South African Business 2016 edition

SOUTH AFRICAN 

BUSINESS 

2016 EDITION 

THE GUIDE TO BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT 

IN THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA 

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CONTENTS 

Introduction 

CONTENTS 

South Africa—an introduction 10 

A guided tour of the South African business landscape. 

Operation Phakisa 18 

An overview of the dynamic initiative set to unlock South Africa’s potential. 

Special features 

Doing business in Africa 22 

How to make the most of opportunities on the continent. 

Funding26 

An overview of the various funding channels available to businesses. 

Skills development 34 

Effective skills development policies are vital in the battle to stay competitive. 

Law firms 48 

Legal eagles are the wind beneath your wings. 

BRICS50 

Top law firm ENSafrica outlines the great economic community. 

IPAP 2015/2016 54 

The latest instalment of the Industrial Policy Action Plan. 

Regional overviews 

Eastern Cape 156 

The province’s economy is driven by manufacturing and business services. 

Free State 162 

Centrally located, the Free State uses its strategic position to its economic advantage. 

Gauteng164 

Gauteng is the smallest in area but the largest contributor to the national GDP. 

KwaZulu-Natal170 

KwaZulu-Natal’s subtropical climate offers perfect cultivating conditions. 

Limpopo172 

The most northern point of South Africa, Limpopo is untamed Africa at its best. 

Mpumalanga174 

Mpumalanga has an incredibly varied economy, with growth in transport and business. 

Northern Cape 184 

The great Orange River helps to irrigate the province’s prime agricultural land. 

North West 186 

The North West has the world’s richest source of platinum group metals (PGMs). 

Western Cape 188 

Booming with tourism, diverse manufacturing and world-class infrastructure. 

SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2016 

4

CONTENTS 

Economic sectors 

Agriculture — Striving for food security in the teeth of climate change.68 

Oil and gas — Exploration is increasing, on land and at sea.72 

Mining — The mining sector is facing tough challenges.80 

Mineral beneficiation — South Africa has significant capacity for processing minerals.82 

Energy — A vibrant and various landscape.86 

Manufacturing — Increasing manufacturing capacity is a national priority.90 

Automotive — New investments demonstrate confidence.92 

Automotive components — Original Equipment Manufacture offers hope for growth.94 

Food and beverages — The sector employs nearly a quarter-of-a-million people.95 

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals — The Dow Chemicals Company opens a unique plant.96 

Engineering — Strategic Infrastructure Projects.97 

Healthcare — New government spend revealed.98 

Water — South Africa rises to the challenge of water scarcity.100 

Transport — South Africa’s economic circulatory system.106 

Maritime — The ocean promises to deliver thousands of jobs.110 

Tourism — SA Tourism is outperforming the global average.112 

Events — Conferencing is a growth industry.116 

Trade with Africa Intra-African trade has a long way to go.117 

ICT The central nervous system of the economy.118 

Banking and financial services South Africa’s biggest economic sector.126 

Development finance and SMME support Getting small business bankable.128 

Education and training A never-ending process of refinement.132 

Waste recycling Economic opportunity in refuse.134 

Renewable energy The great South African success story that is REIPPP.142 

Reference 

South African business organisations Self-organising structures of economic affinity.146 

South African government The organogram of the State.148 

Index192 


6

CREDITS 

Publisher 

Chris Whales 

Publishing director Robert Arendse 

Editor 

Writing 

Simon Lewis 

David Capel 

Greg Penfold 

John Young 

Editorial assistants Shannon Manuel 

Beverley Stone 

Account representatives 

Debbie Bender-Overmeyer 

Gabriel Venter 

Jeremy Petersen 

Malcolm Solomon 

Richard Whittingdale 

Sam Oliver 

Shiko Diala 

Sydwell Adonis 

Veronica Dean-Boshoff 

Managing director 

Clive During 

Art director 

Design 

Production 

DISTRIBUTION 

Brent Meder 

Sheeth Hanief 

Charlie Kershaw 

Linda Tom 

Administration & accounts 

Charlene Steynberg 

Natalie Koopman 

Distribution 

Printing 

Edward MacDonald 

CTP 

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, trade and investment agencies, provincial government 

departments, municipalities and companies. 

PUBLISHED BY 

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Postal address: PO Box 292, Newlands 7701, South Africa 

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COPYRIGHT 

South African Business is an independent publication published by Global Africa Network Media (Pty) Ltd. Full copyright to the publication vests with Global 

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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. 

Agu 

PHOTO CREDITS 

Pictures supplied by clients, with additional pics courtesy of Transnet National Ports Authority, Transnet Engineering, Redisa, SA Tourism, MorgueFile, 

Sasol, Anglo American, MEGA, Brand SA, Media Club SA and sanews.gov.za. 


8

Southwest Indian Ridge 

FOREWORD 

HIGHLIGHTS 

SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 

A unique guide to business and investment in South Africa. 

lhas Ridge 

Botswana 

Namibia 

South Africa L 

Continental Shelf 

Agulhas 

Plateau 

Mozambique 

S 

Natal 

Valley 

Mozambique Ridge 

Mozambique Channel 

Discovery Ridge 

Madagascar 

Madagascar 

Plateau 


Welcome to the fourth edition of South African 

Business. First published in 2011, the publication 

has established itself as the premier business and 

investment guide to South Africa, with an audited 

and certified distribution that has grown from 15 000 copies to 

20 000 printed copies. This publication is supported by a wellread 

e-book edition hosted on www.southafricanbusiness.co.za. 

In addition to an up-to-date economic overview of the country, 

analyses of the main industrial sectors, plus profiles of the nine 

provincial economies, this edition of South African Business 

includes special features on key topical issues such as skills 

development and education, waste management and recycling, 

and renewable energy; as well as interviews with leading figures 

from business and government, including Hermann Erdmann 

(CEO of Redisa), Kutoane Kutoane (CEO of ECIC), Tim Harris 

(CEO of Wesgro) and Sean Johnson (Manager: Unconventional 

Resource Evaluation at the Petroleum Agency of South Africa). 

South African Business is complemented by nine well-established 

regional publications, recognised as the leading business 

and investment guides to each province. These unique titles are 

supported by nine monthly regional e-newsletters with a combined 

reach of over 40 000, and the e-book editions can also 

be viewed on their respective websites: 

Western Cape Business | www.westerncapebusiness.co.za 

Gauteng Business Guide | www.gautengbusinessguide.co.za 

Limpopo Business | www.limpopobusiness.co.za 

KwaZulu-Natal Business | www.kwazulunatalbusiness.co.za 

Eastern Cape Business | www.easterncapebusiness.co.za 

North West Business | www.northwestbusiness.co.za 

Mpumalanga Business | www.mpumalangabusiness.co.za 

Free State Business | www.freestatebusiness.co.za 

Northern Cape Business | www.northerncapebusiness.co.za 

Global Africa Network thanks the dedicated sales team and 

the professional and committed writers, editors and designers 

who worked so hard to produce this edition of South African 

Business. 

Prince Edward Islands 

(RSA) 

Crozet Islands 

(Fr) 

Chris Whales 

Publisher, Global Africa Network Media 

Email: chris@gan.co.za 

1 

RSA 

Sa’s part of the joint 

claim with France for 

the Discovery Ridge - 

to be completed 

SOUTH AFRICA’S EXISTING TERRITORY Area (sq kms) 

Land - RSA Mainland 

1,220,000 

Sea - EEZ of RSA Mainland & Prince Edward Islands 1,540,000 

9 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2016 

Exclusive Economic Zone 

(EEZ) 

2 

4 

NEW EXTENDED CONTINENTAL SHELF 

1. West Coast 

2. East and South Coast 

45,000 

1,075,000

SPECIAL FEATURE 

South Africa 

A period of positive growth 

and development 

The year 2015 marked 60 years since South Africans from all walks of life adopted the 

Freedom Charter in 1955, in Kliptown, Soweto, as well as the 25-year anniversary of the 

release of Nelson Mandela from prison and the unbanning of the liberation movements. 

“They declared amongst other things, that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black 

and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the 

will of all the people,” said President Jacob Zuma. 


10


11 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2016


In a year that saw world economic and political 

uncertainty, South Africans still had much 

cause to celebrate. Great strides have been 

made nationwide in building schools and hospitals, 

major efforts are underway in terms of job 

creation, skills development, SMME growth, the 

empowerment of women as well as innovation. 

After a tough period of loadshedding and energy 

instability, Eskom seems to have the national grid 

stabilised as well as solid plans for the expansion 

of our infrastructure. 

South Africa also hit the world headlines through 

the discovery of a new species of human relative 

(“Homo naledi”) at the Cradle of Humankind 

World Heritage Site, a local doctor successfully 

completed the world’s first penis transplant, and 

Trevor Noah captured a slice of America’s cultural 

empire by taking over as host of Comedy 

Central’s The Daily Show. 

National priorities 

In his State of the Nation Address in early 2015, 

President Jacob Zuma said that it had been 

the year of “rededicating ourselves to eradicate 

racism and all related intolerances in our country. 

Zuma added that the country’s ambition of 

achieving a growth target of 5% by 2019 is at 

risk because of slow global growth as well as 

domestic constraints in energy, skills, transport 

and logistics amongst other factors. However, 

the situation was more promising on the jobs 

front as Statistics South Africa’s report on the 

last quarter of 2014 showed that there are now 

15.3-million people who are employed in South 

Africa. “Jobs grew by 203 000,” said Zuma, adding 

that the economy still needed a major push 

forward. Zuma also presented government’s 

nine-point plan to ignite growth and create jobs. 


12


“A lot has been achieved in the past year. We 

believe that our nine-point economic intervention 

plan on the economy will consolidate the 

achievements, and ignite much-needed growth,” 

said Zuma. 

South Africa has the 24th largest economy in 

the world and contributes 30% of sub-Saharan 

GDP despite having only 6.5% of the population. 

Sound financial management has seen South 

Africa’s macro-economic fundamentals become 

very strong off the shaky base that the apartheid 

regime created. In particular, prudent controls 

meant that South Africa was able to withstand 

the shockwaves sent around the world by the 

international financial-sector meltdown. 

The country is renowned for an abundance 

of mineral resources, accounting for a significant 

proportion of both world production and 

reserves, and South African mining companies 

dominate many sectors in the global industry. 

South Africa produces 10% of the world’s gold 

(it is estimated that about one-third of the world’s 

unmined gold still remains in South Africa) and 

there has been an increase in the beneficiated 

minerals industry, which the government has 

targeted as a growth sector. 

National Government’s 9-point growth plan 

1. Resolving the energy challenge. 

2. Revitalising agriculture and the agro-processing 

value chain. 

3. Advancing beneficiation or adding value to 

our mineral wealth. 

4. More effective implementation of a higher 

impact Industrial Policy Action Plan. 

5. Encouraging private sector investment. 

6. Moderating workplace conflict. 

7. Unlocking the potential of small, medium 

and micro enterprises (SMMEs), cooperatives, 

township and rural enterprises. 

8. State reform and boosting the role of state 

owned companies, information and communications 

technology (ICT) infrastructure 

or broadband roll-out, water, sanitation and 

transport infrastructure. 

9. Operation Phakisa, which is aimed at growing 

the ocean economy and other sectors. 

Economy 

The discovery of diamonds and gold in the 19th 

century laid the platform for the development of 

South Africa as an industrialised economy. Wool, 

wine and mohair were the country’s only exports 

before minerals were discovered. 

Although mining plays a far smaller role in the 

economy than it used to, it still contributes significantly 

to GDP, employment and taxation income. 

Demand for platinum, iron ore and manganese 

from the new global powerhouses of China and 

India is motivating investment in the sector in 

South Africa. 

Mining companies account for about a third 

of the market capitalisation (R1.86-trillion) of the 

country’s stock exchange, the JSE. 

One of South Africa’s fastest-growing manufacturing 

sectors, catalytic converters, also 



owes its existence to the minerals that make up 

the converters, and one of the central planks 

of the South African government’s economic 

policy is to ensure that value is added to 

the country’s mineral resources. The country 

already has many steel mills and aluminium 

smelters, but many thousands of tons of raw 

materials are exported in their raw state. A 

number of Industrial Development Zones and 

Special Economic Zones have been set up 

and promulgated in order to attract investment 

as well as to increase local manufacturing 

capacity. 

The automotive industry is one of South Africa’s 

most important sectors and accounts for about 

12% of South Africa’s manufacturing exports, with 

many of the major multinationals using South 

Africa to source components and assemble vehicles 

for both local and international markets. 

Energy 

The country has been through a challenging 

period during which there have been serious 

energy constraints. These have proved to be 


14


beginning with a plan for improved maintenance 

of existing Eskom power stations, enhancing the 

electricity generation capacity and managing the 

electricity demand. The long-term plan involves 

finalising South Africa’s long-term energy security 

master plan. 

“As a priority we are going to stabilise Eskom’s 

finances to enable the utility to manage the current 

period,” said Zuma, adding that government 

was supporting Eskom with R23-billion for the 

2016 fiscal year. 

Agriculture 

Agriculture is a catalyst for growth and food 

security and there is a strong public-private sector 

drive to develop an Agricultural Policy Action 

Plan aimed at bringing one million hectares of 

under-utilised land into full production over the 

next three years. 

“Among key interventions this year, we will 

promote the establishment of agri-parks or cooperatives 

and clusters in each of the 27 poorest 

district municipalities to transform rural economies,” 

said Zuma. An initial funding of R2-billion 

was made available for the agri-park initiative, 

while the country’s agro-processing exports 

are attracting positive interest in new markets 

through Africa and China for the export of South 

African maize and apples to China. Apple exports 

alone are projected to yield R500-million 

in foreign exchange over the next three years. 

an impediment to economic growth and a major 

inconvenience to everyone in the country. 

Overcoming the challenge was uppermost in 

government’s programme. 

“Government is doing everything within its 

power to deal with the problem of energy shortage 

in the country. We are quite aware of the fact 

that this is indeed a difficult period, but it shall 

pass because we do have strategies in place to 

deal with this matter,” Zuma said. 

Government has developed a sustainable 

plan that involves short-, medium- and longterm 

capacity and infrastructure development, 

Infrastructure 

The National Infrastructure Development programme 

continues to be a key job driver and 

catalyst for economic growth. Major projects 

include the Umzimvubu Water Project in the 

Eastern Cape, Jozini Dam in Umkhanyakude in 

KwaZulu-Natal and projects in Bushbuckridge 

in Mpumalanga and phase one of the Mokolo 

Crocodile Water Augmentation in Limpopo. 

Progress to improve the water supply to areas 

affected by shortages are underway, but the war 



against water losses (which costs the country 

R7-billion a year) is being waged through the 

Department of Water and Sanitation’s plan to 

train 15 000 artisans and plumbers who will fix 

leaking taps in their local communities. 

Internal affairs 

Cabinet has adopted vigorous and integrated interventions 

to combat the vicious rhino poaching 

in the country, including continuous joint operations 

with key neighbouring countries, improved 

intelligence gathering as well as enhancing protection 

in parks and provincial reserves where 

rhino are present. Government has also made 

substantial progress in establishing a border 

management agency to manage all ports of 

entry and improve security. 

To further improve access to identity documents, 

citizens will now be able to apply for the 

new Smart ID Card at their local bank due to a 

partnership between the Department of Home 

Affairs and some banks in the country. 

In December 2014, Cabinet released the 

draft National Disability Rights Policy for public 

comment. “Local government is everybody’s 

business. We have to make it work. We have 

launched the ‘Back to Basics’ programme to 

promote good governance and effective administration 

through cutting wastage, spending 

public funds prudently, hiring competent staff, 

and to ensure transparency and accountability 

in municipalities,” said Zuma. 

of the human species and shake up our understanding 

of the progress of human evolution. 

Two years after they were tipped off by cavers 

plumbing the depths of the limestone tunnels 

in the Rising Star Cave outside Johannesburg, 

Berger and his team discovered what they say 

is a new addition to our family tree. The team 

is calling this new species of human relative 

“Homo naledi,” and they believe that part of their 

tribal culture was the practice of burying their 

History 

One of South Africa’s premier museums and 

tourist attractions is The Cradle of Humankind, 

an ancient destination that celebrates the fact 

that present-day South Africa has been home 

to the human species for thousands of years. 

Early ion 2015 a team of archeologists, led 

by Professor Lee Berger of the University of the 

Witwatersrand, made a discovery that would 

pose new and vital questions about the origins 


16


dead - a behavior scientists previously thought 

was limited to humans. 

The team believes that the chamber, located 

30 metres underground in the Cradle of Humanity 

World Heritage Site, was a burial ground–and that 

Homo naledi could have used fire for light. The 

discovery was poignant considering South Africa’s 

energy crisis, but it was also cause for celebration 

of South Africa’s position in the story of mankind, 

starting from the birthplace of man to the evolution 

of one of the greatest stories of democracy 

ever told. What lies ahead is an exciting period of 

growth as the country strives to realise its potential 

to be the gateway to Africa and, in so doing, helping 

to unlock the enormous economic and social 

potential within the continent. 

Sources: Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation 

Address 2015, SouthAfricaInfo, BrandSA, Media 

Club South Africa. 



Operation Phakisa hits 

the ground running 

Through Operation Phakisa the National Government aims to implement its policies and 

programmes better, faster and more effectively. 

President Jacob Zuma has been the driving 

force behind Operation Phakisa, a 

project designed in line with the goals of 

the National Developement Plan (NDP) 

2030, which is promoting economic growth and 

boost job creation. 

“We had announced in June this year that we 

are chasing a growth target of 5% by 2019. To 

achieve that target, we require new and faster 

ways of doing things, and Operation Phakisa 

represents that new spirit of moving faster in 

meeting our targets,” said Zuma, speaking at 

his 2014 State of the Nation Address. 

Operation Phakisa adapts the Big Fast Results 

methodology first applied by the Malaysian 

Government, successfully, in the delivery of its economic 

transformation programme. The operation 

addressed their national key priority areas such as 

poverty, crime and unemployment. It involves setting 

up clear targets and follows up with on-going 

monitoring process which makes the results public. 

Through this initiative, the Malaysian government 

was able to register impressive results within 

a short period. President Zuma said South Africa 

has renamed the Malaysian Big Fast Results approach 

as Operation Phakisa — from a Sesotho 

word, which means “Hurry Up”, to highlight the 

urgency with which government wants to deliver 

on some of the priorities encompassed in the NDP. 

The initiative will initially be implemented in 

two sectors—the ocean economy and health. 

representatives from government, industry, labour, 

civil society and academia to collaborate 

in unlocking the economic potential. 

Speaking at the launch of the initiative at the 

Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention 

Centre, in Durban, President Zuma said government 

chose the ocean economy with good reason. 

“South Africa is uniquely bordered by the 

ocean on three sides — east, south and west. 

Diving into the blue economy 

The first phase of the implementation will focus 

on unlocking the economic potential of South 

Africa’s oceans. This will be done together with 


18

With the inclusion of Prince Edward and Marion 

Islands in the southern ocean, the coastline is 

approximately 3 924km long,” he told the delegates, 

which included industry, labour, civil society 

and academia. But despite this, the vast 

ocean space is relatively unexplored in terms of 

its economic potential. 

“The ocean has a potential to contribute to 

the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) up to R177- 

billion. The ocean also has a potential to contribute 

between 800 000 and one million direct 

jobs,” said President Zuma. 

In 2010, the oceans contributed approximately 

R54-billion to South Africa’s GDP and 

accounted for approximately 316 000 jobs. 

Also at the launch, Environmental Affairs 

Minister Edna Molwea acknowledged the 


invaluable contribution of oceans and coasts to 

the development from throughout the continent. 

“The long-term developmental programmes of the 

world can no longer be based on land resources 

only; it must also include the coast and ocean 

resources.” 

Government has identified four priority focussectors 

for Operation Phakisa. These are marine 

transport and manufacturing activities (such as 

coastal shipping, trans-shipment, boat building, 

repair and refurbishment) offshore oil and gas 

exploration; aquaculture as well as marine protection 

services and ocean governance. 

The second implementation of Operation 

Phakisa was to pilot the health sector’s Ideal 

Clinic Initiative to improve service delivery in the 

country’s clinics nationwide, which commenced 



late in 2014. The health sector laboratory will 

be undertaken in collaboration with provinces, 

districts and clinic managers with the aim of 

producing a detailed plan for improving service 

delivery in public sector clinics in all provinces, 

including indicators, targets and timeframes, in 

addition to a guideline for clinic managers to 

develop and sustain these improvements. 

Success of Operation Phakisa 

“The key step in Operation Phakisa’s approach,” 

said the President, “will be the intensive work sessions 

necessary to deliver complete and signedoff 

action plans for presentation to Cabinet. These 

work sessions will help create transparency and 

help to remove bottlenecks and resolve the most 

critical challenges facing a sector.” 

Once the detailed delivery plans have been 

completed, President Zuma said government 

will then move into the implementation phase of 

Operation Phakisa—with him taking a personal 

interest in monitoring the progress and implementing 

the project. 

“The people of South Africa deserve much 

better from all of us. Through Operation Phakisa 

and all our other key strategic interventions to 

achieve the goals of the National Development 

Plan, we must work tirelessly to move our country 

forward and build a better life for all, especially 

the poor and the working class,” he said, urging 

key role players to commit fully to the success 

of this programme. 


20

Meeting targets 

Highlights of the Operation include the cabinet 

approved issuing to Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) 

of a permanent operating licence to operate the 

manganese container terminal at the Port of 

Ngqura. Significant economic opportunities arising 

out of this development include the upgrading 

of the rail network (R2.3-billion) from Northern 

Cape to Port of Ngqura in order to support axle 

loads of 26t. 

Knock-on effects occur along the rail infrastructure 

value chain, with significant opportunities 

for localisation, such as signalling systems. 

The relocation of manganese operations from the 

Port of Saldanha would open opportunities for 

offshore oil and gas activities such as rig repair 

and maintenance. 

There is an opportunity to capture the lucrative 

repair market by extending and expanding 

our port capabilities to service current and future 

vessels in East and West Africa. 

Opportunities for local shipbuilding industry 

have arisen as a result of tenders issued by 

Armscor for a new hydrographic vessel under 

Project Hotel and six new offshore and inshore 

patrol vessels under Project Biro. 

The acquisition of the six IPVs/OPVs by the 

Navy is a major boost to the local shipbuilding 

industry as 60% local content is required. 

Projected spend over the next three to four years 

is approximately R6.6-billion, providing the opportunity 

to deepen component manufacturing 

and rebuild domestic capabilities. 

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) and 

Transnet SOC Limited have adopted a Public- 

Private-Partnership (PPP) model to finance new 

Operation Phakisa infrastructure. TNPA has 

committed R7-billion for public sector investment 

in domestic ports to support industrial 

opportunities in the ports. 

Saldanha Bay port has been established as 

an oil and gas hub, the total scope of the initiative 

amounting to a R9.2-billion investment (public 

and private). 

TNPA has appointed transactional advisors 

for the refurbishment and maintenance of port 


facilities. The scope and maintenance refurbishment 

requirements have been completed and 

The dti has designated working vessels for local 

procurement (60% local content). 

A R1.4-billion tender by TNPA for the procurement 

of tug boats was awarded to a South 

African company in support of local procurement. 

The dti is in the process of developing a strategic 

marketing campaign and value proposition for 

investors into the MTM sector. 

In addition to the Marine sector, progress has 

occurred within the oil and gas and aquaculture 

sectors, a Delivery Unit and Steering Committee 

was established at DMR and is fully functional. 

The financial analysis of South African offshore 

oil and gas sector procurement has been completed 

ahead of schedule. 

This work included the determination of product 

and service categories and spend (values); 

compilation of suppliers’ database and classification 

of procurement (with measurement 

and standards criteria) in terms of domestic vs 

foreign value addition in final goods and services. 

Setting of minimum targets for local production 

and supply awaits the finalisation of 

Mineral Petroleum and Resources Development 

Amendment Bill (MPRDA) legislative process. 

A total of 10 catalyst projects are in progress 

with funding secured from the Aquaculture 

Development Enhancement Programme 

(ADEP), the private sector investment at R305- 

million, and Government investment at R105- 

million. The National Regulator for Compulsory 

Specifications (NRCS) has been co-opted for 

sampling and food safety standards. Public 

Works has signed off leases on four projects. 

South Africa is ideally positioned to serve the 

East-West cargo traffic lane and the booming 

African offshore oil and gas industry through 

marine manufacturing, which includes ship and 

rig repair, refurbishment and boatbuilding. 

Despite this competitive advantage, we 

currently capture only 1% of the global market 

of ship repair and refurbishment. Efforts 

are underway to ensure that all of Operation 

Phakisa’s Oceans Economy initiatives are 

prioritised and resourced accordingly. 



Understanding Africa 

Lebo Motshegoa (MD of Foshizi Mass Market Research and Strategy), says there are 

seven essentials that South Africans as well as international business people need to 

know about doing business in Africa. 

Most of us believe that business is business, 

so it’s easy to think the same 

rules apply everywhere. The fact of 

the matter is that this just isn’t true, 

especially in Africa. Socio-economic differences 

between countries-and even within countriesare 

significant, and this needs to be taken into 

account when entering into new markets on 

the continent. 

I’ve learnt some important lessons on my many 

business trips into Africa, and these are the seven 

things I believe all South Africans need to consider 

when doing business in other African countries: 

1. Africa is a big continent with many different languages 

and cultures. The same social norms 

simply don’t apply everywhere, and it’s important 

to be aware of this when doing business. 

If you intend to enter into a new African market, 

it’s vital to research the social and religious 

customs of the countries in which you intend 

to operate, and to make a concerted effort to 

understand workplace dynamics. 

2. While South African companies compete 

mainly against each other for share of market 

within the country, the competitive environment 

is very different in other African 

countries. Companies entering a market 

in Africa are not only competing with other 

companies within the same country, they are 

also competing against other South African 

companies entering the same space. To 

make matters even more complicated, they 

are competing against the local operations 

of other foreign companies, which already 

have a well-established presence in Africa. 

This means that an in-depth understanding 

of market dynamics is essential for success. 

3. English isn’t the language most commonly 

used to do business in Africa. People who 

work with tourists speak English, but it’s a 

different story in the business environment. 

It’s therefore important to have at least a 

basic knowledge of the local language if 

you intend to do business in Africa. Greeting 

people in their own language is a great icebreaker, 

even if you can’t hold a conversation 

with them in their language. 

4. South Africa is not necessarily the leader on 

the continent in all aspects of business and 

social life. For example, the Nigerian economy 

is significantly larger by value than the 

South African economy, and other economies 

are catching up quickly. Mobile money 

solutions are also much more developed. In 

Kenya, for example, you can buy anything 

from a cow to your lunch using a mobile 

phone. South Africa has a long way to go 


22


before it reaches this point, so it is important 

to acknowledge that some African countries 

are way ahead of us in certain things, and 

not to come across as arrogant when doing 

business with African counterparts. 

5. South Africa is the last of the African countries 

to have become a democracy, with 

many other countries having been independent 

for twice as long as we have. We 

have a lot to learn from these countries, 

which have faced many of the challenges 

we’re currently facing. We need to show a 

willingness to learn, and should not set out 

to impose our own ideas and solutions on 

our African counterparts. 

6. It may come as a surprise, but many African 

countries are streets ahead of us when it 

comes to technology. For example, research 

done by Net Index put Ghana at the 

top of the pile in terms of download speed, 

which averages 4.78Mbps. Zimbabwe is 

ranked second, while South Africa comes 

in at only sixth place. And, as already mentioned, 

the use of mobile banking technology 

is widespread across the continent, 

even in rural areas. 

7. Finally, even seemingly mundane things can 

influence business success and business 

relations. 

Firstly, it’s essential to keep an eagle eye on 

currency exchange rates to ensure they don’t 

adversely affect business deals or business 

expenses. 

Then, while South Africa adheres to a single 

time zone, Africa spans five time zones 

from east to west. This is the same number of 

time zones as in the United States (excluding 

Alaska), so time differences need to be taken 

into account when doing business with or in 

other African countries. 

Similarly, the weather may influence how 

a customer does business, and may affect 

the needs of that business. It’s crucial to take 

these seemingly unimportant things into account 

because they could have an adverse 

impact on efficiency and, therefore, on the 

bottom line. 

