A truly smart city, Durban, KZN, South Africa seamlessly combines an innovative business environment with an exciting, contemporary lifestyle.
Connecting continents, here you will find Africa’s busiest port, the top ranking conferencing city and the home to the continent’s very first Aerotropolis. Boasting world-class infrastructure, manufacturing and industrial concentration that is constantly evolving, isn’t it time to join this progressive society rich in investment opportunities?
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Tel: +27 31 311 4227 Email: invest@durban.gov.za
Foreword 5
A unique guide to business and investment in South Africa.
An economic overview of South Africa 8
South Africa has the minerals that the green economy needs.
Provinces of South Africa 12
A snapshot of South Africa’s nine provinces.
Partnerships show the way for Special Economic Zones 18
Collaboration between the private sector and government and its agencies is paying off in eight provinces.
Citrus exports have finally made it to China.
Mining 46
Platinum’s role in green hydrogen is a boon for miners.
Infrastructure for carrying newly-generated power is a priority.
The Central Energy Fund has become a shareholder in a Free State gas project.
South Africa is investigating how best to use its groundwater.
A huge bridge in the Eastern Cape is an engineering challenge.
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62
64
The Durban International Convention Centre (Durban ICC) prides itself on being leading venue for meetings, business events, conferences and exhibitions on the African continent. However, this is not their own opinion, but rather the overwhelming feedback received from their clients who have voted it in the top 1% of Convention Centres worldwide, as well as “Africa’s Leading Meetings and Convention Centre” no fewer than 17 times!
The Durban ICC is a versatile venue of enormous dimensions, flexible enough to meet any need, no matter how extraordinary. The Centre offers the largest column-free, multipurpose event space on the African continent. International and national conventions, exhibitions, sporting events, concerts and special occasions of every kind can be accommodated. Flexibility and versatility are key factors in the design of this state-of-the-art, technologydriven Centre. The Centre also offers a range of innovative solutions such as Live-streaming events, Remotepresentation events, Hybrid events, and Video-on-Demand.
The Durban ICC’s highly experienced and friendly team will ensure that your event is seamlessly executed giving you complete peace of mind. Providing exceptional customer service remains the heartbeat of the Durban ICC, striving to ensure that every delegate who walks through
the five-star facility has a memorable experience.
Delegates visiting the Centre can look forward to superb standards of culinary excellence and hospitality. As part of the Durban ICC’s gourmet evolution over the past decades in the industry, they are completely reinventing their culinary offering in order to showcase some of Durban’s authentic African Cuisines. Furthermore a wide range of new innovative packages have been designed to meet the unique needs of each target market, at the best possible rates.
Demonstrating its commitment to quality, the Durban ICC is five-star graded by the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa and maintains its ISO9001, ISO14001 and ISO22000 certifications ensuring the highest international standards in Quality Management, Environmental Responsibility, Food Safety and Health and Safety.
The DURBAN ICC offers you first-world convenience and a proudly African meetings experience. The Centre is fully Wi-Fi enabled and connectivity is complimentary to its delegates and guests.
• Located in Durban, known as South Africa’s entertainment “playground”.
• Durban International Convention Centre (Durban ICC) comprised of the Durban ICC Arena and the Durban Exhibition Centre.
• Voted “Africa’s Leading Meetings and Conference Centre” by the World Travel Awards no fewer than 17 times and continuously strives to deliver excellent service
• Largest flat floor, column-free multi-purpose event space in Africa.
• Ranked in the world’s Top 15 Convention Centres by the International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC).
• The Centre is located 30-minutes from the King Shaka International Airport and over 3,600 Hotel rooms are within a 10-minute walk of the Centre.
Manufacturing 66
Innovation and expansion are happening in textiles.
Construction and property 69 The renewable energy sector has opened up new work workstreams.
Transport and logistics 70 The value of goods transported along the N3 continues to grow.
Tourism 72 Swiss investment may underpin expansion.
ICT 74 Government’s latest mobile contract is shared by four companies.
Banking and financial services 75 African Bank is on the acquisition trail.
Development finance and SMME support 76 Expanding small business has become big business.
ABOUT THE COVER: Main picture: Sasol’s octene plant at Secunda is a major contributor to the chemical sector, Sasol. Bottom left and then left to right: Renergen has started delivering the country’s first liquified natural gas (LNG) to Ardagh Glass Packaging & Ceramic Industries, Renergen; The Tsitsikamma Community Wind Farm is one of many such facilities in the Eastern Cape, Cennergi; The Kruger National Park is a superb tourism asset, Ugurhan/iStock by Getty Images; Anglo American unveiled a huge truck powered by a hybrid hydrogen fuel cell in 2022, Anglo American; Impala Platinum is a major producer and refiner of platinum group metals with operations in two South African provinces and two other countries, Implats.
A unique guide to business and investment in South Africa.
Welcome to the 11th edition of the South African Business journal. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa, supported by an e-book edition at www. southafricanbusiness.co.za.
A special feature in this journal focusses on the importance of partnerships as the way forward for the country’s growing number of Special Economic Zones. There are now SEZs in eight provinces and collaboration between the private sector and government and its agencies is proving a crucial element in pursuing the goal of industrialising the South African economy. These zones intended as catalysts for economic growth in established sectors and in stimulating new industries.
Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy and give a snapshot of each of the country’s provinces. The fact that South Africa’s law-enforcement agencies are arresting people alleged to have been involved in state capture and the Reserve Bank has started freezing assets in other matters leads the national overview because business can’t function properly without the rule of law.
South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. The e-book editions can be viewed online at www. globalafricanetwork.com. These unique titles are supported by a monthly business e-newsletter with a circulation of over 35 000. Journal of African Business joined the Global African Network stable of publications as an annual in 2020 and is now published quarterly. ■
South African Business is distributed internationally on outgoing and incoming trade missions, through trade and investment agencies; to foreign offices in South Africa’s main trading partners around the world; at top national and international events; through the offices of foreign representatives in South Africa; as well as nationally and regionally via chambers of commerce, tourism offices, airport lounges, provincial government departments, municipalities and companies.
Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations
COPYRIGHT | South African Business is an independent publication published by Global Africa Network Media (Pty) Ltd. Full copyright to the publication vests with Global Africa Network Media (Pty) Ltd. No part of the publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of Global Africa Network Media (Pty) Ltd.
PHOTO CREDITS | Air Liquide; Atlantis SEZ; Caspir Camille Ruben on Unsplash; Cennergi Services; Concor; Citrus Growers’ Association of South Africa; CSIR; De Beers; Defy; Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic); Dipuno Fund; Heineken; Lanzerac Hotel;
Global Africa Network Media (Pty) Ltd
Company Registration No: 2004/004982/07
Directors: Clive During, Chris Whales
Physical address: 28 Main Road, Rondebosch 7700
Postal address: PO Box 292, Newlands 7701
Tel: +27 21 657 6200 | Fax: +27 21 674 6943
Email: info@gan.co.za | Website: www.gan.co.za
ISSN 2221-4194
Mercedes-Benz SA; Raubex; Renergen; SA Investment Conference; Sappi; Sun International; Stadio; Tetra Pak; Ubank; Kevin Wright/Vedanta Zinc International; John Young.
DISCLAIMER | While the publisher, Global Africa Network Media (Pty) Ltd, has used all reasonable efforts to ensure that the information contained in South African Business is accurate and up-to-date, the publishers make no representations as to the accuracy, quality, timeliness, or completeness of the information. Global Africa Network will not accept responsibility for any loss or damage suffered as a result of the use of or any reliance placed on such information.
South Africa (SA) has the most industrialised economy in Africa. It is the region’s principal manufacturing hub and a leading services destination.
SA is the location of choice of multinationals in Africa. Global corporates reap the benefits of doing business in SA, which has a supportive and growing ecosystem as a hub for innovation, technology and fintech.
SA has a progressive Constitution and an independent judiciary. The country has a mature and accessible legal system, providing certainty and respect for the rule of law. It is ranked number one in Africa for the protection of investments and minority investors.
The African Continental Free Trade Area will boost intra-African trade and create a market of over one billion people and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of USD2.2-trillion that will unlock industrial development. SA has several trade agreements in place as an export platform into global markets.
SA is endowed with an abundance of natural resources. It is the leading producer of platinum-group metals (PGMs) globally. Numerous listed mining companies operate in SA, which also has world-renowned underground mining expertise.
SA has a sophisticated banking sector with a major footprint in Africa. It is the continent’s financial hub, with the JSE being Africa’s largest stock exchange by market capitalisation.
A massive governmental investment programme in infrastructure development has been under way for several years. SA has the largest air, ports and logistics networks in Africa, and is ranked number one in Africa in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index.
SA has a number of world-class universities and colleges producing a skilled, talented and capable workforce. It boasts a diversified skills set, emerging talent, a large pool of prospective workers and government support for training and skills development.
SA offers a favourable cost of living, with a diversified cultural, cuisine and sports offering all year round and a world-renowned hospitality sector.
The appearance of alleged fraudsters in court bodes well for the rule of law, a prerequisite for attracting investment. South Africa has the minerals that the green economy needs.
By John YoungWhen the accused in the Transnet fraud and corruption case appeared in a specialised commercial crimes court in October 2022, there was not enough room in the dock for the 11 accused. The first row of the public benches had to be used to fit the former staff members and their alleged accomplices to face more than 50 counts of fraud and corruption.
In the same month, the South African Reserve Bank seized what it understood to be former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste’s assets, including his house in Hermanus and the Stellenbosch wine estate and hotel, Lanzerac. Given the nature of these things, the ownership of the hotel is not entirely clear (it involves entities registered in the British Virgin Islands) but the broad strokes of the bank’s actions are clear – it intends getting to the bottom of the accounting scandal that led to losses for investors which may amount to R200-billion.
In 2021 ex-president Zuma’s refusal to appear before the Zondo (state capture) commission led to him spending time in jail. His trial on substantive corruption charges lies ahead.
For the chances of a South African economic recovery, these events are seminal. The era of state capture will take time and forensic effort to unravel, but the fact that trials are happening – and that two of the Gupta brothers were arrested and denied bail in Dubai – means that the country’s National Prosecuting Authority seems to be on track again after itself being buffeted by disruptive forces.
That the Reserve Bank is doing its bit to rein in the private sector must also be welcomed by businesses and investors who know that economies can only grow if there is trust and respect for the rule of law.
Dutch brewing giant Heineken has signalled some confidence in the South African economy
with its decision to purchase Distell for a reported R38.4-billion. Heineken already runs (and has expanded) the Sedibeng brewery in southern Gauteng and announced its intention to take a majority share in its regional partner, Namibia Breweries.
Distell brands such as Savanna, Three Ships Whisky, Klipdrift and Amarula will give the expanded company a much more diverse portfolio and position it for a drive into other African markets.
Speaking to the Sunday Times after the release of Distell’s annual results in August 2022, Distell CEO Richard Ruston highlighted the economic factors that the country has to get right for the economy to thrive: “macroeconomic stability, policy certainty and the big infrastructure and energy initiatives”.
One institution that the state-capture plotters never succeeding in getting their hands on was the state Treasury, although there was one fraught weekend in December 2015 when it was touch-and-go.
With the Reserve Bank also having managed to preserve its independence (and now showing some muscle in the Jooste saga), the first two items highlighted by the Distell CEO –macroeconomic stability and policy certainty –at least have a solid basis on which economic planners and politicians can build.
And a very positive element is that virtually everyone agrees that big infrastructure and energy initiatives are what the country needs. Quite what, how and when are still being debated, but at least the need is agreed on.
From government’s side, there is an initiative to coordinate efforts with regard to infrastructure. In 2020, Infrastructure South Africa (ISA), a programme within the Ministry of Public Works and Infrastructure, was established.
ISA is headed by Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and it reports to the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC) Council, chaired by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The body is intended as the single point of entry for accelerated infrastructure investment, with a
Dutch brewer Heineken, which runs a brewery in Sedibeng, has bought Distell. Credit: Heineken
particular focus on both public and private sector social and economic infrastructure projects.
An excellent programme exists to procure the energy that South Africa needs to expand the economy, the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). The programme has suffered one unwarranted interruption since its introduction in 2012, but generally it has delivered what it was intended to deliver, cheaper, greener power.
In Round Five of the REIPPPP, the cheapest solar generation cost was 37.5c/kWh while the best wind cost was 34.4c/kWh. These represent remarkably low costs and are lower by an order of magnitude than the prices that were quoted when the programme began a decade ago.
When President Ramaphosa announced that private power investors could create up to 100MW of power without having to wait for licensing, he potentially opened up a path to growth, a path that has been constrained for some time by the limitations of the national utility, Eskom.
Eskom’s inability to provide enough electricity to power the economy (and its huge debt) rank as the biggest risks to the South African economy. Opportunities for private consortiums are expanding and every window of the REIPPPP
has been oversubscribed so there is an appetite to enter the South African energy market.
Eskom’s unbundling will be another spur to growth. The legal separation of transmission is the first step, with the other two elements, generation and distribution, to follow. The idea is not to privatise the entities but to find private partners and to allow for competition within the various fields.
The R130-billion pledged at COP26 by the EU, the US, Germany, France and the UK to assist South Africa’s transition from oil and coal to greener technologies is not straightforward; it comes as a mixture of grants, risk-sharing instruments and concessional finance but it will allow South Africa to fund projects that will help the country to move away from fossil fuels without further stretching Eskom’s precarious finances.
The mining sector is also paying close attention to the world’s shifting priorities in terms of how to power the economy: commodities attracting the most attention are those which have the potential to power the green economy, platinum group metals (PGMs) and chrome among them. In August 2021, South African mineral exports were 44% higher than the year before. Covid obviously had a lot to do with that figure, but R166.5-billion still represented a good return.
Although gold mining is declining in volumes (even while prices rise), the major investment of Vedanta Zinc International in a project in the Northern Cape and Sibanye-Stillwater’s
acquisition drive in the PGM sector are significant economic drivers. De Beers’ investment in its Limpopo diamond mine, Venetia, will significantly expand that facility’s life.
Coal and iron ore continue to be exported in large volumes through the Richards Bay Coal Terminal on the east coast and the Port of Saldanha on the west coast.
The agricultural sector fared fairly well during the Covid-19 lockdown. Although sectors like wine suffered badly, a reported increase in maize exports, as well as greater international demand for citrus fruits and pecan nuts, helped the industry expand by 15% (StatsSA). However, since Covid, there has been the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has not only disrupted markets for South African produce but upset logistics chains.
Grain crops such as maize, wheat, barley and soya beans are among the county’s most important crops. Only rice is imported. Wine, corn and sugar are other major exports.
Basing economic growth on a devaluing currency is not always the best long-term method of boosting economic growth, but high-value agricultural exports and increased numbers of high-spending international tourists hold some promise for helping to get the South African economy back on a growth path. Horticulture in particular is seen as holding great potential not only for increased earnings, but for creating jobs. South Africa’s traditional strength in minerals still holds good. ■
Travellers should prepare to be astounded by the natural attractions and experiences that are on offer in Mpumalanga. It is South Africa’s most easterly province, endowed with an extraordinary richness of natural beauty from canyons and waterfalls and with scope for a huge diversity of adventures and experiences ranging from encounter-rich game drives to paragliding. Mpumalanga offers a wide array of activities for the active tourist, ranging from abseiling to white-water-river rafting, with fly-fishing, paragliding, mountain biking, bungee jumping, hiking, 4x4 trails and many outdoor adventure activities in between.
Mpumalanga is undoubtedly the ultimate destination in terms of wildlife experience. The Kruger National Park, Manyeleti, Loskop Dam and numerous private game reserves dotted throughout the region offer an exhilarating experience that brings visitors closer to nature. Mpumalanga boasts a conservancy area that is rich with diverse flora and fauna.
The Panorama Route offers spectacular landscapes with attractions like the Blyde River Canyon (third-largest in the world and known as a “green canyon” because of its subtropical vegetation, pictured). The province also boasts majestic waterfalls and high-altitude scenic drives leading to attractions like God’s Window, Bourke’s Luck Potholes and the Three Rondavels.
Mpumalanga’s rich heritage is still largely unexplored but more and more visitors are being exposed to fascinating
history. The many heritage sites in the area include the Samora Machel monument near Mbuzini and the Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains World Heritage Site (pictured), boasting rock formations dating back more than 3.5-billion years. Other sites not to be missed are the mining village of Pilgrim’s Rest, the Highveld Heritage Route (which abounds with adventurous tales from history), the stone circles of Mpumalanga and Goliath’s footprint to name just a few. Mpumalanga is rich in culture and boasts the Swazi, Ndebele and Shangaan people with icons like Dr Esther Mahlangu who has managed to preserve, package and export the vibrant geometric art of the Ndebele globally.
Bird watchers can have a glimpse of more than 500 different birds endemic to the Kruger National Park or the town of Chrissiesmeer, the centre of South Africa’s own Lake District where four river systems start their journeys across the country. The small tourist town of Dullstroom is referred to as South Africa’s trout-fishing mecca. Mpumalanga is an ideal sporting destination with several world-class golf courses and the Mbombela Stadium that was built for the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and has subsequently hosted international football and rugby matches. Get off the beaten track and explore the many other tourism offerings of the Mpumalanga Province.
For more information:
Email: info@mtpa.co.za and reservations@mtpa.co.za Website: www.mpumalanga.com
Facebook: Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency | Twitter: @Mtpatourism | Instagram: @mpumalangatourism
A South African province that has everything a tourist could want.
Capital: Kimberley
Capital: Cape Town
Capital: Kimberley
Main towns: Douglas, Upington, De Aar, Port Nolloth, Colesberg
Main towns: Douglas, Upington, De Aar, Port Nolloth, Colesberg
Population: 1 185 600 (2015) Area: 372 889km² (30.5% of South Africa)
Population: 1 185 600 (2015) Area: 372 889km² (30.5% of South Africa)
Premier: Dr Zamani Saul (ANC)
Premier: Dr Zamani Saul (ANC)
Key sectors: Agriculture, mining, renewable energy, astronomy.
Key sectors: Agriculture, mining, renewable energy, astronomy.
Infrastructure: Upington Industrial Park, Sol Plaatje University, Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme, Square Kilometre Array telescope project, Namakwa Special Economic Zone.
Notable tourism assets: Six national parks including the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Orange River, spring flower displays, diamond routes.
Infrastructure: Upington Special Economic Zone, Sol Plaatje University, Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme. Notable tourism assets: Six national parks including the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Orange River, spring flower displays, diamond routes.
Capital: Mahikeng
Main towns: Klerksdorp, Rustenburg, Brits, Potchefstroom
Main towns: Klerksdorp, Rustenburg, Brits, Potchefstroom
Population: 3 707 000 (2015) Area: 104 882km² (8.6% of South Africa)
Population: 3 707 000 (2015) Area: 104 882km² (8.6% of South Africa)
Premier: Bushy Maape (ANC)
Premier: Professor Tebogo Job Mokgoro (ANC)
Key sectors: Mining, agriculture, agri-processing, automotive components.
Key sectors: Mining, agriculture, agri-processing, automotive components.
Infrastructure: Hartbeespoort Dam, Pelindaba nuclear research unit, North-West University, Bakwena Platinum Highway.
Infrastructure: Hartbeespoort Dam, Pelindaba nuclear research unit, North West University, Bakwena Platinum Highway.
Notable tourism assets: Sun City, Mmbatho Palms Hotel Casino Convention Resort, Pilanesberg National Park, 18 luxury lodges in Madikwe Game Reserve.
Notable tourism assets: Sun City, Mmbatho Palms Hotel Casino Convention Resort, Pilanesberg National Park, 18 luxury lodges in Madikwe Game Reserve.
