Ramoabi Moeng is our new Plant Manager to lead the important manufacturing operations that are an essential part of our local and export business,” says Martin Buday, MD of Continental Tyre South Africa.

“Ramoabi’s extensive experience in maintenance, production, manufacturing engineering and technology will be put to great use as we strive for the highest levels of quality, efficiency and sustainability for our plant in a complex and highly competitive business environment,” Martin adds.

He started his career in the manufacturing sector in 1997 and spent 11 years in vehicle production, including a year undergoing training in Germany, before joining a pharmaceutical company in 2008 where he headed up the Engineering, Production and Operational Projects portfolios for seven years.

He joined Continental Tyre SA in 2016 as Maintenance Manager and was selected to lead the Manufacturing Engineering Technologies team in 2018, a position he held until he was appointed Deputy Plant Manager in August 2021.

“We are in a fast-changing industry with a growing emphasis on technology and the demand for lower rolling resistance tyres to reduce emissions, increasingly stringent requirements relating to weight and noise levels to improve ride quality and delivering high-production complexity to meet the demand from our local and global export customers,” Ramoabi says.

Ramoabi has a National Diploma in Electrical Engineering, a Diploma in Business Management and a qualification in Advanced Maintenance Management – the last-mentioned from the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany. He completed a Management Development programme in 2006 and received his Master of Business Administration Degree from Nelson Mandela University in 2012.