Africa has many varied opportunities for 

both corporations and entrepreneurs, and 

now is the time to take advantage of that. The 

benefits of moving into other African markets 

goes beyond money, though, as there is a 

real opportunity for a meaningful exchange 

of ideas. All it takes is insight and sensitivity 

to the dynamics of the many different markets 

on the continent in order to unlock them. 

Lebo Motshegoa 


INTERVIEW 

Job creation on track 

Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities for the 

Western Cape Government, on the drive for employment. 

Alan Winde 

BIOGRAPHY 

Alan Winde became MEC for 

Finance, Economic Development 

and Tourism in May 

2009, shortly after the Democratic 

Alliance won the Western 

Cape Province. Winde has 

been a member of the Western 

Cape Provincial Legislature 

since 1999. During his first 

term he served as provincial 

fi nance chairman and executive 

committee member with the 

Democratic Party. He has also 

served as chief whip of the 

offi cial opposition in the West ern 

Cape, as the DA spokesperson 

on Environment and Planning 

and as the deputy DA spokesperson 

on Economic Development 

and Tourism. 

The Western Cape Government’s fi rst strategic goal is to create 

opportunities for jobs and growth. At the start of a new 

fi ve-year term, this government has taken a new, focused 

approach to achieving its goals. We are currently engaging 

with the private sector to develop action plans for high-potential 

sectors where we have a clear competitive advantage. This process 

is called Project Khulisa. Khulisa means ‘to grow’ in isiXhosa. 

Project Khulisa identifi ed Tourism, Agri-Processing and Oil and 

Gas as the sectors which are either growing the fastest or have 

the highest job creation potential. Our goal is to dramatically accelerate 

growth in these key sectors through a series of targeted 

projects. As we implement this growth strategy, giving support 

to small businesses also remains an important priority. 

We know that entrepreneurs are important job creators. The 

National Development Plan states that about 90% of jobs will be 

created in small and expanding companies by 2030. This is why 

we have prioritised the support of SMMEs. 

In the past fi ve years, the Provincial Department of Economic 

Development and Tourism has assisted 26 000 entrepreneurs 

with a range of services to help them grow. 

This includes reducing unnecessary regulations through our 

Red Tape Reduction Unit, which has handled more than 3 000 

cases since its launch in 2011. Along with red tape, project funding 

can pose a challenge for many small businesses. 

Ensuring that entrepreneurs have access to fi nancial support 

networks is a key part of our assistance package. 

We have recently embarked on innovative initiatives such as 

partnering with Deloitte to host the Western Cape Funding Fair 

and we aim to build on these successes by ensuring that even 

more entrepreneurs get the support they need to play a meaningful 

role in growing our economy. We can only do this through 

partnerships between spheres of government, the private sector 

and the residents of the Western Cape. 

I am confi dent that this guide will be a valuable tool in forming 

these partnerships, providing an excellent platform to connect 

entrepreneurs with the right investors. 

Over the past fi ve years we have created over 200 000 jobs 

and have the lowest expanded unemployment rate in the country. 

Over the next fi ve years we will continue to work, better together, 

to deliver meaningful growth and real job opportunities. 


24


Public-private push for 

entrepreneurship 

The 2015 Western Cape Funding Fair highlighted the need for job creation driven by the 

public and private sectors 

Deloitte, in partnership with the Western 

Cape Department of Economic 

Development and Tourism (DEDAT), 

launched the inaugural Western Cape 

Funding Fair at the CTICC in March 2015. The 

Fair afforded entrepreneurs and innovators the 

opportunity to pitch ideas were in need of funding 

to potential funders. 

“We had three main criteria,” said Marius Alberts, 

Deloitte Western Cape regional leader. “The new 

enterprises had to be based in the Western Cape, 

create a significant number of jobs to contribute 

to the economy of the Western Cape, and 

require at least R10-million in funding. To be a 

finalist at The Western Cape Funding Fair you 

need to have something that can be converted 

into an actual business in the medium term, not 

something that requires another nine years of 

research. We want to find business ideas that 

are ready to work. People need to say ‘this is my 

value proposition, this is how I intend to make it 

work, and this is my target market’. It is crucial 

that an entrepreneur is able to articulate their 

idea in a way that shows they understand the 

business behind it and that they have the ability 

to articulate the value proposition clearly.” 

Over 600 entries were received, which were 

whittled down to a group of 40 finalists who 

pitched their ideas to funders at the Fair. 

“The day those 600 applicants decided to pitch 

was the first step in their future competitiveness 

in their industry sector,” said DEDAT Minister Alan 

Winde, who called on South African banks to 

take more risks when it comes to entrepreneurs. 

“Our banks were praised for their low risk rating 

when the global recession hit, but if we want 

to change the ecosystem for entrepreneurs in 

this country, they are going to have to be open 

to more risky ventures. Job creation is key for our 

future, and neither government nor the private 

sector can make the changes happen on their 

own. It is partnerships like this one that are the 

key to our future growth,” said Winde. 



Business funding 

There is a massive amount of funding available for businesses, from multi-national 

corporations through to SMMEs. The key is knowing how to access it. 


26


“Before any bank funding is sought, a business needs to 

have equity, a proven track record and experienced 

team, guaranteed inputs or raw materials, proven market 

demand; and a robust project finance model,” says 

Andre Pottas, Corporate Finance Partner at Deloitte. “If these 

attributes are not all in place, as is common for startups and 

new, innovative technologies, then alternatives to bank debt 

must be sought.” 

Pottas stresses that it all depends on the type of business that is 

being developed, in addition to the level of the returns that can be 

realistically predicted. 

“For innovators and disruptors, who often have little own equity 

to contribute, selling their idea can be really difficult and self-funding 

may be the only option available in the short term. For example, to 

get equity finance, it is a trade-off between the new networks and 

expertise you expose your business to, and the percentage of equity 

and control that you are willing to give away. Loan finance on the 

other hand guarantees that you keep all of your shares and can run 

the business as you like, yet the loan can create a strain on the cash 

flow of the business,” says Pottas. 

An alternate source of funding that is gaining in popularity is 

crowdfunding, which allows business owners to raise capital in 

small amounts from a variety of funders, typically via social media. 

“Crowdfunding had been incredibly successful in the United States 

and Europe, but those are very developed markets, and they are 

working from a much higher base of business skills and IT penetration. 

In South Africa, there are so many people and youth coming out of 

school, starting up ideas, but our education system has not actually 

prepared us to run enterprises. Coming up with ideas we are good 

at. Figuring out how to make them ideas that will work we’re not so 

good at,” says Thundafund co-founder Patrick Schofield. 

“There are several reasons for that prudence, or inability to take 

risk by the venture capitalists. Most importantly is that they can’t get 

their money back. If you loan someone money, below R500 000, 

because of the legal processes it takes to get the cash back, you 

might as well give the damn stuff away. If they don’t give it back, to 

get it back through the legal routes is very expensive and almost not 

worth it. So it makes it very difficult for anyone to loan cash, which 



in turn makes it very difficult for people to borrow 

cash to start businesses.” 

Support for SMMEs 

Although there is a huge amount of potential 

funding available in South Africa, it’s essential 

that entrepreneurs and business owners approach 

the issue of funding with care and careful 

consideration. Not only is it essential to have all 

paperwork in place, but it’s also vital that there 

is a clear strategy and business plan in place. 

Many funding organisations will assist with a 

lot of this legwork, but at the core is the need 

for a business or venture that is sustainable and/ 

or profitable, with job creation sometimes being 

an additional important criteria. 

The Masisizane Fund (011 217 1854) invests 

in SMMEs that have a registered business, 

in addition to a clear marketable product or 

service, and who create and retain jobs. The 

Fund provides loan financing in the agribusiness, 

manufacturing, commercial, franchising as well 

as supply chain operations. 

The Masisizane Fund operates on a loan 

basis, but includes mentorship and a great deal 

of business support, guidance as well as helping 

to connect SMMEs with other SMMEs or larger 

organisations where there is the potential for a 

shared business relationship. 

Debt finance 

The concept of debt finance is simple: basically, 

it’s money that you borrow to run your business. 

In other words, it’s when a business raises capital 

by borrowing. Naturally, it’s a two-way thing: In 

exchange for lending the money, the individuals 

or institutions become creditors of the business 

and are entitled to the payment of interest and to 

have their loan repaid at the end of a given period. 

Debt financing comes in particularly handy 

for start-up companies, who often use this form 

of financing to finance their operations. 

SOME KEY SOURCES AND TYPES OF FUNDING 

Source of financing Who? How? 

Government/DFI Start up & Early stage Primarily grants 

Banks Established businesses Debt 

with track records and collateral 

Private Equity Primarily accelerate & growth stages Primarily equity 

Venture Capital Start up through to growth stages Primarily equity 

Range of impact investing Early & Accelerate stages Grants, loans and/or equity, 

type funds / angel investors 

depending on the mandate 

B-BBEE funding Wide range of SMEs that meet a Grants, loans and/or equity, 

certain ownership demographic depending on the mandate 

Crowd funders Stage up & Early Stage Grants and equity 

SOURCE: SIMANYE GROUP 


28

Bank finance 

The word “overdraft” need not have the negative 

connotations often associated with it. Indeed, an 

overdraft is the ideal way to manage your cash 

flow. It is linked to your business account and 

you can use as much as you need, up to your 

limit. It’s quick and easy to arrange, the cash is 

available when you need it, and you only pay 

interest on what you use, not on the full amount 

at which your limit is set. 

Many small businesses use this type of funding 

to get going (and to keep it going) and it is 

especially useful for companies that need shortterm 

finance for their start-up requirements. 

Debtor finance is a form of funding to obtain 

the working capital needs of growing businesses. 

Standard Bank purchases approved trade debtor 

invoices with an agreed portion, usually 75%, 

being paid at the time of purchase and a similar 

portion paid on all future approved trade debtor 

invoices. There are a number of conditions that 

need to be met with such funding. 

Asset finance enables the business owner to 

buy movable assets and equipment in a way that 

makes it easiest to manage cash flow. Banks 

finance all types of capital equipment. 

Angel investors 


equity companies usually seek to invest large 

sums of money into big businesses, but there are 

smaller private equity firms in South Africa that 

may be interested in making smaller investments. 

Be warned though, that securing private equity 

can be a time-consuming and difficult process. 

Venture capital 

Early-state, high-potential, high-risk ventures 

benefit from venture capital (VC), a type of private 

equity funding provided by outside investors. 

They achieve above-average returns. The VC 

capital fund makes money by owning equity in 

the companies it invests in, which usually have a 

new technology or business model in high-tech 

industries. This form of funding is attractive for 

new companies with limited operating history 

(and a tried and tested concept) that are too 

small to raise capital in the public markets and 

have not reached the point where they are able 

to secure a bank loan or complete a debt offering. 

Government funds 

South African government funding assists previously 

disadvantaged South Africans to develop 

new businesses. 

Angel investors are wealthy individuals who 

are willing to take a chance and invest smaller 

amounts of money in high-risk businesses, with 

the hopes of gaining high returns within a set 

period of time (usually five to 10 years). They 

use their own funds to finance projects that they 

believe will be lucrative, or where they can use 

their talent and skill to mentor new entrepreneurs. 

Private equity 

Private equity is of money from third-party investors 

that is pooled together and then invested 

into other businesses. They can commit large 

sums of money for long periods of time. Private 

Department of Trade and Industry (dti) 

The dti provides financial support to qualifying 

companies in various sectors of the economy. 

Contact: 0861 843 384, www.thedti.gov.za 

Khula Enterprise Finance 

Khula helps SMMEs to secure loans from banks. 

It does not lend money itself. Khula also provides 

mentorship to entrepreneurs, helping them to 

manage their businesses successfully. 

Contact: 012 394 5560 / 5900, 

www.khula.org.za 



Contact: 012 394 1805, www.samaf.org.za, 

www.thedti.gov.za 

National Empowerment Fund (NEF) 

South African Micro Finance Apex Fund 

(Samaf) 

Samaf gives financial services to small-scale 

entrepreneurs living in rural and outer urban 

areas. Samaf does not lend money directly to 

the public. It uses existing institutions within 

communities to handle the funds and lend to 

qualifying entrepreneurs. 

The NEF’s role is to support B-BBEE. It anticipates 

future funding and investment requirements 

to assist black entrepreneurs and communities 

achieve each element of the Codes of 

Good Practice. 

Contact: 0861 843 633, www.nefcorp.co.za 

Funding Guide: Government grants 

Grants do not have to be repaid, but they do 

require a considerable amount of paperwork. 

You will also be required to account for how you 

spend the money. 

BASIC FUNDING TYPES 

Type Pros Cons 

Grant 

Debt 

Equity 

• No repayment needed 

• Better for funding higher risk ventures 

and startups 

• Can fund non-income-generating 

activities 

• Greater flexibility than grants 

• Lower competition (assessed individually) 

• Build credit history and improve financial 

management 

• Can be quicker to get 

• Good for raising larger sums 

• Doesn’t require security 

• No need to pay back in most cases 

• Investors can provide strategic input to 

• Can fund startups 

• Can be easier to get debt finance later 

• May require onerous impact measures 

• Lots of competition 

• Issues with slow payouts 

• Difficult to get operating cost grants 

• Often very rigid 

• Often not available to for profits 

• Often require security or guarantees 

• Repayment with interest 

• Rarely given to start ups 

• Your own ownerships are diluted 

• Influence over your business 

• Only for for-profits 

• Will need to demonstrate strong 

potential 

SOURCE: SIMANYE GROUP 


30

MASISIZANE FUND 

BUILDING SUSTAINABLE BUSINESSES THROUGH 

SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIPS 

The Masisizane Fund (NPC) is an initiative of Old Mutual South Africa, established in 2007 following the 

closure of the Unclaimed Shares Trust. The mandate of the Fund is to contribute meaningfully to employment 

creation, poverty eradication and reduction of inequality, economic growth and the attraction of investment. 

This is done through promotion of entrepreneurship, enterprise finance and support to small, micro and 

medium enterprises. 

The target market is enterprises that are 51% or more owned by previously disadvantaged individual(s) giving 

priority to rural and peri-urban/township areas. Masisizane is biased towards businesses with 51% or more 

women owned, youth and people with disabilities and targets productive and labour absorbing sectors as 

approved by the Board of Directors from time to time. 

The Fund’s success is driven through a focused approach on high impact industry sectors, coupled with a 

comprehensive SMME finance solution that includes business support. The Fund provides loan finance in the 

following sectors: 

• Agriculture 

• Manufacturing 

• Supply Chain 

• Franchising 

• Commercial Enterprise 

Non-financial value adding services include capacity development, business management and technical support, 

financial education, market development and product/service quality standards and compliance. A Business 

Acceleration Program has been established where potential clients receive training and support to grow into a 

business eligible to receive financial support. 

Masisizane operates nationally with its head office in Gauteng and regional offices in KwaZulu Natal, Limpopo, 

Eastern Cape and Western Cape. 

omms 10.2015 L8555 

For more information and where to find us visit: www.masisizane.co.za 

Old Mutual is a Licensed Financial Services Provider


Black Business Supplier Development 

Programme (BBSDP) 

The Black Business Supplier Development 

Programme (BBSDP) is a cost-sharing grant 

offered to black-owned small enterprises, to 

assist them in improving their competitiveness 

and sustainability, in order for them to become 

integrated into the mainstream economy and 

create employment. 

Contact: 011 363 3000, www.bbsdp.co.za 

Enterprise Investment Programme (EIP) 

The Department of Trade and Industry’s (the 

dti’s) Tourism Support Programme (TSP) is a 

sub-programme of the Enterprise Investment 

Programme (EIP). It is a targeted incentive, aimed 

at supporting the development of tourism enterprises, 

thereby stimulating job creation and 

encouraging the geographic spread of tourism 

investment. 


Support Programme for Industrial 

Innovation (SPII) 

The Support Programme for Industrial Innovation 

(SPII) is designed to promote technology development 

in South Africa’s industry, through the 

provision of financial assistance for the development 

of innovative products and/or processes. 


The Co-Operative Incentive Scheme (CIS) 

The Co-operative Incentive Scheme (CIS) is a 

90:10 matching cash grant for registered primary 

co-operatives (a primary co-operative consists 

of five or more members). 


Source: Standard Bank 

Funding Agencies in South Africa 

South African government funding and grants 

are focused on providin g funding for business 

ventures that can make a difference to the economy. 

The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) 

provides funding to qualifying businesses from 

a range of sectors. 

The National Empowerment Fund (NEF) supports 

B-BEEE and previously disadvantaged individuals 

and communities. It offers a funding for 

start ups and expansion as a loan, equity funding. 

The National Youth Development Agency 

(NYDA) provides enterprise funds for young entrepreneurs 

aged between 18 and 35 years old 

and aims to assist them in starting a business 

or growing an existing one. 

The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) 

has multiple funds available offering financial 

support to start-up businesses needing capital 

for equipment, working capital and buildings. It 

also funds business expansion. 

The KZN Growth Fund’s primary mandate 

is investment in infrastructure to promote economic 

development with in the Province. 

The KFW Development Bank as part of the 

KFW banking group is responsible for Financial 

Cooperation with developing countries. In terms 

of volume, this form of cooperation is the most 

important instrument in German development 

cooperation. The Land Bank offers a wide range 

of loans for all financial needs like buying land, 

equipment and working capital for agricultural 

projects. Applications require a business plan. 

The Small Enterprise Finance Agency is 

founded in 2012 and has access to R1.4-billion 

in funding given by IDC and the Government for 

South African small businesses over the next 

three years. The Technology Innovation Agency 

(TIA) was established in 2008. 

The objectives are stimulating and intensifying 

technological innovation in order to improve 

economic growth. The goal is to increase the 

quality of life of all South Africans by developing 

and exploiting technological innovations. 

Sources: Fundingconnection.co.za, 

Mediaclubsouthafrica.com 


32

OVERVIEW 

SEZs and IDZs 

Industry is growing thanks to Government’s incentivised and structured industrial zones. 

The South African government established 

the Industrial Development Zones (IDZ) to 

attract Foreign Direct Investment and export 

of value-added commodities. These 

zones were developed with the aim to increase 

industrial growth.There are currently five operating 

IDZs in South Africa. 

The Coega IDZ is the largest IDZ in Southern 

Africa. It was designated in 2001 and became 

South Africas first Industrial Development 

Zone. It is located in the Nelson Mandela Bay 

Metropolitan Municipality in the Eastern Cape 

Province and it is strategically located on the 

east-west trade route to service both world and 

African markets. 

The Coega IDZ leverages public sector investment 

to attract foreign and domestic direct 

investment in the manufacturing sector with an 

export orientation. The IDZ has attracted investment 

in the agro-processing,automotive, aquaculture, 

energy, metals logistics and business 

process services sectors. 

The Richards Bay Industrial Development 

Zone (RBIDZ) is a purpose built and secure 

industrial estate on the North-Eastern South 

African coast. The N2 business corridor links 

the Province’s two major ports, Durban and 

Richards Bay, and connects with Maputo in 

Mozambique and, ultimately, areas of East Africa. 

It is linked to an international sea port of 

Richards Bay, tailored for manufacturing and 

storage of minerals and products to boost beneficiation, 

investment, economic growth and, 

most importantly, the development of skills and 

employment. First-world infrastructure allows 

for the full exploitation of the areas’ natural and 

strategic advantages. 

Innovation, Efficiency, Growth and Sustainability 

are key to the East London Industrial 

Development Zone’s (ELIDZ’s) reason for existence. 

Established in 2003, as part of the South 

African government initiative to improve industrial 

competitiveness and economic growth in the 

country, the zone has become a prime industrial 

park in South Africa, renowned for its customised 

solutions for various industries including 

automotive, agro-processing and aqua-culture. 

The ELIDZ offers growth oriented companies 

a specialised manufacturing platform, innovative 

industrial and business solutions access to new 

markets and strategic industry networks. 

The Saldanha Bay Industrial Development 

Zone (IDZ) received its operator permit on 31 

October 2013 at Saldanha Bay in the Western 

Cape Province. This newly established IDZ will 

serve as the primary oil, gas and Marine Repair 

engineering and logistics services complex in 

Africa, servicing the needs of the upstream Oil 

Exploration Industry and Production service 

companies operating in the oil and gas fields 

off Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Dube TradePort is a catalyst for global trade 

and a portal between KwaZulu-Natal and the 

world. It’s the only African facility that brings 

together an international airport, a cargo 

terminal, warehousing, offices, a retail sector, 

hotels, and an agricultural area. It comprises 

the Dube TradeZone, which aims to focus on 

manufacturing and value-addition primarily for 

automotive, electronics and fashion garments, 

and the Dube AgriZone, a high-tech, future 

farming facility and host to the c ontinent’s 

largest climate-controlled growing area under 

glass will focus on high-value, niche agricultural 

and horticultural products. 



The evolution of 

skills development 

The skills development landscape in South Africa is changing, but thankfully a powerful 

partnership is ensuring the economy is fed by a vital skills pipeline. 

Government, the South African 

Qualifications Authority (SAQA), Sector 

Education and Training Authorities 

(Setas) and professional bodies are 

working in partnership to build a much-needed 

skills pipeline for the South African economy. 

Setas form an integral part of this partnership and 

they add much value to their stakeholders and 

to the South African economy as a whole. Setas 

operate in terms of the Skills Development Act 

(SDA Act 97 of 1998 as amended) and the Skills 

Development Act of 1999 (as amended). These 

pieces of legislation provide an institutional framework 

for Setas to develop and implement national, 

sectoral and workplace strategies to develop and 

improve the skills of the national workforce resulting 

in improvements in employability and productivity, 

while contributing to the country’s global 

competiveness. 

Deputy Minister of Education and Training, 

Mduduzi Manana, highlights the Teaching 

Development Grant (TDG) as an important initiative. 

“We have earmarked funds (comprising approximately 

R600 per annum) towards programmes 

that are designed to assist in decreasing drop-out 

rates in universities, including for first year students 

where students are most at risk of drop-out. These 

funds support a range of programmes that focus 

on supporting students at various levels of their 

studies (from undergraduate to postgraduate level),” 

says Manana, who as a youngster wanted to be a 

history teacher because he wanted to understand 

how the past shaped the present and to teach 

young people to do the same. 

“The introduction of the student attendance and 

punctuality policy has increased the attendance 

of students in colleges, thus leading to improved 

retention rates. The preliminary throughput studies 

for three-year qualifications (contact and distance 

combined) show that there has been an improvement 

in the throughput rate for minimum time to 

completion more than two years from 33% for the 

2000 first time entering cohort to 38.5% for the 

2007 first time entering cohort. 

“The DHET has also recently implemented the 

‘Staffing South Africa’s Universities’ Framework. 

This innovative programme targets academics at 

all stages of the academic pipeline, and provides 

relevant teaching development opportunities at 


34


all stages. This year, 125 new academics are being 

appointed as part of the New Generation of 

Academics Programme (nGAP). A total of 80% 

of the appointees will be women and/or black 

academics. These academics will benefit from 

structured teaching development and research 

development opportunities,” said Manana. 

The role of Setas 

Setas are also required to deliver against the 

National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) III, 

are expected to be aligned to and deliver against 

national policies and imperatives including the 

Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF), the 

Human Resource Development Strategy for 

South Africa (HRDS-SA), Industrial Policy Action 

Plan (IPAP), the New Growth Path (NGP) and 

the White Paper for Post-school Education and 

Training. 

One example of this in action is Fasset (the 

Finance and Accounting Services) Seta, which is 

changing the skills development landscape in its 

sector by facilitating the delivery of sector-specific 

skills interventions, which are not only achieving 

the NSDS III goals and other national imperatives, 

but which are also addressing employer demand 

for skills within the sector in practical ways. 

Three skills upliftment initiatives are very important 

in this regard: Fasset’s lifelong learning interventions, 

the disbursement of PIVOTAL Grants 

(grants for Professional, Vocational, Technical and 

Academic Learning programmes) and the Seta’s 

TVET Workplace Experience Project. 

Given that Finance and Accounting Services 

is a professional sector, it is imperative that the 

skills of employees and employers within the 

sector remain current. The majority of Fasset’s 

members are SMME practitioners, where budgets 

for training are limited. Fasset is able to add 

considerable value to its SMME stakeholders 

through the Seta’s lifelong learning interventions. 

Over 116 046 delegates have attended these 

initiatives since inception. 

New Seta funding regulations released in 

December 2012 opened the way for more effective 

interventions via the PIVOTAL Programmes 

(Professional, Vocational, Technical and Academic 

Learning Programmes) that results in a qualification 

or part of a qualification on the National 

Qualifications Framework. 

Developing PIVOTAL skills gives employees 

portable quality-assured qualifications which are 

better aligned to specific occupations and to a 

specific career path. This is beneficial to both 

the individual and to the organisation, and is also 

proving to be more sustainable and value-adding 

than short courses. 

PIVOTAL Programmes are implemented by 

way of the PIVOTAL Grant. For example, Fasset’s 

PIVOTAL Grant addresses priority scarce and 

critical skills needs identified in Fasset’s Sector 

Skills Plan. The grant incentives employers to 

develop the skills that they have identified to be 

in short supply and, as such, are needed for the 

sound functioning of the sector. 

Fasset is also changing the skills development 

landscape for Technical and Vocational 

Education and Training (TVET) College learners 

through Fasset’s TVET Workplace Experience 

Project. Participating Fasset employers are 



providing TVET learners, who have completed 

the N6 Certificate in Business Studies, with the 

18-months work experience required to achieve 

the National N Diploma. Most importantly, employers 

have been exposed to a new talent pipeline 

for mid-level skills. 

These developments come at a time when 

skills gaps have become a serious preoccupation 

within the private sector globally. 

The importance of educating matriculants 

Manana said in order for us to ensure a simple 

post-school education and training system, the 

Department of Higher Education and Training will 

continue to promote the working relationships 

and structured interface between universities, 

colleges, the SETAs, quality councils and other 

stakeholders in the post-school education and 

training system, so that they may interact with one 

another, introducing the knowledge and skills our 

society and the economy at large needs to thrive. 

“These relationships would also assist in ensuring 

that learners who have undergone training are 

also provided with places to practice what they 

have learnt in order for them to get easy employment 

or to get employed. Therefore, in support 

of this summit, I am sure that by the end of deliberations, 

a variety of issues will be covered and 

progressively discussed and consolidated, so 

as to enhance our education and training policy 

position as guided by the notion of post school 

education and training. 

“Against a backdrop of unemployment, 

inequality and poverty, we should not ignore the 

reality that the fibreprocessing and manufacturing 

sectors have the potential to create hundreds of 

thousands of new jobs for the benefit of our 

economy. I must applaud FP&M SETA for having 

recently conducted extensive surveys pertaining 

to work integrated work learning placements 

within organisations in the FP&M sector,” 

said Manana. 

“South Africa has made tremendous strides 

in improving the lives of our people, but the 

road ahead is still very steep. Your commitments 

will forever be necessary for the realisation of a 

successful post school education and training 

system.” 

An international perspective 

A PwC global survey of over 1 300 CEOs in 

68 countries discloses that after a number of 

years of headcount cuts, half of organisations 

surveyed are looking to hire again. Organisations 

in the Middle East (71%), the South East Asian 

Nations (54%) as well as China (53%) plan to 

make the most net hires over the next 12 months, 

while business services (51%), insurance (49%) 

and technology (46%) are the sectors looking to 

make the most net hires. 

Despite the positive outlook for jobs, the research 

shows that business leaders are more 

concerned than ever about being able to find the 

right people to fill these roles. Sixty-three percent 

of CEOs (an increase of 5% from 2013) report that 

the availability of key skills is the biggest threat to 

their organisation’s growth. CEOs in Africa (96%), 

the South East nations (90%) and South Africa 

(87%) are most concerned about the lack of skills. 

Technology and engineering firms are struggling 

the most with the shortage of skilled employees. 

The growing skills gap and rising cost of labour 

in emerging markets is forcing organisations 

to look to new markets for talent. Many 


36


multinationals have already raided the pipeline of 

graduates and skilled young workers emerging 

from China and India, and there are signs that 

employees in these regions are beginning to 

favour domestic employers over their western 

rivals. Organisations are now widening their 

reach for new talent into Indonesia, Vietnam 

and the Philippines. 