Main towns: Stellenbosch, George, Plettenberg Bay, Beaufort West, Oudtshoorn, Worcester, Malmesbury
Capital: Cape Town
Main towns: Stellenbosch, George, Plettenberg Bay, Beaufort West, Oudtshoorn, Worcester, Malmesbury
Population: 6 200 100 (2015) Area: 129 462km² (10.6% of South Africa)
Population: 6 200 100 (2015) Area: 129 462km² (10.6% of South Africa)
Premier: Alan Winde (DA)
Premier: Alan Winde (DA)
Key sectors: Agriculture, agriprocessing, wine and grapes, financial services, manufacturing, tourism, oil and gas, boatbuilding. Infrastructure: Ports of Cape Town, Saldanha and Mossel Bay, Mossgas oil-to-gas refinery, Cape Town International Airport, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Koeberg nuclear power station.
Key sectors: Agriculture, agriprocessing, wine and grapes, financial services, manufacturing, tourism, oil and gas, boatbuilding. Infrastructure: Ports of Cape Town, Saldanha and Mossel Bay, Mossgas oil-to-gas refinery, Cape Town International Airport, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Koeberg nuclear power station.
Notable tourism assets: Table Mountain, Garden Route National Park, Karoo National Park, West Coast National Park, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Point, V&A Waterfront, Plettenberg Bay, Route 62, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art.
Provincial government website: www.northern-cape.gov.za Department of Economic Development and Tourism: www.northern-cape.gov.za/dedat
Provincial government website: www.northern-cape.gov.za Department of Economic Development and Tourism: www.northern-cape.gov.za/dedat
Provincial government website: www.nwpg.gov.za North West Development Corporation: www.nwdc.co.za
Provincial government website: www.nwpg.gov.za North West Development Corporation: www.nwdc.co.za
Notable tourism assets: Table Mountain, Garden Route National Park, Karoo National Park, West Coast National Park, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Point, V&A Waterfront, Plettenberg Bay, Route 62, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art.
Provincial government website: www.westerncape.gov.za Wesgro: www.wesgro.co.za
Provincial government website: www.westerncape.gov.za Wesgro: www.wesgro.co.za
A wide variety of investments are available.
Gauteng:
• Financial and business services
• Information and communications technology
• Transport and logistics
• Basic iron and steel, steel products
• Fabricated metal products
• Motor vehicles, parts and accessories
• Appliances
• Machinery and equipment
• Chemical products, pharmaceuticals
• Agro-processing
North West:
• Mining
• Agriculture and agro-processing
• Tourism
• Metal products
• Machinery and equipment
• Renewable energy (solar)
Northern Cape:
• Mining
• Agriculture and agro-processing
• Fisheries and aquaculture
• Renewable energy (solar, wind)
• Jewellery manufacturing
Western Cape:
• Tourism
• Financial and business services
• Transport and logistics
• ICT
• Agriculture and agro-processing
• Fisheries and aquaculture
• Petrochemicals
• Basic iron and steel
• Clothing and textiles
• Renewable energy (solar, wind)
Free State:
Limpopo:
• Mining
• Fertilisers
• Tourism
• Agriculture
• Agro-processing
• Energy, including renewables (solar)
Mpumalanga:
• Mining
• Tourism
• Forestry, paper and paper products, wood and wood products
• Agriculture and agroprocessing
• Metal products
Eastern Cape:
KwaZulu-Natal:
• Transport and logistics
• Tourism
• Motor vehicles, parts and accessories
• Petrochemicals
• Aluminium
• Clothing and textiles
• Machinery and equipment
• Agriculture and agroprocessing
• Forestry, pulp and paper, wood and wood products
• Motor vehicles, parts and accessories
• Forestry, wood and wood products
• Clothing and textiles
• Pharmaceuticals
• Agriculture and agro-processing
• Mining
• Petrochemicals
• Machinery and equipment
• Tourism
• Leather and leather products
• Tourism
• Renewable energy (wind)
Source: Industrial Development Corporation (IDC); The Case for Investing in South Africa, Executive Summary (South African Investment Conference, 2018).
Source: Industrial Development Corporation (IDC)
SOUTH AFRICAN
SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS
The decision by TotalEnergies to submit a production plan for their recent discoveries off the coast of Mossel Bay coincided with the beginning of commercial operations of Tetra4’s natural gas project in the north-eastern Free State. These two events prove that investors can see that the South African resources equation adds up to something worthwhile.
These are exciting times for exploration in South Africa. Both of these projects came about through the licensing authority of Petroleum Agency South Africa (PASA), the agency of national government which reports to the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE). PASA regulates and monitors exploration and production activities and is the custodian of the national exploration and production database for petroleum. Its role was statutorily endorsed in June 2004 in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002.
In terms of strategy, the agency actively seeks out technically competent and financially sound clients to whom it markets acreage, while ensuring that all prospecting and mining leases
are for the long-term economic benefit of South Africa. As custodian, PASA ensures that companies applying for gas rights are vetted to make sure they are financially qualified and technically capable, as well having a good track record in terms of environmental responsibility. Oil and gas exploration requires enormous capital outlay and can represent a risk to workers, communities and the environment. Applicants are therefore required to prove their capabilities and safety record and must carry insurance for environmental rehabilitation.
As part of a drive to create certainty for investors, a new bill has been introduced to replace old legislation. The Upstream Petroleum Resources Development (UPRD) Bill provides for greater certainty in terms of security of tenure by combining the rights for the exploration, development and production phase under one permit.
The draft bill was first published in June 2021 and discussions with industry stakeholders are ongoing. Organisations such as the South African Oil and Gas Alliance (SAOGA) will be coordinating responses to present to parliament. Objectives of the bill include:
• expanding black participation
• promoting local employment and skills development
• creating an enabling environment to accelerate exploration and production of South Africa’s petroleum resources.
Sustainable development: balancing development with environmental protection
South Africa has vast gas and oil resources and exploration and the exploitation of these resources has barely scratched the surface. Having to import oil and gas has a serious impact on the country’s balance of payments.
This makes it more difficult to industrialise the country. For the 2021/22 financial year about 50 applications for exploration and production were received but only about 10% of that number were approved.
This is because of very stringent licensing and environmental regulations which must be followed. As PASA CEO Dr Phindile Masangane explains, “We assure South Africans that the slow pace is because we have to make sure that we have a robust system that incorporates all the aspects of licensing but importantly, that the environmental impact assessment is thoroughly undertaken.”
Despite this, planned seismic surveys were halted after opponents of the process went to court in 2021 and 2022. Proponents of continued exploration argue that the seismic process being followed is no
different to that which has been followed in the past, and which is employed all over the world.
Dr Masangane told Bloomberg in August 2022: “As the Petroleum Agency, we acknowledge that South Africa’s upstream oil and gas industry has become litigious.” She noted that local consultation standards are going to be evaluated and improved if necessary. This aspect of the process has been the subject of criticism in the court cases.
Investors are still very interested in the South African proposition, as the TotalEnergies offshore and the Free State project prove. Most offshore project exploration interest tends to come from foreign investors because of the high costs but within South Africa, there is a growing number of local participants. A women and black-owned company, Imbokodo, is making a name for itself as a participant as a shareholder in a number of licensing rounds.
Revised draft regulations related to hydraulic fracking in the gas-rich Karoo region were published by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) in July 2022 for public comment. Fracking is a drilling technique that is widely used in other jurisdictions such as the United States, but environmental concerns have been raised. Dr Masangane further told Bloomberg that groundwater and geological studies are being conducted in the biodiversity-rich areas of the Karoo and that once regulations have been finalised, seismic activity will be undertaken to establish which blocks to license.
As part of an attempt to engage in a broader discussion on policy issues, a joint colloquium was held in 2022 on the subject of how to balance South Africa’s energy needs with the country’s climate change commitments. The colloquium, and several online events which prepared for and anticipated the main event, was jointly hosted by the DMRE, the DFFE and PASA.
Dr Masangane is convinced that a balance can be achieved between developing renewables and continuing to exploit the country’s (and the continent’s) oil and gas reserves. She points out that the use of certain fuels for cooking leads to deforestation: “If they were to use gas, whether it is LPG or natural gas for cooking that in itself is decarbonisation because then you arrest the negative impact of deforestation. We must not buy into a false narrative and a false choice. It is possible that we can have a dual strategy.” ■
The goal of industrialising the South African economy is a major objective of the Special Economic Zone programme. These zones (which include Industrial Parks) are intended as catalysts for economic growth in established sectors and in stimulating new industries.
Collaboration between national government (through the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, the dtic, which oversees the programme), provincial departments and municipalities, economic development agencies and private companies in key sectors is a vital component in making Special Economic Zones work.
As defined by the dtic, Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are geographically designated areas set aside for specifically-targeted economic activities, supported through special arrangements (laws, tax rebates) and systems that are often different from those that apply in the rest of the country.
South Africa’s Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) identifies SEZs as growth engines towards government’s strategic objectives of industrialisation, regional development and employment creation.
The purpose of the SEZ programme is to: expand the industrialisation focus to cover diverse regional development needs; provide a clear, predictable and systemic planning framework
for the development of a wider array of SEZs to support industrial policy objectives; clarify and strengthen governance arrangements, expand the range and quality of support measure beyond provision of infrastructure; and provide a framework for a predictable financing framework to enable long-term planning.
In some parts of the country, an anchor tenant is central to the concept of the approved or proposed SEZ.
In East London, the presence of MercedesBenz South Africa makes the clustering of automotive suppliers in the East London IDZ both logical and cost-effective. The Northern Cape’s proposed Namakwa SEZ is predicated on the huge operations of the existing Gamsberg Zinc Mine (pictured) and the proposed smelter to be built by international investor Vedanta Zinc International.
In eastern Limpopo, the Mining Supplier Park run by mining company Glencore is forming the core around which the Fetakgomo-Tubatse SEZ is being created. Local and district municipalities are investing in basic infrastructure, while the provincial government has allocated staff from its Department for Economic Development, Environment and Tourism to drive the process. The same provincial department has created a stateowned-company to run the Musina-Makhado SEZ in the northern part of the province.
Collaboration between the private sector and government and its agencies is paying off in eight provinces.
The country’s biggest diamond miner, De Beers, is partnering with the local tertiary college, the Venda TVET College, by offering engineering graduates a chance to gain practical experience at its Musina operations. The decision by the college to locate its engineering facility within the SEZ is another example of collaboration.
Part of the value proposition of the Upington Industrial Park is based on the plans of Airports Company South Africa to develop the local airport as a base for storage of aircraft and for maintenance and repairs. The fact that major automotive manufacturers test their cars in the Northern Cape on a regular basis is something that the Northern Cape Economic Development Agency (NCEDA) is promoting as an opportunity for investors.
Mining is at the heart of another planned Northern Cape project, the Kathu IDZ. Big companies such as Sishen Iron Ore Company, Kumba, Assmang and South32 have expressed support and the project has been submitted by the NCEDA to Infrastructure South Africa to be registered as a catalytic project.
The OR Tambo International SEZ (Gauteng IDZ) leverages the advantages of being located at a major transport hub for access to African and international markets. The SEZ’s location within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality means that there are also many opportunities for tie-ups with a huge variety of manufacturing enterprises – Ekurhuleni has the country’s densest
concentration of manufacturing operations. An interesting example of inter-government partnership came about in December 2020 when the City of Cape Town transferred general industrial-zoned properties worth R56.5-million to the Atlantis Special Economic Zone Company (SOC) Ltd. In return, the City became a shareholder in the company.
An earlier cooperative agreement between the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Provincial Government had set out the terms for the transaction once the Atlantis SEZ Company was registered.
The signing of this land agreement meant the ASEZ Company assumed responsibility for the usage, administration and control of the property. The total area of proclaimed land is 118 hectares, of which 25ha has already been developed by five investors. The difficulty was that the other 94ha of land belonged to the City of Cape Town and was subject to various conditions about the rate at which it could be rented out or sold. By incorporating the City of Cape Town as a shareholder, the land was unlocked and the SEZ was in a position to expand.
A few kilometres north of Atlantis, the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (SBIDZ) has to work hand-in-hand with the Saldanha Bay Municipality (SBM) and the Transnet National Port Authority (TNPA) as it defines its role and expands its offering. As an example of the level of cooperation envisaged for SEZ development, the R3.5-billion first phase of the expansion of the Port of Saldanha is described in an SBIDZ press release as being understood as “a long-term partnership between the government, its institutions and the private sector”.
The press release further explains how the process fits into the national context:
“This transaction model has proven the best way to fund long-term assets in a competitive environment. The SBIDZ has begun the formal process of submitting this project to the Investment and Infrastructure Office in the Office of the Presidency, supported by the National Treasury, for inclusion in the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium (SIDS).” ■
SEZs are located in areas with particular resources and historical sectoral strengths. The relevant SEZ is geared to serve, support and encourage development of those resources and sectors. There are currently 15 Special Economic Zones in eight provinces. Some of the zones are in the process of being officially proclaimed as SEZs.
Province: Limpopo
Name: Musina-Makhado SEZ
SEZ status: Approved
Focus: Light industrial, agroprocessing, metallurgical, mineral beneficiation, solar power
Province: Limpopo
Name: Fetakgomo-Tubatse SEZ SEZ status: Focus: Green energy, hydrogen, mining inputs, mineral beneficiation
Province: Gauteng
Name: Vaal SEZ SEZ status: Focus: Logistics, agriculture and agro-processing, tourism, alternate energy (solar, battery storage, hydrogen)
Province: Gauteng
Name: OR Tambo International Airport (Gauteng IDZ) SEZ status: Focus: Beneficiation of precious metals and minerals sector, light, high-margin, export-oriented manufacturing
Province: Gauteng
Name: Tshwane Automotive SEZ SEZ status: Focus: Automotive, automotive components, manufacturing, export manufacturing
Name: Nkomazi SEZ
SEZ Status: Approved
Focus: Strategic location on Maputo Corridor is major selling point; logistics, agro-processing, manufacturing, nutraceuticals, fertiliser products
Province: Eastern Cape
Name: Coega SEZ
SEZ status: Approved
Focus: Automotive, agroprocessing, aquaculture, energy, metals, logistics and business process services (BPO)
Province: Western Cape
The Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone is ideally placed to bolster national plans, says CEO Lehlogonolo Masoga, while carrying out an inspiring vision for the region’s economy and people.
Please explain the rationale behind Special Economic Zones. Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are growth engines towards government’s strategic objectives of industrialisation, regional development, employment creation, the improvement of existing infrastructure, skills development and technology transfer by attracting foreign direct investment and strengthening the export of value-added commodities. SEZs are geographically-designated areas set aside for targeted economic and sector-focused activities, supported through special arrangements (that may include laws) and systems that are often different from those that apply in the rest of the country. This is a strategic phenomenon which has transformed economies across the globe by developing major industrial development zones with ripple effects such as the development of new towns and smart cities.
How do SEZs fit into national plans such as the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP)?
Lehlogonolo Masoga has more than 20 years of experience as an administrator and public servant, most recently as Deputy Speaker of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature and MEC for Roads and Transport. He served as the spokesperson for the former LEDET MEC and Minister of Public Administration, the late Mr Collins Chabane. Lehlogonolo holds three Master’s degrees: Governance and Public Leadership (Wits), Development Studies (Limpopo) and an MSc in Leadership and Change (Leeds Beckett University, UK). He has B-Tech HRM from UNISA and a professional diploma in Humanitarian Assistance from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (UK) and is currently a registered PhD candidate in Public Administration.
IPAP recognises the role of industrial parks and Special Economic Zones as strategic vehicles for industrial activities which promote beneficiation and manufacturing. The support which is provided to SEZs in terms of infrastructure, regulatory framework and incentive schemes provides a conducive environment to bolster industrialisation. The IPAP classifies Special Economic Zones into key categories which include Industrial Development Zones, Free Ports, Free Trade Zones and Sector Development Zones.
How does the MMSEZ fit into regional and provincial planning initiatives?
The priorities of the Limpopo Development Plan 2020-2025 and the Medium-Term Strategic Framework include the following:
• Transformation and modernisation of the provincial economy
• Integrated and sustainable socio-economic infrastructure development
• Spatial transformation for integrated socio-economic development
• Economic transformation and job creation through regional integration
These policy priorities reinforce the business case of the MusinaMakhado Special Economic Zone in line with the vision of the provincial
administration. A successful MMSEZ will result in South Africa’s active participation and leadership in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the industrialisation strategy of SADC.
The Limpopo Development Plan articulates an inspirational vision about the future as follows: The Limpopo Province of the future will create an environment that is mutually beneficial, where rural living and smart cities coexist in harmony, adopting the future without losing touch with our heritage. The new Limpopo Province will:
• Develop new smart green cities with integrated transport systems.
• Embrace renewable energy to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels.
• Develop and implement new 4IR education systems that can inspire and prepare the youth and adults for the future.
• Evolve businesses to embrace the 4IR and be globally competitive.
• Evolve the provincial economy from being mostly dependent on the primary sectors, to a diverse and inclusive economy, with growth potential to reduce unemployment significantly.
• Have happy, prosperous and connected communities.
• Have new economic infrastructure that can enable Limpopo to leap into the future, such as drone airports to assist in delivering packages to rural areas.
What underpins the geographic spread of SEZs?
During the early 2000s, government adopted the Industrial Development Zones, which were mainly concentrated in the historical economic hubs and coastal regions. The SEZ model recognised a need to harness the country’s economic competitive advantages across the value chains. Our economy boasts various competitive advantages which span across various provinces. This new approach has created an unprecedented opportunity for rural provinces such as Limpopo to participate in this magnificent programme.
What measures are undertaken to encourage investments in SEZs?
The success of a Special Economic Zone is dependent on its capacity to attract and retain
both domestic and foreign direct investment. The secret to unlocking investment lies in the readiness of the infrastructure, packaging of a solid business case, project preparation, marketing and investment promotion strategies.
What collaborations is the MMSEZ engaged in?
When the MMSEZ was officially designated in 2017, among the things that the provincial government had to start preparing for was skills development among the youth who will require new and advanced skills to work in the project. An idea to establish the Vhembe TVET College Musina Satellite Campus was mooted and with the support of Venetia Mine, a start was made. When the college management were looking for a new piece of land to build a proper campus around Musina, an opportunity was identified to relocate the campus into the North Site of the MMSEZ. The beauty of the MMSEZ-VTVET partnership lies in the fusing of skills development and industrial platforms within the same zone. We are pleased with the support provided to this pioneering initiative by both the provincial and national government. This initiative will also form part of the foundation and a seed for the development of a new smart city in Musina.
What is the MMSEZ strategy on SMMEs?
Small, micro and medium-sized enterprises are the lifeblood of any economy to facilitate economic empowerment and job creation. Economic transformation through the empowerment of SMMEs and historicallydisadvantaged individuals has undergone several policy setbacks that threatened the country’s path for economic transformation. Among the first steps undertaken by the MMSEZ SOC to level the playing field for the empowerment of local enterprise and entrepreneurs was the development of an Enterprise Development Strategy, through which local enterprises and entrepreneurs will be prioritised in terms of opportunities presented by the SEZ. They will also receive the necessary support for them to reach their full potential and become the integral part of the MMSEZ ecosystem. ■
Both private and public institutions have committed funds and a mining company is engaged in a partnership.
The M usina-Makhado SEZ (MMSEZ) is intended as a catalyst for massive future investment in the region and support of industrialisation and economic growth.
The MMSEZ has already attracted significant investment from public and private investors and a strong pipeline of further investment is envisaged.
Major investments in infrastructure are being provided by the Provincial Government of Limpopo through the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET). Of R600-billion pledged to develop infrastructure for the North Site of the MMSEZ over the mediumterm expenditure framework (MTEF), some R39million has been spent to date on engineering work and the 2022/23 financial year will see a further allocation of R200-million for items such as security, water and electricity infrastructure.
