On 22 September 1931 The First National Battery Company, South Africa's first battery manufacturer delivered its first shipment of a dozen batteries to motor traders in East London, Stutterheim and King Williams' Town.

Seventy-five years later First National Battery is providing batteries to users in various sectors of the economy - from Automotive to Agriculture, from Mining to Standby Power for mission critical operations and more...

First National Battery celebrates 75th anniversary

The 75th anniversary of the delivery of the first automotive batteries to be made in South Africa is currently being celebrated by First National Battery, the country's leading manufacturer and distributor of lead acid batteries for automotive and industrial applications.
"This is the earliest record we have of the founding of our company," says Louis Laubscher, managing director of First National Battery.

"On September 22, 1931, the first batch of a dozen car batteries to have been assembled entirely in this country – in a small one-roomed factory situated at 6 Buxton Street, East London – were delivered by The First National Battery Company to motor traders in East London, Stutterheim and King Williams Town."

In the company's museum at their factory in Liverpool Road, Benoni South, is a framed page, now yellowed with age and crumbling, from the East London "Daily Dispatch" of 31 October, 1931, which carries a report by their motoring editor recording the historic event.
Laubscher says: "From the report we learn that a Mr J F Jackson, an employee in the motor trade in Queenstown, took the initiative and travelled to the United States, returning in May 1930 with an experienced American battery expert, Merry M Callahan.
" With the backing of Mr Dave Pressly, president of the East London Motor Traders Association, a company was formed and began acquiring the premises, sourcing the necessary equipment and materials, and training a small team to be able to start manufacture."
At the time that the company was launched, some 60 000 motorcar storage batteries were being imported annually into South Africa from the United States and Europe.

" From those humble beginnings, First National Battery – today a wholly owned subsidiary of JSE listed Metair Investments – has grown to become an industry leader with four dedicated manufacturing sites in South Africa, producing some 2 200 000 batteries annually and supplying users in 30 countries across the globe.

" The remarkable growth of First National Battery is illustrated by the fact that today the automotive battery factory in East London operates a highly automated plant producing up to 8 000 automotive batteries a day, five days a week," Laubscher says.
"With modern technology, we could have supplied the entire needs of South Africa at that time in a little over seven days," adding, with a smile, "In fact, we are not doing too badly in that respect today!"

Batteries are currently supplied as original equipment for a significant percentage of new motor vehicles sold in this country, as well as for most of the locally assembled passenger cars and light commercial vehicles exported from South Africa.
First National Battery also serves motorists through the largest non-food franchise in this country, the Battery Centre, in 120 locations across the length and breadth of South Africa.
"Our company's commitment to Black Economic Empowerment is evident in the establishment of First National Battery Industrial as a separate company to market the products of the second dedicated factory, also in East London, that manufactures a range of industrial batteries, such as traction batteries for forklifts, mining and other applications, standby batteries to provide emergency power for mission-critical applications and batteries for solar power installations.

"This company – 25.5% Black owned and structured to increase this holding to 51% over time – is the exclusive distributor for all industrial products globally. It enjoys the support of the original company in areas such as development work, as well as their substantial logistics network of warehouses and distribution systems."

. The industrial factory is the largest manufacturer of cap lamps in the Western World. These are supplied to a variety of users world-wide, in situations where hands-free, mobile light is needed – from miners working underground to maintenance personnel servicing electrical installations where mains power has to be turned off, from farm workers picking grapes at night for the wine industry in the Cape, to speleologists and tour guides taking visitors into caves.

"Our company is also firmly committed to playing its role in protection of the environment by recycling the lead and plastic components of worn out batteries returned to the company," Laubscher says. This is done by the two remaining dedicated factories – one a plastics injection moulding plant in Fort Jackson, producing more than 20-million components annually and by the lead smelter at Benoni. He adds: "I believe we have every right to be proud of our company – where we came from and where we are today."