The research also shows that business leaders 

are looking to government to do more to 

help plug the skills gap. Two in five CEOs say 

creating a skilled workforce should be one of 

government’s top three priorities and over half 

(52%0 believe that regulation is hampering their 

ability to attract the best people. Only one in five 

feels that their government has been effective in 

improving workforce skills in their region. 

In contrast, an overwhelming majority of business 

leaders (93%) say they need to change their 

strategy for attracting and retaining talent, but 

three in five haven’t taken any steps to do this yet. 

According to PwC, “CEOs are laying much 

of the blame for the skills shortage at the feet 

of government and legislators, but they should 

accept that they need to rethink the way they 

think about, look for and value their employees. 

CEOs should be taking advantage of the developments 

in HR data analytics to predict the skills 

they will need and plan for changes in demand 

and supply”. 

SOUTH AFRICAN SETAs 

AgriSETA — Agricultural Sector Education 

Training Authority 

www.agriseta.co.za 

BANKSETA — Banking Sector Education 

and Training Authority 

www.bankseta.org.za 

CETA — Construction Education and 

Training Authority 

www.ceta.org.za 

CHIETA – Chemical Industries Education 

& Training Authority 

www.chieta.org.za 

CATHSSETA — Culture Arts, Tourism, 

Hospitality and Sports 

www.cathsseta.org.za 

ESETA — Energy and Water 

www.ewseta.org.za.org.za 

ETDPSETA — Education Training and 

Development Practices 

www.etdpseta.org.za 

FASSET SETA- Finance, Accounting, 

Management Consulting and other 

Financial Services 

www.fasset.org.za 

FP&MSETA – Fibre, Processing & 

Manufacturing 

www.fpmseta.org.za 

HSETA — Health and Welfare 

www.hwseta.org.za 

INSETA — Insurance 

www.inseta.org.za 

LGSETA — Local Government 

www.lgseta.co.za 

MERSETA — Manufacturing, Engineering 

and Related Services 

www.merseta.org.za 

MICTSETA — Media, Advertising, 

Information & Communication Technologies 

www.mict.org.za 

MQASETA — Mining and Minerals Sector 

www.mqa.org.za 

PSETA — Public Service Sector SETA 

www.dpsa.gov.za 

SASSETA — Safety and Security SETA 

www.sasseta.org.za 

SERVICESETA — Services 

www.serviceseta.org.za 

SSDSETA — Social Security and 

Development 

TETASETA — Transport 

www.teta.org.za 

W&RSETA — Wholesale and Retail SETA 

www.wrseta.org.za 


38

PROFILE 

FP&M Seta 

Facilitating and maximising skills development in the Fibre Processing & Manufacturing 

Sector Education and Training Authority. 

Profile 

The Fibre Processing and Manufacturing (FP&M) 

SETA was established by the Honourable Minister 

of Higher Education and Training on 1 April 2011 

after government took a decision to cluster sectors 

in order to strengthen value-chain linkages 

between related industries. 

FP&M’s vision is to be a credible and effective 

skills development partner ensuring the delivery 

of service excellence that will produce a highlyskilled 

world-class workforce through various 

skills development interventions. 

According to its mission statement, the FP&M 

SETA will establish a credible institutional mechanism 

that facilitates an effi cient and effective 

skills development process, through a range of 

quality services and partnerships, to contribute 

to the achievement of sector competitiveness, 

transformation and economic growth. 

Services 

• Provide skills development services to the 

clothing, footwear, forestry, furniture, general 

goods, leather, packaging, printing, print media, 

publishing, pulp and paper, textiles and wood 

products sectors. 

• Implement the objectives of the National Skills 

Development Strategy (NSDS III), which strives 

to increase access to training and skills development 

opportunities and transform inequities 

linked to class, race, gender, age and disability. 

• Ensure that people obtain the critical or scarce 

skills that are needed to build the capacity of 

the sector to become economically sustainable 

and globally competitive. 

The value added by SETAs is their understanding 

of labour market demands in their respective 

industrial and economic sectors. SETA are also 

Mdudzi Manana (Honourable Deputy Minister, 

DHET) with Ms Felleng Yende (CEO, FP&M SETA). 

expected to create interventions and shape solutions 

that address skills needs within their sectors. 

All SETAs are responsible for the management of 

the skills development levies paid by employers. 

SETAs receive 80% of the skills development 

levies paid by employers and must allocate the 

funding as follows: SETA Administration (10.5%), 

Mandatory Grants (20%) and Discretionary 

Grants (49.5%). 

CONTACT INFO 

Gauteng 

Forum 1B, 2nd Floor, Braampark Office Park, 

33 Hoofd Street, Braamfontein, Joburg 2001 

Tel: 011-403 1700 

Western Cape 

3rd Floor, West Wing, Palms Centre, 145 Sir 

Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town 

Tel: 021-462 0057 

KwaZulu-Natal 

2nd & 3rd Floor, Umdoni Centre, 28 Crompton 

Street, Pinetown, 3601 

Tel: 031-702 4482 

Email: info@fpmseta.org.za 

Website: www.fpmseta.org.za 


40

INTERVIEW 

The challenge of 

developing artisans 

There are obstacles blocking the path of artisan development, 

but the HRDC remains positive for the future. 

The Human Resource Development 

Council of South Africa’s 

Secretariat provides strategic, 

technical, administrative and 

logistic support, and assumes 

responsibility for, among 

other aspects, management 

of the multi-sectoral response 

to human resource development 

matters. 

Why did the HRDC establish the Artisan Development 

Technical Task Team? 

The need for increased numbers of artisans as well as the need to 

improve the quality of artisan training has long been recognised 

as a key driver of both economic growth and employment opportunities 

in South Africa. The Task Team was therefore established 

by the HRDC in 2012 to address these challenges by looking into 

the main blockages facing the artisan development system at that 

time and to propose recommendations that would address these. 

The key blockages were identifi ed as follows: 

• The lack of accurate data on artisans and artisan training- for 

example, how many artisans does South Africa need and in 

which trades, how many learners are currently being trained in the 

various trades and what workplaces exist to provide workplace 

training for these learners? 

• The lack of a single guaranteed funding model for all artisan 

trades as well as a single, simple administration and grant payment 

system for employers who train artisans; and 

• The lack of an agreed national system that assists support workers 

in the engineering fi eld to qualify as artisans. 

A fourth blockage was subsequently identifi ed by the Task Team – 

namely, that apprentices are considered to be employees in terms 

of current labour legislation, which discourages some employers 

from offering apprenticeships to artisan learners. 

The HRDC agreed to the following measures recommended by 

the Task Team to address these challenges: 

• The establishment of the National Artisan Development Support 

Centre, based at the Ekurhuleni East Technical Vocational 

Education and Training College. The Centre now collects artisan 

learner data onto a single national database and intends to 

expand the system to include, inter alia, data on existing artisans 

as well as statistics on the demand for artisans in which sectors 

and trades 

• A policy which eliminates the previous sector-based approach to 

artisan grant funding by establishing a uniform grant per learner 

(currently R150 000) when they enter into an apprenticeship or 

learnership with a company as well as a uniform grant payment 

system; and 


42

• The development of a national system, to be 

called the Artisan Recognition of Prior Learning 

System, designed to recognise the existing 

skills of support workers and to assist these 

workers to obtain whatever additional skills they 

need to qualify as artisans. 

Investigations are also currently taking place 

into how best to address the problems relating 

to the employment conditions of apprentices. 

Once agreement is reached on this matter, the 

recommended changes will be referred back to 

the HRDC for fi nal approval. 

What are the opportunities for new artisans 

today? 

The demand for new artisans has become more 

limited as a result of the current economic conditions 

in South Africa, especially in mining and 

manufacturing. However, hopefully this situation 

will change as economic conditions improve and 

it is essential for South Africa to maintain and 

indeed increase its number of qualifi ed artisans 

in the longer term. 

What are some of the challenges faced by 

artisans during their training? 

The lack of apprenticeship opportunities is one of 

the main obstacles facing artisan learners, which 

means that while a young person may achieve 

a suitable qualifi cation at a TVET college, he or 

she may subsequently discover that they cannot 

obtain the necessary work experience in order to 

enable them to take a trade test. The poor quality 

of teaching in many of the TVET colleges also 

results in a high dropout rate among learners. 

However, a great deal of work is being done to 

address these challenges. 

What are the steps towards artisanship? 

There are a number of possible routes to becoming 

an artisan, but the current national model (the 

so-called “Seven Steps”), is: 

• Career guidance and management. 

• General / vocational fundamental knowledge 

learning (usually at a TVET college). 

• Learner agreement registration and contracting 

with an employer. 

INTERVIEW 

• Occupational knowledge learning. 

• Workplace learning. 

• Trade testing. 

• Certifi cation as an artisan. 

A possible review of these steps is presently 

being considered. One change being discussed 

is, for example, to contract a learner with an employer 

earlier on in the process in order to better 

integrate the theoretical and practical parts of the 

training and to ensure that the candidates obtain 

an apprenticeship. 

How does the future look for artisans? 

The future for artisans is bright and much is being 

done to address the existing problems and 

diffi culties. Some of this is outlined above. Steps 

are also being taken to update the curricula and 

improve the quality of teaching at the TVETs, as 

well as to increase the opportunities for learners 

and lecturers at TVET colleges to obtain workplace 

experience. There are also moves in place 

to improve the quality of career guidance for 

young learners and to encourage more learners 

to train as artisans, as well as to improve the 

current trade test system. While the number of 

apprentices passing their trade tests has improved 

considerably in recent years, steps are 

being taken to increase the current pass rates 

still further. 

Lastly, many private sector and SOC employers 

have excellent artisan training systems in 

place and are committed to train beyond their 

own needs. 



College of Cape Town for TVET 

The College is a public Technical and Vocational Education 

& Training (TVET) College, under the Department of Higher 

Education & Training. 

Based in the Mother City, The College 

of Cape Town is South Africa’s oldest 

Technical and Vocational Education and 

Training Institution, with a proud history 

dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. 

The College is committed to being an institution 

of excellence that develops the potential of 

clients through quality Education and Training 

in response to the skills development needs of 

the country. Their vision is to be the preferred 

provider of Further Education and Training. 

Four former technical colleges (the Athlone, 

Cape, Sivuyile and Western Province Technical 

colleges) were offi cially merged on 1 February 

2002 to become the College of Cape Town. This 

arose from a rationalisation in TVET Colleges in 

which some 150 colleges around the country 

were reduced to 50. 

Why the College of Cape Town? 

A leading provider of Education and Training 

focussing mainly on Technical and Vocational 

Education and Training (TVET), the College has 

much to offer students and prospective partners 

as an alternative to Basic and Higher Education 

and Training. Qualifi cations include skills programmes 

as well as technical, vocational and 

occupational training that lead to recognised, accredited 

qualifi cations that are in high demand by 

commerce and industry throughout South Africa. 

The qualifications offered by the College 

are accredited, affordable and quality assured 

by Umalusi, various SETAs and SAQA. 

Faculties offered include Art & Design, Beauty 

Therapy, Building & Civil Engineering, Business 

Studies, Education & Training, Electrical 

Engineering, Haircare, Hospitality, Information 

& Communication Technology, Mechanical 

Engineering, as well as Travel 

& Tourism. Students can receive 

qualifi cations that range 

from Certificates to Higher 

Certifi cates, Diplomas, UNISA 

B.Ed Degree (Foundation 

Phase), Skills Programmes 

and Learnerships. The 

College is also an Accredited 

Trade Test Centre for various 

disciplines. 

Training campuses 

The College is situated in the central area of the 

Peninsula, with campuses located in Athlone, 

Cape Town’s city centre, Crawford, Gardens, 

Guguletu, Pinelands, Thornton and Wynberg. 

The Central Offi ce is located in Salt River, Cape 

Town. The College also has three residences. 

Key facts and figures 

Year established: February 2002 

No of staff: 620 (full-time) 

No of registered students: 14 219 

CONTACT INFO 

Louis van 

Niekerk 

Key contact people: 

Louis van Niekerk, Principal 

Wilfred Jackson, Chief Financial Officer 

Sharon Grobbelaar, Marketing Manager 

Email: info@cct.edu.za Tel: +27 21 404 6700 

Info Centre: 086 010 3682 (SA only) 

Fax: +27 21 404 6701/086 615 0582 

Physical address: 334 Albert Road, Salt River, 

Cape Town 7945 

Postal address: PO Box 1054, Cape Town 8000 

Website: www.cct.edu.za 


44

FOCUS 

Champions of change 

Five dynamic ladies from Columbus Stainless (Pty) Ltd shared their insight into the recent 

changes in transformation and empowerment mandated by our progressive government. 

We currently provide free space on site (as well 

as other benefi ts) for qualifying benefi ciaries. 

The free benefi ts include supplying water and 

electricity, training and payment of licences for 

forklifts and hysters, provision of PPE, cleaning 

material and transport. The businesses that benefi 

t include laundry operations, logistical services, 

employee assistance services, stores operations 

and kiosk services. The aim is to free up profi ts 

for the entities with which they are able to expand 

their businesses. 

A big hurdle for businesses is to get suppliers 

that provide the correct type of goods and 

services on their approved vendor list, which 

is why we launched a Local Preferential 

Procurement Database, through the Middelburg 

Chamber of Commerce, to get all black local 

suppliers in the Steve Tshwete municipal area 

registered on a centralised database. 

Left to right: Nocwaka Ntshangase, Verina 

Roach, Charmain Kritzinger, Kutala Bizana and 

Carlien van der Merwe. 

South Africa’s new BBBEE Codes aim to focus 

government and corporate spending on local 

suppliers, in so doing creating opportunities for 

companies across the supply chain. 

Columbus Stainless is proud of the success 

realised through their many training programmes, 

designed to empower and provide women with 

the necessary skills for our country and for the 

economic liberation of our female employees. 

Charmain Kritzinger, 

Purchasing Manager 

Columbus Stainless has identifi ed 

several initiatives to ensure our supplier 

network and other enterprises will benefi t 

from the value adding process of its operations. 

Kutala Bizana, General Manager, 

Legal and Transformation 

Compliance with BBBEE is one of 

the pillars of Columbus’ corporate 

strategy and this vision and strategy 

is translated into detailed objectives, measures 

and targets that link directly to individual KPI’s 

throughout the company. It is in our country’s 

long-term national interest that a broad-based, 

diverse pool of skills is developed to unleash the 

potential within all South Africans. Columbus 

undertakes to continually redress the inequalities 

present in its employee base with regards 

to race, gender and disability, and, through its 

on-going commitment to BBBEE compliance, to 

accelerate the representation at Management 

level through structured skills development programmes 

as well as the injection of talent. 

To remain a leader in the stainless steel sector, 

we have to facilitate, create and retain skills to 

help create technically qualifi ed professionals 


46

with a high level of skills and experience. In order 

to promote Supplier and Enterprise Development, 

Columbus believes in promoting black-owned 

enterprises and, as a result, we are committed 

to the development of these enterprises. The 

company also supports the Chamber and the 

Mpumalanga Stainless Initiative (MSI), which is 

a facility to assist emerging entrepreneurs to 

establish sustainable businesses in the stainless 

steel industry. 

Columbus acknowledges Socio-Economic 

Development (SED) as an important component 

of its corporate citizenship and have taken a 

developmental and transformational approach 

to initiatives linked to the upliftment of SA’s black 

youth, especially in terms of education. 

Verina Roach, Strategist 

Columbus Stainless is the only 

producer of stainless steel flat 

products in Africa, and the largest 

in the southern hemisphere. We 

export over 70% of our production, yet we still 

produce 85% of all stainless steel fl at products 

used in South Africa. Our company has the 

great advantage of having an existing modern 

production facility worth over R2.5-billion. The 

investments have been made in increasing and 

improving our production facilities to meet the 

ever-growing demand for stainless steel. 

We confer a great advantage to local customers 

as we can deliver quickly, deftly and regularly, 

minimising any risk for our customers associated 

with fl uctuations in foreign exchange rates and 

raw materials prices. Its close proximity to its 

domestic customers also enables the company 

to deliver excellent technical support 

Being part of the Acerinox Group – widely seen 

as one of the most cost effective stainless steel 

producers in the world, this allows Columbus 

access to the Acerinox global sales network. 

The Acerinox Group further allows Columbus 

to take part in the Group’s strategic program, 

the Excellence Plan, where technical and other 

expertise is shared among the group companies. 

From a cost perspective, Columbus loses much 

of the advantage it gains by its proximity to raw 

FOCUS 

materials, to the above-infl ation increases in the 

cost of electricity,transport, gas and labour that 

it has suffered over the past few years. 

Nocwaka Ntshangase, 

Senior Local Sales Manager, 

Commercial Department 

Columbus Stainless is optimistic 

about the development of the downstream 

stainless steel industry, although the contraction 

of the local manufacturing sector – partly 

due to infl ationary increases and cheap imports 

– does present us with a challenge. We support 

government intervention as means of supporting 

the industry, for example through dti programmes 

such as Product Designation. We also 

support development through initiatives such 

as the Mpumalanga Stainless Steel Cluster and 

the Mpumalanga Stainless Initiative. These have 

been created in order to establish independent, 

sustainable businesses as a result of training and 

developing emerging individuals who are from a 

previously disadvantaged background. 

Carlien van der Merwe, 

Human Resources 

Development Manager 

Traditionally the manufacturing industry 

is a male dominated area of 

work, however this landscape is slowly but surely 

changing through active skills development of 

women. We have followed a strategy of developing 

women so that they can enter our business 

in various fi elds and levels. 

Over the course of the past eight years, 

Columbus Stainless has accelerated the 

development of women in the fi elds of Fitter 

and Turner, Millwright, Electrician, Fitters and 

Instrumentation Mechanician, Plant Operators, 

Industrial Engineers, Analytical Chemistry, 

Finance, Human Resources, Logistics and 

Metallurgy. 

Columbus Stainless is proud of the success 

of our training programmes. These programmes 

empower and provide women with skills that are 

necessary for our country and the economic 

liberation of our female employees. 



The top law firms 

South Africa has an independent judiciary, subject only to the Constitution and the law. 

South Africa’s legal system is based primarily 

on the South African Constitution 

and legislation passed by Parliament, 

with influences from Roman-Dutch and 

English common law, customary law, with case 

law being the primary agent for the development 

of the law, in line with current trends in business 

and society. 

Due to the Constitution, the South African legal 

system is rated very highly internationally, and the 

extent of the human rights afforded to marginalised 

groups makes us a leader worldwide and in Africa. 

Business operating in South Africa enjoy numerous 

advantages, with access to the courts 

being available for all civil disputes of any level 

of complexity. Despite a long waiting period 

for matters to be heard in the courts (six to 14 

months, depending on the court), the outcome 

is usually of a very high standard. 

Matters of complexity are handled by large 

as well as medium-sized firms, as well as advocates 

who are the South African equivalent 

of the UK’s Queens Councils. The large firms 

are often termed the ‘Big Five’ (Norton Rose, 

Bowman Gilfillan, Webber Wentzel, Cliffe Dekker 

Hofmeyr and ENSafrica. Medium-sized firms 

are predominantly boutique firms that focus on 

providing a high-quality service to a small basket 

of major clients. 

In matters where there is an amount of over 

R500 000 at issue, the High Court has jurisdiction, 

and this requires briefing an advocate to 

appear in the High Court to argue the case. 

The advocate is appointed by the attorney and 

is chosen for their specialisation in the relevant 

area of law applicable. 

South Africa is not party to any international 

court that has jurisdiction over disputes arising 

from international trade or business. However, 

the private international law rules are applied 

by the South African courts. In essence, if the 

foreign company or individual has attachable 

property in South Africa that can be used to 

satisfy the financial outcome of the case, then 

the courts allow the hearing of the matter to take 

place in South Africa. 

With the right legal advisors, the South African 

legal system is easy to navigate and evenhanded 

in all matters. This provides certainty to 

international businesses and investors. 

Tim Dunn, LLB (Admitted Attorney) 


48


THE COURT SYSTEM 

No person or organ of state may interfere with 

the functioning of the courts, and an order or 

decision of a court binds all organs of state 

and people to whom it applies. 

The Constitution provides for the following 

courts: 

• Constitutional Court 

• Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) 

• high courts 

• magistrate's courts 

• any other court established or recognised 

in terms of an Act of Parliament 

There are also special income tax courts, the 

Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court, 

the Land Claims Court, the Competition 

Appeal Court, the Electoral Court, divorce 

courts, small claims courts, "military courts", 

and equality courts. 

The Constitutional Court, Supreme Court 

of Appeal and High Courts have the power 

to protect and regulate their own processes, 

and to develop the common law. 

The courts are also required to declare any 

law or conduct that is inconsistent with the 

Constitution to be invalid, and develop common 

law that is consistent with the values of 

the Constitution, and the spirit and purpose 

of the Bill of Rights. 

How are judges appointed? 

Judges in the various courts are appointed 

by the President in consultation with the 

Judicial Service Commission, the leaders of 

parties represented in National Assembly, 

and, where relevant, the President of the 

Constitutional Court. 

The Judicial Service Commission includes 

the Chief Justice, the President of 

the Constitutional Court and the Minister of 

Justice. It is a widely representative body, with 

the transformation of the judiciary remaining 

one of government's key priorities. 

Source: Southafrica.info 

THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

AND CONSTITUTIONAL 

DEVELOPMENT IS 

RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING 

AN ACCESSIBLE JUSTICE 

SYSTEM THAT PROMOTES AND 

PROTECTS SOCIAL JUSTICE, 

FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN 

RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS. 

THE NAMING OF COURTS 

There are 14 high courts in South Africa. 

Circuit Courts are also part of the High Court 

system. They sit at least twice a year, moving 

around to serve far-flung rural areas. 

Other courts that fall under the High 

Court system are Special Income Tax Courts, 

Labour Courts and Labour Appeal Courts, 

Divorce Courts, and the Land Claims Court. 

The Master of the High Court administers 

cases of deceased estates, liquidations, and 

registration of trusts, among others. 

The Sheriff of the High Court is an impartial 

and independent official of the Court 

appointed by the Minister of Justice and 

Constitutional Development who must execute 

all documents issued by the court, including 

summonses, notices, warrants and 

court orders. 

Source: mediaclubsouthafrica.com 



Keeping the BRICS together 

Kenny Chiu and Wil Huang of ENSafrica’s China Practice Group make the call for 

the BRICS nations to hold high the banner of cooperation in the pursuit of creating 

a development path suitable for BRICS. 

BRICS is an association of countries with some of 

the fastest economic growth in the world, and includes 

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. 

They are characterised by making signifi cant contributions 

to global economic development, and 

have served as inspiration for developing countries 

around the world. 

However, BRICS countries are currently encountering 

diffi culties with economic development 

– such as China’s slowdown on economic growth, 

the depreciation of the Russian Ruble, high infl ation 

rates in India, social instability on the rise in Brazil, as 

well as labour issues in South Africa. Nevertheless, 

these problems can ultimately be seen as a travail in 

the economic development process, and are to be 

expected with such rapid levels of growth. In order 

to survive this struggle, these countries need to 

cooperate in mutual development in order to jointly 

create a better future. 

BRICS are defi ned in terms of being developing 

nations and, under these circumstances, where 

it can be diffi cult to move either forward or backwards, 

development on all levels is key in removing 

these constraints. 

Economic development is the fi rst step and 

BRICS countries must regard this as a top priority. 

They need to sustain a steady growth rate, 

accelerate the pace of reform and strengthen the 

ability to innovate. Reform and innovation should 

be utilised as the main drivers of development 

in order to resolve outdated ideologies, systems 

and mechanisms, and to increase the level of 

economic development. As long as these two 

factors remain crucial pillars within development, 

the growth of BRICS countries will defi nitely 

stand out in the global economic arena. 

In addition, cooperation should be the unwavering 

ideology under which BRICS countries con- 


50


tinue to move forward together. Although the BRICS 

countries are at similar stages of development, they 

have a wide range of opportunities that they can 

take advantage of. China has a broad market, strong 

innovative ability and a relatively strong economic 

foundation. Russia is rich in natural resources while 

India, South Africa and Brazil also have unique advantages. 

As long as an appropriate cooperation 

methodology is adopted, they will be able to achieve 

the result of 1+1 being greater than 2. 

Accordingly, mutual political trust will need to be 

strengthened in order to bridge the gap between 

BRICS countries and reinforce cooperation in various 

areas such as the economy, culture, fi nances, 

communications and trade. 

The next step will be to bolster this level of cooperation 

amongst BRICS countries in order to 

improve the relationships between personnel, 

trade, economic investment and the exchange of 

information to a level whereby they can develop 

ideas that they can eventually convert into action. 

By developing a new cooperation regime, effi - 

ciency can be facilitated and their dependence on 

western countries can be reduced. Focus areas 

must be determined to maximise these cooperative 

benefi ts. For example, this has already been 

demonstrated in the establishment of the BRICS 

Development Bank in 2014, which is a result of 

BRICS cooperation in the fi nancial sector. To create 

additional opportunities in economic collaboration, 

this strategy should be aimed at developing 

infrastructure in the energy, transport and communication 

sectors. 

Lastly, BRICS countries should openly engage 

with each other and intensify cooperation, but this 

cannot be done if the parties are narrow-minded 

and ring-fence themselves from developed economies 

when opportunities arise. In addition, cooperation 

with the rest of the world will be benefi cial 

to member states so long as it does not harm the 

mutual interests of BRICS. 

Regardless of development or cooperation issues, 

the BRICS countries should always aim for a 

win-win outcome. This is a philosophy that China 

adheres to and for which it is advocating. Being the 

world’s second biggest economy (although some 

analysts have confi rmed China as the world’s largest 

economy), and having its economic development 

placed at the centre of the world stage, China 

is a key powerhouse to drive the BRICS countries 

towards success. Despite China’s economic 

growth having slowed down, it remains within the 

bounds of the rules of economic development. 

The Chinese economy still shows signs of new 

opportunities, business innovation, quality economic 

development and social harmony, as well as 

improved living standards. In future, China will be 

able to pass its successful experience on to other 

BRICS countries, strengthen its infl uence, and 

promote the development of all BRICS members. 

BRICS countries should openly 

engage with each other and 

intensify cooperation, but this 

cannot be done if the parties are 

narrow-minded and ring-fence 

themselves from developed 

economies when opportunities arise. 

The future of economic development in BRICS 

countries is looking extremely bright and the current 

diffi culties faced by these countries should 

not deter hope. The world economy post the economic 

meltdown now faces a reshuffl e. As America, 

Japan, Europe and other developed economies 

remain in their state of recovery and are showing 

signs of lag, it is likewise inevitable that the developing 

BRICS countries may also experience a certain 

degree of struggle. However, as long as they are 

resolute in their aims for cooperation and joint 

economic development under a win-win strategy, 

and each country takes advantage of its potential 

to drive economic development, they can succeed 

in turning these goals into reality. 

• Kenny Chiu is an Executive and head of ENSafrica’s 

China Practice Group; Wil Huang is a Senior 

Transactions Manager in ENSafrica’s China 

Practice Group. 



Keeping BEPS in check 

Arnaaz Camay (Executive, Tax at ENSafrica) offers an update on the tricky issue of base 

erosion and profit sharing 

On 8 June 2015, the Organisation for Economic 

Co-operation and Development (OECD) released 

a Country-by-Country Reporting Implementation 

Package developed under the OECD’s base erosion 

and profi t shifting (BEPS) Action Plan 13: Reexamine 

Transfer Pricing Documentation. 

BEPS was identifi ed as a risk to tax revenues, 

tax sovereignty and the tax fairness of all countries 

by the OECD in 2013. A 15-point Action Plan was 

developed to address BEPS and to ensure that 

profi ts are taxed where the economic activities 

generating the profi ts are performed and where 

value is created. 

The purpose of the OECD’s Action Plan 13 was 

to re-assess transfer pricing documentation requirements 

with the purpose of obtaining information 

from taxpayers so as to enable tax administrations 

to identify transfer pricing risks. The OECD’s 

recommendation under Action Plan 13 was that all 

countries should adopt a standardised approach 

to transfer pricing documentation that follows a 

three-tiered structure consisting of a master fi le, a 

local fi le, and country-by-country report. 

In South Africa, the tax review committee 

appointed by the Minister of Finance to make 

recommendations for possible tax reforms in 

SA is headed by Judge Dennis Davis (the Davis 

Committee). It is the view of Davis that the OECD’s 

recommendation under Action Plan 13 (ie that 

countries should adopt a standardised approach 

to transfer pricing documentation), should also be 

adopted in SA. 