The entity which has been created to run the SEZ, the MMSEZ state-owned-company (MMSEZ SOC), is responsible for coordinating investments and guiding the process towards the realisation and functioning of the Special Economic Zone.
The local Technical Vocational and Educational and Training college, Vhembe TVET College, is
investing in establishing a campus in Musina to complement the development of the SEZ.
A satellite campus was originally established but through a partnership between the MMSEZ SOC and Vhembe TVET the engineering campus will relocate to a site within the SEZ site. De Beers will support the graduates with on-thejob training.
The SEZ will thus be supporting the skills profile of the district and combining skills development and industrial development. Additional investments in student accommodation and retail outlets to support the student population will further enhance the diverse offering within the SEZ.
Having a tertiary college located within the SEZ will form an important first building block towards creating a Smart City in Musina.
The investment value of the 1 000MW Solar Power Plan to be constructed in the SEZ is valued by the provincial government at US$1.5-billion. The project is being undertaken by Huadian Hong Kong Ltd, the company that has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with LEDET.
Eskom has started with the inception and scoping report for bulk electricity infrastructure of the MMSEZ, which will connect the power plant to the grid. ■
What is the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone?
The MMSEZ is a flagship initiative of the Limpopo Provincial Government. The North Site is wholly owned and operated by the MMSEZ SOC. The South Site is operated by the MMSEZ SOC in partnership with a Chinese operator, Shenzhen Hoi Mor Resources Holding Company Ltd.
The Musina-Makhado SEZ is a flagship initiative of the Limpopo Provincial Government implemented through the Musina-Makhado SEZ SOC in partnership with a Chinese Operator, Shenzhen Hoi Mor Resources Holding Company Ltd. The MMSEZ as an economic development tool aims to promote national economic growth and exports by using support measures in order to attract targeted foreign and domestic investments, research and development (R&D) and technology transfer.
The MMSEZ is a flagship initiative of the Limpopo Provincial Government implemented through the MMSEZ SOC, in partnership with a Chinese Operator, Shenzhen Hoi Mor Resources Holding Company Ltd.
Musina-Makhado SEZ is flagship initiative of the Limpopo Provincial Government implemented through the Musina-Makhado SEZ MMSEZ SOC in partnership with a Chinese Operator, Shenzhen Hoi Mor Resources Holding Company Ltd. The MMSEZ as an economic development tool aims to promote national economic growth and exports by using support measures in order to attract targeted foreign and domestic investments, research and development.
Metallurgy •
The MMSEZ is an economic tool that aims to promote national economic growth and exports by using support measures in order to attract targeted foreign and domestic investments, research and development.
Where is the MMSEZ located?
Limpopo Provincial Government implemented through the Musina-Makhado SEZ SOC in partnership with a Chinese Operator, Shenzhen Hoi Mor Resources Holding Company Ltd. The MMSEZ as an economic development tool aims to promote national economic growth and exports by using support measures in order to attract targeted foreign and domestic investments, research and development. Investment
• Preferential corporate tax
• Building allowance and tax relief
• Employment tax incentive
zone:
•
Investment opportunities outside the zones:
• Real estate
• Retail and hotels
• Schools and airport
•
• Health
• Entertainment
• Musina Dam
The Musina-Makhado SEZ is located in the vicinity of the Beit Bridge Border Post which is one of the busiest ports of entry in SA and an undisputable gateway to the South African Development Community (SADC) countries. The MMSEZ has the potential to become an inland intermodal terminal, facilitated by its anchor along the North-South Corridor, and directly connecting to the country’s major ports through both N1 road and the JohannesburgMusina railway line, for the trans-shipment of sea cargo and manufactured goods to inland destinations and the SADC markets.
• Customs-controlled area tax relief
• Rental space discounts
• Readily available infrastructure
• Sufficient land for greenfield projects
• Access to agricultural and mineral resources
• Easy access to the up-north (SADC) market
• Accessible logistics support for the movement of goods
Stainless Steel Plant
Contact details
Musina-Makhado SEZ SOC 67 411 9192
Musina Makhado SEZ SOC
93 Biccard Street, Polokwane,
Mr Richard Zitha, Executive Investment Promotion
71 391 8188
Cell: +27 71 391 8188
Mr Richard Zitha, Project Executive Cell: +27 071 391 8188 Email: R.Zitha@mmsez.co.za
Email: R.Zitha@mmsez.co.za
Anew Smart City is taking shape in Limpopo Province. It is catalysed by the economic stimulus of the MusinaMakhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ). The new Smart City will integrate the towns of Musina and Makhado to become the pre-eminent trade and industrial centre of Southern Africa.
The new Smart City will reignite the rich civilisational heritage of the Great Mapungubwe, Thulamela and Zimbabwe Kingdoms which at their height in 1000AD produced artifacts in gold and traded globally as far as Arabia, India and China. This region will once again rise and become a modernised industrial and global trade hub, building on its heritage and embracing the technology revolution.
The geographic location of the Smart City in the northern part of South Africa bordering Zimbabwe and connecting into the rest of Africa gives it a critical comparative advantage, together with the natural endowments within the surrounds of Musina and Makhado which include high-value agricultural land, mineral resources and functional spatial relationships. If harnessed fully these will help to create a competitive regional economy for South Africa and the continent.
The advantage of the MMSEZ is that it is part of a national economic programme, located within the National Transformation Corridor that links Gauteng with its dynamic economy to the Beitbridge Border Post, one of the busiest ports in Africa.
The goal of the Smart City is transformational. People’s needs and aspirations are at the centre of planning. The foundations are proper sanitation and waste management, 24-hour electricity and water supply, efficient mobility and public transport with a network of wellconnected roads and access to reliable and high-speed telecommunications. The circular and green economy based on reuse, recycle, share, low/zero-carbon footprint meets with the concept of the Smart City. The MMSEZ, working together with all three spheres of government and stakeholders, aims to develop the designated MMSEZ as a catalytic driver for a Smart City which is envisioned to be:
A leading innovative, sustainable and inclusive high-tech Africa gateway city, driven by residents and visionary investment within a prosperous rural-urban integrated region and operating as a highly connected – freight/warehousing/ logistics/transport/retail/ manufacturing – industrial hub supporting the SEZ within a superefficient Gauteng-Limpopo-Zimbabwe economic corridor.
“A leading innovative, sustainable and inclusive high-tech Africa gateway city”
A leading innovative, sustainable and inclusive high-tech Africa gateway cityA Smart City programme is envisaged for northern Limpopo Province, catalysed by the development of
themulti-sector Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone.
The Board of Directors of Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) recognises and appreciates the immensity of the challenges and attractive opportunities that come with the MMSEZ. We understand the mutual and interdependent relationship between a successful SEZ and our envisaged Smart City. We also acknowledge that the long-term nature of this project and its intergenerational characteristics require long-range planning and short-term execution. It requires human and capital resources that are committed in the long term and resilient enough to withstand the turbulences inherent in these types of projects.
The core triangle of Beitbridge, Musina CBD and Antonvilla (Northern SEZ) will catalyse a region of smartness and development with upgrades to roads and connectivity that will create the Musina-Makhado corridor.
This core triangle will catalyse a region of smartness and development with upgrades to roads and connectivity that will make the Musina-Makhado corridor
As a long-term developmental approach, this will result in a transformed, competitive and spatially integrated regional economy and this will lead to the upliftment and well-being of people living in Vhembe, its neighbouring districts and the Province of Limpopo at large.
The development of the Smart City starts with the Northern SEZ Site of the MMSEZ as a smart precinct, together with the upgrading of the Beitbridge border post and the town of Musina to become an integrated core of the new Smart City. This core triangle will catalyse a region of smartness and development with upgrades to roads and connectivity that will make the MusinaMakhado corridor the fastest-developing area in Limpopo, South Africa and Southern Africa.
The Northern Site of the MMSEZ in Antonvilla will be the first smart precinct in the smart city that will improve the economy and create jobs.
A green industrial estate where one can live, work, play.
Investments into light manufacturing, retail, trade, freight and logistics warehousing, and agro-processing will be sought.
Innovation and incubation of new businesses to work on latest technology in electronics and other industries will be promoted.
The buildings and management of the precinct will use solar energy and conversion of waste to energy to ensure sustainability.
The Smart City Model will be implemented incrementally:
• First step: integrate the Northern Site of the MMSEZ, the Beitbridge border and the Musina town to form the Smart City.
• Second step: upgrade the N1 between Makhado and Beitbridge as part of the Smart City Corridor.
• Third step: promote strategic developments along the N1 Musina-Makhado Smart City corridor.
• Fourth step: renew and regenerate the towns of Musina and Makhado.
• Fifth step: implement the corridors, ensuring connectivity to villages and promote agriculture and tourism, activating the Smart Region.
• Parallel steps: development of roads for connectivity; work on telecommunication coverage; training of communities to use technology in partnership with the institutions of higher learning and through schools; building awareness on zero waste and low-carbon living. The work on the metallurgy complex at the Southern SEZ site will also be undertaken in parallel.
A vibrant partnership with the University of Venda in co-creating the Smart City was launched on 16 September 2021, when the model was unveiled. The next step will be to develop the supply of skills needed for a Smart City and the ongoing operation of the SEZ.
A vision of the emergence of a Smart City in the land between Musina and Makhado energises the directors and staff of the MMSEZ company to perform to the best of their abilities from day to day and from year to year. It is this vision that shines a light on our path to build a platform from which the next generation will derive optimal economic benefits. We continue the relentless pursuit of this vision, while keeping our promise to do all we can to maintain an environment that our children and their children will happily inherit from us. What will emerge between these two northern-most towns of Limpopo province is a Smart City that will offer endless opportunities for all our people. It is a Smart City that will offer business, job, skill development and entertainment opportunities for the people of the Vhembe region, Limpopo Province and the nation. This will be a Smart City we will all be proud of.
Beitbridge border
Musina CBD
Antonvilla (Northern SEZ)
The Northern Site of the MMSEZ in Antonvilla will be the first smart precinct in the Smart City that will improve the economy and create jobs. A green industrial estate where one can live, work, play. Investments into light manufacturing, retail, trade, freight and logistics, warehousing and agro-processing will be sought. Innovation and incubation of new businesses to work on latest technology in electronics and other industries will be promoted. The buildings and management of the precinct will use solar energy and conversion of waste to energy to ensure sustainability.
Mr
Tel: +27 66 174 0798 | 93 Biccard
The Vaal Special Economic Zone (Vaal SEZ) is intended as a catalytic project to boost economic growth and create jobs in the Vaal region.
Heidelberg is the seat of the municipality. Emfuleni in the west is home to the towns synonymous with steel, Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging and the Sasol Petrochemical complex to the south of Sedibeng in the Free State Province.
By 2030, an industrialised, globally competitive, export-driven regional economy.
Our Mission is our tagline: To Reignite the Birthplace of Industrialisation in South Africa.
The Sedibeng District, host of the proposed Vaal SEZ, comprises three local municipalities and is strategically located both in terms of highways and railways and in relation to three economically-powerful metropolitan municipalities, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane.
Aconsiderable amount of planning has already gone into the concept which ties in to development goals and frameworks at local, regional and national level.
The three local municipalities which make up the Sedibeng District Municipality are predominantly rural. Midvaal is the most rural of the three local municipalities, with urban development concentrated along routes R59 and R82 in the north-western parts of the municipal area. Midvaal has strong regional linkages to major economic cores.
Lesedi is also primarily rural, with the major urban concentration located in Heidelberg/Ratanda nodes, along the N3 freeway at its intersection with Provincial Route R42, east of the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve.
• The Vaal SEZ will leverage existing assets and infrastructure
• It will pursue opportunities in the green economy, decarbonisation, hydrogen and net-zero emission sectors
• To become the go-to investment destination
• To be a multi-tier (multiple sites, multiple sectors), anchor SEZ hub, spatially dispersed within the region
• To achieve a seamless, integrated, socially-cohesive society, with sustained economic growth and quality jobs for the people of the Vaal region.
The Vaal SEZ Master Plan was completed at the end of June 2022. Site analyses of secured sites has been completed.
A pipeline of firm investment commitments is being established. Township establishment processes will be initiated for land parcels to service current highpriority investors.
The SEZ designation application will be submitted by the end of October 2022.
Enabling framework
Strong government support, robust legal and regulatory framework. Strong commercial and significant economic and social returns, including incentives and rebates.
Locational benefit
South Africa’s economic hub, sound logistics networks and infrastructure.
Infrastructure services
One-stop shop services and the Vaal SEZ’s Shared Services and investor access to serviced land and funding options.
Management capability
Independent management body, cooperation between dedicated bodies, local, regional and national government.
Sedibeng District Municipality is traversed by extensive national and provincial major railway and road mobility infrastructure: Route N1: the major national north/south freeway linking Musina at the northern border of South Africa to Cape Town in the south Route N3: the major transport link between Gauteng Province and eThekwini, passes through Sedibeng District’s Lesedi Municipality Route N17: the main link between Johannesburg, Secunda, eSwatini and the Richards Bay harbour Route R103: the old Johannesburg-Durban road runs parallel to Route N3
Two land parcels earmarked by the municipality for SEZ development (one of 20ha and another of 149ha). Access to the N3 to allow good connections to Johannesburg and KwaZuluNatal. Three-way collaboration between the Municipality, MTP Aviation Solutions and the Vaal SEZ to widen the SEZ area to include parts of the Heidelberg Aerodrome.
Land has been secured adjacent to the Klipriver Business Park (500ha) with access to the R59 via the R550. Also, 100ha secured next to SA Steel Mill off the Pierneef Road offramp, as well as 9ha in DeDeur, zoned for agricultural purposes and earmarked for agro-procressing. Council has approved the land classification.
The Emfuleni Local Municipality Council has resolved to make two adjoining land parcels available, totalling 697ha. The site is bordered by the N1 highway and is close to the ArcelorMittal factory. This site is also earmarked for the development of a Hydrogen Valley Concept.
Vaal SEZ aims to build on region’s strengths to create sustainable businesses
The Vaal SEZ is to be created within the Sedibeng District Municipality, which already has several attractive assets for would-be investors:
• An existing manufacturing base (eg, Heineken, ArcelorMittal, SASOL, SA Steel Mills) and a history of industrial activity
• Agricultural land available for development
• affordable industrial and commercial land earmarked for development
• Vaal River, tourism
• Vaal Dam, tourism
• Existing university and graduates
• Young population with huge potential
• Skilled artisans
• Excellent rail and road connections
• Proximity to three of South Africa’s largest metropolitan markets, namely Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane
The Vaal region is a historic cluster of capital-intensive and heavilyindustrialised manufacturing which was underpinned by a globally-competitive mining and iron and steel sector.
These experienced a marked decline from the 1990s, but plans are underway to revive the region, using the tried and tested method of creating a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) as a hub for business activity. Where the Vaal SEZ is unique is that various satellite hubs will work out from a central hub like spokes in a wheel, thus exploiting the existing strengths of particular sites and spreading economic benefits across the area more widely.
The Vaal region presents a compellingly unique value proposition of a thriving regional value-adding industrial economy which effectively leverages its comparative locational attributes and resource endowments. In addition to spearheading the revival of the existing industrial manufacturing base, it will also facilitate the creation of new growth and differentiation opportunities which include low-carbon manufacturing, energy, agriculture and agro-processing.
Despite the ongoing challenges that have faced Vaal businesses over the years, it has been found that existing businesses have continued to support communities and explore ways to be more sustainable. Significant investment continues to be made by existing businesses and this bodes well for how the region is viewed by its residents – a vote for the future.
There is a strong case for investors to join and benefit from a green energy-fuelled reindustrialisation of the Vaal region. This will transform this industrial basin into the country’s preeminent hub for low-carbon manufacturing and renewable energy production.
The Vaal SEZ is connected to other national and provincial initiatives in Gauteng. This regional development aims to create linkages and the integration of the host province’s growth strategies with the local economic development strategies of the host municipalities to national economic initiatives.
• High-impact investments into the food, agriculture and agro-industries value chain
• Investment in gateway logistics (air, road, rail, river) to exploit the locational advantages of the Sedibeng District
• Investment in the Blue Economy and the Tourism Sector using the advantages of the Vaal River
• Building a Smart City along the Vaal River to enable SEZ development and to drive urban regeneration
• Building strong local linkages between township/rural economies with the value chains that the Vaal SEZ will develop and strengthen
The cannabis economy is projected to grow quickly.
Land is available for future development.
Land is affordable
Solar and battery storage
The circular economy
The hydrogen economy: aim to be South Africa’s preeminent hub for the hydrogen economy
• Food, beverages, agro-processing and agribusiness
• Agro-processing – plant products and value chains
• Agro-processing – livestock and value chains
• Warehousing and storage – packaging
• Expansion of gateway logistics and infrastructure
• Logistics – exploiting locational advantages
• Formalised relationship with tertiary educational institutions
• Development with a purpose
• Pool of skilled resources for industry
• Training for future skills
• Maintenance of existing assets
• Creating new and sustainable infrastructure to support targeted industrial activities
• The Vaal Dam is a significant asset
Excellent location, resources and incentives combine to make South Africa’s most central province an attractive investment proposition for businesses of all sorts.
Situated in the heart of South Africa and sharing borders with Lesotho and six other provinces, the Free State’s location provides easy access to the main ports of Durban, East London and Gqeberha and is therefore ideal for logistics, manufacturing and agro-processing operations.
The main economic sectors are agriculture, mining and manufacturing. The concentration of large chemical companies in the town of Sasolburg is testimony to the influence of global chemicals and energy company Sasol.
Companies relocating not only enjoy the opportunity to source inputs at competitive prices, but also to benefit from domestic, regional and international markets for their products and services.
There are industrial parks and a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) that are supported by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. Industrial parks are situated in Maluti-A-Phofung, Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu.
The Free State’s strengths for inward investment are boosted by:
• openness to business, trade and investment
• abundance of natural resources
• low factory rentals
• Africa’s leading telecommunications network
• incentive packages uniquely developed for Special Economic Zones and industrial parks
• Free State Development Corporation (FDC) support services for priority sectors such as agro-processing and manufacturing
• a large labour pool
• diverse cultures
• competitive land and building costs.
Select investment opportunities include: agriculture and agro-processing; tourism and property development; medical and pharmaceutical
production and distribution; manufacturing; renewable and clean energy and medical tourism.
The Free State Development Corporation (FDC) contributes to the Free State’s economic development through four service delivery pillars: SMME/co-operative funding and support; export-related services; property management; investor services.
FDC services to investors and business include:
• Project appraisal and packaging.
• Promotion and facilitation of investment projects and facilitation of access to finance.
• Providing access to business and government networks and assistance with business retention and expansion.
• Information on statutory requirements, investment advice and assistance with investment incentive applications and business permits.
• • Assisting with the development of local and international markets and facilitating joint ventures/equity partnerships through identification of local partners.
The FDC ovesees 253 commercial properties and 290 industrial sites, which it uses to:
• Facilitate commercial and industrial activity
• Assist new investors looking for suitable premises
• Facilitate SMME development, particularly in rural areas
The substantial property portfolio makes FDC one of the biggest property owners in the province with industrial, residential and commercial properties in excess of 900 000m² situated in the Mangaung Metro and Thabo Mafutsanyana District.
FDC industrial properties are located in
• Thaba Nchu
• Botshabelo
• Industriqwa – Harrismith
• Phuthadithjaba
The main objective of the MAP SEZ is to attract foreign and direct investment and to stimulate the local economy as well as to create meaningful work opportunities for people of the Free State as a whole and in particular the Maluti-A-Phofung region.
The MAP SEZ is nestled on 1 038ha of land which is divided into four precincts that include the crossdocking and container-terminal precincts. The MAP SEZ is a multi-sector processing, manufacturing, engineering, logistics services and transport complex, serving the needs of the upstream value-adding, beneficiation, processing and production service companies operating across sectors and geographic areas in Southern Africa.
