Volkswagen Group Africa
Lifa Makunga has extensive experience in IT infrastructure, with a career spanning over 19 years. Currently serving as IT Architect for Server, Storage, and Client Infrastructure at Volkswagen Group South Africa since November 2017, Lifa also holds the title of Service Delivery Team Lead. Prior experience at Sun International includes roles as IT Infrastructure Engineer, where responsibilities included maintaining compliance of server and storage hardware, and IT Network Administrator, focusing on Active Directory services. Earlier positions at Sun International involved senior IT engineering and end-user support, while the role at Times Media Group as a Systems Administrator included responding to user support issues. Lifa holds a BTECH in Information Technology from Nelson Mandela University, earned between 1999 and 2002.
Volkswagen Group Africa
Volkswagen of South Africa (Pty) Ltd, trading as Volkswagen Group Africa, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Aktiengessellschaft (VWAG) in Germany. Volkswagen Group Africa is located in Kariega, 35 km from Gqeberha within the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole, and has become a major contributor to foreign direct investment, technology transfer and skills development. Established in 1946, the plant was initially called SAMAD (South African Motor Assemblers and Distributors) for the local assembly of Studebaker cars and commercial vehicles. The first Beetle rolled off the line in 1951 and heralded the beginning of the largest German investment in Southern Africa. Volkswagen Group Africa’s brands retain a consistently strong position in the South African passenger vehicle market. Its Kariega plant is the sole manufacturer of the Polo worldwide, exporting to 38 countries. For generations, Volkswagen Group Africa has led the pack in the key areas of transformation. The company has set key targets and measures its success, which is the reason it has such a proud record as a responsible corporate citizen. The company strongly believes that job creation and skills development will fuel Black Economic Empowerment. Its first priority, therefore, is to build a strong and successful business that protects and creates jobs within Volkswagen Group Africa and the broader Volkswagen family of suppliers and franchised Dealers. In addition to its South African operations, Volkswagen Group Africa is also responsible for the Sub-Saharan Africa region and North African markets. In terms of its production footprint, Volkswagen Group Africa currently has assembly facilities in Kenya (assembling Polo Vivo, T-Cross, Tiguan and Touareg), Rwanda (assembling Virtus, T-Cross, Caddy, Tiguan and Amarok), and Ghana (assembling T-Cross, Tiguan, Teramont and Amarok). The brand’s presence in Rwanda also includes mobility solutions services such as car sharing and ride hailing.