Accordingly, in terms of the OECD’s Countryby-Country 

Reporting Implementation Packages 

the ultimate parent entity of a large multinational 

business with a group turnover of over R1-billion in 

SA will be required to provide aggregate information 

annually to the South African Revenue Service 

(SARS) in each jurisdiction where it does business. 

The information to be provided to SARS will 

include the global allocation of income and taxes 

paid (these are indicators of the location of economic 

activity within the group), as well as information 

about which entities do business in a particular 

jurisdiction and the business activities each entity 

engages in. 

In addition, the Davis Committee recommends 

that the country-by-country report for SA should 

contain additional transactional data regarding 

related party interest payments, royalty payments 

and especially related party service fees, so that 

SARS may perform risk assessments where it is 

diffi cult to obtain information on the operations of 

a multinational business. 

The OECD’s Country-by-Country Reporting 

Implementation Package also contains three 

Model Competent Authority Agreements to facilitate 

the exchange of country-by-country reports 

among tax administrations. This will ensure that all 

tax administrations obtain a complete understanding 

of the way multinational enterprises structure 

their operations and it will also enhance transparency 

by providing tax administrations with information 

to assess high-level transfer pricing and other 

BEPS-related risks. 


52

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IPAP in action 

In 2015 the dti launched the latest version of their Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) 

2015/16-2017/18. 

The IPAP is a comprehensive joint endeavour 

of the Economic Sectors, Employment 

and Infrastructure Development 

Cluster of Government which, framed by 

the National Industrial Policy Framework (NIPF), 

is an annual action plan which builds on the 

work defined and initiated in previous iterations 

of South Africa’s industrial policy. The IPAP seeks 

to continuously strengthen industrial policy instruments, 

build upon previous plans and jettison 

any programmes which have in practice 

been found not to work. 

If the National Development Plan (NDP) sets 

the overall vision for South Africa’s economy 

and society on the road to 2030, then the IPAP 

provides the targeted actions and rolling implementation 

framework for sustained and deepening 

industrialisation. 

The importance of industrial policy 

Industrial theory, policy and practice is frequently 

misunderstood and sometimes maligned in South 

Africa, where it is often negatively and mechanically 

counter-posed to ‘market imperatives’ and 

asked to accommodate to ‘one-size-fits-all’ policy 

prescriptions. In reality, industrial policy is pervasively 

practiced all over the world within both 

developing and developed country contexts. 

Wherever it is practised in a nuanced way (with 

a realistic grasp of the local/regional context, as 

well as a strong focus on longer-term outcomes), 

it provides the foundation stone for the indispensable 

coordination of government and private 

sector economic and social actions. Sensible 

and empirically grounded industrial policy develops 

traction through a dynamic, complex set of 

inter-locking and mutually supportive transversal 

(cross-cutting) and sector-specific interventions. 

Successive IPAPs have consistently been 

premised on an understanding that successful 

re-industrialisation requires a laser-focused, 

national industrial effort. 

In practice, what this means is that there is 

a need for strong policy coherence and programme 

alignment across all government departments 

and their agencies, with decreasing 

reliance on regulatory compliance and a much 

stronger emphasis on coordinated economic impact. 

In addition, there is also a need to decisively 

change the nature and tone of the conversation 

between government, business and labour to 

ensure that all three parties identify areas in 

which they can actively work together to secure 


54


and strengthen their joint efforts, factoring in the 

tough realities of extremely difficult global and 

domestic economic conditions. 

As at 31 March 2015, a total of R3.7-billion has 

been approved under the programme, of which 

R2.6-billion has been disbursed since inception 

of IPAP in 2010. 

The Manufacturing Value Addition (MVA) increase, 

attributable to the CTCP between the 

base of 2009 and 2014, is R3.9-billion (exceeding 

the disbursements by 50% or R1.3-billion) 

while the overall sector experienced declines in 

output and Value Added over this period. 

National Employment in the sector (utilising 

annual averages provided in the Quarterly 

Employment Survey) decreased by around 

19 000 formal jobs between 2009 and 2014 

while, during the same period, the increase 

in employment attributable to the CTCP was 

approximately 6 900 jobs. MVA per Employee 

increased substantially, especially for Leather, 

indicating an improvement in labour efficiency 

as MVA growth was faster than the growth in 

employment. 

Labour Cost as a percentage of sales has 

stabilised since 2012, indicating that improved 

process efficiencies, exceeded the increased 

cost pressures (wages, fuel, electricity, etc.). 

On Time In Full (OTIF) deliveries, one of the 

most important indicators of operational efficiency 

and customer service, has increased 

overall, indicating a steadily improving delivery 

reliability in in all sectors. Thus, CTCP interventions 

have already contributed to improved overall 

competitiveness, sustainability and employment 

growth for recipients. 

At a cost to date of R2.6-billion disbursed, 

the CTCP facilitated the creation of R3.9-billion 

of additional MVA as well as 6 900 new jobs, in 

the short term. 

Transversal (cross-cutting) interventions 

IPAP 2015 also reflects and highlights steady 

progress, inclusive of the following transversal 

programmes: 

• Incentives and industrial financing 

• A total of 3 384 private sector enterprises 

across all provinces were provided with incentive 

and other support in 2014 to a value 

of R13.6-billion. 

• A comprehensive bouquet of incentives is 

structured, in the main, as an ‘open architecture’ 

system. 

• Increasingly, across all sectors the conditions 

for access to government support 

will not only be tightened but increasingly 

directed towards support for ‘winning’ companies 

that have demonstrated either the 

proven capacity or the clear potential to 

compete in export markets and/or qualify 

as suppliers to global OEMs. 

Procurement 

The dti has designated 16 sectors, sub-sectors 

and products for local procurement. Although 

this package of measures still falls below the 

levels of support deployed in many other countries, 

if we take into account other local procurement 

and supplier development programmes— 

such as the National Industrial Participation 

Programme (NIPP) and the Competitive Supplier 

Development Programme (CSDP)—then it is 

safe to say that the combined quantum of support 

is significant. The lever of designation is as 

strong or as weak as the level of compliance 

that can be achieved. Upcoming designations 

will thus be accompanied by much more sharply 

focused measures to ensure compliance across 

all government departments and agencies and 

concentrated attention to the development of 

state capacity for local strategic sourcing and 

supplier development. 

Across the whole range of IPAP interventions, 

local content requirements will continue to be 

strengthened wherever applicable—including 

in flagship success areas like the latest window 

of the Renewable Energy Independent Power 

Producers Programme (REIPPP). 

The full IPAP can be downloaded from 

www.thedti.gov.za. 


FOCUS 










The path to economic 

growth is circular 

JOIN THE JOURNEY | www.redisa.org.za | /wasteintoworth | @wasteintoworth | +27 87 35-REUSE (73873) 

Hermann Erdmann, CEO REDISA (Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of 

South Africa) shares his thoughts on the importance of sustainable recycling. 

2015/10/13 3:29 PM 

The world faces many major challenges 

including climate change, slow economic 

growth and a disproportionate reliance 

on mineral resources, but recent research 

shows that adopting circular economies 

could provide answers for many of these global 

problems. 

The Obama administration revealed in June 

that the failure to act on climate change could 

cause an estimated 57 000 deaths a year in 

the United States from poor air quality by 2100. 

According to the European Union the air 

quality in Witbank is among the world’s dirtiest 

– even when compared to the likes of Beijing, 

where people wear face masks to protect themselves 

from air pollution. 

It is no coincidence that the Witbank region 

is also home to 11 coal-fi red power stations. 

A 12th one is currently being built and when 

completed, this will be one of the world’s largest, 

burning 17-million tonnes of coal a year. 

We are creating an environmental debt that 

our children, and grandchildren will need to 

pay. In the same way you wouldn’t buy a car 

and expect your children, or grandchildren, to 

fi nance it, this debt isn’t fair. But the question 

remains, what can we do about it? 

The recently released international study developed 

by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the 

McKinsey Center for Business and Environment, 

and SUN (Stiftungsfonds für Umweltökonomie 

und Nachhaltigkeit), has shown “Europe’s 

economy remains very resource-dependent… 

Proponents of a circular economy argue that it 

offers Europe a major opportunity to increase 

resource productivity, decrease resource dependence 

and waste and increase employment 

and growth.” 

This situation is not dissimilar to the challenges 

facing the South African market, but 

what’s interesting is that the European market 

has something to learn from us. Positively, 

to reduce the pressure on our resources, SA 

has already implemented a circular economy 

within the tyre industry – which has become 

an internationally recognised case study as 

to how successful this approach can be. As a 

result of the implementation of the ‘Waste into 


56

Worth’ concept for tyre waste, the European 

Union has appointed REDISA to serve on the 

advisory committee on Circular Economies to 

the EU parliament. 

Let’s move from resource-dependency 

For example, in cement kilns waste tyres can be 

substituted for up to 20% of current coal usage. 

This equals reduced reliance on coal -less demand 

for mining coal - fewer carbon emissions 

(as in the correct controlled environment, tyres 

burn cleaner than coal) and ultimately cost savings 

for the cement companies that are passed 

to the consumer. PPC De Hoek, Natal Portland 

Cement, AfriSam and La Farge are already doing 

this and realising the benefi ts. 

But what about increasing employment 

and growth? 

The report reveals that in Europe, the circular 

economy could create between 200 000- 

500 000 jobs; reduce unemployment by 

50 000-100 000 and offset 7-22% of the 

expected decline in skilled employment by 2022. 

BIO 

FOCUS 

In South Africa, the tyre industry was selected 

as a pilot project for circular economy development 

since the mapping of collection points are 

known – this is because tyres are exchanged at 

dealerships and not at homes. 

The Integrated Industry Waste Tyre 

Management Plan was developed to fulfi l a 

mandate of job creation and to bring order to 

South Africa’s recycling of tyres, a market that 

only processed 10 000 tonnes of tyres each 

year of the 240 000 tonnes sold. In two years, 

this project has resulted in more than 2 000 new 

jobs being developed, and over 190 SMME’s 

developed and supported – tangible proof that 

where some see waste, others see opportunity. 

The way forward 

True sustainability means balancing economic 

growth, infrastructure development and creating 

small business and job opportunities - while 

lowering our emissions and overall impact on 

the environment. 

The challenge is that generally, big business 

struggles to fi nd a balance between reducing 

carbon emissions, or protecting the environment, 

while driving a positive impact on the bottom line 

of the business. While interest in the circular 

economy approach is growing, it is happening 

at a slow pace. If it is to become more widespread, 

we must consider 

all industries to see how, 

through innovation and 

cooperation, we can double 

our efforts. 

Hermann Erdmann is an entrepreneur and 

businessman who has extensive experience 

in the manufacturing and retail sectors having 

served on a number of industry-related boards. 

Hermann’s interest in environmental sustainability, 

transformation and empowerment of the 

previously disadvantaged resulted in the establishment 

of REDISA, and the development of the 

fi rst approved Industry Waste Management Plan. 


INTERVIEW 

The riches of Africa await 

Kutoane Kutoane, the much-travelled CEO of the Export 

Credit Insurance Corporation (ECIC), is excited about the 

opportunities Africa has to offer. 

ECIC CEO, Kutoane Kutoane 

PROFILE 

The vision of the Export Credit 

Insurance Corporation SOC 

Limited (ECIC) is to be the leaders 

in the medium and long-term 

export credit and investment 

insurance business, focusing 

on project fi nance underwriting, 

customer needs, and 

prudent portfolio and risk management. 

Their mission is to 

facilitate and encourage South 

African export trade by underwriting 

export credit loans and 

investments outside South 

Africa, which will help contractors 

win international capital 

goods and services contracts. 

What gives you the most confidence about the economic 

growth potential across the African continent? 

Most African economies have been growing at a phenomenal rate 

over the past 10 years, sometimes at double digits, and if one looks 

into the future I think the growth tempo is going to be kept up. There 

is good potential as I think the fundamentals are good. Of course, 

at any moment there is a shifting of politics or uncertainties over 

policies such as, for instance, the current visa regulations, then the 

attitude of foreign investors can effect investment in the short term. 

It’s very important that South Africa achieves a robust economic 

climate or a strong investment climate because, as we always, 

say it’s the gateway to Africa. Most companies would want to set 

up shop in South Africa as a prelude to their penetration of other 

sub-Saharan African countries, but unless we get our act together 

we may miss out on some of the lucrative export potential that is 

waiting to be invested. 

What is the attitude of foreign investors towards SA? 

Their attitude is extremely positive, although I must add that 

foreigners are very conscious of the level of skills in South Africa 

and the fact that it is affecting our ability to innovate and to be 

able to offer high-quality, hi-tech products. This can also lead to 

structural constraints for our economy, especially in terms of a lack 

of capacity, such as in the energy sector, either the disruptions 

of electricity or the core supply. The important thing for investors 

to see is that we are dealing with these issues, that the South 

African government is actively trying to avoid these big issues. It’s 

important that we are seen as the trendsetters in some of these 

areas, but it takes time, a lot of effort and a lot of investment from 

both the government and the private sector. 

Have there been any recent changes in terms of the 

ECIC’s business strategies? 

We are the insurers of last resort, so either clients will come directly 

to us or the banks themselves will come and seek insurance cover 

for credit that they want to give to their clients. Recently we have 

adjusted that approach and we have said that, given that we are 

the risk carriers of last resort, we should be getting closer to the 

customer. Key markets that we are looking at are the West African 

region, Central Africa and East Africa, so we are beginning to put 


58

INTERVIEW 

The Moma titanium mine plant in Mozambique. 

our people into those key markets to deal with 

the dynamics and try to build capacity in those 

areas. We want them to be aware of our abilities 

and to know what the ECIC can do in order to 

enable them to import from our manufacturers. 

So we’ve taken a more pro-active stand in support 

of the government’s export grading. 

How bright is Africa’s star shining in terms 

of the export industry? 

At the Trade and Export Finance conference 

people from various sectors looked at Africa as 

the next growth front, and there’s a lot of frenzy 

to get the deals out of Africa and we’re seeing 

large amounts of infrastructure spend being invested, 

and that’s because there’s been a lot of 

stability in a lot of countries. Africa is the shining 

star – it’s rising and everybody is looking at that. 

However, not every bank will reposition themself 

towards compliance with that, and that could limit 

liquidity availability for long-term fi nancing. This 

is where we come in, as we will elect panels for 

projects, which is more convenient for long-term 

investments. 

What excites you about the export market 

in the coming years? 

I think the most important thing is that we are 

able to diversify our export market. We’ve been 

close to almost 40% building of commodities, 

but we’d like to grow to about 90% being more 

of manufactured goods, value-added product 

and all those kind of things. That’s 

the kind of market that we want to 

capture because it’s a manifestation 

of proper growth. So we are looking 

at the potential to benefi ciate and to 

contribute towards the regional integration 

of our African continent. That 

is going to require a concerted effort 

to improve trade relations, trade infrastructure, 

logistics and everything 

else within our continent, but in turn 

it will unlock South Africa’s potential 

in terms of being the almost natural 

export market. 

Is there anything you’d love to see South 

Africans creating or manufacturing? 

Absolutely – that would have to be the cars of the 

future, in particular vehicles that utilise renewable 

energy. Imagine if you can park your car in the sun 

when you get the offi ce and you know that you’ll 

have a ‘full tank’ when you drive home. We’ve 

got so much sun, so you have to ask: what are 

you doing with it? It’s natural. 

The fi rst gold being poured at Liberia’s Liberty 

Gold Mine. 


INTERVIEW 

and it could actually be competing with South 

Africa as a gateway into Africa. 

The DRC have the greatest, most vast potential 

for growth and improvement when you look at all 

of its mineral reserves but, unfortunately, with all 

those threats of violence from rebel groups it is 

a very sensitive type of market. 

So those are the kinds of risks we look at. 

Vee Craft crew boat supplied to Nigeria. 

What are the limiting factors you notice in 

terms of our economic growth? 

Unless we get our education on its proper footing 

so that it is more aligned with our growth strategies, 

then we’re going to miss out and we’ll still 

be looking into this mundane old stuff where we 

have unskilled labour producing equipment and 

material. The converting of materials requires a 

more renewed type of an employee, a worker, 

a worker with skills, a worker who has technological 

know-how... but that comes from what? 

Education! So that will limit our growth in a big 

way if we don’t get it right. Our infrastructure also 

needs a revamp and we need to invest more, but 

we are also seriously looking at maintenance 

issues. There’s no need to build a road that you 

can’t maintain. 

The other factor is that our policy at government 

level needs to be much more fl exible. At the 

moment we have very rigid policies, but sometimes 

we make policies that suggest that we 

want to restrict rather than enable our growth. 

What should the average business person 

know about Africa and the issue of risk? 

There are some key issues, one of which is the 

heightened level of political risk in most African 

countries. When you look at West Africa you 

see all the terrorist activities that are happening 

there, and the rebel situation in some countries, 

in particular in core growth countries such as 

Nigeria. I believe Kenya has incredible potential 

However, on the other side of risk is the 

reward. Does Africa offer investors far 

greater rewards for a relatively low risk? 

You’ve seen companies from South Africa that 

prove the advantage of the market in the rest of 

the continent. Look at Shoprite and MTN and the 

kind of success they have had investing in Africa 

and growing their markets into Africa. There are 

many companies that have set up shop in Africa 

and they are reaping serious rewards. Look at our 

banks, as well as brewing giant SAB. 

The rewards are much less in Europe, and that 

is something that you call a legacy perception, 

but, yes, most of our countries are small and 

come from a long period of exploitation from 

the West, so they certainly can offer an investor 

a much more faster and much higher return than 

you could hope to get in a mature market. 

I travel across the continent a lot and it always 

strikes me as funny that there are a lot more 

European dealers and other business people 

looking for opportunities in Africa compared to 

the amount of South Africans. To me, it sometimes 

looks like we are more scared of our continent 

and our country than so many of the welltravelled 

foreigners themselves. 

I mean even if you think about Zimbabwe… 

everyone is so scared about investing in 

Zimbabwe, but just think about it. What are you 

really scared of in Zimbabwe? Zimbabwe offers a 

tremendous amount of growth potential for a lot 

of companies. Group Five is there and we have 

been working with Group Five in Zimbabwe and 

they are very happy to continue the infrastructure 

building in Zimbabwe. You need to travel your 

country and continent and you will start to see 

the potential and opportunities that are waiting 

for you out there. 


60

Export Credit Insurance 

Corporation SOC Limited (ECIC) 

PROFILE 

The ECIC facilitates and encourages South African export trade by underwriting export 

credit loans and investments outside South Africa. 

Profile 

The ECIC is the national Export Credit Agency 

of the government of South Africa and provides 

political and commercial risk insurance 

to facilitate export trade and investments outside 

South Africa. The ECIC aims to facilitate 

and encourage South African export trade by 

underwriting export credit loans and investments 

outside South Africa, which will help 

contractors win international capital goods and 

services contracts. 

The ECIC’s vision is to be leaders in the 

medium and long-term export credit and investment 

insurance business, focusing on project 

fi nance underwriting, customer needs, and prudent 

portfolio and risk management. Their mission 

is to provide export credit and investment 

insurance solutions in support of South African 

Capital goods and services by applying best 

practice risk management principles. 

Services 

The ECIC provides insurance that enables 

South African exporters to offer their services 

and products to the international market, with a 

particular focus on emerging markets in Africa 

that are considered too risky for conventional 

insurers. Its overarching goal – and its mandate 

from the South African government, as 

its sole shareholder – is to make South African 

exporters attractive to international buyers to attract 

foreign income, stimulate local economic 

growth and create local jobs.Founded on 2 

July 2001 by the Export Credit and Foreign 

Investments Insurance Act (1957, as amended), 

the ECIC’s only shareholder is the Government 

Grinrod electric locomotives supplied 

for use in Sierra Leone. 

of South Africa, represented by Department of 

Trade and Industry (the dti). 

The ECIC is a registered financial services 

provider: FSB No. 30656 

CONTACT INFO 

Key contact person 

Chris Thirion - Head: Stakeholder Management 

and Strategy 

Tel: +27 12 471 3800 

Physical address: Block C7 & C8, Eco Origins 

Office Park, 349 Witch Hazel Ave, Highveld- Ext 

79 Centurion 

Postal address: PO Box 7075, Centurion, 0004 

Email: info@ecic.co.za Web: www.ecic.co.za 


PROFILE 

ECIC exco profiles 

Profiles of the ECIC’s exco members 

Kutoane Kutoane, 

Chief Executive Officer 

Kutoane has spent over 20 

years involved in, and in many 

cases, leading growth agenda 

of diverse organizations. He has 

worked in organizations such as 

International Finance Corporation (IFC), Nedbank, 

Eskom, Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), 

Business Strategies International (BSI) and Gauteng 

Partnership Fund. He has experience over a range of 

industries dealing with business growth strategies, 

project fi nance, development fi nance, oil and gas, 

power and other infrastructure fi nance. Kutoane has 

travelled extensively in Africa and globally working 

on varied project fi nance transactions covering water 

resource projects, mining, transportation, power, 

oil and gas, renewable energy, telecoms and real 

estate. He has won many awards in recognition 

of his leadership and contribution. He is presently 

leading the Export Credit Insurance Corporation 

of South Africa Soc Ltd (ECIC) where he has spent 

over two years as Chief Executive Offi cer. Kutoane 

possesses the tremendous ability to operate successfully 

in complex cultural, economic and political 

environments and within public and private sectors. 

Kutoane holds master’s degree in economics 

from University of Manchester and has completed 

Advanced Management Programme (AMP) with 

Harvard Business School. 

Mandisi Nkuhlu, 

Chief Operating Officer 

Mandisi has worked for various 

fi nancial institutions involved in 

the fi nancing of infrastructure 

development. He spent five 

years at the Development Bank 

of Southern Africa (DBSA) as the legal advisor to 

the Project Finance team responsible for crossborder 

private sector projects. While at DBSA he 

was seconded to Masons in London, a law fi rm 

specialising in Public Private Partnerships. 

Mandisi later worked for the Industrial Development 

Corporation of South Africa Limited (IDC) 

as a Senior Account Manager in the International 

Finance Department. Prior to re-joining the ECIC 

in February 2011, he was a Director of Export 

Finance at Standard Bank of South Africa. Mandisi 

has worked on numerous infrastructure and mining 

projects. He cut his teeth in the Mozal I and 

Mozal II projects and worked on the Nelspruit Water 

PPP Concession, the fi rst bank-fi nanced water PPP 

Concession in South Africa. 

An admitted attorney, Mandisi holds a B Iuris 

and the LLB degree from the University of the 

Western Cape. He furthered his studies at Wits 

Business School and UCT’s Graduate School of 

Business. 

Sedzani Mudau, 

Chief Financial Officer 

Sedzani is a qualifi ed Chartered 

Accountant. She has undergone 

numerous professional training 

which includes Corporate 

Governance course by the 

Institute of Directors (IOD) as a member of the 

IOD. Prior to joining ECIC more than 7 years ago 

as a fi nancial manager, she completed her three 

auditing articles with Deloitte and also worked for 

Standard Bank group fi nance. Sedzani is in the 

process of completing her MBA at the University 

of Witwatersrand. 


62

Lesego Mosupye Resume, 

Chief Risk Officer 

Lesego is a qualifi ed CA with 

15 years’ experience in the 

fi nancial services sector, six 

of which were spent in investment 

banking with banks such 

as Investec, ABSA capital and Barclays Bank. As 

an investment banker, he originated deals in project 

fi nance, export fi nance, leverage fi nance and debt 

capital markets. He spent 11 years with development 

fi nance institutions such as the Industrial 

Development Corporation (IDC) and the ECIC, 

where he is the Chief Risk Offi cer. As Chief Risk 

Offi cer, Lesego represented the ECIC on the insurance 

industry forum and consultation process for 

the implementation of the insurance industry-wide 

Solvency Assessment and Management (SAM) 

project. Lesego led the ECIC’s SAM readiness project 

and was instrumental in the establishment of 

the Risk function, Investment function and IT functions 

to ensure the ECIC is repositioned to respond 

to changing regulatory and market conditions. 

Ismail Carr (CM)SA, 

Executive: Marketing 

and Communications 

Ismail is one of the chartered 

marketers in South Africa and 

is a member of the Marketing 

Association of South Africa 

(MASA). He graduated top of his class with a cum 

laude as a Post Graduate in Marketing from the Institute 

of Marketing Management (IMM) and in the same year 

won the APPETD award for the “Most Outstanding 

Postgraduate Marketing Research Project in South 

Africa”. Ismail had been a board member of the Capital 

City Business Chamber (CCBC), the Tshwane Tourism 

Association, and is currently an active member on the 

Tshwane Mayoral Council in Pretoria, as well as the 

Totally Concrete Advisory Board. 

He has over 20 years of professional experience 

working in strategic marketing, stakeholder management, 

group communications and public relations. His 

extensive experience extends into CRM, advertising, 

sponsorship, as well as CSI. Ismail built a successful 

PROFILE 

Lindelani Mphaphuli, 

General Counsel / 

Company Secretary 

As General Counsel, Lindelani 

reports to the Chief Executive 

and acts as the senior legal offi 

cer of the Corporation serving 

on the Executive Committee. As Company Secretary, 

there are clear responsibilities to the board, and the 

reporting line is to the Chairman. Lindelani has over 

20 years of corporate legal and executive background 

with transactional and governance experience. She 

has worked in deals of project fi nance, private equity 

/ venture capital funds, and structured fi nance nature, 

as well as on capital and money markets both domestically 

and internationally. After admission as an 

attorney of the High Court of South Africa, Lindelani 

had a short stint as a lecturer of Roman Law and Law 

of Contracts at a South African university prior to joining 

a Joburg-based private commercial legal practice. 

The call to the public sector came in 2008 when 

she joined a DFI. An admitted attorney of the South 

African High Court, Lindelani holds a Bachelor of Arts 

(law) and Bachelor of Laws degree from the University 

of the Witwatersrand and a Master of Laws (corporate 

law) degree from Rand Afrikaanse Universiteit. She is 

a member of the Corporate Lawyers of South Africa 

(CLASA) and served on their board as a director 

(2005-2009) and Vice President (2008). Lindelani is 

currently on the Senior Executive Programme with 

the Wits Business School. 

career and held various senior positions in companies 

such as Telkom SA, IMCG (Pty) Ltd, the South 

African State Theatre and the Gauteng Partnership 

Fund (GPF). He was also responsible for the launch 

of various brands in the B2B market, with a strong 

focus into the government, corporate, SMME’s and 

business segments. Ismail recently joined the Export 

Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa (ECIC) 

and currently holds the position as the Executive: 

Marketing and Communications. In addition, he is also 

responsible for stakeholder and investor relations with 

his main focus being growth in brand equity, as well as 

increasing market share and competitive advantage for 

specifi c target markets of the B2B market segment. 


INTERVIEW 

The hub of Africa 

Tim Harris, CEO of Wesgro (the official Destination Marketing, 

Investment and Trade Promotion Agency for the Western 

Cape), is excited about the potential for local businesses 

to grow into (as well as to serve as a base for) Africa. 

Wesgro CEO Tim Harris 

BIOGRAPHY 

Tim Harris is Chief Executive 

Offi cer of Wesgro, the Western 

Cape’s offi cial Destination Marketing, 

Investment and Trade 

Promotion Agency. Wesgro is 

more than 30 years old and remains 

the oldest organisation of 

its kind in the country. Prior to 

that appointment he was the Director 

of Trade and Investment 

in the Offi ce of the Executive 

Mayor at the City of Cape Town 

and the Shadow Minister of Finance 

with Democratic Alliance 

in parliament. He was elected 

to Parliament aged 29. Harris 

has a Masters in Economics 

from UCT. 

What is the scope of work for your department? 

Wesgro has a broad mandate, but the heart of our job is 

investment promotion and destination marketing. Performance 

has been strong in the last fi ve years and we have generated more 

than R6.6-billion of inward investment which has created almost 

4 500 jobs. In the fi rst half of this year alone the agency facilitated 

a total of 14 new investments into the province in sectors as 

diverse as manufacturing, renewable energy, and healthcare. 

The agency has helped bring more than 7-million foreign tourists 

into the region and has secured 62 conference bids to the value 

of R1-billion for the region. 