A number of incentives are available to ensure MAP SEZ’s growth, revenue generation and international competitiveness. These incentives include:
• 15% corporate tax instead of 28% corporate tax
• Building allowance tax
• Employment incentive tax
Free State Province Center yourself in the heart of South Africa
Free State Province Center yourself in the heart of South Africa
Free State Province Center yourself in the heart of South Africa
Free State Province
Center yourself in the heart of South Africa
From the impressive rock formations of the Golden Gate Highlands National Park to the country’s biggest dam, Gariep Dam, with cultural, historical and adventure experiences in between, the Free State caters to every tourist’s taste.
There are also multiple investment opportunities. The Free State Gambling, Liquor and Tourism Authority (FSGLTA) is doubling up on efforts to attract international tourists and to create new markets domestically through programmes such as “Travelling Differently”.
Tourism infrastructure is being enhanced and new skills taught to prospective employees in the sector. Bloemfontein’s newest investment is the R95-million Premier Splendid Inn.
All of the major hotel brands have a presence in the Free State. Protea Hotels has properties in Bloemfontein, Harrismith and the popular resort town of Clarens while Sun International, the Tsogo Group and City Lodge are well represented. ■ Free
MEC for Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, the Honourable MP Mohale, has been supportive of various publications designed to attract investment to the province. In addition, he notes: While investment is an essential ingredient to economic growth, it should be pointed out that at the centre of the Free State government’s economic development strategy, as well as the Value Chains Economic Transformation Approach, is human capital formation and development through universities and colleges, and various institutions pursuing innovation and offering proof-ofconcept services, to name a few. The Free State is poised to become a laboratory for excellence in education outcomes, research and innovation, particularly in the fields of health, agriculture, agro-processing, manufacturing, water management, ICT, pharmaceuticals and rural development. Domestic and potential investors from around the world are welcome to contact the DESTEA Head of Department at: HoD_office@destea.gov.za.
Limitless renewable-energy resources, a new port, a Special Economic Zone and green-hydrogen investments make the province the ideal destination for forward-thinkers.
The Northern Cape is now – and will in the future – be the best global investment destination for investors in mining, agriculture or energy. These are the primary sectors. However, there is the added benefit for the province and for investors of renewable energy being scaled up across the province. This puts the Northern Cape in a good position to have an aggressive industrialisation agenda
To this end, the 2022/23 financial year began with a positive start as the Northern Cape recorded the lowest unemployment rates in the country together with an improved GDP figure of R130-billion, up from R98-billion in 2019. The key drivers for the Northern Cape’s sterling performance were investments in the mining and energy sectors. These were made possible through good governance and investment facilitation on top of a good resource base.
The Northern Cape is a key contributor towards South Africa’s Just Energy Transition (JET). The Northern Cape Provincial Government, in line with the Green Hydrogen Strategy that was launched in November 2021 at COP26 in Glasgow, has initiated pre-feasibility studies that are championed by its strategic partner and anchor investor, Sasol.
Since the introduction of the national Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), the Northern Cape has attracted a disproportionate percentage of solar and wind projects, worth billions of rands to the local and national economy.
The advent of the green-hydrogen economy
has given the Northern Cape the opportunity to hold a key position in this new field as a contributor to country’s green economy. This is enabled by the natural endowments that are available in the province.
The South African response and offer to the global village is well articulated via the South African Green Hydrogen Roadmap that is based on the following tangible references that provide a first-class competitive advantage:
• A well-developed strategy and an existing regulatory and implementation structure that has been developed since 2007
• Having the world’s largest grey-hydrogen producer in the world, Sasol, as the lead investor
• The REIPPPP that has been in existence for more than 10 years, generating more than 5GW of electricity
The Northern Cape has exceptional renewable energy resources. As the biggest South African province by land mass, the province is sparsely populated, has little alternate use for the land and has an uncomplicated topography. Collectively, this amounts to an exceedingly supportive environment for renewable-energy generation and green-hydrogen development.
The renewable energy capacity of the Northern Cape is more than sufficient for what South Africa
would require based on its projections, but farreaching consideration is being given as to how the renewable capacity is developed and scaled up.
The significant support the Boegoebaai project is receiving from both the public and private sectors is highlighting its promise.
Ultimately, an extensive value chain for investment exists, ranging from desalination and electrolyser production, the renewable energy resource required, grid capacity, auxiliary services and ultimately the possibly of manufacturing opportunities for the industry and value addition to local mineral resources.
Part of the feasibility study, Sasol’s final master plan report, will be made public and this will entail more elaborate detail about the value chain. A
green-hydrogen-specific Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is envisaged to host the extensive value chain that stems from the production of green hydrogen. The site will be 30 000ha in extent. This will be the world’s leading investment destination for green hydrogen within a green SEZ.
In addition, the existing mining, agriculture, transport and energy sectors need to be transitioned and incorporated into this JET-driven Northern Cape Green Hydrogen Strategy. For the future, plans must be made for heavy-hauling trucks in the mines and on roads and for green-hydrogen fuelling stations and the like. The array of investment potential within this green economy does not conclude here, though. A range of other demands must be provided for, including extensive developments, infrastructure, logistics and the demand for human capital. Investors are urged to opt in and to secure for themselves a slot in this prime, once-in-alifetime investment opportunity.
Riaan Warie
Director:
Northern
Tel: +27 (0)87 310 7683
Fax: +27 (0)53 831 3668 Cell: +27 (0)79 877 2828 Email: RWarie@ncpg.gov.za/ warieriaan@gmail.com
Hendrik Louw Acting CEO
NCEDA
Tel: +27 (0)53 802 1638 Cell:+27 (0)60 997 7222 Email: hlouw@nceda.co.za
As part of its vision to deliver continuous innovation in offering sustainable and efficient logistics solutions to its clients, Newlyn has, together with global OEMs Eurosilo and Bruks Siwertell, developed proprietary technology for what will become the world’s first near-zero dust emissions mineral ore back-of-port export terminal with superior operating efficiencies.
Open stockpiling of manganese in the Port of Port Elizabeth and in back-of-port facilities in Markman and Ngqura has created significant issues. Apart from the serious public health and environmental concerns, the enormous impact of these increased volumes on the region’s already burdened infrastructure, roads, traffic, tourism and ecosystems is immeasurable. It has, for example, resulted in expensive and inefficient watering to reduce dust storms over the popular Kings Beach,
while also stymieing attempts to create a touristfriendly waterfront around the small boats harbour within the port.
Transnet intends moving the manganese bulk export terminal to the Port of Ngqura within the Coega SEZ, 20km to the north of the city of Gqeberha. Newlyn’s proposed back-of-port solution for manganese in Coega will perfectly dovetail with Transnet’s proposed plans. It will serve to accelerate the relocation of manganese exports from Gqeberha to Ngqura and is designed to augment Transnet’s proposed manganese export terminal in Ngqura to ensure a sustainable solution is offered to the manganese miners.
The Newlyn design for the back-of-port storage and handling of mineral ore is entirely closed to the environment, hence near-zero dust emissions and associated product losses.
The efficient design involves rapid unloading of the train and movement of manganese via piped conveyor to specialised silos which are equipped with mechanical systems for soft handling of ore. Thereafter, ore is accurately discharged from the silos via pipe conveyors to the ship-loaders at a loading rate of up to 10 000 tons per hour. As a result, ship-loading can be achieved in less than a day compared to the current 5-6 days. This significantly reduces demurrage for miners, improves train turnaround times and most importantly will serve to debottleneck the existing heavy-haul rail line from the Northern Cape. Incremental rail capacity created by the system can be made available to emerging miners currently unable to secure sufficient rail export allocations for manganese.
The Newlyn design is first-in-the-world for export of mineral ore and has a footprint of one third of conventional back-of-port storage.
Simulation models have demonstrated that Newlyn’s project can coexist with Transnet’s planned manganese export terminal, to ensure that export logistics infrastructure can meet the forecasted export potential from South African miners. The project will address several objectives in the national strategic and economic interest of South Africa including:
• Cargo migration from road to rail;
• Technology and skills transfer of the best available global technology;
• Private sector participation in infrastructure development;
• Enabling market access for emerging manganese miners;
• Stimulating regional and provincial socio-economic development; and
Bayhead multi-modal rail facility is the largest of its kind in Africa
• Delivering environmentally sustainable solutions to communities.
The project has received overwhelming support from manganese miners and environmental NGOs. Newlyn is planning a similar project in Saldanha to address environmental challenges and efficiencies associated with iron ore and manganese back-ofport operations there. ■
The Newlyn Group was established in 1996 to engage in opportunities for black participation within the port logistics sector, a sector which previously excluded people of colour.
Initially, Newlyn targeted potentially prime industrial properties and created value by rejuvenating ageing infrastructure.
Today, Newlyn is a leading private developer of land close to or within port precincts along strategic high-value/volume trade corridors. Newlyn adopts an innovative design approach transforming these land parcels into highlyefficient logistics facilities that offer bespoke solutions to leading multinational and national clients. Newlyn’s tried and trusted design approach and in-house construction capabilities and equipment ensures a bespoke solution that enhances our clients’ businesses. Newlyn’s growth is driven by a highly credible
Contact details:
Tel: +27 31 313 6500
team of experts with over 150 years of cumulative experience at the highest level. Newlyn is a proudly South African, homegrown Level One BBBEE entity committed to investing in South Africa for the long term. The Newlyn Group’s current developed portfolio includes 26 properties in three provinces with a GLA of c. 1 300 000 square metres and a land bank of c. 1 700 000 square metres. Newlyn’s portfolio includes some of the most sophisticated storage facilities on the continent with landmark developments including Africa’s largest multimodal rail terminal in Bayhead, Durban, a specialised sulphur import facility in Richards Bay and a stateof-the-art chemicals storage facility in Durban.
Newlyn’s macro vision is to make South African businesses more competitive by reducing the cost of logistics through the development of more efficient and environmentally sustainable logistics infrastructure solutions. ■
Firdhose Coovadia: Chief Value Officer | firdhosec@newlyngroup.com
Sagie Chetty: Group Engineer | sagiec@newlyngroup.com Website: https://newlyngroup.com
Developers of transformational logistics and storage infrastructureNewlyn is a home-grown company that has invested and continues to invest in long term capital intensive transformational infrastructure in South Africa. We believe in the economic potential of the country and don’t have any investments outside South Africa. Our future is inextricably linked to and fully aligned with the success of SA Incorporated. We proactively contribute to the success of our country by investing for the long term, securing leading global supply chain technology, facilitating technology and skills transfer to South Africa, to raise the standards across the entire bulk materials logistics supply chain ecosystem. In so doing, we have demonstrated that we contribute to meaningful socio-economic development in all the regions in which Newlyn operates.
smart spaces. transformational infrastructure
• Near zero dust emissions
CEO and founder Raj Balmakhun explains how the Newlyn Group’s bespoke and innovative solutions are aligned with the growth and development of South Africa
• Rapid unloading of trains (6,500tph)
• High speed shiploading of up to 10,000 tph
• Vessel turnaround sub 20 hours
• No product degradation
• Catalyst for jobs and economic development
• Common User Infrastructure: market access for emerging miners
• Significant financial benefits to miners, Transnet and the fiscus
CONSTRUCTION & COMMISSIONING – 2 YEARS
Raj began his career practicing law, but he has always been an entrepreneur at heart. This led him to founding the Newlyn Group in 1996. Under his stewardship Newlyn has become a leading private developer of transformational logistics storage infrastructure and the group is synonymous with innovation, speed of execution and world-class quality. Raj is the visionary and dealmaker for the Group. He is a firm advocate of social entrepreneurship, which aims to uplift the communities within which Newlyn operates.
We are proudly South African and Afri-optimists. While our country has many challenges and complexities, this spawns innovative solutions. The cost of logistics significantly impacts the competitiveness of an economy. Our mission is to make South African businesses more competitive by developing innovative logistics storage infrastructure focused on greater efficiencies anchored in sustainable design, construction and operations. We fully subscribe to the spirit of Ubuntu, “I am because you are”. This guides our value system and we believe in making a difference socially as well as economically.
Back of Port Manganese Terminal – Ngqura
The future of sustainable operationally efficient export logistics
The Newlyn Group was established in 1996 to engage in opportunities for black participation within the Port Logistics sector, a sector which previously precluded people of colour.
To what do you ascribe the growth the company has enjoyed? Dogged perseverance, speed of decision making and implementation as well putting clients first. Whilst we have faced many challenges, including the formidable disadvantage of starting from a zero capital base, we remain committed to the logistics investment theme in and around ports and major trade corridors and focus on delivering a topquality logistics solution to our clients.
One of my core principles is “you cannot do the conventional and expect the exceptional”. Our design approach addresses the logistical issues common to traditional warehousing including inter-modal optionality, truck reticulation and optimum stacking densities. These specifications differ from client to client depending on the type of product being handled in the facility, how product is received or special regulatory requirements. Examples are our sulphur storage facility in Richards Bay and the Ashgate Chemical Storage facility in Durban.
How do you see your company’s mission as linked to the success of South Africa Inc?
South Africa has a development problem. We desperately need
investment in infrastructure, but these are long gestation investments that will underpin a sustainable economy for decades to come. We believe we cannot leave it to government – we as business have to be part of the solution. Our projects speak to capacity building, technology and skills transfer, community engagement and upliftment, innovation and long-term investment. We are ready to collaborate with government, with communities and with our clients to deliver transformational infrastructure projects that address national objectives including the migration of cargo from road to rail, environmental sustainability, job creation and fixed capital investment. The work we do needs to be judged by its criticality to the economy – for example our PX development in Durban or the planned Coega back-of-port manganese development unlock value in the mining sector, a major contributor to the South African economy.
The Newlyn Group is committed to “leaving the planet in better health than we found it”. We will deliver our projects in a sustainable manner, by systematically reducing our environmental impact and improving the quality of life for communities. Newlyn projects are designed to reduce water consumption and carbon footprint. We deploy translucent sheeting in warehouse design to maximise natural light, we use LED lighting in all new builds and we deploy sisalation to enhance cooling.
Nowhere is our commitment to sustainability more evident than our joint development, with two global OEMs, of near-zero dust emission mineral storage and handling solutions for manganese and iron ore. The first such project is currently under development in the Coega Special Economic Zone. The global engineering firm undertaking the EPCM work on our behalf has hailed the solution as a global game changer in sustainable, operationally-efficient bulk mineral storage.
In addition, Newlyn has invested in its own internationally experienced energy team which has developed proprietary process technology
that results in a lower cost of electricity generation coupled with significantly lower CO2 and NOx emissions.
Is Newlyn exploring power generation
We are leveraging our substantial rooftop space to generate solar power where we act as the promoter and developer. For example, our roof at the PX project in Durban is capable of generating 30MW of solar power, sufficient to meet our clients’ needs but also ensure the entire Durban port can been powered by green energy. In addition, we have an EIA-approved land parcel for a gas to power project which we intend to develop as part of a consortium led by a Tier 1 power block developer.
The proposed Boegoebaai Port with dedicated new rail connectivity to the mines of the Northern Cape is an exciting project which speaks to government’s objectives to migrate road to rail, optimise cargo distribution, reduce dependency on single ports and facilitate access to export markets for emerging miners. The development of this port is also key to unlocking South Africa’s immense green hydrogen potential and further paves the way for in-country mineral beneficiation. It will also result in great job creation and billions of dollars of fixed-capital investment.
Newlyn has teamed up with an international consortium with global credentials in port and rail infrastructure development, to pre-qualify as a potential developer of the Boegoebaai Project. This collaboration is an example of another one of our core principles – harnessing the power of collective effort and collective intellect. ■
A giraffe in the Pilanesberg National Park in North West Province has a close look at how
have been depicted on a passing hot-air balloon. Credit: Sun International
Agriculture employs about 844 000 people.
Exports of grapefruit, oranges and soft citrus to China totalled 130 000 tons in 2020. More good news from South-East Asia came in the form of a first consignment of citrus fruit being accepted into the Philippines.
The citrus industry has been identified in the National Development Plan as a priority sector because it employs many people and it can improve the country’s balance of payments.
National citrus exports have grown by more than 40% in the past decade to about R20-billion per year. The Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa forecasts an increase from the current 150-million 15kg cartons to 200-million in the next five years, and this is projected to grow still further to 255-million by 2030.
February 2022 marked an important milestone for the citrus industry because it was in that month that a first shipment of lemons was loaded onto ships from the fruit terminal in Durban harbour en route to China.
The long and complicated procedure of becoming compliant with health and import procedures started with work done by Citrus Research International (CRI) scientists in 2013. CRI and the National Department Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development hosted scientists from China in 2015 and negotiations have continued ever since.
South African citrus growers spend R150-million annually on research which is then used by the DALRRD in their international negotiations. In this case, it paid off with a R325-million deal which has the potential to grow exponentially. South Africa hopes to eclipse Argentina and Chile as suppliers of lemons to China, targeting 25 000 tons of lemons to that country by 2024.
South Africa is the world’s second-largest exporter of citrus fruit. A national export record was achieved in 2020, with 146-million cartons of fresh citrus being exported (second only to Spain). The CGA’s Grower Development Company has pledged to invest R141-million to empower growers struggling to break even between 2021 and 2024 through its Enterprise Development Grant Fund.
This year, R40-million was allocated to 72 recipients across the country to mostly help with the procurement of key production inputs, including fertiliser and other agrochemicals. There are many opportunities in Africa for exports of fruits which do not quite match EU standards but which are nonetheless perfectly good products.
Citrus exports have finally made it to China.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing made good progress in terms of GDP growth for two years. The fourth quarter of 2021 showed 12.2% growth and the year-on-year figure for 2020 was 13.4%, followed in 2021 by 8.3%.
The soybean harvest in 2020/21 was the country’s best ever, and maize had its second-best harvest on record.
But the hope that post-Covid would result in even better results has not come to pass. Unusually heavy rains, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the bad performance of the railways and ports in terms of exporting South African produce and Eskom’s inability to supply a reliable stream of electricity, are some of the headwinds that the sector had to deal with in 2022.
Russia used to take 7% of South African citrus exports, and 12% of the country’s exported apples and pears.
Omnia reported in June 2022 that it had sufficient stocks of fertilisers to sell to farmers, despite the disruption in supply caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions which followed against Russia, the world’s biggest exporter of fertilisers. Omnia, which owns a fleet of trucks and rail transport which allows it to control the supply chain process, is experiencing a growth in sales of its biological and organic products as an alternative to fertilisers.
While agriculture’s contribution to national GDP is variously given in the range of 2.0%-2.5%, the upstream and downstream links to agriculture through processing and logistics mean that the real contribution is more like 15%.
AgriSA states that the amount of agricultural land in South Africa in 2016 stood at 93.5-million hectares. This represents 76.3% of South Africa’s total land mass of 122.5-million hectares and about 3% less than in 1994.
A total of 70% of South Africa’s grain production is maize, which covers 60% of the cropping area of the country. KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga produce sugar, but volumes are down.
The Free State Province supplies significant proportions of the nation’s sorghum, sunflower, potatoes, groundnuts, dry beans, and almost all of its cherries.
South Africa is famous for its fruit, of which 35% is citrus, 23% subtropical and nuts, 26% pome fruit, 11% stone fruit and 9% table grapes. Most of South Africa’s citrus and subtropical fruit comes from the eastern part of Limpopo. There are about 3 500 wine producers in
Agricultural Research Council: www.arc.agric.za
Grain SA: www.grainsa.co.za
SA Table Grape Industry: www.satgi.co.za
South African Berry Producers’ Association: www.berriesza.co.za
Dairy equipment to cope with increased milk volumes.
Credit: Tetra Pak Group
South Africa, with the majority located in the Western Cape. The Eastern Cape is the largest livestock province, which includes Angora goats, from whom mohair is taken. The province is the centre of the country’s mohair value chain. South Africa has a beef herd of 14-million.
South Africa’s milk producers normally produce about 3.3-billion litres of milk every year (Milk Producers Association). The decision by processing and packaging company Tetra Pak to spend R500-million on expanding capacity at its packaging material plant in Pinetown indicates an uptick in agricultural production.
The new plant allows the company to increase its local content to 80% and to make the Pinetown plant a production hub for the region. Among the companies clients are dairy companies such as Clover and Woodlands Dairy which package milk for major retailers. ■
The mohair industry has embraced the Responsible Mohair Standard as we are all aware that the consumer of today is rightfully far more conscious, not only of the impact of their purchases on the environment, but also the impact their purchases have on the people producing the goods.
The Responsible Mohair Standard is all-inclusive and is very specific as to its requirements in respect of the environment and welfare of the animals and all individuals employed in the production of mohair products.
There is no doubt that having Samil’s manufacturing operations certified under the Responsible Mohair Standard has opened new opportunities for trade throughout the world.
However, the dynamic team at Samil feels compelled to ensure that not just the Samil manufacturing operations but all mohair operations owned or run in partnership with Samil, must also be RMS certified. Samil therefore embarked on a concerted drive to have all the Angora goat farms which are either owned or run in partnership with Samil Farming were also certified as RMS.
This was no mean task as there are more than 30 farming operations in the Samil Farming portfolio in and around the Karoo region. However, the Samil Farming Manager, Andries Coetsee, and his very able assistant, Nienke Scholtz, embraced the challenge and Samil is proud to announce that, as of the end of August 2021, all Samil mohair operations are proudly RMS certified.
After the PETA exposé in 2018, the South African mohair industry became a pariah and many of the top fashion brands vowed to no longer use mohair in their products. This put nearly 30 000 people at risk of being unable to earn a living and feed their families.
Through the determined efforts of Mohair South Africa, in conjunction with The Textile Exchange, in ensuring the development of the Responsible Mohair Standard, the mohair industry has been able to regain the trust, not only of the big fashion brands, but also of the world.
This can clearly be seen in the record mohair prices currently being achieved as brands the world over are scrambling to reintroduce RMScertified mohair articles into their product ranges.
The knock-on effect is that jobs that had previously been in jeopardy are now secured and, due to the new-found appetite for mohair, more jobs have been created.
South African mohair is once again popular with global fashion brands.
restored trust
yarns@samil.co.za | sales@samil.co.za | www.samil.co.za
An Australian company has listed on the JSE.
As the world tries to decouple from the carbon economy, miners and energy planners are increasingly turning to green hydrogen to solve mankind’s biggest problem. Green hydrogen is hydrogen created using renewable resources, and the Northern Cape has those in abundance. The Northern Cape Green Hydrogen strategy was announced in 2021 at COP 26. A Northern Cape Green Hydrogen Symposium was held in 2022 and Sasol is in the process of conducting a pre-feasibility study on hydrogen for the province. Any developments in that sphere will be linked with, and give a boost to, the Boegoebaai Harbour project.
Australia has one of the world’s most dynamic mining sectors so it was good news for South African mining and the JSE when Southern Palladium listed in Johannesburg in June 2022.
With a primary listing on the ASE, Southern Palladium has a majority share in Miracle Upon Miracle Investments Propriety Limited (MUM), a local company which has prospecting rights south of Modikwa mine in Limpopo, a joint venture run by Anglo American and African Rainbow Minerals. The balance of equity in MUM is owned by a company owned by the Bengwenyama-you-Maswazi community.
The new-age minerals that miners are increasingly paying attention to are copper, bauxite and magnesium.
Sibanye-Stilwater is increasing its exposure to minerals and technology that will be needed in the greener future. Two of the South African firm’s board have joined the board of Finnish lithium company Keliber and Sibanye’s stake in the company was raised to 80% in October 2022. The Keliber project is expected to supply about 15 000 tons a year of lithium hydroxide, the product which is used in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
The National Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, in collaboration with the Northern Cape Provincial Government, hosted the Northern Cape Mining and Minerals Investment Conference in 2022. The department’s stated goal is that all South Africans should derive sustainable benefit from the country’s resources. The province’s considerable mineral wealth was outlined to potential investors and plans for infrastructure development (such as industrial parks and Special Economic Zones) were highlighted.
Another province to take advantage of the green hydrogen
economy is Limpopo. In May 2022, Anglo American unveiled a prototype of the world’s largest hydrogen-powered mine haul truck designed to operate in everyday mining conditions at its Mogalakwena PGMs mine in South Africa. Anglo American intends using green hydrogen which it will produce at the mine to feed into its green-hydrogen system, which includes production, fuelling and a haulage system. The 2MW hydrogenbattery hybrid truck generates more power than its diesel predecessor and can carry a 290-ton payload. Forty Anglo trucks will be retrofitted, starting in 2024, and the whole fleet should be green by 2030.
Both Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Limpopo are showing interest in green hydrogen. The operating company of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) has signed a partnership agreement for green hydrogen electricity generation with Australian company African Resources Development Energy (ARD Energy). The FetakgomoTubatse Special Economic Zone (FTSEZ), on the other hand, has plans to turn that area’s platinum group metals to good effect in the energy field. Platinum and iridium are important catalysts in the process which creates hydrogen, so that has become one of the big selling points of the FTSEZ. In July 2022, a delegation from the FTSEZ participated in the UK-RSA partnership mission on Hydrogen Economy Roadmap.
Anglo Platinum’s 75MW solar plant under construction at Mogalakwena could well become the 320MW plant that the company wants it to be, as President Ramaphosa has announced the lifting of restrictions on the scale of private generation.
With ample wind and sun, a long coastline and 75% of the world’s platinum group metals (PGMs), South Africa is well placed to be a leader in the production of green hydrogen.
Rhodium palladium, platinum and gold collectively rose in price by more than 50% at one stage during 2021. Increased demand for PGMs has been a trend for some years, driven by the vital role played by PGMs in reducing pollution in the automotive sector. This was boosted more recently by applications for renewable energy and by supply constraints brought about by Covid-19 with production volumes down and shipping made more difficult throughout 2020 and into 2021.
For FY2022, Impala Platinum (Implats) announced cash dividends of R14.8-billion paid to shareholders, R12.8-billion taxes and royalties paid to government and procurement of R3.2-billion spent on community businesses. Implats intends expanding production at its Two Rivers PGM mine by 180 000oz. The project will take four years and cost R5.7-billion.
In the 2021/22 financial year, mining contributed R127-billion in tax out of a total corporate tax tally of R318-billion. Minerals made up 60% of exports and royalties came in at R28-billion. High commodity prices
Council for Geoscience: www.geoscience.org.za
Minerals Council South Africa: www.mineralscouncil.org.za
Minerals Education Trust Fund: www.metf.co.za
National Department of Mineral Resources and Energy: www.dmr.gov.za
ensured a R180-million higher tax bounty for the South African Revenue Services, amounting in the end to R1.55-trillion. This allowed government to continue with some Covid-relief programmes for longer than had been anticipated.
The Minerals Education Trust Fund (METF) contributes towards the employment costs of 254 academic staff at nine tertiary institutions in scarceskills subjects such as mine ventilation, rocks mechanics and extractive metallurgy.
The 29 members of METF are among the country’s biggest mining companies. Grants are made to institutions for the purchase of equipment but the main point of funding is to support 4 471 undergraduate students, 76% of whom are black African and 39% of whom are female. ■
Mosa Mabusa, CEO of the Council for Geoscience, strongly believes that geoscience should not be seen as a cost centre, but rather as an investment in the country’s future.
What are the short- and medium-term goals of the Council for Geoscience?
We are accelerating the organisation’s strategic reorientation. None of us could have expected the extent of the disasters in KwaZuluNatal and the Eastern Cape so we are looking at how far we can reallocate resources so that we can contribute to that response. In the main, we continue to map at the scale of 1:50 000.
We are building from a foundation that our forebears have constructed. We are standing on their shoulders.
We are focused on identifying and confirming the presence of critical minerals in economic concentrations, to support emerging industries and the Just Energy Transition Programme.
Mosa Mabuza, CEOAfter qualifying as a geologist from Wits University, Mosa held various positions at De Beers and Anglo American and worked in jurisdictions as varied as West Africa and Canada. From his appointment as the Director of Mineral Economics in the former Department of Minerals and Energy, he was promoted to Deputy Director-General of Mineral Policies and (Investment) Promotion in 2012. He has been CEO of CGS since 2017.
We have a focus on infrastructure and land-use work and supporting Eskom with the probabilistic seismic-hazardassessment study for the application of the extension of Koeberg.
We are working on groundwater and modelling so that we gain a greater understanding of groundwater as an asset.
There is a national goal of reimagining mineral exploration in South Africa with a target of achieving a share of 5% of the global expenditure by 2025. To get there, we have to quadruple our efforts. Our geology confirms that notwithstanding 150 years of mining history, we have not begun to mine in South Africa.
Higher-intensity mapping provides greater clarity of information so that the exploration community can make decisions to invest.
We have always known of pegmatite rock in the Northern Cape. It is a lithium-bearing rock and there are other possible rare earth elements. With mapping at this scale, we can confirm an extension of this pegmatite rock by a further 67%.
We published a map in March and we are saying to the investment community that these critical minerals are a new centre of focus for investment. This is a test case to demonstrate that money that goes into geoscience is not a cost centre – it is an investment.
Please give an update on the carbon capture storage project.
We are implementing it in partnership with the World Bank and it is progressing exceptionally well. Govan Mbeki Local Municipality in Mpumalanga has been supportive of this research and they have ceded the land. They are saying to us please do this research to help us to make appropriate choices.
We are taking a comprehensive stakeholderled approach. Our message is that in our world of science we don’t know what we don’t know. Allow us to do the science so that we can establish the facts, then we can guide you.
We have already concluded the geophysics high-resolution survey and geological mapping. We are excited that basalt is proving to be one of the sources of environmentally-appropriate sequestration materials for carbon.
We are finding that once the emissions are captured, there are numerous applications that, depending on the volume, could catalyse a range of economic activities. I have come across the most interesting technology that suggests that coal could actually be a reliable source of green hydrogen. This is something I want to test. Now imagine if this hypothesis is proven to be correct. Then I can argue that, through science, we have indeed greened our coal. Science should not have any ideological predisposition. The greatest risk is when choices are made without the scientific interpretation. That makes me nervous, not only about our country but about humanity at large.
I am hopeful that this research can prove that indeed coal can be the most reliable source of hydrogen. I call it the new gold of renewable energy. And then coal becomes that which renewable energy depends on.
The key objective is to bring to the fore and celebrate the contribution of geoscience to South Africa’s development.
But we also want to examine the renewables debate. People talk about renewables very loosely, but to sustain the current demands of energy (not including future demands), the existing global reserves of copper would only cater to 35% of that – and that is only for renewable energy.
We need to be looking at where are we going. What are the next sources of copper and other minerals that will support our strategic choices? Geoscience plays the key role as a pathfinder to those types of minerals. Increasingly our role will become even more important to society as we advance in line with the choices that we are making.
There are certain things that we need to do today and in the next five to 10 years that will lay the new foundation for the next 110 years. This summit will consider these things.
We will be celebrating the crème de la crème, the professors of our country who have been guardians and who have played a critical role in advancing the body of knowledge of geoscience. We should never take that for granted.
The summit is in a hybrid format to enable physical and virtual participation. We have a global footprint of interest that spans all the continents. What makes us even more excited is that some of our very distant partners are already packing their bags as all roads lead to eThekwini to celebrate geoscience.
We have chosen eThekwini because of the disaster that happened there. Parallel sessions will focus on the applications of geoscience such as geo-hazards, infrastructure and optimal land use. We can begin to demonstrate that some things can be averted with the preapplication of geoscience. ■
Impala Platinum Holding Limited (Implats) is a leading producer of platinum group metals (PGMs), structured around six mining operations and a toll refining business, Impala Refining Services. The Group’s mining operations span the Bushveld Complex in South Africa, the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe and the Canadian Shield and include Impala Rustenburg, Zimplats, Marula, Impala Canada, Mimosa and Two Rivers. The Group maintains a primary listing on the JSE in South Africa, a secondary listing on South Africa’s A2X and a level one American Depositary Receipt programme in the USA.
Implats contributes approximately 20% to annual global primary PGM production and employs more than 55 000 employees (including contactors) across its operations – which presents a complex labour dynamic, specifically with respect to safeguarding the safety, health and wellness of employees and sustaining
constructive industrial relations. Our people are the heartbeat of our Company and though our values – to respect, care and deliver – we foster a culture of teamwork and accountability.
The Company’s vision is to be the world’s best PGM producer, sustainably delivering superior value to all its stakeholders. Implats is committed to a value-focused strategy and places a strong emphasis on developing a portfolio of long-life, low-cost, shallow, mechanised or mechanisable mining assets to sustainably deliver improved returns for all its stakeholders.
Implats has total attributable resources of 269-million ounces of PGMs. Our markets are in South Africa, Japan, China, the US and Europe. The metals we produce are the key to making many essential industrial, medical and electronic items and they contribute to a cleaner, greener world. ■
Implats aims to deliver superior value to all its stakeholders.
the way we do business
Providing meaningful employment
Caring for and supporting our environment
Creating value for all our stakeholders
Developing and caring for our host communities
Infrastructure for carrying newly-generated power is a priority.
Showing two phases proposed for the development of Renewable Energy Development Zones (REDZs) and electricity grid infrastructure corridors where investment in transmission infrastructure is planned. Credit: CSIR
The second phase of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) energy in South Africa proposes three additional Renewable Energy Development Zones (REDZs) for wind and solar photovoltaic energy projects, taking the total number to 11 (see map).
The REDZs support the implementation of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP 2019). Renewable energy projects that might be developed in these new REDZs have the potential to make significant contributions to mine rehabilitation and, by creating jobs, support a just energy transition in the specified areas including areas where coal power stations are planned to be decommissioned by 2030.
A most important aspect for South Africa as it brings more and more renewable energy projects on line are the so-called “transmission corridors”. These have to be beefed up to be able to carry extra capacity if energy plants are built where transmission infrastructure is close to (or at) full capacity. This adds to the attractiveness of using existing power plant sites for new generation.
Komati power station is become a site for making mini-grid components.
Part of the equation for agreeing to new power generation in the current context is whether or not there is sufficient carrying capacity to link the new solar or wind plant to the grid. Large investments are needed to beef up the Northern Cape’s capacity, but the problem is also leading planners to find different solutions, for example, to start
exploring more carefully whether other provinces (with under-utilised infrastructure) might not be sensible locations for new renewable-energy plants. National utility Eskom has signalled that it wants to move into the new era, partly through a process whereby the entity will be broken into three more competitive units, but more immediately through the announcement in July 2022 of 18 winnings bids from independent power producers (IPPs) for renewable projects on Eskom land, 4 000ha of which the utility has made available for this first phase.
Eskom owns 36 000ha in Mpumalanga alone. A total of 1 800MW will become available to the grid and it will be cheaper to transmit because the solar or wind plants will be right next to the existing Eskom transmission lines.
Eskom is undertaking studies to assess the potential impact on local communities of power plant closures. Options to get these plants producing energy again include gas, biomass and hydrogen but it is possible they might be used for something quite different. The workshops of Komati power station are to be converted into a factory for the manufacture of components for containerised mini-grids.
Eskom wants to be a net-zero company by 2050
Sasol has announced plans to start producing 1 200MW of renewable energy by 2030. Sasol is an integrated oil, gas and chemicals company with more than 30 000 employees and operations in 31 countries. Products manufactured by Sasol include synthetic fuel, petroleum, paraffin, jet fuel, creosote, bitumen, diesel and lubricants. The primary feedstock for synthetic-fuel production is coal.
The National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC) is expending considerable energy (renewable, mostly in the form of brain power) to help commercial operations use less energy. A programme of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) housed within the Council For Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the NCPC also spent some money in rolling out an aspect of the Industrial Energy Efficiency Programme to large poultry company Daybreak Farms. Through improved energy management, the replacement of office lights with LED, the reduction of idling and heat loads in cold rooms and training, an overall energy consumption of 0.98% was achieved and energy savings of 916.85GJ were made.
South Africa’s acclaimed Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) attracted about R200billion in committed investments, mostly in solar and wind power, in just
National Cleaner Production Centre: www.industrialefficiency.co.za
National Energy Regulator of South Africa: www.nersa.org.za
South African Independent Power Producers Association: www.saippa.org.za
South African Wind Energy Association: www.sawea.org.za
five years. The first bidding window of the REIPPPP was announced in December 2011. By October 2021, the programme could boast of 5 423MW of renewable electricity capacity from 83 IPP projects, accounting for 7% of the country’s energy demand. The latest bidding rounds of South Africa’s independent power producers programme have revealed astonishing low costs: in round five the lowest solar generation bid came in at 37.5c/ kWh while one of the wind power offerings was priced at 34.4c/kWh.
In June 2021 President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that private entities could go ahead and produce electricity without a licence, raising the threshold from 1MW to 100MW at a stroke. Intensive energy users such as mining houses had been arguing for this policy initiative for a long time, as had manufacturers in the sugar and timber milling industries, which produce vast amounts of biomass which can be turned into energy. The presidential announcement was almost universally welcomed by interested parties, including the CEO of national utility Eskom, which is struggling to keep South Africa supplied with sufficient power. Mining companies such as SibanyeStillwater and Gold Fields want to marshal renewable energy resources to power their own operations. Another big game-changer in the South African energy landscape will be the unbundling of Eskom, referenced above.
An Independent Transmission System and Market Operator was set to be established. Companies such as Earth & Wire are preparing to become independent utilities in a more flexible energy environment. ■
It may therefore legitimately be asked: “What is green hydrogen, and why is it important?” While the term green hydrogen is often used to describe hydrogen produced from any non-fossil-fuel-based source (such as biogenic or nuclear), in this context it is more strictly defined as hydrogen produced by splitting water by electrolysis into hydrogen and oxygen, using electricity from renewable sources. Green hydrogen may therefore be regarded as renewable electricity stored in chemical form.
Under the Just Energy Transition Partnership announced at COP26 in Glasgow, the governments of UK, France, Germany, the USA and the EU have agreed to provide $8.5-billion in financing in the form of grants and soft loans, to assist South Africa to decarbonise the electricity sector by early retirement of coal-fired power plants and expansion of renewables, to accelerate the introduction of electric vehicles and to facilitate the adoption of green hydrogen. In February, the Department of Science and Innovation released the Hydrogen Society Roadmap. In November at the South African Green Hydrogen Summit, President Ramaphosa announced that the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan, recently released for public comment, has identified green hydrogen as one of the four “big frontiers” of a just energy transition, indicating that it has huge growth and investment potential.
CSIR research is showing ways that South Africa can become a significant exporter of green hydrogen and the body is already involved in projects with several German ministries.
Green hydrogen is important for the decarbonisation required by the Paris Agreement (signed and ratified by 193 countries) and the European Green Deal (which commits the EU to be carbon-free by 2050). The most efficient and generally lowest-cost decarbonisation approach is to convert current fossil-driven processes to instead be directly driven by renewable electricity. There are two scenarios, however, where this direct renewable electrification is not always possible or feasible.
The first scenario involves geographic locations where energy demand exceeds feasible renewableelectricity supply. This is the case for Japan, the world’s third-largest economy and a signatory to both the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. It is also in the top four importers globally of the three major chemical energy vectors (coal, oil and natural gas). Its decarbonisation options are constrained: it has very limited natural energy resources and the Fukushima disaster significantly dampened public appetite for nuclear power. As a result, Japan plans to move its economy towards hydrogen – mobility by fuel cell electric vehicles, homes powered by fuel cells (with the waste heat produced providing domestic water heating) and central power generation from combined-cycle power stations,
Thomas Roos, Principal Research Engineer at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), reports on cooperation with three German ministries.fired by green ammonia. To allow this, from 2030 Japan will import about 300 000 tons of hydrogen per year (at a target price of $3 per kilogram), rising to between five-million and 10-million tons of hydrogen per year by 2050.