What is the long-term potential for the region? 

Our vision is to be a business hub for Africa and the place that 

people think about their African strategies. The world meets to 

talk about mining at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town… in a place 

where there is no mining! People travel to the World Economic 

Forum to meet to solve the problems of Africa. We can build on 

the strategic advantages we have as the city suchwith possibly 

the best quality infrastructure on the continent and a high quality 

of life. This makes it a place where entrepreneurs and managers 

want to live. 

Key competitive advantages of the Western Cape 

It is arguable that the Western Cape has the best infrastructure on 

the continent. The result is that many companies are choosing to 

base themselves in the Western Cape where they can work in an 

enabling business environment where the government is focussed 

on facilitating investment and cutting red tape – while at the same 

time reaping all of the benefi ts of world-quality infrastructure. 

Another reason for the province’s attractiveness to business is its 

proximity to growth markets – both regional and domestic. With 

this in mind we are working hard to communicate with investors 

about the work we are doing to boost connectivity to the rest of 

Africa. Regional integration is a high priority for Wesgro and we 

are working closely with the Department of Transport, the Western 

Cape Government and the City of Cape Town to leverage the size 


64

and strength of our port, rail, and road links into 

the rest of the region. Improved air connectivity, 

especially into Africa, will be a catalyst for vibrant 

growth in a number of economic sectors. 

Red tape and visas 

The recent changes to South African immigration 

law have had a negative effect on the local tourism 

industry but they also resulted in diffi culties for 

the local fi lm industry and English language 

schools. In response to these problems Wesgro 

met with the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and 

then held a workshop between key stakeholders 

in the private and public sector including 

representatives from the DHA to discuss the 

new visa regulations and fi nd common ground. 

One of the results of the workshop was a 

commitment by the Deputy Minister to establish 

a visa ‘One Stop Shop’ in the Western Cape 

that would provide assistance with visa-related 

queries as well as be able to process fast-track 

visa applications for special industries such as 

fi lm and investment. She also agreed to travel 

to China with representatives of the tourism 

industry to see fi rst-hand how diffi cult it is to 

secure travel documents for Chinese visitors 

to South Africa. The minister also subsequently 

met with Wesgro and representatives from 

the language schools and agreed to discuss 

a concession with regards to issuing a special 

visa for foreign language students provided the 

integrity and security considerations related to 

the visas are upheld. 

INTERVIEW 

includes Kimberly-Clarke, who have extended 

their plant (they now run their Europe, Middle 

East and African regions from their Epping offi ce) 

and Atlantis Foundries, who manufacture and 

export engine blocks for Mercedes-Benz trucks. 

New sectors 

There is a lot of interest in innovation and digital 

thanks to the city’s new broadband policies and 

the fi bre network being installed. Over the last 6 

years the City has installed more than 560kms 

of fi bre optic cable and we encourage private 

Internet Service Providers to leverage off this 

infrastructure. The establishment of several 

“Special Purpose Vehicles” such as GreenCape, 

BpeSA and the Cape IT Initiative have also 

provided the information technology, renewable 

energy, and service sectors with a platform that 

fosters innovation, competition, and ultimately 

growth. This infrastructural support feeds off 

what is probably the strongest education city 

on the continent; academic institutions such as 

UCT, Stellenbosch, UWC and CPUT produce 

an incredible talent pool for companies looking 

for such high level skills give the Western Cape 

a real competitive advantage. This is part of the 

reason why software and the digital space are 

so prominent in the Cape – it’s a factor of the 

skills pipeline and the quality lifestyle in the city. 

We’ve had a lot of entrepreneurship in that space 

and I think we’re going to see some of the big 

players globally starting to recognise that Cape 

Town is the leader on the continent. 

Recent key investments 

In recent times the three most interesting 

investments would be the Chinese giant 

HiSense setting up a facility in Atlantis, from 

where they manufacture and export TVs and 

fridges throughout the region. We are in the 

process of developing a green technology cluster 

in Atlantis and the city is also extending its own 

green incentives into that zone, with German 

renewable giant Gestamp Renewable Industries 

(GRI) already having built a 12 000m² windmill 

tower manufacturing facility, the biggest in the 

region. Proof of the region’s diversifi ed offering 

How do you identify and reach investors? 

We have a large research capacity at Wesgro 

that enables us to help investors to understand 

the market and to remove red tape and other 

obstacles to investment. We also realise the 

importance of exporting talent and conduct 

trade missions with small and large companies. 

We took 25 companies to Ghana in July, mainly 

small companies who were sponsored by the 

dti. However, we invested our time and efforts 

in these companies as we believe they are at 

the stage in their development that that are able 

to start exporting to Ghana relatively quickly. 


Key sectors 

Overview of the main economic sectors of South Africa. 

Agriculture 68 

Oil and gas 72 

Mining 80 

Mineral beneficiation 82 

Energy 86 

Manufacturing 90 

Automotive 92 

Automotive components 94 

Food and beverages 95 

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals 96 

Engineering 97 

Healthcare 98 

Water 100 

Transport 106 

Maritime 110 

Tourism 112 

Events 116 

Trade with Africa 117 

ICT118 

Banking and financial services 124 

Development finance and SMME support 128 

Education and training 132 

Waste recycling 134 

Renewable energy.142

OVERVIEW 

Agriculture 

South Africa is ploughing forward. 

The past year has not been an easy one within the agricultural 

sector as South Africa was plagued by the worst water 

shortages in 23 years along with drought conditions yet, 

despite these challenges, exports continue to grow fast. 

Fruit, sugar and wine are the products that have performed best 

in the modern era. These commodities have helped ensure that 

agricultural products make up about 7% of the country’s total 

export basket. 

Within that total, more than 50% of agricultural export is made 

up of processed agricultural products, a promising development 

for the future of agri-processing. National trade policy strategies 

are intended to enhance this development. Avocados and 

tomatoes are among other important export crops, while the 

macadamia nut industry has grown exponentially in recent years. 

Transport and logistics 

South Africa has about 200 silos, mostly concentrated in the 

central grain-growing areas. Getting agricultural produce from 

these silos to market accounts for nearly 40% of the price that 

the end-user pays. If a plan of the National Department of Trade 

and Industry comes off, many more silos will have to be built. 

The plan, in conjunction with African Micro Mills and Kuvusa 

Mills, is to develop small-scale 

mills in rural areas all around 


Rural development 

The Land and Agricultural 

Development Bank of South 

Africa (Land Bank) and the 

African Development Bank have 

committed to a R1-billion fund to 

help emerging farmers get access 

to finance. The development 

of small-scale farming and co-operatives 

is also being promoted at 

the level of provincial government 

and district municipality. 

In KwaZulu-Natal, partnerships 

with the private sector 

are boosting the provincial 

government’s One Village, 

One Product campaign. Beer 

producer SABMiller sources 

5 000 tons of yellow maize 


68

OVERVIEW 

from the subsistence farmers 

of Bergville, while the smallscale 

farmers of Weenen supply 

chicory to the Estcourt factory 

of Nestlé. 

The entire value chain of 

agriculture is under scrutiny 

with the aim to help smallscale 

farmers by improving 

infrastructure, creating new 

markets and assisting them to 

gain access to the big buyers 

such as supermarkets. 

In many areas, private companies 

such as South African 

Breweries, Woolworths and 

Pick n Pay are already onboard. 

Massmart is committed 

to creating opportunities for 

emerging farmers through its 

Direct Farm Programme. Pick 

n Pay has contracted to buying 

more than 200 tons of organic 

vegetables from a co-operative 

in Tzaneen in Limpopo. 

Woolworth’s organic-food 

sales are on course to go 

past R1-billion annually. Also 

in Limpopo, Woolworths has 

agreed to buy 700 tons of tomatoes 

from three emerging 

farmers. NGO TechnoServe 

and food-supply company, 

Qutom, are assisting the farmers. 

In addition, the Woolworths 

Foundation made a loan of 

R1.25-million that is being used 

to prepare 10 hectares. 

DAFF aims to increase the 

number of smallholder producers 

in the country exponentially. 

As the DAFF strategic plan says, 

‘There is a need to coordinate 

and integrate all the support 

provided to smallholder and 

subsistence producers.’ 

Dams are being built, a national fencing scheme is being rolled out 

and produce markets are being established in small rural towns. 

Crops 

South Africa produces a full range of crops, from sub-tropical 

fruits, nuts, grapes and sugar to maize, wheat and sunflower 

seeds. The Orange River supports the cultivation of citrus and 

grapes of many kinds. The region is particularly well suited for the 

cultivation of Valencia oranges, lemons and grapefruit and the dry, 

hot conditions mean that it is easy to control pests. 

Maize and wheat 

A total of 70% of South Africa’s grain production is maize, which 

covers 60% of the cropping area of the country. The North West 

Province produces one third of South Africa’s maize and about 

15% of its wheat. The Free State is the country’s largest supplier 

of wheat (37%) and maize (34%). The Western Cape has 350 000 

hectares of wheat-producing land. 

Fruit 

South Africa is famous for its fruit. Export volumes, particularly in 

tropical fruits such as mangoes and avocados, have been growing 

rapidly in recent years. The sector is highly sophisticated and 

is skilled at the refrigeration and packing required for European 

Union standards. 

Large volumes of exports are achieved in deciduous fruits such 

as apples, table grapes, pears, peaches, plums and apricots. 

Avocadoes thrive in Mpumalanga and Limpopo and production 

volumes above 110 000 tons per year have been achieved. 


OVERVIEW 

About 45% of production is exported. 

Most of South Africa’s citrus and subtropical fruit comes from 

the eastern part of Limpopo. Some of the world’s biggest farming 

enterprises operate in Limpopo Province. Westfalia, part of 

the Hans Merensky Group, is an avocado grower of note while 

ZZ2 is a huge fresh tomato enterprise. Halls has an international 

reputation for avocados and litchis. 

Companies such as Capespan and DoleSA move huge quantities 

of fruit around the world. South African fruit producers have 

initiated an ethical trading programme called the Sustainability 

Initiative of South Africa (Siza). Fruit South Africa has set up the 

system to replace several other standards and audits that were 

previously used (Farmer’s Weekly). 

Other crops 

Annual sugar-production volumes are on the upsurge again, after 

several years of decline because of drought and rising costs. 

The Free State Province supplies significant proportions of the 

nation’s sorghum, sunflower, potatoes, groundnuts, dry beans, 

and almost all of its cherries. Barley and canola are produced in 

the Western Cape. 

Most of South Africa’s tobacco crop is produced on the 

Highveld, with about a quarter coming from Mpumalanga. British 

American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA) has about 86% of the 

legal domestic cigarette market. 

Macadamia and pecan nuts are cultivated in the northeastern 

regions and are proving a popular export commodity. Products 

distinctive to South Africa, such as rooibos tea (Western Cape) 

and marula berries (Limpopo) hold great potential to capture niche 

markets internationally. 

Wine 

Export volumes have been steadily rising for South African wines. 

There are about 3 500 wine producers in South Africa, with the 

large majority located in the 

Western Cape. There are 54 

producer cellars. 

The industry is located for 

the most part in the Western 

Cape but Orange River Cellars 

in the Northern Cape is growing 

production volumes. 

Europe remains the main export 

market but India and the 

Far East are growing in importance 

as destinations. 

South Africa’s new membership 

of the BRICS group of 

nations (Brazil, Russia, India, 

China, South Africa), will 

open doors to new markets 

for wine-makers. The Distell 

group produces about a third 

of the country’s natural and 

sparkling wine, and is ranked 

12th in the world in global wine 

volumes sold. 

Livestock 

Livestock farming is the largest 

agricultural subsector in South 

Africa. The Eastern Cape is 

the largest livestock province. 

South Africa has a beef-herd 

of 14-million. 

Clover, Africa’s largest milk 

processor, has a turnover of 

R6-billion and a staff of more 

than 6 500. The Eastern Cape 

provides approximately a 

quarter of South Africa’s milk. 

Parmalat has two plants in 

Port Elizabeth. 

There are 6.4-million goats 

in South Africa. The Kalahari 

Kid Corporation (KKC) intends 

to raise the standard of goat 

meat and expand the export 

market. 


70

OVERVIEW 

South Africa produces about 

55% of the world’s mohair, the 

high-quality speciality fibre taken 

from Angora goats. Almost 

all mohair farming is done in the 

Eastern Cape. 

About half the national herd 

of 24.5-million sheep are merinos 

and the Eastern Cape has 

the highest number of sheep. 

Upington in the Northern Cape 

is the main centre for karakul 

sheep farming. South Africa 

produces about 15-million 

tons of wool annually, with 

a quarter of that production 

emanating from the Eastern 

Cape. The Free State, Western 

Cape and Northern Cape are 

the other major producers. 

Forestry and paper 

The forest-product export sector 

in South Africa is made up 

of paper (45.2%), solid wood 

(23.3%) and pulp (28.9%). 

Imports, weighted towards 

paper products, cost the 

country R9.8-billion annually, 

clearly indicating scope for increased 

domestic production. 

The sector employs approximately 

462 000 people with 

some two million dependents. 

Mpumalanga has South 

Africa’s biggest sawmill and 

its largest panel and board 

plant, together with the biggest 

integrated pulp and paper 

mill in Africa. 

There are sophisticated 

plants at several locations 

around the country: the country’s 

largest hardboard plant is 

at Estcourt. 


OVERVIEW 

Oil and gas 

Most of the oil that feeds the country’s four crude-oil refineries is imported, but a good 

deal of South Africa’s fuel is generated by a natural-gas conversion plant on the coast and 

a coal-to-fuel facility near the country’s industrial heartland. 

In addition to South Africa’s crude-oil refineries, 

natural-gas conversion plant, coal-to-fuel 

and gas-to-liquid crude-oil refineries, Sasol 

produces fuel from coal at its Secunda facility 

and PetroSA has the country’s only gas-to-liquid 

(GTL) facility at Mossel Bay. 

The South African government’s decision to allow 

fracturing (‘fracking’) to go ahead in the country’s 

interior has caused a great deal of controversy. 

Environmentalists want the process stopped. 

Full-scale studies of the extent of the resource 

have not yet been done, but a US Energy 

Information Administration document sets it at 

485-trillion cubic feet of gas. 

South Africa’s national oil company is the 

Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South 

Africa, PetroSA. The company sells petrochemical 

products and runs the gas-to-liquid refinery at 

Mossel Bay, the third-largest in the world. 

The Petroleum Agency South Africa (PASA) 

supports exploration for onshore and offshore 

oil and gas resources and regulates exploration 

and production activities. Companies wanting to 

exploit resources have to get permits from PASA. 

The Sasol Group is a diversified resources 

and energy company. Sasol Oil, Sasol Gas and 

Sasol Synfuels provide a good proportion of 

South Africa’s fuel. 

The Fischer-Tropsch process of converting 

coal to usable fuel (coal to liquids) has been refined 

and perfected by Sasol over several decades. 

Sasol also converts gas to liquids. The 

group has two major complexes in South Africa: 

at Secunda in Mpumalanga, nine reactors create 

solvents, ethylene, propylene and olefins; 

at Sasolburg in the Free State, natural gas is 

converted to syngas which is then made into 

hydrocarbons and paraffins. 

Sasol is listed on the JSE in South Africa and 

on the New York Stock Exchange. The group 

has operations in 30 countries, employing about 

34 000 people. 

Sasol New Energy is building a new power 

plant to increase the amount of electricity available 

to the integrated energy and chemical group. 

Natural gas will be the feedstock for the 140-megawatt 

facility and it will allow Sasol to reduce its 

carbon emissions by about a million tons per year. 

In addition to decreasing the amount of carbon 

emmisions, There are a number of advantages 

to gas that make it an attractive option to close 


72

South Africa’s looming energy gap, highlights 

Christine Wu and Fransje van der Marel in a recent 

press release, Natural Gas: Powering South 

Africa’s Future. 

Natural gas plants need just two to four years 

from conception to construction due to their 

modular nature. This is much shorter than either 

coal or nuclear power. It will be an unusual feat 

to deliver new, fully operational coal and nuclear 

plants by the mid-2020s. These technologies remain 

options for longer time frames (nearer 2030). 

The initial capital expense of building a gas 

power plant is significantly lower than coal and 

nuclear plants. New combined-cycle gas turbine 

plants produce less than half the carbon emissions 

of new coal plants. And while nuclear energy 

technically has the lowest carbon emissions of all, 

it is also associated with radioactive waste and 

high disposal costs. 

Gas is better positioned to support an ambitious 

renewables development programme; because 

gas can be switched on within an hour, it 

is the perfect complementary power source. Coal 

and nuclear power plants cannot ramp generation 

up and down in the same way. 

Utilising gas for power could allow South Africa 

to achieve the scale that would enable gas-based 

industries to emerge. For this to happen, significant 

domestic and regional production will have 

to be unlocked to allow prices to drop within the 

range where this becomes economical, at under 

$6 per MMBtu, says the release. 

Sapref has started a ‘clean-fuels’ project, aiming 

to reduce sulphur and benzene levels, among 

other things, in fuel products. The modifications 

to the refinery will bring it into line with the tougher 

legislation about fuel production in the pipeline. 

The Western Cape region is marketing itself 

as a support and services hub to Nigeria and 

the newer oilfields of Angola. Significant amounts 

of oil are transported around the Cape of Good 

Hope every year: 32.2% of West Africa’s and 

23.7% of oil emanating from the Middle East. 

Saldanha on the West Coast is the site of 

the country’s largest oil-storage facility. PetroSA 

maintains six tanks, each of which has a capacity 

of 1.19-million cubic metres. 

PetroSA has indicated an intention to build 

a crude oil refinery in the Coega Industrial 

Development Zone just outside Port Elizabeth, 

but this mega-project will probably have to wait 

for the economic climate to improve. 

BP has announced it will spend R4.7-billion in 

the short-term, with about half of that going into 

refinery upgrades. 

Gas 

OVERVIEW 

Today, both coal and nuclear power are cheaper 

than gas, but this is changing. Estimates indicate 

new gas plants would cost R1.10 per kilowatt 

hour compared to coal at 73 cents and nuclear 

power at 86 cents, says Wu and Marel. But by 

2030, South African domestic coal prices are 

expected to rise by 87%. The government is also 

imposing carbon taxes from 2016 that will affect 

coal prices more than gas. On the other hand, if 

regional gas options do prove feasible and are 

developed, the price of gas could drop, making 

it more competitive.” 

Sasol is the country’s major supplier of gas. 

The company’s two major synthetic-fuel plants 

in Mpumalanga have been modified so that they 

are no longer entirely dependent on coal. 

Companies to have shown an interest in looking 

for shale gas in the Karoo using hydraulic 

fracturing or ‘fracking’ include Falcon Oil & Gas, 

Shell and a consortium comprising Sasol, Statoil 

ASA (Norway) and Chesapeake (the US). 

The biggest question facing gas power is 

where to source gas from. The Southern African 

region has many alternatives, but most of these 

have not yet been proven to be economically viable. 

A carefully thought out programme is needed 

to unlock this potential. Most likely, importing 

LNG to meet the immediate demand, while simultaneously 

completing an appraisal programme 

to prove the viability of the regional alternatives, 

would source gas, says the press release. 

“Cooperation with new partners in regional 

governments and private sector players will be 

important in unlocking regional gas, as both 

government and business have a role to play. 


INTERVIEW 

Unconventional 

Petroleum Resources 

Sean Johnson (Manager: Unconventional Resource 

Evaluation, Petroleum Agency SA), is excited about 

potentially abundant unconventional gas resources 

that’s waiting to be tapped. 

Sean Johnson 

BIOGRAPHY 

Sean Johnson has 18 years’ 

experience across a range of 

geoscience disciplines, including 

engineering, environmental and 

marine geoscience, minerals 

exploration and the upstream 

petroleum industry. Educated 

at the University of the Western 

Cape, Johnson is a registered 

professional natural scientist 

with the South African Council 

for Natural Scientifi c Professions 

and leads a team of specialist 

geoscientists responsible for 

evaluating and promoting 

South Africa’s unconventional 

petroleum resources. 

What areas of exploration is your department involved in? 

The Unconventional Resource Evaluation department is aptly 

named as its focus is the evaluation and promotion of South 

Africa’s unconventional petroleum resources. Through continuous 

research, our knowledge of the subject has grown substantially 

over the last decade. On the other hand, these are new and 

exciting areas of exploration about which, in a commercial sense, 

relatively little is known for South Africa and can therefore truly 

be considered ‘frontier’ or greenfi eld exploration. Our evaluation 

of South Africa’s unconventional petroleum resources is based 

both on geographic distribution and play-type, with a team of 

specialist geologists associated with each and naturally, part of the 

Department’s responsibilities is the assessment of the petroleum 

potential of the deep and ultra-deep offshore areas. 

What are the resources you focus on? 

The resources we focus on includes deep biogenic gas, coal-bed 

methane, gas hydrates, shale gas and more recently unconventional 

oil. Our understanding of deep biogenic gas at present is that it is 

an unconventional natural gas source produced at depth directly 

by microbes. Coal bed methane (CBM) is a source of natural gas 

that is generated and stored in coal beds. In South Africa, the 

presence of methane gas in coal is well known from its occurrence 

in underground coal mining, where it presents a serious safety 

risk. Historically, the methane was vented to the atmosphere, but 

has now become an increasingly important source of natural gas 

globally. The southern Karoo Basin is considered to be the most 

prospective area for shale gas, due to the presence of deeply 

buried, thermally mature black shales. The observation of oil and 

gas shows across the Karoo indicate an active petroleum system 

with multi-play potential. Lastly, recent advances in geophysical 

acquisition and remote sensing techniques have made access to 

the deep and ultra-deep waters in offshore areas more accessible 

to exploration. In these regions our focus is gas hydrate. 


74

How will these resources be developed? 

With a focus on deep biogenic gas, Molopo SA 

holds the fi rst and only production right in the unconventional 

space onshore South Africa at present. 

There are a number of companies that have 

expressed strong interest in setting up facilities 

to capture the gas, but the problem has always 

been the existence of a gas market, infrastructure 

and affordable gas pricing. Various partnerships 

are on the horizon, for example, Sibanye Gold 

and Molopo South Africa. We understand that 

Molopo SA will supply Sibanye with compressed 

gas to power underground locomotives in the 

mining process. 

What is the quality of this resource? 

Deep biogenic gas as we know it, is composed 

predominantly of methane. As the name 

suggests, the composition of the gas indicates 

that it is derived from anaerobic or bacterially 

generated processes in the subsurface. What is 

INTERVIEW 

fascinating is that these organisms are surviving 

at great depth and subsurface pressure. There 

are presently many research studies being 

undertaken in South African universities and 

new research publications are revealing insightful 

information about this resource. Our own team 

in collaboration with South African academics 

and Australian exploration geologists has made 

headway with understanding and evaluation of 

this unique resource type. 

What are the other valuable by products? 

As we have observed over the decades, helium 

is associated with deep biogenic gas and was 

produced commercially by Anglo American in 

How extensive is this gas resource? the Welkom area. 

Substantial quantities of hydrocarbon gases have 

been observed within the Witwatersrand Basin What is the potential of these resources? 

during coal and gold exploration activities. Gas 

shows were discovered in the Free State and 

Evander goldfi elds several decades ago, and are 

the most promising target areas for exploring this 

play type at present. The methane encountered 

was regarded only as a mine explosion hazard 

and fl ared in large quantities. Interestingly, gas 

encountered is not generally contained in traps 

but rather is being continually generated at depth 

and migrating to surface along natural fracture 

systems, faults and dykes. As mentioned earlier, 

published data indicates that much of the produced 

gas is of microbial origin, generated by 

primitive bacteria that inhabit deep water-bearing 

fi ssures. It is thought that additional gas may be 

generated within the carbonaceous shale and 

coal-bearing Karoo strata at shallower depth. 

However the source and migration pathway of 

the gas are unusual and present signifi cant challenges 

to fully defi ne the ultimate potential of the 

resources as no known analogues exist for this 

type of gas production worldwide. 

Exploration companies such as Molopo SA have 

been investigating whether the methane could be 

turned to commercial advantage. Most recently, 

a gas Production Right has been granted in the 

Free State, with fi rst proven onshore gas reserves 

(1P) for the region. Given the unusual nature of 

this unconventional resource, the estimated fl ow 

rates for the gas-emitting boreholes in the Free 

State indicate a sustained gas rate of more than 

1 million standard cubic feet per day. 

Without showing any evidence of depletion, 

this former mining hazard may therefore become 

a potential renewable future energy source for 


THESE BLOWERS HAVE BEEN 

EMITTING GAS NON-STOP 

FOR DECADES AND THERE’S 

NOW GROWING INTEREST IN 

TAPPING WHAT IS OBVIOUSLY A 

POTENTIALLY HUGE NATURAL 

SOURCE OF ENERGY 


FOCUS 

South Africa’s Extended 

Continental Shelf Project 

Petroleum Agency SA is on the brink of securing a vast new territory for exploraration. 

South Africa is on the verge of claiming a vast new track of 

territory offshore which if successful, can open up new 

territory for research and exploration. Under maritime 

law, coastal states have sovereign right to a number of 

maritime zones, including the Territorial Sea (up to 22 km from 

shore), the Contiguous zone (44 km from shore) and the Exclusive 

Economic Zone (370 km from shore). 

Article 76 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 

makes provision for states to claim an additional zone, which 

is called the Extended Continental Shelf. In South Africa’s case, 

this extended area could amount to far more than our country’s 

existing landmass, offering vast new exploration opportunities for 

local and international companies. 

Petroleum Agency SA has been driving the application for our 

extended continental shelf, and naturally they will also be charged 

with regulating exploration and production activity in the area should 

it be opened for petroleum exploration and production. “One of the 

Agulhas Ridge 

Namibia 

Botswana 

South Africa 


RSA 


SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS the Discovery 2016 Ridge - 

1 



L 

Agulhas 

Plateau 

Mozambique 

S 

Natal 

Valley 

Mozambique Ridge 

Mozambique Channel 

Prince Edward Islands 

(RSA) 

Discovery Ridge 

76 

Madagascar 

Madagascar 

Plateau 


Crozet Islands 

(Fr) 

Amended Outer Limits of the Continental Shelf of RSA beyond 200M 


SOUTH AFRICA’S EXISTING TERRITORY 

Land - RSA Mainland 

Area (sq kms) 

1,220,000 

Sea - EEZ of RSA Mainland & Prince Edward Islands 1,540,000 

provisions of Article 76 suggest, 

that if a coastal state can 

demonstrate that the landmass 

naturally extends beyond 200 

NM, the coastal state has an 

entitlement to delineate an 

extended continental shelf,” 

says Sean Johnson, Manager: 

Unconventional Resource 

Evaluation, Petroleum Agency 

SA. “However, in terms of 

sovereignty over resources, you 

only have entitlement to what 

is on the seabed and what is 

underneath – you don’t get the 

fi sh stocks and living resources 

within the water column!” 

South Africa made two 

submissions to the United 

Nations in May 2009. The fi rst 

concerning the continental shelf 

surrounding the South African 

mainland, while the second 

for the region of the Prince 

Edwards islands, both of which 

would add extensive additional 

territorial sea areas. 

UNCLOS 1982 

UNCLOS 82 is a remarkable 

international agreement 

encompassing all aspects 

of governance of the world’s 

oceans. A country’s continental 

shelf can include submarine 

plateaus and ridges that extend 

from the continental margins 

of coastal states beyond their 


(EEZ) 

2 

3 

4 

NEW EXTENDED CONTINENTAL SHELF 

1. West Coast 

2. East and South Coast 

45,000 

1,075,000

Vall 

exclusive economic zone 

limits. Each coastal state is 

responsible for managing 

their zones according to the 

provisions of international law, 

with the remaining unclaimed 

areas being managed by the 

United Nations International 

Seabed Authority. 

South Africa’s claims amount 

to 1.94 million km2, making 

theirs one of the 10 largest 

claims in the world. Once these 

have been endorsed by the UN, 

it will more than double South 

Africa’s maritime territory. The 

potential of this opportunity was 

initially recognised as being of 

national importance in the 1980s. 