This presents an opportunity for South Africa: CSIR modelling has shown that the combination of South Africa’s excellent solar and wind resources and the expected cost reductions over time in solar PV, wind and electrolyser equipment allow green ammonia produced in South Africa to be delivered to Japan in 2030, meeting the Japanese cost target.
The second scenario involves two broad categories of hard-to-abate economic sectors. The first category is heavy-duty, long-range transport where the use of batteries is ruled out by range, power density or charging time limitations, such as commercial aviation, maritime shipping and long-distance trucking.
The second category is a subset of carbonintensive industrial processes, such as iron and steelmaking, cement manufacture, ammonia production and the manufacture of plastics. Green hydrogen, together with its derivatives such as green ammonia, green methanol and sustainable aviation fuel, provides a pathway to decarbonise these sectors.
For Germany to meet its decarbonisation targets, the National Hydrogen Strategy of the German Government states that between 2.7-million and 3.3-million tons per year (90-110
TWh/year) of green hydrogen will be required by 2030, but that only a maximum of 420 000 tons per year (14 TWh/year) can be generated in-country (14% of this amount). By far the bulk of the green hydrogen will have to be imported, some from elsewhere in the EU such as Portugal, Spain and the Ukraine; and the remainder from renewablerich countries in a development relationship with Germany, such as South Africa.
Three separate German federal ministries are funding projects to develop the green hydrogen economy in South Africa: BMWK (Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action), BMZ (Economic Cooperation and Development) and BMBF (Research and Education), and CSIR is involved in each of these. In a project funded by BMWK, CSIR and Meridian Economics were contracted by KfW Development Bank to solicit, evaluate and rank applications from hydrogen developers for 200-million euros in concessional financing to fund green hydrogen projects in South Africa. From 55 initial applications, a longlist of 20 projects passed the initial filtration process, leading to a shortlist of between seven and 12 projects, depending on the breakdown of grant versus concessional-loan financing. The oversubscription of the funding shows significant market appetite.
CSIR is well positioned to support the energy transition in this way, as the development and implementation of green hydrogen will draw on many of CSIR’s capabilities. ■
Renergen’s Virginia Gas Project has passed several significant milestones. Credit: Renergen
South Africa’s reserves of shale gas and coal-bed methane are set to be exploited and in 2022, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment signed off on the map (see Energy Overview) of where nine strategic pipelines will go.
The pipelines are consistent with planning for future gas exploration projects and coincide to some degree with planned Renewable Energy Development Zones (REDZs) but have caused some consternation among environmentalists.
Air Liquide Large Industries South Africa Air is to start operating 16 air separation units (ASUs) as a result of an R8-billion purchase of a plant in Mpumalanga from Sasol. The company’s fleet now comprises 17 ASUs in Secunda, with the units having the capacity to produce 42 000 tons per day of oxygen.
Sasol announced in 2021 that it was to sell a 30% stake in the Romco natural gas pipeline that links Mozambique and South Africa. As part of a global sell-off of assets to reduce debt, Sasol expects to
2023
Routes for nine major pipelines have been gazetted.
earn more than R5-billion from the transaction. The company will continue to be the pipeline’s operator and maintains a 20% stake in the venture.
The Romco pipeline could carry far more gas in the future as there have been big finds of new gas off the coast off Mozambique which could be shipped as liquefied natural gas
(LNG) to Maputo and continue from there to the Sasol plant at Secunda. The Liquefied Natural Gas Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (LNG IPPPP) is part of the broader programme of the National Department of Mineral Resources and Energy which encourages private investment in renewable energy, namely the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). The total allocated to gas-to-power in the national power plan is 3 726MW, of which 3 000MW is for LNG.
Three natural gas exploration permits have been awarded to Tosaco Energy for the sandstone-rich area between Amersfoort and Balfour in the western part of Mpumalanga by Petroleum Agency South Africa (PASA). Tosaco Holdings has a 25% stake in Total SA. Two methane-gas exploration rights have been granted to Highland Exploration in the Evander area. PASA regulates exploration and production activities, and acts as the custodian of the national petroleum exploration and production database.
What to do with redundant power stations is a question testing the best minds in the country. Eskom has decided that some of its sites can become locations for renewable energy plants, given that they are already connected to the grid.
And in 2022 came news that Majuba Power Station is the site of a successful bid to drill for gas. Australian company Kinetiko Energy aims to supply Majuba’s 20MW gas generator with fuel. Majuba is one of Eskom’s many coal-fired power stations which are facing closure in the province of Mpumalanga and one of several that might be switched to gas.
Kinetiko has a further two sites where it will do exploratory drilling: one near Sasol’s Secunda synthetic fuel plant and one to the south of that. A major milestone was achieved in July 2022 for the Virginia Gas Project, owned by Renergen subsidiary Tetra4. That was when “natural gas to plant” was achieved. This test allows for the system to be comprehensively tested, with the inlet line from the gas-gathering system opened to the process plant and then on to the natural gas filtration and pre-compression system.
In September, commercial operations of the company’s liquified natural gas (LNG) plant began. Helium production will follow.
Whereas it took nine years to find the R1.2-billion needed to fund the first phase of Virginia Project, investors are now looking very keenly at its prospects. An amount of R3.6-billion has been invested by Ivanhoe Mines
Council for Geoscience: www.geoscience.org.za
Petroleum Agency South Africa: www.petroleumagencysa.com
South African Oil and Gas Alliance: www.saoga.org.za
South African Petroleum Industry Association: www.sapia.co.za
to secure some offtake rights and the Central Energy Fund has purchased a 10% stake in Tetra4 for R1-billion.
Sproule, a resources accreditation agency, has given an updated report on the helium and methane reserves in the Virginia gas field. The results were even more positive than previous estimates, with helium reserves up by 620% and methane reserves by 427%. The field covers 187 000ha in the region of Virginia, Theunissen and Welkom.
The SpaceX rocket that launched in 2021 used 11 tons of helium to propel itself off the ground. Every computer microchip in the world is produced in the presence of helium and the world uses 85 tons of it every day. Exciting offshore gas discoveries have also been made in recent years. Total and its partners first announced success at a site called Brulpadda off the coast of Mossel Bay. The nearby Luiperd prospect in Block 11B/12B delivered more exciting news when gas condensate was also found there.
The block, in the Outeniqua Basin 175km off the southern coast, covers an area of about 19 000km² in water depths of 200m-1 800m.
The two finds raise the odds of Total investing in what it calls a “world-class” offshore gas site. The drilling campaign employed 195 South Africans with specialist skills but the potential spinoff is enormous for the Western Cape and South Africa, if the find leads to drilling and commercialisation.
PASA has noted the significance of international oil companies committing to exploration off South Africa’s coast. More exploration will guarantee that interest is maintained. ■
The application by TotalEnergies for the right to produce signals an exciting new phase.
TotalEnergies has submitted an application to Petroleum Agency South Africa (PASA) to convert its exploration right into a production right.
The TotalEnergies-led consortium, after making world-class discoveries off South Africa’s southern coast off Mossel Bay in the Outeniqua Basin, has now made the decision to proceed to the next phase, which could have enormous implications for the local, regional and national economy. The next phase, a gas-market development period, is not the same as an immediate decision to start building pipelines and decks, but it is a step along the way. The Luiperd and Brulpadda discoveries were made in the Block 11B/12B areas.
The joint venture has decided to give up a northern portion of its right, reducing the proposed area to be worked to 12 000km², whereas the exploration right extended to more than 18 000km².
TotalEnergies’joint venture partners in Block 11B/12B include QatarEnergy and Canadian Natural Resources.
If the process moves further along to the point where TotalEnergies obtains all the environmental permits it needs and starts to develop the resource, some estimates suggest that gas could begin to flow by 2026.
Petroleum Agency SA plays an important role in developing South Africa’s gas market by attracting qualified and competent companies to explore for gas, as in the case of TotalEnergies and its partners. Another major focus is increasing the inclusion of historically-disadvantaged South Africans in the upstream industry.
Currently, natural gas supplies just 3% of South Africa’s primary energy. A significant challenge facing the development of a major gas market is the dominance of coal. Opportunities for gas lie in the realisation of South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP) and the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).
While the newspaper headlines focussed mainly on the discoveries off the south-western coast of South Africa, progress was being made off the west coast too.
Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas and its partners have hired a rig to start exploring Block 2B, an area which has been of interest to the oil and gas industries for many years. Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas is the operator of Block 2B while Africa Energy, Panoro Energy ASA and Crown Energy AB are other major investors.
Block 2B is located in the Orange Basin (see map) where both Total and Shell announced significant oil and gas discoveries offshore Namibia in early 2022. The block covers an area of 3 062km² with water depths from 50 to 200 metres.
South Africa shares a geological sedimentary basin with its western neighbour so the announcement by Shell that it had made significant
oil and gas discoveries in the southernmost sector was welcome news indeed. The discoveries were made at the Graff-1 well.
Scientifically, the big takeaway from Shell’s discovery is related to where the finds were made. Previously, it was believed that only gas would be found in one layer of the shelf, known as the Cretaceous sector; Shell found a working petroleum system with oil as a component in the Cretaceous sector. The geological sedimentary basin extends to offshore Cape Town and out to sea, stretching over 160 000km². The rights to the South African southern section of the basin are held by Shell and its partners TotalEnergies and PetroSA.
TotalEnergies have themselves had promising early signs of possible oil and gas finds near the Shell find off Namibia, and in the block adjacent to the South African maritime border. This is the Venus-1. The deepwater sector of the South African Orange Basin is unexplored, but similar geology extends south of Namibia into the South African sector.
Geological features similar to the Namibian reservoirs have been identified on seismic data in the South African part of the basin, also in the Cretaceous, but these remain to be tested through drilling. New seismic data acquired by the survey planned by the company, Searcher, will assist in reducing exploration risk and help in identifying and quantifying possible oil and gas deposits off South Africa’s west coast.
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) in 2022 issued draft regulations to govern the process of hydraulic fracking because
the underground resources of the Karoo are again in the spotlight.
Various environmental studies are being done, including groundwater and geological studies. The geo-environmental baseline study for gas in Beaufort West undertaken by the Council for Geoscience has been completed and showed significant resources of shale gas. The study did not encompass any economic modelling.
PASA will be responsible for the granting of any licences once the draft regulations are finalised.
The massive resources of natural gas that Renergen has been working on for the last few years reached commercial production in October 2022 in the northern Free State. Renergen, through its subsidiary Tetra4, is the only holder of an onshore petroleum production licence issued by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy through the PASA.
The production right area covers 187 000 hectares around the towns of Welkom, Virginia and Theunissen.
Liquid natural gas for the domestic market and helium for export from this project will create an entirely new stream of energy options for South Africa. ■
South Africa is a net importer of fuel and the country’s refining capacity has been reduced in recent years.
To counter this trend, exploration has been on an upward trajectory. Partly this is explained by growing certainty in the regulatory environment and by the good work done by Petroleum Agency South Africa (PASA), the agency which evaluates, promotes and regulates oil and gas production in the country. This has seen increased interest in South Africa’s potential as a destination for investment dollars.
Underpinning PASA’s strategy is the need to ensure that all prospecting and mining leases are for the long-term economic benefit of South Africa. This applies to every kind of licence issued by the agency, be it in old technologies or new.
PASA also has to deal with the global desire to move away from fossil fuels and to start using cleaner, renewable energy.
Is it possible to grow the economy by exploiting the country’s natural resources and start moving to a greener future? PASA CEO Dr Phindile Masangane not only thinks it’s possible, she insists that it’s something South Africa must do.
Dr Masangane points out that with South Africa’s excellent solar resources it makes sense to localise the solar value chain to boost manufacturing but the country should not ignore what it has. “At the same time, we know that the gas value chain is well established in the country, so let’s also capitalise on that.”
The multiple uses of gas could play a major role in helping South Africa transition away from fossil fuels while at the same time boosting economic growth. “We need gas not just in electricity and transport,” noted Dr Masangane, “but importantly for South Africa, which is in desperate need of an economic turnaround, is for us to use this gas for our manufacturing industry.”
Referencing a section on gas in a report on energy in Africa by the International Energy Agency, Dr Masangane says, “Most of what Africa produces is actually exported out of the continent.” The report notes that Africa accounts for less than 3% of the world’s energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. Says Dr Masangane, “This report calls for us as Africa to extract the gas and produce it and use it not just to power the continent but to reindustrialise the continent and industrialise for the first time some countries on the continent.”
The gas discoveries that have been made off the coast of South Africa (near Mossel Bay), when linked with the massive finds off the coast of Mozambique and the enormous potential that exists in fields off the west coast, amount to what could become a massive change in the regional economy. TotalEnergies and its partners have deployed the
Deepsea Stavanger offshore drilling rig and they have achieved significant successes. The two fields where finds have been made are called Luiperd (where 2.1-trillion feet of contingent gas resources has been found, enough to power a medium-sized city for five years) and Brulpadda (1.3 Tef), which are part of Block 11B/12B.
If this gas were to be piped to the existing gas-to-liquid plant at Mossel Bay, Mossgas, then instead of spending about R12-billion on decommissioning the plant, the facility could instead start generating R22-billion in taxes and royalties and save South African taxpayers R26.5billion through not having to import oil and refined products.
PASA estimates that the gas found in these blocks could produce 560-million cubic feet per day of gas for more than 15 years. TotalEnergies’ expenditure on stream phase one could amount to $3-billion in 2027 and create 1 500 direct jobs, 5 000 indirect jobs and increase the country’s gross domestic production by R22-billion.
The plan is to run the gas via a pipeline to a new fixed steel platform, and from there to use the existing pipeline to get the gas to Mossgas. Up to 18 000 barrels per day of condensate and 210-million cubic feet per day (MMcfd) are expected to be pumped to the facility. Gas
The continental shelf of the Republic of South Africa covers some 200 000km² and the country has a coastline approximately 3 000km in length.
Petroleum Agency SA is responsible for the archive and management of the national hydrocarbon exploration database on behalf of the State. It has digitised, indexed and archived all of the data and reports resulting from the drilling of more than 300 offshore and some 200 onshore boreholes. The exploration database also includes seismic field and processed data for more than 300 000km of 2D and 40 000km² of 3D seismic data that was acquired offshore and some 9 800km of seismic processed data that was acquired during the late 1960s in the Karoo, Algoa and Zululand onshore basins.
Being the custodian of the National Petroleum Exploration and Production Database of South
condensate is a hydrocarbon liquid stream separated from natural gas and is used for making petrol, diesel and heating oil. ■
Africa, the Agency relies on a sustainable and effective Information Management Infrastructure in order to comply with its mandate to:
• archive and maintain a database on petroleum exploration and production data
• provide access to existing data, cores, well samples, information and literature on request
• add value and incorporate new as well as interpreted data into the database
• maintain records of all hydrocarbon exploration and production activities.
South Africa is investigating how best to use its groundwater.
Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) might be one of the answers to the Cape metropole’s enduring water shortage. The idea of putting excess water into the Cape Flats aquifer during times of plenty – and then drawing on that water when drought hits – is the subject of a study by UCT’s Department of Environmental and Geographical Science. It’s not a new idea; the smaller Atlantis aquifer has been playing that role for decades.
A country that is expert at using its groundwater resources has signed up to cooperate with South Africa in investigating how the much drier African country might exploit groundwater. Denmark gets nearly all of its water from groundwater and the latest intergovernmental agreement signed by South Africa and Denmark is a strategic green cooperation. Previous memorandums of understanding have dealt with energy, resilient cities – and water.
Two huge and colourful murals have been created at the V&A Waterfront Cruise Terminal to publicise the groundwater partnership, one by a Danish artist and the other by a local artist. Nadia Nardstar took 15 days, with the help of an assistant, to create a depiction of the water goddess Camissa. The mural project is a collaboration between the Danish Embassy, the City of Cape Town, the Table Mountain Water Source Partnership, WWF and Maersk.
The National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC) is the technical partner for the water use part of Phase 2 of the Strategic Water
Councils owe water boards more than R10-billion.
Sector Cooperation between the governments of Denmark and South Africa. The NCPC, which runs the Industrial Water Efficiency project, has found that more efficient use of energy (a key focus area of its work) has also led to less water being used in production processes.
Supplying water to households and businesses has often been a task beyond the capabilities of some of South Africa’s municipalities. As of June 2021, South African municipalities owed more than R10-billion to water boards.
Leaking pipes account for a large portion of the water lost
to South African municipalities in trying to serve their households and businesses. The simple expedient of reducing water pressure, which the City of Cape Town introduced during the period of severe water shortage that raised the spectre of “Day Zero”, reduced water use by 40%.
The concept of non-revenue water (NRW) is a vital aspect in the sustainability of any operation or agency in the water sector. NRW can result from faulty metering and leaky pipes but in South Africa, non-payment is a big contributor to terrible NRW percentages. In some municipalities it is as high as 70% whereas Denmark’s NRW is routinely at or below 7%.
The Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (MISA) falls under the National Department for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and will assist municipalities to plan for, provide and maintain infrastructure. The first action of MISA was to commission 81 engineers and town planners to get to work in areas that need the most help.
Water loss in a water-scarce country is a serious business. The National Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has appointed the Water Research Commission (WRC) to develop and manage the National Siltation Management Strategy for Large Dams. More than 90% of the country’s total storage capacity is carried by 321 large state dams, most of which are subject to serious sedimentation, which greatly reduces their carrying capacity.
Expectations are that South Africa will have a 17% water deficit by 2030 and so the matter is urgent. Three government water schemes are the target of the pilot plan: Hazelmere Dam in KwaZulu-Natal; Darlington Dam in the Eastern Cape; and Welbedacht Dam in the Free State. Key deliverables include creating models for sustainable dredging and decision-making. The programme is intended to be complete by 2023. In the North West, the revitalisation of the Vaalharts-Taung Water Irrigation Scheme will double the land available to emerging farmers, create more than 10 000 jobs during its implementation, resolve water shortages in local municipalities and provide certainty for producers of fresh produce.
National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa: www.ncpc.co.za National Department of Water and Sanitation: www.dws.gov.za South African Water Research Commission: www.wrc.org.za Water Institute of South Africa: www.wisa.org.za
The project was gazetted as one of the Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) in 2020 and falls under the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC). The existing Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme is one of the largest irrigation schemes in the world, covering 39 000ha under irrigation, and extending it to Taung in the North West will give it even greater reach. The scheme currently has 1 000km of concrete-lined canals and more than 300km of concrete drainage. The DWS has released a master plan in response to the severe droughts that have affected the country in recent years. It calls for annual investment for a decade of R3.3-billion in infrastructure to achieve water security. This is a figure that can only be achieved with the help of the private sector.
In an attempt to reduce the amount of water sucked up by alien plants, Coca-Cola aims to recover nearly three-billion litres of water through the removal of invasive plants.
Another response to the municipal problem is a new national strategy which gives a bigger role to wellresourced water boards such as Umgeni Water and Sedibeng Water. In terms of the National Water Resource Strategy, catchment area management agencies have been established to oversee water resource management on a regional basis. ■
One of the most exciting engineering projects in South Africa – and fraught in more ways than one – is the Msikaba Bridge project that forms part of the new N2 toll road between Port Edward in KwaZulu-Natal and Umtata in the Eastern Cape.
The CME JV (Concor – MECSA Construction Joint Venture) is the main contractor and it has had to stop work more than once because of protests of various sorts. Environmentalists don’t like the idea of this part of the Wild Coast becoming more accessible to miners and tourists and local residents have protested more than once about what they claim are unfulfilled promises of jobs on the building project.
The project will see the construction of two mega-bridges on the Msikaba (pictured) and Mtentu Rivers, seven other river bridges and several interchange bridges, as well as a new intersection, interchanges, pedestrian walkways and under- and overpasses for the use of farmers and for their stock.
In addition, sophisticated techniques are required to ensure that the 580m cable-stayed structure, which will span the 198m-deep Msikaba Gorge, is stable. The deck will be supported by 34 cable tendons connected to two 128m-high pylons. Winds have been known to blow at 100km/h at the site.
A call has been made for consulting engineers to unite.
The CEO of Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) has called for a united front to help the sector fight its corner. Chris Campbell has noted that the country has “countless industry bodies” including, but not limited to, ECSA, SAICE, SABTACO, NSBE and SAIEE. Campbell referenced an earlier overarching body, the South African Forum for Engineering (SAFE) as a model. Such a body would be able to take an industry-wide position on issues such as the contentious issue of Cuban engineers working
on South Africa’s water system. The Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) regulates the industry through professional registration and the standardisation of tertiary qualifications. South Africa is the only African member of the International Engineering Alliance (IEA).
An Investment and Infrastructure Office has been created in the Presidency. It is headed by the former Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Dr Kgosientso Ramokgopa. In 2020, 51 infrastructure projects with a total investment value of more than R340-billion were gazetted and hopes are high that this initiative will provide a boost for engineering firms. A study carried out by KMPG found that spending on infrastructure resulted in additional economic activity worth R26-billion and created 92 000 direct jobs.
The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) has created an entirely new industry in less than seven years, with investment of about R200-billion in solar parks and wind farms. This has created many opportunities for engineers.
Marine repair and engineering form a significant sector in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, with established companies such as EBH South Africa offering comprehensive services. Both KwaZulu-Natal ports are expanding and will continue to attract engineers.Dormac, which is
headquartered in the Bayhead area of the Port of Durban, is best known for its marine engineering but it offers specialised services to the sugar industry and provides machinery for industrial giants like Toyota and Defy.
The Engineering Council of South Africa has a programme where trainees can earn certificates in specific disciplines from a range of institutions. The qualifications are in line with the council’s Exit Level outcomes. Six of South Africa’s biggest construction companies have established a R1.25-billion skills fund. Several partnerships between the public and private sectors are trying to address the skills deficit. The Skills Development Amendment
Innovation and expansion are happening in textiles.
Government master plans aim to bolster local production.
Among TFG’s acquisitions were Prestige Clothing Maitland and Prestige Clothing Caledon. The group then spent R75million on expanding the factory in Caledon.
TFG plans to significantly increase the percentage of locally-made clothing items from the current level of 35% to 55%. In 2020, the group made 12-million garments and is aiming for 30-million by 2025/26.
Special jeans for a special occasion. Designer Tshepo Mohlala, who created bespoke Tshepo Jeans for the inauguration of Sappi’s expansion project made from imported denim containing Sappi’s Verve Lyocell blend pulp, shakes hands with Ebrahim Patel, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition. Looking on are Alex Thiel, CEO of Sappi Southern Africa, the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, and President Cyril Ramaphosa. Credit: Sappi
Sappi has spent R7.7-billion on expanding its dissolving pulp plant in KwaZulu-Natal. The project aims to boost the annual production capacity of dissolving pulp (DP) at Saiccor Mill by an additional 110 000 tons annually, taking production to 890 000 tons a year and reinforcing the company’s position as the world leader in the manufacture of Lyocell, a cutting-edge material of the future.
Lyocell is a form of rayon consisting of cellulose fibres made from dissolving pulp that is reconstituted by dry jet-wet spinning. The fully biodegradable and compostable fibre is used to make textiles.
TFG is ramping up production of clothing and expects to increase staff from just over 3 000 to more than 5 000 going in to 2023. TFG, which counts Foschini, TotalSports and Markhams among its brands, has been buying up clothing factories for nearly a decade and is now in a position to respond more quickly to fashion trends than when it was more dependent on imports.
The Manufacturing and Competitiveness Enhancement Programme (MCEP) of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) has disbursed grants which have resulted in 230 000 jobs being “sustained”. Because of the Clothing and Textile Competitiveness Programme, that sector currently now employs around 95 000 workers, contributing 8% to manufacturing GDP and 2.9% to overall GDP. In the leather sector 22 new factories have been opened, supporting 2 200 jobs. In the Western Cape, this revival is reflected in member companies of the Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster hiring 35% more staff in four years. About 23 600 people are employed in the province and exports from the Cape are on the increase.
The Aspen Pharmacare facility in Gqeberha readied itself to make hundreds of millions of doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine for South Africa and Africa but the orders didn’t come. As of April 2022, no orders had been received and there was a danger that the facility would close down that section. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention was concerned about that possibility, and urged African states to order vaccines, partly to keep the capacity to make large volumes of vaccines in a state of readiness. It was anticipated that as many as 500-million doses would be made annually.
A consortium of development finance organisations, including the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, made €600-million in financing available to the South African company to assist it in ramping up production of the vaccines.
In Johannesburg, global pharmaceutical company Mylan has purchased a manufacturing site, previously used by Ascendis Health, to make antiretrovirals to cater to the seven-million South Africans living with HIV. The Isando factory will produce effervescent tablets, semi-solid and hard capsules and pills.
A new tender for a national supplementary HIV/Aids drug tender, which was previously awarded to foreign companies, is to be issued, opening up opportunities for local manufacturers such as Cipla Medpro. The three-year tender is worth R18.3-billion.
Pirates off the west coast of Africa are driving an increase in boatbuilding in South Africa. Companies like Paramount Marine which specialise in security boats are receiving many orders. In 2021, the company announced that its Cape Town facility was making 26 boats for a contract price of more than R850-million.
PG Bison, a subsidiary of KAP Industrial Holdings, is investing more than R2-billion
at its plant in Mkhondo in Mpumalanga. With operations in four provinces ranging from forestry to the manufacture of medium-density fibreboard (MDP), particleboard and valueadded products, PG Bison is also building a new MDP plant in Mpumalanga to complement its existing Gauteng facility.
The South African government believes that the existing Proudly South African campaign – which encourages the purchase of locallymade goods – is something to be supported and expanded.
Government has identified 27 sectors in which government departments will aim to procure from local suppliers. Speaking at the Proudly South African Summit and Expo 2021, President Ramaphosa said: “There is an express undertaking to increase local procurement over the next five years. Apart from its own commitments, government will also work to lower the barriers to entry, thereby making it easier to establish and grow a business in South Africa.”
Government is in the process of rolling out master plans for various sectors. Some (including furniture and plastics) are still in the works but others have been delivered.
Goals include:
Automotive: to double the number of jobs by increasing local content percentages
Clothing, textile, footwear and leather: R500-million from the state for expansion of manufacturing sites
Poultry: more than a million extra chickens every week for retail
Sugar: soft drink manufacturers to procure 80% from local growers. ■
Chemical and Allied Industries’ Association: www.caia.co.za Manufacturing Circle: www.manufacturingcircle.co.za South African Textile Federation: www.texfed.co.za
The uptick experienced by the building and home improvement sector during Covid-19 came to an end in 2022 as customers were no longer forced to spend time at home.
However, Afrimat’s Construction Index showed in the second half of 2022 that a number of other indicators were trending upwards: plans passed, buildings completed, wholesale trade and building materials. Also, a Financial Mail interview with Raubex CEO Rudolf Fourie in late 2021 produced an upbeat assessment of the construction industry in South Africa.
In response to Giulietta Talevi’s question about “future prospects”, Fourie said that tender activity was “buoyant” and that the company’s order book stretching beyond two years was something they had not seen in three decades.
Raubex is active in infrastructure, roads and earthworks and materials. Like many South African companies, Raubex is now also present in the burgeoning renewable energy market, offering civil works and electrical installations at projects such as the Redstone CSP project and Copperton wind farm (pictured) in the Northern Cape.
For the year ending 28 February 2022, Raubex reported an increase of 30.9% to R11.58-billion and an increase in operating profit to R945.3-million.
Covid-19 provided a sharp shock for many business sectors, but with the move towards working from home accelerated by the pandemic, none is going to have to look harder at its models for sustainability than the office rental sector.
Logistics, often taken for granted in normal times, became an even more important component of the supply chain during the global lockdown and in the months that followed, with the second
Afrimat Construction Index: www.afrimat.co.za
Construction Industry Development Board: www.cidb.org.za
SA Reit Association: www.sareit.co.za
South African Property Owners Association: www.sapoa.org.za
Home improvers are not at home as much as they were under lockdown.
half of 2021 characterised by blockages and delays. In that context, the news that Fortress REIT had successfully let more than 100 000m² of logistics space in KwaZulu-Natal, was significant. FNB, which publishes a regular property barometer, has done an in-depth analysis of previous crises to help understand what may occur in the post-Covid property market. According to John Loos, a property strategist at FNB Commercial Property Finance, the most vulnerable sector is likely to be Retail Property. Smaller neighbourhood centres, with more essential items and greater convenience, will be less vulnerable. Statistics SA has found that the percentage of South Africans living in flats has risen markedly. Whereas 26 out of 100 approved plans in 2013 were for flats, this figure reached 59 in 2016. Although the total number of people living in flats is still relatively small (5.4%), this figure will rise as urbanisation increases. ■
The value of goods transported along the N3 continues to grow.
Private investors are sought to improve roads, railways and ports.
Because of the dynamics of South African politics, this can never be referred to as “privatisation” in any shape or form, but the trend towards having private companies involved in some way is increasing.
Defy’s new warehousing and distribution centre in Danskraal, Ladysmith (pictured), is more evidence of the importance of the N3 Corridor that carries enormous amounts of cargo between Johannesburg and Durban.
The new facility represents a R170-million investment into the area and will create more than 130 jobs. The warehouse can process the loading and unloading of more than 200 trucks per day and has a storage capacity of 100 000m³ of product. The strategic location of the distribution centre creates the opportunity to move product by rail from the Ezakheni manufacturing facility to the Durban port 250km away. Since 2012, Defy has invested approximately R642million into the Ladysmith economy.
Studies have shown that up to 45 000 vehicles use the N3 highway on a normal day, and that figure can rise to 130 000 in busy times. More than 75-million tons worth of freight is carried annually along the route.
The Harrismith Logistics Hub at the Maluti-A-Phofung SEZ on the N3 is an inland port that can handle cargo containers and shift cargo from road to rail, reducing congestion and costs.
State-owned Transnet is expanding its programme to get the private sector involved in the country’s railways, ports and terminals.
To run two of biggest container terminals (in Durban and at Ngqura), the plan is to create a special purpose vehicle that includes new subsidiary of Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), Transnet employees and a private operator. This SPV would run the terminals on a 25-year contract.
A R100-billion master plan is intended to underpin the upgrade of the Port of Durban on the back of private investments linked to contracts. South Africa has 8 000km of rail line that is defined as a “branch line”. These are typically smaller lines serving a particular farming or mining area and transporting a single commodity, such as wheat.
Transnet Freight Rail announced in April 2022 that 16 slots would be available for private operators, including six between Johannesburg and Durban and eight between Springfontein in the Free State and East London. However, the suggested contract period – two
years – almost guarantees that no investor will touch the project. The cost of investment would be too high against the short period in which returns might be made.
Despite uncertainties such as this, the private sector seems quite bullish, with trade in shares of logistics companies (Zeder Investments sold its share of The Logistics Group to Old Mutual Infrastructure for R1.6-billion) and interest being shown in Imperial Logistics by foreign buyers such as Dubai-based DP World.
Transnet Freight Rail’s operations represent about 80% of Africa’s rail infrastructure. With 25 000 employees TFR has specialist divisions for hauling coal and iron ore together with a general freight division which transports everything from grain to chemicals.
While there is concern about the performance of South Africa’s ports in getting goods in and out in the best possible time, a record was set in 2020 by Transnet Freight Rail in transporting 66 train lots and 3 662 FEU reefer containers from Limpopo and Gauteng to the Port of Durban. The Citrus Growers Association was very happy about this, which represented a 20% increase on the previous year’s volumes and was some way towards the target of 15 000 reefer containers.
A mandatory automated truck booking system has been introduced at Durban Container Terminal Pier 1 and Pier 2, while the Grindrod, FPT and Bulk Terminal depots have also piloted their own booking systems.
The building of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (SEZ) will boost Limpopo’s role as a transport and logistics hub. The Musina Intermodal Terminal is 15km from the busy Beit Bridge border crossing. It will boost efforts to move cargo from road to rail.
The Maputo Development Corridor is Africa’s most advanced spatial development initiative. Run by the Maputo Development Corridor Logistics
Initiative (MCLI), the corridor runs from near Pretoria in Gauteng toMaputo in Mozambique. South Africa’s logistics and courier market is worth R10-billion.
Large amounts of money are to be spent on various forms of public transport in the short term. Investments in rapid transit systems in the big metropolitan areas of Johannesburg and Cape Town are now being followed by other South African cities such as Polokwane and Rustenburg, the Gautrain is looking to expand its routes, and a taxi infrastructure programme is in place.
In Limpopo’s provincial capital of Polokwane, operations of the Leeto La Polokwane public transport system were launched in 2021. In the North West, the Rustenburg Rapid Transport Project (Yarona) aims to integrate busses, taxis and improved pedestrian access throughout the city.
The South African Department of Transport has several agencies and businesses reporting to it: Air Traffic and Navigation Services Company, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), National Transport Information System, Road Accident Fund, South African Civil Aviation Authority, South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) and Passenger Rail Agency of SA (PRASA).
Several airports are possible future regional freight nodes: Wonderboom Airport in Pretoria, Polokwane International Airport in Limpopo and Mafikeng.
South Africa has 22 000km of railway lines and 747 000km of roads, 325 019 heavy-load vehicles and the road freight industry employs 65 000 drivers. There are 135 licensed airports in the country, 10 of which have international status. ■
African Rail Infrastructure Association (ARIA): www.aria.org.za
Airlines Association of Southern Africa: www.aasa.za.net
South African Heavy Haul Association: www.saheavyhaul.co.za
Swiss investment may underpin expansion.
Marriott International has sold more properties.
giving Hospitality shareholders shares in a more liquid stock and the hotel group an expanded property portfolio. Most of Hospitality’s 54 properties (with about 9 000 rooms) were operated by Tsogo Sun.
The International Hotel School (HIS), which has campuses in six South African cities, is now part of the Swiss group, Sommet Education, following the acquisition by the European company of Invictus Education Group. Invictus also runs the SAE Institute in Cape Town and Johannesburg, where the focus is animation, audio and film. The Sommet Education connection, which includes the Gilon Institute of Higher Education among its brands, will allow for more rapid expansion in other parts of Africa for the IHS and SAE brands.
Three Gauteng hotels have changed ownership from Marriott International to Anew Hotels & Resorts. Writing in the Sunday Times, Arthur Goldstuck ascribed this success for the South African family group to “the very fact that it has a local base and focus has given it an edge”. The three hotels were the Parktonian (Johannesburg), Hotel Roodepoort and what is now called the Anew Centurion. Anew now has 11 properties in its portfolio.
Earlier, when the Marriott International hotel group closed three of its South African hotels during the Covid-19 lockdown, Tsogo Sun Hotels, which owns a controlling stake in all three hotels, stepped up its commitment by agreeing to bring them into its portfolio, keep them open and run them.
Hospitality Property Fund Limited delisted from the JSE in 2021 and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tsogo Sun Hotels Limited,
African Business Travel Association: www.abta.co.za
South African National Parks: www.sanparks.co.za
South African Tourism: www.southafrica.net
South African National Parks (SANParks), which runs nearly 70% of South Africa’s 509 state and protected areas, has a number of public-private partnerships and held an investment summit in 2022 to showcased a further 100 opportunities in 12 national parks. There are currently 60 PPPs in operation in South Africa.
Sun City announced in October 2022 that it would spend about R1.1-billion on projects at its Sun City Resort.
The R295-million Lefika Villas development will see 58 three and four-bedroom villas added to the resort’s accommodation options for members of Sun International’s Sun Vacation Club. The Palace (pictured) will gain a spa and a gymnasium and 320 bedrooms are to be refurbished.
There are 711 745 people employed in the tourism industry nationally, with road transport (29%), food and beverages (20%) and accommodation (19%) absorbing the largest numbers. The sector contributes 9% to South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP). ■
Government’s latest mobile contract is shared by four companies.
South African banking apps are world class.
As of 2021, National Treasury has appointed four companies as service providers to government, through its new mobile communication services contract, known as RT15-2021. The contract covers all entities of the state and is expected to allow for significant cost saving through better controls.
The contract, which was previously held by Vodacom, is now shared between Cell C, MTN, Telkom and Vodacom. The transversal contract is for uncapped data for different categories of employees and includes mobile devices for packages from all service providers. Nearly 450 organs of state participated in the previous contract. This included 38 national departments, 99 provincial departments, 106 local government departments and 207 other state institutions.
South Africa has not only been home to many pioneering banking apps on mobile phones, but the country’s operators continue to offer unprecedented innovation and levels of service. Arthur Goldstuck noted these trends in September 2022, further pointing out that the Reserve Bank will also speed up EFTs between banks with the introduction of a Rapid Payments Programme. Bank Zero not only uses biometric authentication for logging in, but offers zero-cost banking. Both MTN and Vodacom are offering much more sophisticated apps than when they first ventured into fintech: MTN MoMo has diverse offerings and VodaPay encompasses payment, lending, insurance and cash for emergencies.
Invicta Holdings, an investment holdings and management company, has expanded into the fibre field at a time when working from home has massively increased the demand for data. Invicta acquired Dartcom Group for R500-million, giving it a presence in the
Business Process Enabling SA: www.bpesa.org.za
Independent Communications Authority: www.icasa.org.za Technology Innovation Agency: www.tia.org.za
distribution of communication and renewable technologies and the manufacture of fibre optic cables (under licence from Japan). As South Africa joins the global trend towards online shopping and with the first networks rolling out 5G in 2020, data centres are going up all over the country. The latest to join the trend is software company Oracle which has chosen Johannesburg as the headquarters of its African cloud region. All of the company’s cloud regions worldwide will be 100% powered by renewable energy by 2025.
Teraco stores data in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. A second 30MW site is under construction in Brackenfell to complement the existing facility in Rondebosch. Africa Data Centre (ADC), part of the Liquid Telecom Group, has purchased a Tier IV data centre in Johannesburg, previously used by Standard Bank.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria will host a new body aimed at preparing South Africa for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the South African Affiliate Centre of the World Economic Forum. ■
African Bank is on the acquisition trail.
African Bank has signalled that it is ready to grow, with an agreement to buy Grindrod Bank and an R80million deal to purchase lender Ubank.
After going into administration in 2014, African Bank took some time to recover and is still half-owned by the Reserve Bank but it has materially added to its retail client base and the addition of more than 4.5-million clients with the purchase of the troubled Ubank, which had as its base mine workers, will further strengthen its position. The R1.5billion purchase of Grindrod Bank gives African Bank a stronger position in business lending.
Consulting company Bain & Company has been excluded from British government contracts for three years because of the role the company played in the evisceration of the South African Revenue Service in the time of state capture. Although the Zondo Commission on state capture found that KPMG and McKinsey also enabled state capture, no such strictures have yet been applied by the South African government.
Discovery Bank reported in June 2022 that it was signing up 750 new clients every day which puts it on course to achieve more than 600 000 customers by 2024. The bank, which launched in 2019, has already opened more than one-million accounts. Early in 2022, longterm insurer and asset manager Liberty delisted from the JSE and was integrated into the Standard Bank Group.