The SA Navy Hydrographic 

Office (with the assistance 

of the Institute for Maritime 

Technology) carried out the initial 

investigations and lobbied for the 

establishment of a dedicated 

national project, leading Cabinet 

to allocate responsibility to the 

Minister of the then Department 

of Minerals and Energy, who 

directed the Petroleum Agency 

to manage the project. The 

project offi cially started in April 

2003 and the technical study 

took six years to complete. 

Initial phases included the 

search for and acquisition of 

existing and new data. This 

FOCUS 

was followed by the application of the scientifi c 

and legal principles prescribed by Article 76 of 

UNCLOS and the compilation of the submission 

documents and appendices. Finally, these were 

lodged with the United Nations in May Agulhas 2009. 

Benefits for the Nation 

Many benefi ts beyond the acquisition of the 

extra territory were realised during this process. 

These included, inter alia, the identifi cation and accessing of 

vast tracts of existing geophysical and hydrographic data for 

the benefi t of the State; the acquisition of new survey data; the 

building of international contacts and the close cooperation with 

France which led to the agreement to lodge a joint claim around 

the South African Prince Edward and French Crozet Islands. 

The benefi ts include the potential for resources including 

oil and gas, manganese nodules and crusts enriched with 

precious metals. And, in the vicinity of the Prince Edward Islands, 

the possibility exists of discovering gold-bearing hydrothermal 

deposits and of exploiting the pharmaceutical and medical 

benefi ts of microbes associated with the inhospitable ultradeep 

ocean fl oor and toxic hot water geysers. Many of these 

Agulhas Ridge 


Plateau 

benefi ts are not immediately quantifi able or exploitable with 

current knowledge and technology, but through this project 

future access to these has been assured for coming generations 

of South Africans. 

1 

SA’s claim around 

the RSA Mainland 


RSA 


(EEZ) 

SA’s part of the joint 

claim with France 

2 

EEZ (RSA) 

Prince Ed Is 

(SA) 

EEZ (Fr) 

Crozet Is. 

(Fr) 

Area of South Africa’s claim 

Figure 35. White outlined areas shown above, illustrate South Africa’s Extended C 

3 



the Discovery Ridge - 


4 

SOUT 

Land - 

Sea - 

NEW 

1. We 

2. Eas 

3. Pri 

4. Dis 

Total A 


INTERVIEW 

TPL celebrates 50 years 

Sharla Chetty, Chief Executive of Transnet Pipelines, recalls 

some of the highlights of the past half a century. 

Sharla Chetty, CE 

BIOGRAPHY 

Sharla Chetty is the Chief 

Executive of Transnet Pipelines. 

She attended the University of 

KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg 

for her undergraduate and 

honours degrees in Accounting. 

She served her articles 

with Deloitte in Durban and this 

experience included a stint in 

the Houston offi ce of the fi rm in 

the US. Sharla joined Transnet 

in 2003 in the corporate fi nance 

offi ce of Transnet Port Terminals 

as an accountant. Since 

then she has held several senior 

positions within the two large 

Transnet divisions that operate 

in Durban. 

Transnet Pipelines celebrates their 50th anniversary in 

2015. What have been some of the company’s highlights? 

On 1 November 1965, Transnet Pipelines (then SA Pipelines) 

injected the fi rst slug of premium petrol into the new 500km 

Durban to Johannesburg pipeline. The pipeline was built to alleviate 

the heavy burden placed on the rail system which transported 

12-million gallons (45.4-million litres) of petrol using 2 000 rail tank 

cars. Since then the network has expanded and today Transnet 

Pipelines has 3 800km of petroleum and gas pipelines. We transport 

around 17 billion litres of petroleum products and over 490 

cubic metres of gas. The company has grown immensely – in the 

last 20 years revenue increased from R442.7-million to R3 246- 

billion, even though our headcount remained fairly consistent 

around the 650 mark. Over the years we’ve established a good 

track record within the industry and our customers, and we’re 

especially proud of our safety record, with no Pipeline employee 

fatalities for over 35 years. This safety mindset has helped us to 

achieve a NOSA 5 Star Rating and ISO14001 accreditation. 

Future growth plans for the organisation 

We will constantly ensure that we have suffi cient capacity to 

keep up with demand and fulfi ll our strategic role in the supply 

chain. We’re currently working closely with Transnet Freight Rail 

to ensure we provide an integrated, seamless service to customers 

and would like to expand this further into the value chain by 

operating and maintaining depots not owned by TPL. We would 

also like to share our extensive skills, knowledge and expertise 

beyond South Africa’s borders. The School of Pipelines is well 

positioned to offer various courses in pipeline maintenance and 

operations to other companies and countries. 

To what do you attribute the success of TPL? 

Taking the vision of our pioneers and the excellent foundation 

they gave us to build the company from strength to strength. 

This has been achieved with the excellent support from various 

stakeholders and leaders. We’ve also been fortunate to have a 

dedicated workforce where every team member realises the role 

they play in the organisation’s success. Add to that the respect 

of our clients and suppliers and you have our success story. On 

a personal note, I believe we will remain successful by providing 

a platform for continuous growth. 


78

OVERVIEW 

NEED PIC 

Mining 

The South African economy is literally built on mining, but the once disproportionate 

predominance of this extractive economic sector has been dwindling in recent years. 

Sadly, the Marikana massacre of 2012 has symbolised 

for many the disjunct between labour expectations and 

the profit targets of the mining bosses, and the vicious 

circle created by unprecedented demands on the part of 

workers dependent on the existence of mines for their livelihoods. 

According to a recent PwC report, the 2015 financial year was a 

veritable annus horribilis for the South African mining sector. Local 

cost pressures, labour action, and a continuing downswing in 

commodity prices have led to shrinking margins and impairment 

provisions. As mining companies grapple to improve productivity 

to compete in the demanding global and local mining environment, 

the spectre of labour unrest continues to predominate. 

Four gold mining companies were locked in a three-month wage 

‘stalemate’ with unions this year. Market capitalisation has been 

on a downward trend and the 2015 financial year was no exception, 

with market capitalisation for the top 35 companies falling to 

R414-billion as at 30 June 2015 from R675-billion as at 30 June 

2014. As at 30 September 2015 market capitalisation stood at 

R304-billion, yielding an aggregate decline of R371-billion from 

30 June 2014. 

Iron ore and coal prices were worst affected. Platinum and gold 

are at their lowest real prices in ten years, and price recovery is far 

from certain. Coal is still the highest earning commodity in South 

Africa. Production has increased marginally in the last few years. 

Gold production has been on a long decline due to such factors 

as was ever-increasing mine depths, technical difficulties with 

start-up operations, and a continually growing base. Platinum 

production has been plagued by industrial action since 2012 in a 

low-price environment. Production levels are unlikely to increase 

unless prices rise significantly. 

In 2015 the mining sector had its worst cash flow since the 

financial crisis in 2008. This reflects existing margin pressures and 

liquidity concerns. Revenue increased by only 4% or R12-billion, 

while operating expenses rose by 14%, up from 13% the previous 

financial year. Labour remains 

the biggest cost component 

in the local mining industry. 

The share of labour costs decreased 

marginally from 47% to 

45% in the current year. 

The 2014 period saw record 

levels of impairment charges 

being recorded within the mining 

industry. In 2015, the industry 

saw impairment charges 

as a percentage of capital 

expenditure reduced to 40%, 

which is still above the 35% 

four-year average. 

Net profit dropped 75% to 

R2-billion despite a R26-billion 

reduction in impairment provisions. 

The earnings before 

interest, taxes, depreciation, 

and amortization (EBITDA) 

margin is 22% in the current 

year, down 7%. 

The focus of mining studies 

is likely to change, as signs 

indicate a shift from labour-intensive 

mining to highly mechanised 

deep-level mining calling 

for workers with specialised 

skills.According to Dr Declan 

Vogt from the Wits School 

of Mining Engineering, this 

would entail a shift from culture 

of compliance to a culture 

of learning. One mechanised 


80

OVERVIEW 

operator will produce a significant 

portion of the mine’s total 

production, demanding skill and 

flexibility tremendously more 

complex than that of the traditional 

gold miner. Implementing 

this requires a new way of thinking, 

possibly incorporating the 

Lean principles of teamwork, 

collective problem solving and 

meaningful work. 

Mineral resources 

South Africa is the world’s number 

one producer of platinum 

and chrome, and produces 

about 40% of the world’s vanadium 

and vermiculite. The 

country has large reserves of 

ilmenite, palladium, rutile and 

zirconium and 80% of the 

world’s known manganese 

reserves are located in the 

Northern Cape Province. 

Coal and platinum group 

metals (PGMs) have overtaken 

gold as the minerals generating 

the biggest sales volumes. 

South Africa is the secondlargest 

exporter of steam coal 

in the world. South Africa is the 

number one producer of andalusite 

in the world. 

Mpumalanga accounts for 83% of the country’s coal production 

and is the third-largest coal-exporting region in the world. 

With mines in Mpumalanga reaching the end of their lives, the 

coal reserves of the Waterberg region in Limpopo are attracting 

attention. Among the companies either actively mining or prospecting 

are Sasol, Exxaro Resources, Coal of Africa, Eskom 

and Anglo Coal. Copper mines in Aggeneys in Namaqualand 

are responsible for approximately 93% of South Africa’s lead 

production and 12% of all world lead exports. 

There are 20 chromite mines in North West Province located 

along a reef running from Brits to Rustenburg and serviced by 

several ferrochrome smelters. South Africa produces about 70% 

of the world’s chrome and 40% of the world’s ferrochrome. 

Effective 1 July 2015, Pan African Resources successfully 

concluded a gold wage agreement at its Barberton and Evander 

gold mining operations and entered multi-year agreements with 

unions. Barberton Mines concluded a two-year agreement 

with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the United 

Association of South Africa (UASA) on wages and other conditions 

of employment. The average Barberton Mines salary and wage bill 

will therefore increase for the two financial years ending 30 June 

2016 and 2017 by about 9% a year, effective from 1 July 2015. 

With the Chinese economy slowing down, the demand for 

the main component of steel is uncertain. There are a number 

of iron-ore expansion projects underway, most significantly the 

multi-billion-rand schemes at Kolomela (Kumba) and Khumani 

(Assmang). A new iron-ore sampling plant at Saldanha, a joint 

venture between Kumba and Transnet, allows exporters to certify 

the quality of their product before the ore is loaded on to ships for 

export. The Northern Cape produces more than 84% of South 

Africa’s iron ore. China is spending billions of dollars every year 

on importing the major component of steel production. 

The Kalahari Basin contains 80% of the world’s manganese 

reserve, but only 15% of global production comes from this area 

so there is enormous scope for development. Several new blackowned 

manganese projects are underway. 

South Africa has 80% of the world’s platinum reserves and it 

is the number-one producer and exporter. It is also number one 

in rhodium, and only Russia produces more palladium. Chinese 

investors are also putting money into the Wesizwe Platinum 

project in the North West Province. Production will begin in 2018, 

after which annual production of 350 000 ounces is expected. 

Every year Cape Town hosts the Investing in African Mining 

Indaba, the world’s largest gathering of the most influential stakeholders 

in the African mining industry. More than 7 000 leading 

financers, investors, mining professionals and government officials 

meet at the Indaba to network and broker deals. 


OVERVIEW 

Mineral beneficiation 

The successful beneficiation of our mining assets is integral to growing the economy 

Mineral beneficiation 

has been identified 

by the ruling 

African National 

Congress party as being key 

to transforming South Africa’s 

economic structure away from 

a colonialist framework to one 

that adds value to the lives of 

all citizens. 

The idea behind the Mineral 

and Petroleum Resources 

Development Act is to boost 

the minerals beneficiation sector, 

expected to increase employment 

levels and stimulate 

economic growth. 

The first ‘pilot commodity value 

chain’ has been developed 

by the National Department of 

Mineral Resources and applies 

to the iron and steel industry. 

Future value chain strategies 

will be developed for energy 

(coal, uranium), catalytic converters, 

jewellery and pigment 

production. 

Kalagadi Manganese is 

building the world’s biggest 

manganese sinter plant. The plant will produce 2.4 million tons 

of sinter-product. Of this, 700 000 tons will make its way to the 

Coega IDZ in the Eastern Cape where a new smelter is to be built. 

South Africa plans to exploit its rare metals and plans to develop 

a beneficiation complex at the West Coast port of Saldanha. 

Titanium sands are currently exported at a value of about R2 690 

per ton but with beneficiation this could rise to R6 000. 

Steel production is under severe threat as a result of cheap 

imports. Steelmaking contributes more than 1.1% directly to 

South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP), and a further 0.4% 

indirectly. 

South Africa’s biggest steel producer is Arcelor Mittal which 

has four large plants located at: Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal, 

Vereeniging in Gauteng (long steel production), Vanderbijlpark 

in Gauteng and Saldanha in the Western Cape (flat steel). 

Vanderbijlpark makes about four-million tons of liquid steel, servicing 

about 78% of South Africa’s demand. There is also a coke 

and chemicals facility in Pretoria. 

BHP Billiton has two large aluminium smelters, Bayside and 

Hillside, with the former apparently being considered for closure. 

Tata Steel is the anchor client of the Richards Bay Industrial 

Development Zone (RBIDZ), with installed capacity to produce 

150 000 tons of ferrochrome, mainly for markets in Europe and Japan. 

Hulamin is a leader in the sophisticated aluminium finishedproduct 

sector. 

SECTOR INSIGHT 

• Steel production is under severe threat from imports 

• Mineral beneficiation is expected to transform the economy 


82

NEW MONDAY MORNING START: 

Conference and Exhibit Hall 

Open at 9am! 

IN AFRICA, 

SMART INVESTING & 

SMART MINING 

MEET HERE 

2016 

A Year of New Opportunities and 

Conference Enhancements 

The Mining Indaba team is reacting to the feedback we have received. 

2016 will bring more structured and interactive content plus enhanced 

networking opportunities. 

MORE 

Customized networking and matchmaking 

Conference sessions and exhibition hours 

Mining executives presentations 

Investor-led discussions 

Access to the Investor Programme 

ENHANCED 

Different points of access based on matching interests 

Clearer structure to the sessions and opportunities for 

more interaction 

Hybrid format of stand-alone presentations and group 

conversation 

Market-themed panels and country case studies featuring 

multi-discipline perspectives 

Varying levels of investors are invited to apply 

Scan to visit the website 

SAVE £100 when you mention code PALM 

Mention the offer code “PALM” and earn £100 on the prevailing delegate rate when you 

register for the 2016 Investing in African Mining Indaba before 30 October 2015. 

Code must be mentioned at the time of registering. 

www.miningindaba.com

PROFILE 

The Council for Geoscience 

Providing Geoscience solutions in South Africa and beyond 

The Council for Geoscience (CGS) has been 

mandated to be the custodians of geotechnical 

information, to be a national advisory authority 

in respect of geohazards related to infrastructure 

and development, and to undertake reconnaissance 

operations, prospecting research, and 

then to provide for matters connected therewith. 

Mission and values 

The Council for Geoscience provides geoscience 

solutions in South Africa and for international 

organisations, with the intention of contributing 

towards creating a prosperous society enabled 

by geoscience solutions. 

Key activities 

• Understand and align the CGS plans with the 

market and key client value propositions and 

opportunities and their associated growth revenue 

plans. 

• Defi ne and promote a market-tailored service 

catalogue with go-to-market propositions. 

• Align and prioritise the delivery of solutions with 

the service catalogue. 

• Gather and benefi ciate CGS data and knowledge 

on a national basis. 

• Maintain best practises that enable excellence 

in project execution. 

• Deliver prioritised projects through managed 

and integrated implementation. 

• Manage project resources. 

Scientific and Information Services 

Included in the Council’s work is the systematic 

reconnaissance and documentation of the geology 

of the earth’s surface and continental crust 

(including all offshore areas within the territorial 

boundaries of South Africa), as well as the compilation 

of all geoscience data and information 

(particularly the geological, geophysical, geochemical 

and engineering-geological data in the 

form of maps and documents). 

They also conduct basic geoscience research 

into the nature and origin of rocks, ores, minerals, 

formations, the history and evolution of life 

and the formation of the earth, with a view to 

understanding the geological processes of both 

the past and present and to compile and publish 

such research fi ndings nationally and internationally 

to contribute to the understanding of the 

earth, its evolution and its resources. 

Specifi c areas of scientifi c services include 

Geophysics, Seismology, Geochemistry, 

Minerals Development, Information and Collections 

Management, Spatial Data Management, 

as well as Engineering, Water, Environmental and 

Marine Geoscience. CGS manage a number of 

national geoscience facilities on behalf of the 

country, and render contract geoscience services 

and products to national and international 

clients. CGS’s regional offi ces perform various 

services, including regional geological mapping 

at various scales, applied geosciences, mineral 

assessment and development, metallogenic 

mapping and sedimentology of estuarine and 

coastal environments. They are also responsible 

for the collection and curation of all geoscience 

data and knowledge on South Africa in the 

National Geoscience Repository. 

CONTACT INFO 

Email: info@geoscience.org.za 

Tel: +27 (0)12 841-1911 

Fax: +27 (0)12 841-1221 

Physical address: 280 Pretoria Street, 

Silverton, Pretoria. 

Postal address: Private Bag X112, Pretoria 0184 

Website: www.geoscience.org.za 


84

COUNCIL FOR GEOSCIENCE 

Geophysics 

Laboratory 

Services 

Seismological 

Observation 

Sampling/ 

Drilling 

National 

Geoscience 

Museum 

Field Mapping School 

WHAT WE DO 

Geological, Geotechnical, Geochemical, 

Metallogenic and Marine mapping 

Geoscience Museum 

National Geoscience Library 

Information Databases 

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) 

Seismology 

Geophysics 

National Core Library 

Minerals Development 

Construction Materials and Agricultural Minerals 

Water-Resource Assessment and Protection 

Environmental Geoscience 

Engineering Geology and Physical Geohazards 

Palaeontology 

Laboratory Services 

280 Pretoria Street, Silverton, Pretoria I Private Bag X112, Pretoria, 0184 

Tel: +27 (0)12 841-1911 I Fax: +27 (0)12 841-1221 I www.geoscience.org.za

OVERVIEW 

Energy 

The South African energy landscape is incredibly diverse, ranging from coal to solar, wind, 

nuclear and bio. Renewables are increasingly under the spotlight, although coal fires most 

of South Africa’s power stations. 

The Department of Energy (DoE) has updated the country’s 

plan for electricity — the Integrated Resource Plan 

(IRP2010). It is a 20-year projection of electricity supply and 

demand — about 42% of electricity generated in South 

Africa has to come from renewable resources. 

The National Development Plan (NDP) envisages that by 2030 

South Africa will have an adequate supply of electricity and liquid 

fuels to ensure that economic activity and welfare are not disrupted, 

and that at least 95% of the population will have access 

to grid or off-grid electricity. The plan proposes that gas and other 

renewable resources like wind, solar and hydro-electricity will supply 

at least 20 000 MW of the additional 29 000 MW of electricity. 

Other recommendations include diversifying power sources 

and ownership in the electricity sector, supporting cleaner coal 

technologies, and investing in human and physical capital in the 

12 largest electricity distributors. 

South Africa has a number of large energy role-players. Stateowned 

company Eskom generates, transmits and distributes 

electricity to industrial, mining, commercial, agricultural and residential 

customers and redistributors. In 23 August 2014, for the 

first time since construction began eight years ago, the Medupi 

Power Station in Limpopo is began pumping power. The first unit 

of Medupi, unit six, was handed over to its operating division. Unit 

six will feed 794 megawatts (MW) of power into the national grid. 

Sasol is an international 

integrated energy and chemical 

company with more than 

34 000 people working in 37 

countries. The company develops 

and commercialises 

technologies, and builds and 

operates world-scale facilities 

to produce a range of product 

streams, including liquid fuels, 

high-value chemicals and lowcarbon 

electricity. 

In South Africa, Sasol refines 

imported crude oil and 

retail liquid fuels through its 

network of some 400 service 

stations and supply gas to 

industrial customers. It also 

supplies fuels to other licensed 

wholesalers in the region. 

South Africa is part of the 

Southern African Power Pool 

(SAPP), created to supply 

consumers from SAPP member 

states with reliable and 


86

economical electricity. The 

SAPP allows the free trading 

of electricity between SADC 

members, providing South 

Africa with access to the vast 

hydropower potential in the 

countries to the north, notably 

the significant potential in the 

Congo River (Inga Falls). 

South Africa is a coal-rich 

country, and 13 of its 21 power 

stations are coal-fired. The 

Koeberg nuclear power statio, 

near Cape Town, generates 6% 

of South Africa’s electricity. 

Sites for new nuclear plants 

are being investigated. South 

Africa’s installed electricitygeneration 

capacity of around 

44 000MW places it well ahead 

of any other African country, 

but with the demand around 

37 000MW, the reserve margin 

is very small. The country 

has plans to add 50GW to the 

grid by 2030 to help drive economic 

growth. A lot of attention 

is being paid to the renewable 

energy sector, and government 

blueprints for the future 

of power generation in South 

Africa allocate specific targets 

for each sector. A figure of 

17 000MW in renewable energy 

by 2030 has been set, with a 

three-year target of 3 750MW. 

The Industrial Development 

Corporation (IDC) plans to 

spend R25-billion on green 

projects by 2017. Its green 

efficiency fund is putting up 

R5.2-billion to finance 12 

independent power-producer 

projects: six photovoltaic, four 

wind and two concentrated 

solar power (CSP). Established 

mining and construction houses 

OVERVIEW 

in South Africa are increasingly looking to create their own power. 

Construction giant Group Five, is setting up a 150MW solar plant 

in the Northern Cape, with the possibility that the plant could be 

upgraded to 450MW capacity. The Northern Cape is home to several 

large iron ore and manganese mines that need lots of electricity. 

South African energy manufacturers are also building a reputation 

for exporting their machinery and services. Cummins South 

Africa supplied and installed generators that provided 7MW of 

capacity to the Madagascar government to prevent blackouts 

during the overlap of their harvest time and the Christmas period 

at the end of 2014. 

International renewables companies are looking for South 

African partners. In March 2014, government gave the go-ahead 

for shale gas exploration in the southern Karoo and elsewhere. 

South Africa has very limited oil reserves. About 60% of its crude 

oil requirements are met by imports from the Middle East and Africa. 

The country produces about 5% of its fuel needs from gas, about 

35% from coal and about 50% from local crude oil refineries. About 

10% is imported from refineries elsewhere in the world. Biofuels 

are expected to reduce the country’s reliance on imported fuel. 

The biofuels industry in South Africa, the continent’s biggest 

agricultural producer, has been held back by an inadequate regulatory 

regime and concerns that biofuels would hurt food security 

and affect food prices. 

Spanish company Abengoa, in partnership with IDC and community 

trusts in Upington and Pofadder, is building Khi Solar One, 

a 50 MW solar tower plant near Upington, and KaXu Solar One, 

a 100 MW parabolic trough solar plant near Pofadder. The two 

power stations are expected to leverage investment of over R10 

billion and generate almost 500 GWh clean solar electricity a year. 

The two plants will reduce South Africa’s carbon-dioxide emissions 

by about 498 000 tons a year, and create from 1 400 to 2 000 

construction jobs and about 70 permanent operation jobs, as well 

as numerous indirect jobs. 

DCD Wind Towers, the COEGA IDZ wind turbine manufacturing 

facility, is well on its way to being completed. The project, expected 

to boost South Africa’s wind power competitivity immeasurably, is 

a joint initiative between the DCD Group, the IDC and the Coega 

Development Corporation. 


Large companies are taking an interest in cleaner energy. 

• DCD Wind Towers is nearing completion 

• Shale gas exploration is on the horizon 

• South Africa is looking for a nuclear power partner 


INTERVIEW 

Cummins South Africa 

Cummins South Africa distribute power generation systems, 

components and services covering standby, prime and 

auxillary power. 

What does the future hold for energy and power? 

The opportunities are extremely good in terms of standby emergency 

power. These scheduled downtimes will add to the strain 

on the grid, especially when you factor the fact that the demand 

for power will increase, even though the GDP growth of South 

Africa (which is currently around 1.3%) remains low. 

Schuyla Goodson Bell 

What are the main challenges faced locally? 

Planned maintenance and upgrades to distributed power and 

transmissions remains a challenge for us socially and economically. 

This will pose a problem for the foreseeable future for consumers 

who rely on generated power, both for local government and at 

municipal level. The opportunities presented will be in the form of 

solar power and solar / hybrid diesel power. The latter has shown 

an increase in demand over the last seven years. These projects 

exist both mining, commercial and large domestic applications. 

How has industry reacted to the crisis? 

The demand for diesel-powered generator plants for industry 

giants has increased greatly in the light of our recent loadshedding 

problems. This is going to continue as businesses plan ahead for 

future periods of loadshedding, in particular during winter. There is 

great potential for solar, solar / diesel hybrids, wind power as well 

as a diesel generator back-up power for industry (all segments), 

including large- and small-scale solutions. 

BIOGRAPHY 

Schuyla Goodson Bell is the 

Managing Director of Cummins 

Southern Africa. A lawyer by 

vocation, Schuyla has spent 

several years both in the US 

and in South Africa practicing 

law. A shift-change came in 

2010 when Goodson Bell left a 

huge multi-national, where she 

headed up the Legal Counsel, to 

take up a position in Cummins 

Africa. 

How exportable are your services and generators? 

We are very proud of the execution and quick turn-around time 

we achieved on several key projects. In December 2014 we also 

achieved a quick turnaround time on a cross-border project in 

Madagascar, where the government had feared possible blackouts 

due to the overlap of harvest time with Christmas holidays. We 

supplied them with six C1250 D2R PowerBox generator sets, 

totaling 7 megawatts (MW) of continuous power operating at sea 

level. This was an incredibly tricky logistical exercise, including 

tough weather conditions, modifi cations and a shortened timeline. 

The generators also needed to travel by air so, to reduce the risk 

of leakage or sparks during the fl ight, we had to drain the fl uids, 

disconnect the batteries and pack these 16-ton generator sets in 

special containers. 


88

www.cummins.com 

www.cummins.com 

www.cummins.com

OVERVIEW 

Manufacturing 

Increasing manufacturing capacity is a national priority. 

South Africa has a sophisticated and varied manufacturing 

sector. Growth since 1994 has been led by the automotive 

sector, followed by resource-based manufacturing 

(Quantec). The latter sector includes steel, aluminium, 

petrochemicals, paper and pulp and non-metallic minerals. 

Among other important sectors are metals beneficiation (more 

than 50% of the world’s ferrochrome is produced in South Africa), 

coke and refined petroleum products, paper and paper products, 

and information and communication technology. Steel and petroleum 

collectively make up about 45% of South Africa’s total 

manufacturing production capacity. 

According to Stats SA, manufacturing production increased by 

5.6% year-on-year in July 2015, driven mostly by a 39.6% yearon-year 

production rise in the automotive industry and a 17.4% 

year-on-year rise in the metals and machinery industry. These 

increases do not necessarily indicate high levels of production, 

but are largely a result of what economists term the “base effect”. 

The base effect describes the impact that abnormally high or low 

levels (in this case, levels of production) in a base month have 

on percentage change figures 

when compared with the most 

recent month. 

A base effect for output in 

the metals and machinery industry 

was also evident in July 

2015 due to industrial action 

by NUMSA in 2014. Output 

slumped in July 2014, with a 

production index of 87.0, the 

lowest monthly production 

level on record (series starting 

in January 1998). 

The manufacturing sector 

accounts for approximately 

15% of GDP. The sector employs 

the third most people, 

about 1.7-million, after financial 

services and retail. 

Three of South Africa’s most 


90

important manufacturing sectors 

(automotive, food and 

beverages and chemicals) are 

dealt with in separate sections 

of this book. 

The latest component of 

national government’s master 

plan to attract investors to 

South Africa was unveiled in 

2012 when the Department 

of Trade and Industry (dti) 

launched the Competitiveness 

Enhancement Programme. 

This programme targets 

medium-sized manufacturers 

and includes a cost-sharing 

grant of between 30% and 

50% for investments up to 

R50-million and up to 80% on 

specific projects. 

South Africa aims to diversify 

its economy away from an 

over-reliance on the primary 

sector (mining and agriculture) 

towards a more varied economy 

in which increased capacity 

OVERVIEW 

in existing manufacturing sectors is coupled to the growth of 

wholly new areas such as alternative energy, biofuels and digital 

television. 