The New Development Bank, established to fund infrastructure projects in BRICS countries, had approved loans of $5.1-billion to be spent in South Africa by July 2022. This included renewable energy projects and the Port of Durban upgrades.
The launch by Sanlam Investments of a Sustainable Infrastructure Fund is a sign of the times. The South African state has promised a huge infrastructure drive but in the context of climate change caused by the use of fossil fuels, the investment community is increasingly putting emphasis on sustainability. Sanlam Group will invest R6-billion in the fund and aims to attract a further R5-billion from institutional investors. Investments will be made in housing, transport, health, water, waste, communication, conventional energy
Financial Sector Conduct Authority: www.fsca.co.za
Insurance Institute of South Africa: www.iisa.co.za
Advisory companies that enabled state capture are facing sanctions.
and renewable energy, a fastgrowing sector with enormous potential. Naspers Foundry is one of several investment funds looking for opportunities in the financial sector. Insurance technology is of particular interest, together with credit services and payment systems.
Ubank, with a history of catering to mineworkers, found by the South African Reserve Bank unacceptable capital adequacy ratio in May 2022 consequently placed under curatorship.
Teba Trust Fund, which owns Ubank, was actively a strategic investor when the curatorship was announced. administrators of the fund are the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Minerals Council SA. One of the banks being the South African arm of Nigeria’s Access Bank Group and Council SA remains positive about the future of the bank.
Despite the collapse of VBS Mutual Bank in 2018, the mutual banks is strong, given the nature of the South African Young Women in Business Network (YWBN) has been granted bank licence and Bank Zero also intends to use the mutual model.
Tyme Digital went from acquiring a licence to running with services available in more than 500 Pick n Pay and in less than two years.
South African Institute of Chartered Accountants: www.saica.co.za
Second to market among the country’s new banks was Bank, which officially launched in 2019 and is experiencing growth in retail deposits. Discovery Bank is applying the model it uses in its health business to reward good behaviour. The Discovery group is already a giant on the
Capital Appreciation, which is part-owned by the Public Investment Corporation, is already invested in a software developer, a credit card payment terminal provider and has R500-million available for further investments. African Rainbow Capital has a stake in the investment company and is the owner of TymeBank, which received a banking licence in 2017 and is expanding rapidly. ■
Financial Sector Conduct Authority: www.fsca.co.za
Public Investment Corporation: www.pic.gov.za South African Reserve Bank: www.resbank.co.za
More than 30 small businesses supply services to a mine in northern Limpopo.
The number and scope of the Business Day Supplier Development Awards gives an indication of how developed this aspect of support for small enterprise has become in the South African business community. The process of helping small businesses become bigger businesses has sparked creativity across sectors such as retail and mining and collaboration with other companies has become the norm in promoting supplier development.
A fairly new initiative, the HandPicked programme of the Mr Price Foundation, has no fewer than five partners in African Grower, CHEP, Fresh Life Produce, Veldskoen and Catalyx. These partners cover urban or vertical farming, logistics, developers and implementers of a growing system for urban areas, shoe manufacturing and training. Young people interested in agriculture are trained in innovative farming techniques and business skills with the goals of tackling food security, eliminating poverty and hunger and promoting good health and well-being.
The list of winners from 2021 points to how important and varied supplier development has become in the SMME environment.
Overall Winner – award sponsored by Absa: Tiger Brands.
Agri supply-chain development includes agri-procurement access, import replacement, funding support, land-access support and agrarian technical support using an aggregator model with strategic partners that enable small farmers to benefit while developing black mega farmers. Tiger Brands launched the Dipuno Enterprise and Supplier Development
Fund in 2019, committing R100million in investment by 2025 to black-owned and black womenowned small enterprises and smallholder farmers. Initiatives are underpinned by strong collaborative partnerships with government, colleges, mining houses and their pipeline partners. There is a focus on technology investment. Localisation Award: The Empact Group, which collaborates with local agricultural departments to bring opportunities to local farmers, straight into their local and Gauteng supply chain outlets.
Outstanding Growth in a Small Supplier Award: Exxaro. In 2019, in response to the pandemic, Exxaro invested and allocated R200-million to ESD transformation. MBR was one of the companies that benefitted as Exxaro provided MBR with a zerointerest loan of R25-million to acquire mining operations assets.
Newcomer Award: Uyandiswa Innovation Award: V&A Waterfront
Youth Focus Award: Anglo American Zimele Women Focus Award: sponsored by Cold Press Media: The Empact Group
Expanding small business has become big business.SECTOR INSIGHT Credit: Dipuno Fund
Rural and Township Focus Award: the SPAR Rural Hub model Emerging Technology Award: Exxaro Resources Collaboration Award – sponsored by Fetola: Tiger Brands
The Covid-19 Recovery Award: Distell Small Supplier Award – sponsored by IDC: Distell, in partnership with supplier Stellar Wines.
Most big companies in South Africa have two main programmes to support SMMES: enterprise development (ED) and local supplier development (or procurement). Venetia Mine in northern Limpopo, a De Beers Group mine, has more than 50 SMMEs enrolled in incubation programmes and 34 locally-owned companies are doing business with the mine.
An amount of R15-billion was made available by national government for businesses adversely affected by Covid-19 and the unrest and floods that hit KwaZulu-Natal in 2021, but Treasury announced in August 2022 that only R77-million of this “bounce back” scheme had been disbursed out of a total of R140-million in loans approved. Any small business is eligible for the loans, irrespective of whether or not it was directly harmed by one of the bad events, but a combination of other events such as loadshedding and higher interest rates had discouraged uptake.
A R200-billion loan guarantee scheme (LGS) was made available for firms with a turnover of less than R300-million per year. This scheme received very few applications and so the criteria were relaxed although money can still only be used for operations. Treasury will also now take responsibility for the first 20.5% of default losses, in contrast to the first iteration whereby banks had to take that loss. While the “bounce back” scheme allows businesses to change the terms of the loan (by extending it, for example), the LGS is a fixed-term loan.
The National Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has several programmes to assist SMMEs and co-operatives.
Business Day Supplier Development Awards: www.sdawards.co.za
National Department of Small Business Development: www.dsbd.gov.za
Small Business Institute: www.smallbusinessinstitute.co.za
Small Enterprise Development Agency: www.seda.co.za
The Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda), a subsidiary of the DSBD, has 42 incubation centres under its Seda Technology Programme (STP). In Mpumalanga, Seda supports several incubators: Furntech, furniture manufacturing, White River; Mobile Agro-Skills Development & Training, agricultural training, Nelspruit; Mpumalanga Stainless Initiative (MSI), stainless-steel processing, Middelburg (with Columbus Stainless); Timbali floriculture, Nelspruit; Ehlanzeni TVET College Rapid Incubator Renewable Technologies, Nelspruit.
In the North West, the Provincial Government is investing in digital infrastructure. SMMEs will be able to use the newly-established Mafikeng Digital Innovation Hub as a co-working environment and to get support in using digital tools. The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) actively supports small businesses wherever it works in South Africa. Subcontracts are routinely awarded for maintenance such as the patching of potholes, fencing and the cutting of grass verges.
Part of the rationale behind a national programme to revive industrial parks is to benefit SMMEs. The National Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) has invested R40million in the Nkowankowa Industrial Park in Limpopo, an initiative which has helped to create 174 direct jobs. In the northern reaches of the province, more than 300 jobs have been created with the revitalisation of the Thohoyandou Industrial Park, which has achieved a 91% occupancy rate.
The dtic is trying to stimulate township and rural economies through programmes such as the Enterprise Investment Programme (EIP). ■
JSE-listed companies are doing well in the education sector. A DvTech reported a 22% increase in operating profit in the year to December 2021 and Curro Holdings’ revenue increased by 15.5% to R2.06-billion for the six months to the end of June 2022.
With brands such as Crawford, Trinity House, Crawford House, Abbotts College, Varsity College and Vega in its stable, ADvTech made that operating profit of R1.1-billion on increased revenues of R5.9-billion.
Enrolments in South African schools run by the company rose by 8% (to 29 599) and by just over 7 000 in other African countries, or 10%. The group intends increasing its focus on the rest of Africa in the years ahead.
Curro Holdings, which runs 181 schools, increased pupil numbers by 66 167 for the six months to June 2022. This despite an increase in tuition fees of 13.3%. Curro has been expanding steadily since its establishment in 1998, and the same trend is evident in the trajectory of its tertiary offshoot, Stadio Holdings.
Stadio Holdings listed separately for the first time in 2017 and now has more than 41 000 students registered across three institutions. Milpark Education is the online offering, AFDA offers accredited degrees and higher certificates in film, performance, entertainment, business and technology while Stadio Higher Education Institution is the result of the merger of Southern Business School, Embury Institute for Higher Education, LISOF and Prestige Academy.
Interim results published by Stadio Holdings in August 2022 reported that profit after tax rose by 23.5%, to R105-million. A R200-million Stadio campus was opened in Centurion in Gauteng early in 2022.
In November 2023, the Decade of the Artisan Programme will have run its course. The Department of Higher Education and Training set targets for skilled graduates and established Centres of Specialisation at Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges around the country.
For example, False Bay TVET College was appointed as the Centre of Specialisation in Rigging and Mechanical Fitting, both skills highly relevant to the maritime industry. The Eastern Cape
The Decade of the Artisan is drawing to a close.
Stadio’s new campus in Centurion.
Midlands TVET College specialises in welding and the Gert Sibande TVET College in Mpumalanga is the institution that focusses on the skills of a millwright.
Centres of Specialisation aim to produce:
• A skilled and capable workforce
• Increased availability of intermediate-level technical skills
• Increased delivery of qualified artisans in 13 priority trades
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the WorldSkills South Africa (WSZA) National Competition in KwaZulu-Natal in June 2022, Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Blade Nzimande called on principals
of TVET colleges to prioritise work placements for students. He said, “We have now incorporated into our plans that all college principals must have the issue of work placement and partnership with industry in their performance agreements. Any college principal who does not promote work placement has no place in our TVET college system.”
Venetia Diamond Mine in the far north of Limpopo is in the process of transitioning from surface to underground mining and that requires a new set of skills from employees and contractors. Six simulators are being installed at a new training centre for the mine, covering aspects such as drills and bolters while virtual reality will be deployed for a virtual blast wall. More than 300 training modules will be available.
There are three types of public universities in South Africa: traditional universities, which are academic in focus and award degrees; universities of technology (previously “technikons”), which have a vocational emphasis and can award diplomas and certificates; and comprehensive universities which offer a combination of both types of qualification and can confer degrees and diplomas.
The addition of two universities in the provinces of Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape means that every South African province now has a university.
In Mbombela, the phase of using old buildings has come to an end for the University of Mpumalanga. Now a striking new architectural addition has been added to the cityscape on a hill north of the Crocodile River: a complex of department headquarters and residence buildings
Centres of Specialisation: www.dhet.gov.za National Department of Science and Innovation: www.dst.gov.za
Sol Plaatje University: www.spu.ac.za
TVET colleges: www.tvetcolleges.co.za University of Mpumalanga: www.ump.ac.za
is taking shape as a new home to the province’s first university. By building on existing institutions such as teacher training colleges, the university has progressively offered more courses and taken on more students over the last few years. The official launch was in October 2013, with the first cohort of 169 students registered in just three programmes in 2014. By 2020, the university was offering 26 qualifications to 4 200 students.The university currently offers 48 programmes in three faculties: Education; Agriculture and Natural Sciences; and Economics and Business Sciences. There are plans to add new programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and to establish the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the School of Law. By 2024, the plan is to offer approximately 70 qualifications to over 8 000 students.
University of Mpumalanga students have distinguished themselves in competitions run by ENACTUS, an international organisation that works with leaders in business and higher education to mobilise university students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become sociallyresponsible business leaders
The first intake of students at the Kimberley campus of Sol Plaatje University in 2014 was 124. At the 2019 graduation ceremony, 319 students were congratulated and when classes began for the 2020 academic year, just over 700 first-time students enrolled. In 2022, the SPU expects to have in the region of 3 479 students, of which 339 will be new postgraduate students.
The academic programme is housed in four schools: Education; Humanities; Natural and Applied Sciences; Economic and Management Sciences. Bachelor’s degrees are offered in education, science, science in data, ICT, heritage studies, commerce and arts. A diploma in retail business management (three years) and a one-year higher certificate in heritage studies completes the prospectus.
In 2022 the university tweaked its brand, with an internal logo falling away and the colour black being replaced by navy blue, joining red, orange and beige as the corporate colours. ■
SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 2013, SOL PLAATJE UNIVERSITY (SPU) HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS AND HAS GROWN TO BECOME A PERMANENT PRESENCE IN KIMBERLEY, THE NORTHERN CAPE, AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR.
Sol Plaatje University is still developing as a university, and faces significant challenges in meeting the steep student growth targets that the institution agreed to with the government.
The demographics of both the student body and its graduates suggest that SPU attracts students from all nine provinces, with the main concentrations being from the major towns in the Northern Cape and the North-West Provinces. There is however a challenge in attracting students from rural areas.
The Northern Cape and North West Province are two of the largest and most sparsely populated provinces in South Africa. The economic drivers in these provinces are mainly mining and
agriculture, but new economies around the Square Kilometre Array project and alternative energies are emerging.
Many rural learners are caught in the poverty trap after finishing their high school education because they cannot find opportunities within these major or emerging economies. Therefore, a lot of talent is lost because these learners, although talented, are precluded from going to University.
In the absence of any sort of stimulus plan for education that will level the playing field for rural learners regarding access to higher education, Sol Plaatje University wants to create a pipeline of academically talented learners from rural areas and see them register for a tertiary qualification at the University.
The Talent Pipeline Programme (TPP) at Sol Plaatje University is a pre-university enrichment programme aimed at increasing the academic, social, and psychosocial preparation of learners to enter higher education.
We will identify the top ten performing learners in grades 10, 11 and 12 from a broad range of underresourced schools in the Northern Cape Province.
The learners will be accommodated at the University during their school holidays (one week in March, two weeks in June and one week in September) and participate in a programme that focuses on a psychosocial, educational enrichment curriculum of deep immersion in ten subject areas: Mathematics, Scientific Thinking, Science, Molecular Literacy, Computer Science, Language, Economics and Law, Diversity Studies and International Relations. The academic instruction will be accompanied by a personal skills development curriculum (life skills, sport, art and music) focusing on coping and success mechanisms.
Programmes such as the TPP which are run elsewhere have been highly successful in creating a pipeline of excellent learners from under-resourced schools that enter University and have already produced several medical doctors, nurses, actuaries, accountants, economists, and engineers who have positively impacted their communities.
We take pride in SPU being located within the Northern Cape Province; thus, we must play a part in dealing with some of the general issues in our space.
A priority is to contribute towards improving the quality of schooling in our province to enable young people from these parts of the country to access post-secondary education. We will therefore run an Educators Enhancement Programme as part of the TPP for Mathematics and Science Educators from the participant schools.
This programme will ensure that the learners have the necessary support in their studies, receive the appropriate academic interventions at school, and that their teachers encourage their commitment to success.
Through this enhancement programme, we will assist educators in teaching and assessing in ways that make the transition from high school to University smoother, thereby facilitating access. We also endeavour to ensure that educators have the appropriate technology, access to data and connectivity, and gain experience using online resources for teaching and collaboration. The Educator Enhancement Programme will be a residential workshop which runs over two weeks in June on the SPU premises.
RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT A SINGLE GRADUATE FROM A UNIVERSITY, HAS AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT ON THE LIVES OF TEN OTHERS WHEN THEY RETURN TO THEIR COMMUNITY.
ONE GRADUATE FROM A RURAL COMMUNITY CAN BE A CATALYST FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH!
One of the most critical assets of any education system is the solidarity between parents and teachers. We want to promote the involvement of families and communities in the education process of the learner. We will host workshops through which we will explain the role of the family in the success of the learner in the TPP; and establish sustainable partnership practices across schools, families, and communities.
For the time in-between the residential sessions at the University, the TPP learners will be supported by online tutoring.
This support will be conducted by their teachers who have been taken through the Educator Enhancement Programme, and we will assign online tutors that the learners can access at learning centres that the University will establish across the Northern Cape Province.
“As I embark upon my second five-year term as the Chancellor of Sol Plaatje University, I am committed to the SPU Talent Pipeline Programme’s success because it speaks to my belief that academically excellent students who come from modest means must be given a fair chance to succeed in higher education.
Sol Plaatje University has a vision of enhancing democratic practice and social justice in society. This programme puts it on a path to achieving that vision and to making a positive impact on uplifting rural communities in the Northern Cape Province.
I hope you will consider supporting this ambitious but necessary programme at our University.”
For more information, send an email to specialprojects@spu.ac.za. You can also visit our website at www.spu.ac.za.
CHANCELLOR, JUDGE STEVEN MAJIEDTDiploma in Retail Business Management
Advanced Diploma in Management
Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting
Bachelor of Commerce in Economics
ENQUIRIES: charmell.cardoso@spu.ac.za
Higher Certificate in Court Interpreting
Higher Certificate in Heritage Studies
Bachelor of Arts (Specialisations: Archaeology, Heritage Studies, Languages and Social Sciences)
ENQUIRIES: humanities@spu.ac.za
Bachelor of Education (Foundation Phase)
Bachelor of Education (Intermediate Phase)
Bachelor of Education (Senior & FET Phase)
ENQUIRIES: jeffrey.thomas@spu.ac.za
Diploma in ICT (Applications Development)
Advanced Diploma in ICT (Applications Development)
Bachelor of Science in Data Science
Bachelor of Science (Specialisations: Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Biological Sciences and Physical Sciences)
ENQUIRIES: nobulali.mathimba@spu.ac.za
Postgraduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship
Postgraduate Diploma in Public Management
ENQUIRIES: postgrad.ems@spu.ac.za
Bachelor of Arts Honours in Languages (Specialisations: English and Afrikaans)
Bachelor of Social Science Honours (Specialisations: Archaeology, Anthropology, History, Sociology and Heritage Studies)
Master of Arts (Specialisations: Anthropology, History, Sociology and Heritage Studies)
ENQUIRIES: postgrad.hum@spu.ac.za
Bachelor of Education (Honours) in Curriculum Studies
Postgraduate Diploma in Mathematics Education
Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Senior Phase and FET)
Master of Education
ENQUIRIES: postgrad.edu@spu.ac.za
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biological Sciences (Specialisations: Botany and Zoology)
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Computer Science
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Data Science
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Mathematical Sciences
(Specialisations: Applied Mathematics, Mathematics and Statistics)
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Physical Sciences (Specialisations: Chemistry, Geography and Physics)
Master of Science (e-Science) by coursework
ENQUIRIES: postgrad.nas@spu.ac.za
+27 53 491 0000 | information@spu.ac.za | PRIVATE BAG X5008, KIMBERLEY 8300
www.spu.ac.za
Air Products 65
Brand South Africa 6
Council for Geoscience (CGS) .............................................................................................................................. 48-49
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) ................................................................................... 54
Durban International Convention Centre (Durban ICC) 3
Free State Development Corporation (FDC) ............................................................................................. 32-33
Impala Platinum (Implats) ...................................................................................................................................... 50-51
Indaba Hotel, Spa and Conference Centre 73 Invest Durban IFC
Momentum Financial Planning ...............................................................................................................................IBC
Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) .......................................................................................... 11
Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) 22-27
National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa OBC
Newlyn Group ................................................................................................................................................................ 36-39
Northern Cape Economic Development, Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (NCEDA) 34-35
Petroleum Agency South Africa ........................................................................................................ 16-17, 58-61
Sol Plaatje University .................................................................................................................................................. 80-83
South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) 67
South African Mohair Industries Limited (SAMIL) 44-45
Standard Bank ....................................................................................................................................................................... 21
Vaal Special Economic Zone ................................................................................................................................ 28-31
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