A key government initiative in this regard is the Industrial Policy 

Action Plan (IPAP) 2015/2016. Launched in May 2015, IPAP rests 

on the following pillars: 

Infrastructure-driven industrialisation to “ensure that the very 

substantial build programme supports local industrial development”, 

said Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies at the 

launch. He added that resource-driven industrialisation “aimed 

at leveraging the mineral resources endowment to support higher 

levels of downstream beneficiation and value addition, whilst 

systematically building up both the demand and competitive 

advantages South Africa enjoys in the upstream mining, transport 

and capital goods sectors. Advanced manufacturing-driven 

industrialisation in order to build an integrated system of industrial 

financing, incentives and export support—with a special focus 

on lead and dynamic companies that can compete effectively in 

export markets—encompasses a strong commitment to support 

emerging black industrial entrepreneurs.” 

Procurement, focused “on strengthening the localisation of 

public procurement, building on the lessons learnt through the implementation 

of various policy instruments over the past few years” 

Regional economic integration centred “on maximising the 

opportunities presented to the domestic economy by a growing 

market on the African continent, driven by high growth in the 

region, strong consumer demand, infrastructure development 

and resource exploitation.” 

IPAP 2015 designates 16 sectors, subsectors and products for 

local procurement, with the following added this year: transformers, 

power-line hardware and structures, steel conveyance pipes, 

mining and construction vehicles and building and construction. 

The Support Programme for Industrial Innovation (SPII), run 

by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) on behalf of the 

dti, promotes technology development in South African industry. 

SPII comprises three programmes: the Product Process 

Development, Matching schemes and Partnership schemes. 

The type of funding made available depends on the project size. 

In August 2014, The Department of Trade and Industry (the 

dti) launched the Black Industrialists Programme with the aim of 

creating 100 black industrialists over the next 3 years. The programme 

aims to support increased productive capacity, broaden 

black participation, achieve greater economic growth and employment 

in the manufacturing sector as espoused by the National 

Industrial Policy Framework (NIPF) utilising amongst others, Local 

(and Preferential) Procurement as a key lever to drive inclusive 

industrialisation. 


OVERVIEW 

Automotive 

International investors are eyeing the South African automotive industry. 

A 

recent PwC global automotive survey revealed that South the localisation of components,” 

Africa’s automotive CEOs are faced with similar issues to concludes Minie. 

their global counterparts. Most see Government response 

to the fiscal deficit and debt burden, social instability and 

high employment as impeding business growth. 

Foreign investment 

Automotive CEOs know they need to keep up pace with technology. 

This year they are placing particular emphasis on data mining and 

analysis (83%), mobile technologies for engaging with customers 

(77%) and tools for boosting cybersecurity (77%). They are also attaching 

more importance to new battery and power technologies 

than CEOs in other sectors (68% versus 47%.) 

What is more, automotive CEOs are actively exploring the potential 

of robotics (53% versus 37%.) At the same time, the pace of 

technological change is increasing cause for concern: 55% are now 

worried about keeping abreast of new technologies, as opposed 

to 49% last year. 

The South African vehicle and automotive component manufacturing 

industry, including exports, constituted 30.2% of total 

manufacturing output and 7.2% of GDP in 2014. “South Africa is 

a production hub for the global automotive industry and therefore 

trade relations are important,” says Kobus Minie, PwC Automotive 

Industry Leader for Southern Africa. 

South Africa’s most important automotive trading partners are 

the EU, North American and certain African countries. Total South 

African vehicle and component exports are worth about R115.7bn 

to 148 countries in 2014. 

In 2015, local sales have been limited by interest hike rates, subdued 

consumer confidence, decelerating economic growth, household 

income under pressure and the weakening Rand. As consumer 

buying power declines, so new vehicle sales are likely to slow. 

The converse is an increase in the popularity of vehicle leasing: 

consumers’ spending remains constrained by the difficult economic 

climate and high debt levels, making leasing a definite option. 

Several well-known premium and volume automotive manufacturers 

with a significant manufacturing base in South Africa produce 

vehicles for the local market and the rest of the world. These OEMs 

are capable of producing more than 800 000 light and commercial 

vehicles annually. 

Opportunities about for giant automakers and suppliers who 

have already started making inroads in Africa. “There is definitely 

a huge opportunity for South African manufacturers to increase 

Chinese automotive manufacturer 

First Automotive Works 

(FAW), recently launched its 

R600m assembly plant in Zone 

2 of the Coega Development 

Corporation’s (CDC) Industrial 

Development Zone (IDZ.) It is one 

of the biggest manufacturing investments 

by a Chinese entity in 

the country to date, with tangible 

spin-offs. 

Speaking at the launch, 

President Zuma said, “The investment 

of R600m into the economy 

will create much needed jobs and 

promote an improvement in the 

lives of many people in this area. 

“This investment also augurs 

well for South Africa’s position 

within the global automotive 

manufacturing network and 

proves once again that we have 

an attractive operating environment 

to host global multinational 

companies.” 

In particular, it has created 

the The implications are important: 

the creation of Chinese 

investor confidence in South 

Africa has inspired further 

Chinese investments in the 

country. Chinese manufacturers 

Powerway Engineering (R127m) 

and Powerway Photo Voltaic 

(R666.6m) have confirmed their 

investments in the IDZ , bringing 


92

the total sum of Chinese investment 

in the IDZ to R1.394bn. 

The Volkswagen Group South 

Africa recently announced plans 

to invest more than 4.5-billion 

rand ($344-million) to build new 

models in South Africa for local 

and export markets as part of its 

next phase of investments, as 

reported by TimesLive. 

Imperial Holdings, whose 

business has been hit hard by deteriorating 

rand values, is mulling 

the establishment of a Hyundai 

passenger car manufacturing 

plant in South Africa, according 

to IndependentOnline. 

“Exports will again play a key 

role in our strategy going forward,” 

said VWSA managing director 

Thomas Schaefer at a South 

African press conference. 

Volkswagen South Africa 

continues to dominate the passenger 

market in 2015 with a 

year-to-date market share of 21.4 

percent. 

OVERVIEW 

“Ongoing investment in new technologies and products will ensure 

that Volkswagen is positioned to continue to be the dominant 

player in the South African passenger market‚” Schaefer said. 

The $344-million Volkswagen investment will comprise $229-million 

in production facilities‚ $114.7-million in local supplier capacity and 

an estimated $1.68-million in employee training and development, 

TimesLive reports. 

“South Africa is not a logical production location for the motor industry 

as only 0.6 percent of the world’s vehicle production is situated 

here‚” Schaefer said. 

“However due to the strategic location and the potential of Africa 

as a future market for exports‚ as well as the security that the APDP 

(Automotive Production and Development Programme) provides for 

investors‚ ongoing investments in our vehicle manufacturing base 

makes sense. Hence the decision by our parent company to allow 

us to embark on such a major new investment.” 

South Africa’s Automotive Production and Development 

Programme aims to stimulate growth in the South African auto 

vehicle production industry, according to the Global Alliance of 

SMEs. 


• FAW invests in R600m assembly plant 

• VWSA to invest more than R4.5 bn 

• Imperial Holdings is considering building new plant 


OVERVIEW 

Automotive components 

Incubation parks are promoting start-ups in the components sector. 

Several provinces are making an effort to support existing 

businesses and promote new ventures in the 

automotive-components sector. 

The provincial government of North West and the Automotive 

Industry Development Cluster (AIDC) combined to help wireharness 

manufacturer Pasdec Automotive Technologies open a 

new assembly line in Brits. 

Other big companies in the North West are Bosch, Bridgestone 

and Giflo Engineering. 

In Gauteng, the AIDC teamed up with government agencies 

and Ford and Nissan to establish incubation parks to encourage 

more black businesses to enter the sector. Automotive parts made 

in South Africa are exported to more than 70 countries including 

Japan, Australia, the UK, the US, Algeria, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. 

The large number of vehicle models produced is a complicating 

factor for the components sector: low volumes often mean high 

prices. Two Port Elizabeth companies were highlighted. Schaeffler 

SA exports much of its production to its international parent so 

that it can achieve higher volumes. Shatterprufe supplies the 

majority of windscreens to the South African marketbut there are 

12 model ranges to serve. 

The success of South African catalytic converters has been 

spectacular. From a start-up industry in the mid-1990s, the sector 

now supplies 14% of the world market and is worth at least 

R18-billion. 

Economic transformation 

The Automotive Incubation 

Centre, launched on 25 March 

2015 at Nissan in the Tshwane 

suburb of Rosslyn, is expected 

to radically transform the economy. 

The centre, the second in 

South Africa, is aimed at establishing 

and nurturing small- and 

medium-sized enterprises that 

can supply components to 

Nissan South Africa’s production 

line, while they receive training 

on meeting international standards 

for automotive parts and 

components. 

Only 35% of the components 

and parts used to make vehicles 

in South Africa are produced locally; 

the balance is imported. 

Gauteng’s car makers spend 

nearly R8- billion a year on imports 

for automotive parts, components 

and accessories. 

The first Automotive 

Incubation Centre was launched 

in 2011 at Ford Motor Company 

of Southern Africa’s manufacturing 

plant in Silverton, also in 

Tshwane. 

The incubation centre was 

established by the Automotive 

Industry Development Centre 

(AIDC), which is a subsidiary 

of the Gauteng Growth and 

Development Agency (GGDA), 

which itself is a unit of the 

Gauteng department of economic 

development. 


94

Food and beverages 

The sector employs nearly a quarter-of-a-million people. 

OVERVIEW 

The food and beverages sector is one of the most important 

components of South Africa’s manufacturing sector. 

Beverages account for just over 4% of all manufacturing 

sales while food is responsible for 13.5%. Within the sector, 

beverages accounts for 24% of sales. According to the FoodBev 

SETA, the sector is responsible for 17% of gross value added in 

the manufacturing sector and employs 230 000 people. 

South Africa’s production of food and beverages has been rising 

steadily since 1990. 

The Centre of Excellence in Advanced Manufacturing at North 

West University strongly believes that extrusion technology (in which 

it is an expert) holds the answer to the establishment of small to 

medium-sized processing plants on farms or in rural areas. One quarter 

of the 37% of national GDP that is generated by agri-industries 

derives from agri-processing. 

Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are the leading 

provinces with respect to food and beverages manufacturing. About 

half of the companies operating in the sector are in Gauteng. 

Capespan and DoleSA are among the biggest exporters of fruit 

from the Cape. 

In KwaZulu-Natal, the food subsector makes up the biggest part 

of the manufacturing sector (84%). Tongaat Hulett makes treacles, 

caramels and related products for the food, baking and confectionary 

trade. 

Granor Passi processes 220 000 tons of fruit, one of Limpopo’s 

biggest food and beverages enterprises. Limpopo is also home to 

giant producer, Westfalia, which runs three large processing plants. 

Enterprise Foods has an emulsions and canning plant in Polokwane. 

The central and eastern parts of Limpopo, especially around 

Tzaneen, are well-suited to tea cultivation, and demand for rooibos 

tea is on the increase. The marula fruit and the mopani worm are 

synonymous with Limpopo. 

Frost & Sullivan values the South African retail chocolate market at 

R5-billion with an expected growth rate of 10% per year for the next 

five years. Cadbury, Nestlé and Beacon account for 85% of sales. 

South Africa has mature fast-food and family-restaurant franchise 

sectors, ranging from indigenous brand Spur and Nandos to 

international giants such as KFC, McDonald’s and now Burger King. 

Nando’s, the Portuguese-chicken chain, has done very well internationally, 

and is a phenomenon in Britain. Wimpy is the second 

largest-franchise operation in SA 

(after KFC). 

South Africa is a beneficiary 

of the US African Growth and 

Opportunity Act (AGOA) and 

risks losing duty-free access 

for exports to the U.S. worth 

as much as $1.7 billion a year. 

The U.S. is reviewing South 

Africa’s status as a full beneficiary. 

AGOA, which eliminates 

import levies on more than 7000 

products ranging from textiles 

to manufactured items, was 

renewed in June for another 10 

years, benefiting 39 African nations. 

Now American chicken 

and cattle farmers want South 

Africa’s government to remove 

trade restrictions imposed to 

protect the local industry from a 

flood of cheaper imports. While 

Trade and Industry Minister Rob 

Davies said on Sept. 29 that 

South Africa had done all it can 

to retain access to AGOA, the 

U.S. government cites major 

unresolved issues. 

“South Africa needs to take 

concrete steps towards eliminating 

barriers to U.S. trade and 

investment, a key criterion to be 

eligible for AGOA trade benefits,” 

Trevor Kincaid, a spokesman 

for the office of the U.S. Trade 

Representative in Washington, 

said in an e-mailed response to 

questions posed by The Nation. 

“Ultimately, South Africa’s AGOA 

eligibility is in South Africa’s 

hands.” 


OVERVIEW 

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals 

Sasol and Aspen are world leaders in their fields. 

The coal-to-oil plant at Sasol in the northern Free State 

was established in the 1960s and its success led to the 

development of many related chemical and fertiliser production 

facilities. Sasol One, the Sasolburg plant, now 

produces chemicals while Sasol’s two other plants in Mpumalanga 

make fuel. 

The chemical industry as a whole contributes 5% to national gross 

domestic product. About 60% of earnings are derived from exports. 

The newest investment by Sasol in the Free State town will be 

a new ethylene purification unit at Sasol Polymers plant at a cost 

of R1.9-billion. At full capacity, the plant will produce 48 000 tons 

per year. 

Omnia and Kynoch (fertiliser), Karbochem (rubber and carbochemical), 

Safripol (plastics) and Afrox are among the other major 

companies operating out of Sasolburg. Omnia’s R1.4-billion nitric 

acid plant was inaugurated in May 2012, increasing the group’s 

capacity in this commodity by 40%. 

ChemCity is a 100% owned subsidiary of Sasol Chemical 

Industries. The focus is on fine and specialised-chemical and related 

sectors of the chemical industry. It acts as an incubator for black 

empowerment and small business development. Access is provided 

to infrastructure, utilities and a broad range of professional services. 

At the Sasol complex in Secunda (Mpumalanga), a range of 

products for fertilisers, explosives and polymers is manufactured. 

Sasol Solvents operates 12 plants. The by-products of the sugar 

and forestry processing plants of KwaZulu-Natal benefit the chemicals 

sector. Illovo Sugar manufactures downstream products such 

furfural, furfuryl, alcohol, diacetyl and ethyl alcohol. 

AECI is one of South Africa’s biggest groups in the sector. The 

two principal divisions are AEL Mining Services (with a large factory 

site at Modderfontein near Johannesburg) and Chemical Services, 

which has 20 separate companies. 

Sasol Chemical Industries makes about 60% of South Africa’s 

polypropylene. Safripol, which is also based in Sasolburg, is South 

Africa’s only other producer. More than half of Sasol’s production of 

625 000 tons is exported. 

Foskor is the country’s only vertically integrated phosphates producer. 

It has a mining operation in Limpopo province (at Phalaborwa) 

from which it sends raw materials to its acids division in Richards Bay 

in KwaZulu-Natal. Sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid and phosphatebased 

granular fertilisers are manufactured there. 

The Chemical and Allied 

Industries Association (CAIA) 

has 162 member companies. 

CAIA works to improve efficiency, 

productivity and competitiveness 

in the chemical sector. This 

includes looking at how South 

Africa can start producing higher-value 

chemicals and how the 

country can improve its export 

profile. Another area of research 

is how to turn mineral feedstock 

into useful inorganic chemicals. 

Pharmaceuticals 

Pharmaceuticals are manufactured 

primarily in Gauteng and 

the Eastern Cape. Although 

there are more than 200 pharmaceutical 

firms in the country, 

large companies tend to dominate 

the field. Aspen Pharmacare 

(with about 34% of the market), 

Adcock Ingram (25%) and Cipla 

Medpro are among the biggest 

companies. 

Aspen SA, Africa’s biggest 

manufacturer of generic drugs, 

has manufacturing capacity in 

the Eastern Cape and Gauteng. 

The Port Elizabeth facility produces 

about 10 billion tablets per 

year. The company has a market 

capitalisation of R80-billion and 

successful operations in South 

America and Australia. 

British firm GlaxoSmithKline 

is a 19% shareholder in Aspen. 

The group headquarters of 

Aspen are located in La Lucia 

Ridge, north of Durban. 


96

Engineering 

Transnet’s R300-billion spending plan is boosting the sector. 

OVERVIEW 

South Africa has several companies that offer a wide range 

of engineering disciplines and are active internationally. 

National Government’s ambitious infrastructure plans are 

sure to provide a lot of work in the sector, despite concerns 

about delays. 

Transnet is set to spend R300-billion across its several divisions, 

all of which will call on the skills of Transnet Engineering (TE). 

By way of example, TE is building 90 new locomotives at its 

Koedoespoort facility in Pretoria. TE’s new business unit, Port 

Equipment Maintenance, is a signal of the company’s wider focus. 

There are 13 000 TE employees at 132 depots and six factories 

around South Africa. 

There has been considerable interest in the South African engineering 

sector from foreign companies. The largest vertically integrated 

companies are able to cope with large and complex projects. 

These include Murray & Roberts, WBHO, WSP Group Africa, Group 

Five, Grinaker-LTA, Basil Read and Stefanutti Stocks. 

WBHO and Murray & Roberts are among local companies pursuing 

foreign projects. Business Report announced that Aveng 

Engineering’s mining subsidiary, Aveng Moolmans, concluded a 

five-year extension of its contract in the Northern Cape withTshipi 

Borwa open-pit manganese mine. The second cycle contract extension, 

which was effective from 1 September 2015, was obtained 

following an open tender process. Aveng Mining managing director 

Stuart White, said that Aveng Moolmans was delighted to continue 

its working relationship at the Tshipi Borwa project. 

Growth sectors include energy (with two massive new power 

plants under construction), water (large dams and supply infrastructure) 

and public housing. Basil Read is building a R1.8-billion 

housing project north-west of Johannesburg, 

Malibongwe Ridge. 

Transnet Pipelines recently completed 

and operates a 3 800km network of underground, 

high-pressure petroleum and gas 

pipelines throughout the eastern parts of 

South Africa, as well as the infrastructure 

and property associated with them. This astounding 

network of underground pipelines 

includes the refined product network, crude 

oil, Avtur (jet) and gas. The infrastructure 

includes five intake points, 13 delivery stations, 

workshops, maintenance 

depots and 23 pump stations, 

all of which are positioned along 

the routes. One impressive feature 

of the network is the tank 

farm at Tarlton, a storage and 

distribution facility that has a capacity 

of approximately 30 million 

litres. This facility is mainly 

used for cross-border deliveries 

in Botswana, but it also features 

a refractionator which is used to 

process intermixture in order to 

optimise operations and adhere 

to stringent fuel specifications. 

Petroleum products are 

transported for a number of major 

clients inlcuding BP, Chevron, 

Engen, Sasol, Shell and Total. 

Transnet Pipelines also facilitates 

new entrants into the 

pipeline network, including Vuyo, 

PetroSA, Afric Oil and Khulaco. 

In addition, methane rich gas 

produced by Sasol is also 

transported from Secunda in 

Mpumalanga to KwaZulu-Natal, 

where it is used by industries as 

an alternative energy source. 


OVERVIEW 

Healthcare 

South Africa’s healthcare industry has a colourful history, with firsts ranging from the first 

heart transplant to the first successful penile transplant. Groote Schuur Hospital, located 

on the slopes of Table Mountain, is recognised as one of the best teaching hospitals. 

South Africa offers a full range of health 

care from the most basic primary 

health care through to highly specialised, 

hi-tech health services available 

in both the public and private sector. The state 

contributes about 40% of all expenditure on 

health but the public health sector has to deliver 

services to about 80% of the population. 

The private sector is highly commercial and serves 

middle- and high-income earners who are usually 

on medical schemes. Within this inequitable and 

largely inaccessible two-tier system, public sector 

institutions in the public sector have suffered poor 

management, underfunding and deteriorating 

infrastructure. Access may have improved but 

the quality of health care has fallen. Public health 

challenges include dealing with diseases such as 

HIV and tuberculosis (TB) together with a shortage 

of key medical personnel. 

In response, the South African government 

has developed a far-reaching reform plan to revitalise 

and restructure the South African health 

care system, including: 

• Fast-tracking a National Health Insurance 

scheme for all South Africans. 

• Reinforcing the struggle against HIV and 

TB, non-communicable diseases, as well 

as injury and violence. 

• Improving human-resource management 

at state hospitals. 

• Strengthening co-ordination between the 

public and private sectors. 

• Allocating ‘health teams’ to communities 

and schools. 

• Regulating costs to make health care universally 

affordable 

Expenditure 

The bulk of health-sector funding comes from 

South Africa’s National Treasury. The health 

budget for 2014/2015 was R144.6-billion, mostly 

to improve hospitals and strengthen public health. 

According to the National Treasury’s Fiscal 

Review for 2015, the Medium Term Expenditure 

Framework (MTEF) supports a long and healthy 

life for all South Africans. Considerable progress 

has been made in this area in recent years, with 

declining infant mortality rates and rising life 

expectancy at birth. 

The consolidated health budget is projected 

to grow by 7.1% over the MTEF period, reaching 

nearly R178-billion by 2017/18. 

In the 2014 Budget, government allocated 

R200-million per year for the human papilloma 

virus vaccination programme. Targets in this programme, 

which aims to reduce the incidence 

of cervical cancer, have been exceeded: 82% 

of eligible Grade 4 schoolgirls were vaccinated 

against a fi rst-year target of 80%. 


98

OVERVIEW 

R1.2-billion has been added to the HIV and AIDS conditional 

grant in 2017/18 to expand access to the antiretroviral medication 

programme. Efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission of 

HIV continue to yield success, with the transmission rate having 

declined to only 2% in 2013/14 from 20% in 2003. 

In 2015/16, the Offi ce of Health Standards Compliance will be 

listed as a public entity responsible for inspecting and accrediting 

all public and private health facilities. An amount of R85.2-million 

has been reprioritised from the national health grant: health facility 

revitalisation component, to strengthen the capacity of the offi ce, 

which conducted inspections at 583 public establishments, 15 per 

cent of the total number, in 2013/14. 

In line with the National Health Amendment Act (2013), government 

is shifting R380.4-million from provinces to the national 

Department of Health to centralise management of disease control 

at South African ports. 

A new funding model for National Health Laboratory Service will 

be instituted in 2015/16. The National Institute of Communicable 

Diseases, the National Institute for Occupational Health, and the 

teaching and research functions will henceforth be funded directly 

through a transfer from the national department. Currently they are 

cross-subsidised by the laboratory test fees paid by provinces to 

the National Health Laboratory Service. 

Streamlining of operations will reduce forensic testing backlogs. 

National health insurance (NHI) programme spending has been 

lower than anticipated over the past two years, partly due to diffi 

culties in contracting general practitioners. Over the three-year 

spending period, the focus of the indirect national health grant 

NHI component will expand to include piloting the contracting of 

allied and other health care professionals. 

Hundreds of NGOs make an essential contribution to HIV, Aids 

and TB, mental health, cancer, disability and the development of 

public health systems. South Africa has some 4 200 public health 

facilities in South Africa, 13 718 people per clinic. Since 1994, more 

than 1 600 clinics have been built or upgraded. Free health care 

for children under six and for pregnant or breastfeeding mothers 

was introduced in the mid-1990s. The National Health Laboratory 

Service is the largest pathology service in South Africa. It has 265 

laboratories, serving 80% of South Africans. The labs provide 

diagnostic services as well as health-related research. 

In 2015, 41 132 qualifi ed health practitioners in both public and 

private sectors were registered with the Health Professions Council 

of South Africa. The doctor-to-population ratio is estimated to be 

0.77 per 1 000. Most GPs – 73% – work in the private sector, so 

there is just one practising doctor for every 4 219 people. An estimated 

80% of South Africans consult traditional healers alongside 

general medical practitioners. The Medical Research Council 

(MRC) founded a traditional 

medicines research unit in 1997 

to introduce modern research 

methodologies around the use 

of traditional medicines and 

develop a series of patents for 

promising new entities derived 

from medicinal plants. 

The historically determined 

ownership pattern of the private 

healthcare system is undergoing 

transformation, with 

more and more previously 

disadvantaged players coming 

onstream. A prime example 

is Phodiso Holdings Limited, 

a leading black investment 

company steering the African 

healthcare industry in Africa. 

The second largest shareholder 

in the Medi-Clinic Group with 

a R3-billion investment, the 

company was established by a 

group of 68 healthcare professionals 

and business people, 

with a joint vision and passion 

to bring healthcare to the people. 

Phodiso strive to remain 

abreast of the latest technology, 

proven business models and 

secured strategic partners and 

alliances to grow and maintain 

their enviable reputation. 

The company is now also 

expanding into Africa. In South 

Africa, the Phodiso Group has 

acquired Presta (100%) as well 

as Orthomed (90%). Presta 

is a manufacturer and supplier 

of disability products and 

wheelchairs, while Orthomed 

is a producer and supplier of 

Orthotic and Prosthetic products. 

Orthomed offers a strategic 

market advantage as they 

are the only such manufacturer 

in South Africa. 


OVERVIEW 

Water 

Severe water restrictions are a possibility for the future. 

2015 has been the hottest, driest year in decades, with 

the situation only projected to worsen. Consequently 

water has to treated as a precious resource and effective 

water management policies are absolutely essential 

government, private enterprise and citizens alike. In 2012, water 

expert Dr Anthony Turton quoted the following sobering statistics: 

“There are three numbers that we need to think about: 48-billion 

cubic metres, which is the total rainfall for the country every year, 

38-billion cubic metres, which is the total amount of water available 

in our dams 63-billion cubic metres which is what our water 

demand will be by 2035. To solve this the country would have to 

recycle all its water 1.6 times.” 

In the 1950s, the Orange River Project delivered water from the 

Orange River to citrus farmers in the far-away Eastern Cape. In 

a water-scarce country such as South Africa, this kind of transfer 

scheme is the norm. 

The country has several good river systems but they are not 

in exactly the right places. So 80% of Gauteng Province’s water 

is imported, mostly from the Vaal River, which is supplemented 

by complex transfers from the Thukela River and the Lesotho 

Highlands Water Project. 

The Vaal basin, which serves the most populated and industrialised 

part of the country including Johannesburg, receives water 

from seven inter-basin transfer schemes. The second phase of 

the giant Lesotho Highlands Water Project is scheduled to start 

delivering water in 2019. 

Purification, desalination, 

water-leakage management 

and waste-water treatment 

are some of the issues facing 

South Africans, and experienced 

international companies 

are showing an interest in the 

country. American companies 

with a presence in South Africa 

are the Hach Corporation, 

Harvard Corporation, Nalco 

and the Adel Wiggins Group. 

The National Department of 

Water Affairs says South Africa 

needs to spend R573-billion 

on water infrastructure and demand 

management in the years 

to 2022. 

“Water will definitely be 

at a premium over the next 

few months,” said Sputnik 

Ratau, a spokesperson for the 

Department of Water Affairs. 

“The balance of probability 

suggests that we can anticipate 

a severe drought in the near 

future,” Turton said in an email. 


100

OVERVIEW 

country, covering about 44 000 hectares with a variety of crops. 

The Vaal Dam and the Bloemhof Dam are important sources of 

controlled water from the Vaal River. In the south of the province, 

the Welbedacht Dam delivers water to the main metropolitan area 

of Mangaung, including Bloemfontein, while a system of canals 

connects the Vanderkloof Dam on the Orange River with the Riet 

and Modder river systems. The Vanderkloof Dam controls water 

flow and allows for better farming along the banks of the river, 

and the Gariep Dam has hydroelectric capacity. 

An inter-basin transfer scheme takes 40-million cubic metres 

per annum from the Caledon River basin and sends it to the 

Modder River basin for industrial and domestic use. 

“Water restrictions are likely to 

be imposed. South Africa is a 

water-scarce country and we 

encourage people to conserve 

water as much as possible,” 

Ratau said. “The less prudent 

we are with water, the higher the 

risk of shortages this year.” 

Existing systems 

South Africa’s most central province, 

the Free State, is bound 

on all sides by water, the Vaal 

River to the north and west, 

the Orange River to the south 

and the mountainous, river-rich 

kingdom of Lesotho to the east. 

The Gariep Dam on the southern 

edge of the province is South 

Africa’s biggest dam. 

The agricultural sector benefits 

through irrigation from the 

flow of the Vaal River. The Vaal- 

Harts irrigation system is one 

of the most productive in the 

New schemes 

Recent transfer projects include the Western Aqueduct project 

(valued at R864-million) and the associated Northern Aqueduct 

Augmentation Project, (Durban, Umgeni Water) and the Mokolo 

Crocodile Augmentation Project, which is designed to supply 

water to Medupi, the new power station at Lephalale in Limpopo 

Province. A pump station and a 45km pipeline between the 

site of the power station and the Mokolo Dam is being built by 

the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority, the body mandated by the 

National Department of Water Affairs to fund and implement bulk 

water infrastructure. 

The TCTA has also overseen progress on the Komati Water 

Supply Augmentation Project, the raising of the wall of the 

Clanwilliam Dam and the Groot Letaba River Water Development 

Project. The Mooi-Mgeni Transfer Scheme will provide an extra 

60-million m? per year in KwaZulu-Natal. The Eastern Cape’s 

R20-billion Uzimvubu Dam project will provide much-needed 

water and hydroelectric power. 

The country has recently invested in three major water projects. 

The Berg River Water Project supplies water to the Cape metropole. 

Inaugurated in March 2009, the project took 14 years from 

conception to completion. 

The latest mega-project is the Olifants River Water Resources 

Development Project (ORWRDP) which will supply water to more 

than a million people living on the Nebo Plateau and Mokopane, 

Polokwane and Lebowakgomo. The construction of the De Hoop 

Dam is a major component of the masterplan. The total cost of 

the project is estimated at R20-billion. 

The De Hoop Dam wall will be 85 metres high and contain 

around 1.1-million m 2 of concrete that will be compacted down 

to 700 000m 2 . Cement for the project is being supplied by PPC 

from its facilities in Limpopo (Dwaalboom) and Pretoria. 


OVERVIEW 

Improving quality 

The introduction by the National Department of Water Affairs and 

the Water Institute of South Africa (WISA) of the Blue and Green 

Drop Awards has been very successful. Now it is possible to 

track how well the nation’s municipalities are doing in terms of 

clean water provision. 

In order to win a Drop Award (Blue for water quality, Green 

for waste treatment), water systems have to score 95% or higher. 

Many municipalities use water boards such as Umgeni Water, 

Rand Water or Sedibeng Water. In 2012, a total of 931 water 

systems in 153 municipalities were audited. Standards are improving 

every year. The DWA has allocated R4.3-billion to helping 

municipalities deliver water. The Interim Water Supply Programme 

will concentrate on 23 district municipalities. 

The awards are run by WISA with the help of consulting engineering 

group Aecom SA. Aecom, which was previously BKS 

Group, assists municipalities in preparing for the audit and has 

a wide range of capabilities within the water-treatment sector, 

including bulk and reticulation water and sewage pipelines. 

Aecom SA is also involved in another major issue that is affecting 

South African water quality—acid mine drainage. Old mines 

around Johannesburg and in Mpumalanga are leaking acidic 

water and engineers are working on solutions. 

The Rhodes University Institute for Water Research is one of 

several institutions in the country that conducts research into 

water quality. A lot of the institute’s funding comes with projectrelated 

grants from the national Water Research Commission, 

some students receive funding from the Carnegie Foundation and 

Unilever sponsors the Unilever Centre for Environmental Water 

Quality, a unit within the institute. 

The Water Institute of South Africa has 1 800 members from a 

variety of types of organisations active in the water environment. 

WISA does research and keeps its members up-to-date on the 

latest developments in water technology. 

It also runs conferences such as the Sustainable Utilization 

of Water Resources in Developing Countries Conference, held 

in 2013 in Cape Town. As in most areas of life in South Africa, 

environmental standards are set and maintained by the South 

African Bureau of Standards (SABS). The SABS develops and 

promotes South African National Standards (SANS) which can 

be downloaded from the SABS website. 

The Water Chemistry Laboratory of the Council for Scientific 

and Industrial Research (CSIR) tests water samples according 

to the relevant SANS. Water storage is becoming an increasingly 

important issue in South Africa, with many private homes and 

businesses investing in water tanks. The Nedbank Group is in- 

vesting R9-million in the Water 

Balance Programme, designed 

to upgrade the functioning of 

water-catchment areas. 

Some 3.3-million kilolitres 

of water is trapped by alien 

species in the country, which 

is the equivalent of 7% of the 

country’s water run-off. The 

programme is an initiative of 

the World Wildlife Foundation 

SA. The National Cleaner 

Production Centre SA is a CSIR 

project dedicated to improving 

industrial efficiency, including 

reducing water wastage. The 

unit looks for ways to improve 

its services through flow limiters, 

polypropylene water piping, 

ground tanks and semipressure 

water-service levels, 

urine-diversion toilets and anaerobic 

baffled reactors, first 

introduced locally by eThekwini. 

The unit has been involved in 

the Industrial Energy Efficiency 

(IEE) Project through several 

initiatives, including a pumpsystems 

optimisation assessment 

and energy assessments 

at three of its depots in Durban. 

Umbilo Wastewater Treatment 

Works was chosen as the demonstration 

facility for the implementation 

of an environmental 

management system (EnMS). 

In 2014 and 2015 an EnMS 

was implemented at a capital 

investment of less than R1 000. 

This resulted in a total monetary 

saving of R280 000 and an energy 

saving of 287 620kWh per 

annum. GHG emissions were 

reduced by 275 tonnes of CO2. 

The total payback period for 

the investment was less than 

1 month. 


102

PROFILE 

BGCMA 

Situated in the southwestern corner 

of South Africa, the Breede-Gouritz 

Catchment Management Agency 

(BGCMA) plays a pivotal role in protecting, 

developing, conserving, managing and 

controlling water resources. Formerly known 

as the Breede-Overberg Catchment Management 

Agency, the Gouritz region was recently 

incorporated within the mandate. 

The merger came after the former Minister of 

Water Affairs, Edna Molelwa, approved the expansion 

of the boundary and area of operation 

of Breede-Overberg CMA in terms of Section 

78(4) of the National Water Act, 1998 (Act No 36 

of 1998). The area of operation of the Breede- 

Gouritz Catchment Management Agency includes 

the previous Breede-Overberg Water 

Management Area and the Gouritz Catchment. 

“The strategic focus of the agency incorporates 

water resource planning, water use management, 

institutional development, water resource 

protection and water allocation reform,” 

says CEO Phakamani Buthelezi. “The vision 

of the BGCMA, ‘quality water for all, forever’, 

was developed around the question of how the 

BGCMA can make a positive contribution and 

engender meaningful change within a broader 

social context.” 

The main elements of the vision are inclusion 

and participation of all stakeholders, mediation 

between competing environmental and human 

priorities, ensuring availability of good quality 

water and a responsibility to assist in eradicating 

poverty. 

Buthelezi explains that the BGCMA works 

closely with local governments on water management 

and water-related services to ensure 

synergy between the priorities of the Catchment 

Management Agency and the local and district 

municipalities. 

“The BGCMA is the operating arm of the 

DWS and its aim is to bring water resource services 

in an effi cient manner to the inhabitants of 

the Breede-Gouritz Water Management Area,” 

explains Buthelezi. 

“Furthermore, the BGCMA works closely with 

other government departments to ensure compliance 

in all water use practices. The BGCMA 

provides comments on rezoning and consolidations 

to relevant municipalities, and on environmental 

impact studies and basic assessment 

reports in conjunction with the Department of 

Environmental Affairs.” 

The BGCMA is currently busy with the validation 

and verifi cation process where all water 

users will be evaluated for legal compliance. 

This process will assist with the management 

of water allocations in the Breede-Gouritz Water 

Management Area (WMA). 


104

Our Vision is is 

“Quality water for all, forever” 

Our Our Mission Mission is is to to manage manage our our water water resources resources 

responsibly responsibly through through stakeholder stakeholder engagement engagement 

and and to to devolve devolve decision decision making making to to the the lowest lowest 

level level for for the the benefi benefit t of of all all water water users users in in the the 

Breede-Gouritz Breede-Gouritz area. area. 

Breede-Gouritz CMA is responsible for: 

• Breede-Gouritz Water Resource Planning CMA is responsible for: 

• Water Allocation Resource Planning Reform 

• Water Use Allocation Management Reform 

• Institutional Water Use Management 

• Resource Institutional Protection Management 

• Resource Protection 

For more information, contact us on: 

Breede-Gouritz For more information, CMA (BGCMA) contact us on: 

51 Baring Street 

Breede-Gouritz CMA (BGCMA) 

Worcester, 6850 

51 Baring Street 

101 Worcester, York Street 6850(New Offi ce) 

George, 6529 

101 York Street (New Office) 

Breede-Gouritz George, 6529 CMA 

Private Bag X 3055 

Worcester, Breede-Gouritz 6849CMA 

Private Bag X 3055 

Ms Malehlohonolo Mlabateki - 

Worcester, 6849 

Public Relations and Marketing Offi cer 

Tel: (023) 346 8000 

Fax: (023) 347 2012 

E-mail: www.breedegouritzcma.co.za 

mmlabateki@breedegouritzcma.co.za 

www.breedegouritzcma.co.za

OVERVIEW 

Transport 

South Africa is spending heavily on transport infrastructure. 

Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel has announced 

17 major Strategic Infrastructure Projects in a 

variety of sectors. Transport is among the most important 

of these. 

Transnet is the state-owned transport and logistics company responsible 

for most of South Africa’s rail network, rail freight, ports, 

port terminals and South Africa’s fuel and gas pipelines. It will 

spend R300-billion across its five divisions in the period to 2019. 

In terms of the national Public Transport Strategy, priority rail 

corridors and bus rapid transit (BRT) systems are being introduced 

in all of the country’s major cities. 

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 just 

outside Pretoria in Gauteng, to Maputo in Mozambique. 

The Harrismith Logistics Hub (HLH) on the N3 is intended as 

an inland port that can handle cargo containers and shift cargo 

from road to rail, reducing congestion and costs. The volume of 

cargo passing through Harrismith is expected to increase by 25% 

per annum for the next seven years. 

South Africa’s ports are covered in the maritime section of 

this publication. 

Rail 

Grain tonnages carried by Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) will almost 

double in the years to 2019. 

The assets of TFR’s new Container and Automotive Business 

(CAB) unit have been ring-fenced. The CAB has been created 

because of the importance of the Johannesburg-Durban line. 

TFR has a 20 953km network – about 80% of African infrastructure 

– with the potential to transport huge volumes. Transnet 

Freight Rail intends to increase the amount of freight it carries 

from 200-million tons to 300-million tons. 

A new line to carry coal from the inland to the coast through 

Swaziland is being investigated. 

Some private companies such as Rail Road Logistics Grindrod 

and Sheltam operate rail systems in the gold-producing areas of 

the Free State and Gauteng. 

At the National Assembly 

Committee address in March 

of this year, the Department 

of Transport & Passenger Rail 

Agency of South Africa addressed 

challenges related to 

the rail & road netowrk systems. 

Lucky Montana, CEO of 

PRASA, said PRASA focused 

on public transport and the 

National Development Plan 

(NDP). It was the implementing 

arm of the National Department 

of Transport, providing transport 

via road and railway. As 

a government entity, the initiatives 

for PRASA were driven by 

policies and transport strategy. 

The rail sector took up 80% of 

the business of PRASA, mainly 

through Metrorail. They had 

a few bus services, including 

Translux and City to City. They 

also had a property division. 

He provided statistics highlighting 

the work of PRASA. It 

had 22 300km of rail network, 

4 638 metro coaches, 550 million 

trips a year for Metrorail 

passengers, 16 500 employees, 

589 stations, and assets 

of R36 billion. The biggest challenges 

for PRASA were its old 

and dilapidated railway infrastructure, 

long queues, overcrowding 

and unreliable trains. 

People could lose their bread 

and butter if they were late for 

job opportunities because of 

late trains. Line, train and signal 

capacity were limited. Most of 


106

OVERVIEW 


OVERVIEW 

the stations were isolated and did not run in conjunction with 

other forms of transport, like taxis and buses. The average age 

of the fleet was 40 years. This frustration led to vandalism and 

acts of outrage. 

The new programme had three phases: 

• 2007-2010 – Stabilize commuter rail by bringing all the different 

passenger railway networks into one; 

• 2011-2014 – Focus away from refurbishment to replacement; 

• 2015-2018 – Growth and expansion. 

Road 

National government has spent ever-increasing amounts of 

money on road allocations over the last five years, increasing at 

a rate of 16% every year. 

The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) 

has successfully raised billions of rands through bonds and 

capital markets in order to finance, manage and maintain the 

national road network of 16 750km. However, plans to pay for 

the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project through tolling have 

run into political obstacles. 

At its inception, SANRAL only had about 7 000 kilometres 

under its jurisdiction, and has since grown by threefold. The 

portfolio comprises of a 15% toll-road and 85% non toll-road split. 

“The vast majority of the portfolio concerns non-toll-roads. The 

non-toll-road funding comes directly from National Treasury as 

for any other department. The significance of the national road 

network is that it carries 80% of the freight that moves on the 

surface of South Africa,” said Sanral CEO Nazir Alli. 

Currently the largest challenge facing our roads at the moment 

is funding. He explains that looking at the country’s entire road 

network of 750 000 kilometres, it is the 10th largest network in 

the world, of which only less than 1% are tolls. 

“On the entire network of South Africa we have a backlog on 

maintenance of R197-billion,” explains Alli. “Our challenge is 

figuring out how to catch up on this backlog, how to fund it, and 

how do we make sure that we service the areas and parts of the 

country which are under-serviced? 

“While at the same time, how does the South African government, 

with its constrained budget and limited resources also 

meet its challenges in terms of the social wage that we pay to 

people—how do we tackle that problem?” 

Asked whether the proposed e-tolls, that have been the subject 

of a heated civil debate, would be established to assist with funding, 

Alli explains that e-tolling would solely be a method of collection and 

that one must not confuse it with the principal and policy of tolling. 

“The principle has been well 

established in South Africa and 

affirmed in two different places. 

In 1996, in the White Paper on 

Transport, we said that tolling is 

an instrument that the government 

will use where it is necessary, 

as it is believed that it 

can assist in terms of meeting 

the challenges of the budget. 

Additionally, it is clearly stated in 

the National Development Plan 

that this is an instrument that we 

will use when needed,” says Alli. 

South Africa has 325 019 

heavy-load vehicles and the 

road freight industry employs 

65 000 drivers. 

Air 

Airports Company South Africa 

(Acsa) owns and operates the 

country’s 10 biggest airports. 

The company also manages 


108

OVERVIEW 

airports in India and Brazil. 

A 10-year spending plan announced 

in 2013 allocated 

R50-billion to expansion and 

R20-billion to maintenance. 

OR Tambo International 

in Johannesburg caters for 

more than 17-million passengers 

every year, receives 

more than 105 000 arriving airtraffic 

movements and employs 

18 000 people. 

The Cape Town International 

Airport has been expanded 

and improved. 

King Shaka International 

Airport (KSIA) opened north of 

Durban in 2010. Emirates is the 

international carrier to KSIA. 

Several airports have been 

mooted as possible regional 

freight nodes: Wonderboom 

Airport in Pretoria, Polokwane 

Airport in Limpopo and 

Mafikeng Airport in North West 

Province. 

Transporting minerals 

Transnet Freight Rail is beefing up the commodity corridors that 

ferry raw materials. Amounts include: 

R26-billion on improving the manganese line to Port Elizabeth 

from the Northern Cape. Transnet aims to deliver 11.7-million tons 

of manganese by 2018, substantially increased from the 4.8-million 

tons delivered in 2011. 

R29-billion to upgrade the iron-ore line that links Sishen (also in 

the Northern Cape) with the Port of Saldanha in the Western Cape. 

As much as R50-billion could be spent on the connection 

between existing coal fields in Mpumalanga (and new ones in 

western Limpopo) with the Richards Bay Coal Terminal. 

The South African Ministry of Transport has several agencies 

and businesses reporting to it: Air Traffic and Navigation Services 

Company, Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa), National 

Transport Information System, Road Accident Fund, South African 

Civil Aviation Authority, South African Maritime Safety Authority 

(SAMSA) and the South African National Roads Agency Limited 

(Sanral). 


• The Harrismith Logistics Hub will become an inland port. 

• Acsa is operating in India and Brazil. 


OVERVIEW 

Phakisa to power marine economy 

The maritime sector holds great promise as, through Operation Phakisa, national government 

aims to implemement its policies and programmes better, faster and more effectively. 

Operation Phakisa – in the words of 

President Jacob Zuma – “has been 

designed to answer fundamental 

implementation questions and find 

solutions, as the country tries to address poverty, 

inequality and unemployment, among 

other challenges, as stipulated in the National 

Development Plan (NDP) 2030. The first phase 

of the implementation will focus on unlocking 

the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans.” 

The simple fact is that South Africa is not gaining 

as much as it should from the maritime sector. 

One example is the absence of a merchant fleet 

and another is the scarcity of ship-repair facilities. 

With oil and gas finds growing in volume 

exponentially off the west coast of Africa and 

off Mozambique, there is a huge opportunity 

for South Africans to grow big businesses in 

the rig-repair and service industry. The ocean 

could contribute up to R177-billion to the Gross 

Domestic Product (GDP), and add between eight 

hundred and one million direct jobs. 

Priority sectors 

To tap into the ocean economy, government 

has identified four priority sectors, on which 

Operation Phakisa will focus. These are marine 

transport and manufacturing activities, such as 

coastal shipping, trans-shipment, boat building, 

repair and refurbishment; offshore oil and gas 

exploration; aquaculture and marine protection 

services and ocean governance. 

Government will explore the country’s natural 

advantage in maritime transport and manufacturing 

by capturing the benefits of growing volumes 

of cargo handling, sea and coastal shipping 

and supporting transport activities such as 

storage and warehousing. 

Operation Phakisa looks at further enhancing 

the enabling environment for exploration of oil 

and gas wells, resulting in an increased number 

of exploration wells drilled, while simultaneously 

maximising the value captured for South Africa. 

The need to continuously balance the 

economic opportunities which the ocean space 


110

affords, while maintaining its environmental 

integrity has been recognised, as well as 

sustainable but commercial practices such as 

aquaculture. A relatively underdeveloped area 

and small in size, aquaculture in South Africa has 

shown strong growth of 6.5 percent per annum, 

being an increasingly important contribution to 

food security globally. 

A coordinated effort 

Western Cape MEC for Economic Development 

and Tourism Alan Winde argues that all of the 

ports of South Africa should cooperate in trying 

to attract the business of the 130 rigs that pass 

the country’s ports. 

The chief executive of the South African Oil 

and Gas Alliance (SAOGA), Warwick Blyth, told 

Reuters that South Africa is starting to realise its 

potential in this market. 

Cape Town and Saldanha’s facilities were ‘exceptionally 

busy’, according to Blyth, who noted 

that each of the three or four repair 

jobs being done simultaneously was 

worth about R200-million. 

DCD Marine operates Cape 

Town’s rig-repair facility, the largest 

ship-repair yard in Africa. There 

are supplementary yards in Simon’s 

Town and Saldanha. 

Large logistics operators like 

Bertling already run sophisticated 

operations at South Africa’s major 

ports. JSE-listed Grindrod runs 

prominent businesses such as 

Unicorn Shipping and Grindrod 

Freight Services. 

Training for the maritime sector is 

provided by five marine academies 

in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western 

Cape. Simon’s Town’s Lawhill 

Maritime Centre has won awards. 

Transnet runs a School of Port 

Operations. SAMSA says there are 

341 maritime careers, ranging from 

marine surveyor to oceanographer. 

Ports and terminals 

OVERVIEW 

South Africa’s port system is controlled by 

Transnet National Ports Authority. The ports of 

Richards Bay, Ngqura and East London are in 

Industrial Development Zones (IDZs). The other 

commercial ports are Durban, Port Elizabeth, 

Mossel Bay, Cape Town and Saldanha. 

The deepest natural port in Southern Africa, 

the port of Saldahna can accommodate vessels 

up to a draft of 21.5 metres, exporting most of 

South Africa’s iron ore. 

Port Elizabeth has automotive-handling capacity, 

a container terminal and a break-bulk terminal. 

The port currently handles large quantities 

of manganese but this is due to move to Ngqura. 

The Port of Mossel Bay services the fishing 

and petroleum industries. Huge amounts of 

money are being spent on ports and terminals. 

Container terminals alone will receive R9.8-billion 

in additional funding in the period to 2019 and 

all of the country’s ports are receiving upgrades 

that are increasing their capacity. 


OVERVIEW 

Tourism 

The South African tourism industry is on an upward trend, despite setbacks and 

controversies such as onerous amendments to visa regulations. 

According to the latest figures from the Department of 

Tourism, international tourist arrivals grew by 4.7% in 

2014, reaching a record 1 138-million arrivals, according 

to the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Despite 

global economic challenges, international tourism results were 

well above expectations, with an additional 51-million international 

tourists travelling the world in 2014. 

Africa attracted 1.3-million additional arrivals (+2.3%), reaching 

a new record of 56-million, driven by Sub-Saharan destinations 

(+3.3%). Results in the Middle East turned in 2014 after two years 

of negative growth (4.4% at 50.3-million). 

Outbound tourism grew by 4.3% in 2014 over 2013. Over 

the past four years Germany and the USA remained the top 

two source markets in the world. In 2014, Russia was the only 

market in the top 10 to have declined from previous year (down 

17%). Among the ten most important source markets in the world, 

Russia and China continue to be the only emerging markets. 

China, which became the largest outbound revenue market in 

2012 with an expenditure of US$105-billion, saw an increase in 

expenditure of 27% in 2014. Russia, the 5th largest outbound mar- 

ket, reported 14% growth even 

with their challenged economy 

in recession. 

Tourist arrivals to South 

Africa grew by 6.6% (587 671) in 

2014 to reach 9 549 236 tourists. 

This performance is above 

the global average which saw a 

4.7% increase in tourist arrivals. 

In the last 10 years, South 

Africa’s Brand Equity improved 

significantly across 

most portfolio markets. The 

improvement within core 

markets was more significant, 

compared to investment and 

watch-list markets. Amongst 

the core markets, South Africa 

witnessed a healthy improvement 

in its brand presence 

across all the overseas mar- 


112

kets, except Australia. In Africa, 

South Africa’s brand equity 

improved considerably during 

2008–2014, with relatively 

more improvement observed 

in Nigeria, as compared to 

Kenya. Out of all the 16 markets 

tracked, South Africa’s conversion 

curve has improved in 13 

markets (with nine markets 

showing a considerable improvement 

and four moderate 

improvement). Among the two 

African markets, the improvement 

in conversion curve was 

more significant in Nigeria than 

Kenya. 

Overall, South Africa performed 

well in 2014, with 

9.5-million tourist arrivals, an 

increase of 6.6% over 2013. 

OVERVIEW 

Compared to other destinations, South Africa is ranked 33 in 

terms of tourist arrivals in 2014 and is down from its previous 

rank of 30. In Africa, South Africa is the 3rd most visited country, 

after Morocco and Egypt. 

From a brand building perspective, South Africa maintained 

its performance on many parameters of the Conversion Curve, 

though the performance of ‘Consideration’ and ‘Recently Visited’ 

attributes marginally declined. Analysing South Africa’s performance 

relative to our competitors, South Africa’s performance 

on all parameters remained almost similar to 2013, while key 

competitors Australia and Thailand are still ahead of South Africa 

on most parameters. From a closure ratio perspective, all competitors 

witnessed a worsening performance between 2013 and 

2014 with the exception of Thailand. 

Heritage plays a vital role in South African tourism. Generally 

heritage resources or sites in South Africa serve both conservation 

and tourism purposes. The 8 UNESCO Proclaimed 

World Heritage Sites (WHS) in South Africa are most popular 

because of their Outstanding Universal Values These World 

Heritage Sites are: Robben Island Museum, Cradle of Humankind, 

Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, 

uKhahlamba Drakensberg (newly named Maloti Drakensberg 

Transfrontier Park WHS), Richtersveld WHS, Cape Floral Kingdom 

WHS and Vredefort Dome WHS. In addition, sites such as the 

Nelson Mandela Museum, Mandela House (Soweto), Hector 

Petersen Memorial (Soweto), Apartheid Museum, Freedom Park, 

Voortrekker Monument, Constitution Hill, District Six Museum, Bo- 

Kaap Museum and many others are popular tourist attractions. 

All these sites are open to public access and commercialisation 

through tourism activities as well as enterprise development. 

There are a number of opportunities to further develop the full 

potential of tourism in heritage sites. Responsible and sustainable 

tourism is crucial in this context. The Department of Arts 

and Culture is responsible for the promotion of Heritage Month, 

including Heritage Day, in South Africa. 

Globally halaal tourism is a growth industry and South Africa 

is well placed to benefit from this trend. 

The South African tourism industry is very well segmented. 

Large hotel groups such as Tsogo Sun, Sun International, Protea 

Hotels and City Lodge Hotels run several brands across market 

segments. 

The distribution channel is dominated by four major groups, 

each of which runs several companies in different parts of the 

value chain. According to Wesgro, the Western Cape’s investment 

promotion agency, the biggest groups are: 

• Imperial Holdings: companies include Europcar and Tempest 

Car Hire, Springbok Atlas and Grosvenor Tours 


OVERVIEW 

• Bidvest Travel and Aviation: Rennies Foreign Exchange, 

BidTravel, Harvey World Travel, Budget Car Rental, HRG 

Rennies Travel and BidAir Services 

• Cullinan Holdings: Thompsons, Hylton Ross Tours, Pentravel. 

• Tourvest: The group has companies dealing with many aspects 

of the tourist experience: tour operators and conference 

organisers, foreign exchange, retail (gift shops and 

duty-free shops) and hotels (African Hotels and Adventures) 

• The principal airline operators in South Africa are SAA, the 

alliance of British Airways, Comair, and Kulula, a low-cost 

airline. SAA has ties with SA Express and owns low-cost 

carrier Mango. SA Express and SA Airlink fly to smaller destinations 

in South Africa and Southern Africa. 

Key sectors 

Casinos are a popular part of many entertainment and accommodation 

complexes around the country, although relatively few 

licences are in operation. 

Private game reserves and golf resorts has been one of the 

fastest-growing markets in recent years. 

The Garden Route and the KwaZulu-Natal coastline are areas 

rich in golfing venues. St Francis Links is located between 

Plettenberg Bay and Port Elizabeth. With a spectacular course 

designed by Jack Nicklaus and wonderful views over the bay and 

nearby mountains, St Francis Links is routinely featured among 

Compleat Golfer’s Five Star Experience Awards. 

South Africa has been named as Golf Destination of the 

Year (Africa, Indian Ocean and Gulf States) by the International 

Association of Golf Tour Operators. 

Wine tourism is said to contribute indirectly more than R4.5- 

billion to the South African tourism sector (South African Wine 

Industry Information and Systems, SAWIS). 

According to Wine Tourism South Africa, a website and publishing 

concern that provides information about the wine industry, 

43% of visitors to South Africa visit the Cape Winelands. 

The Industrial Development Corporation has committed to 

investing R2-billion in local resorts (and in the African hotel market). 

There are a number of unused or under-used facilities in South 

Africa that could be fixed up to cater to the many South Africans 

who currently don’t take holidays. An audit of possible properties 

is underway. One suggestion is that former military bases could 

be converted into low-fee resorts. 

Other niche areas that are being explored include astrology and 

adventure tourism. The cruise-ship market has massive potential. 

Both Durban and Cape Town are considering building dedicated 

cruise-ship terminals in order to 

capture somewhat more than 

0.5% of the world market that 

South Africa currently does. 

More than 15-million passengers 

travel on cruise ships globally 

every year. 

Hotels 

There is international interest 

in South Africa’s hotel industry 

but the sector is well developed 

with several large local groups 

operating in multiple locations. 

Radisson Blu and Hilton are 

among the international companies 

to have invested. A new 

brand is set to launch in 2016: 

Radisson Red, aimed at the 

Millenial market. 

Hilton International has recently 

acquired the Coral Hotel 

in Cape Town’s CBD. It also 

runs the Double Tree by Hilton 

in the same city and has hotels 

in Johannesburg and Durban. 

In 2012, Southern Sun relaunched 

itself as Tsogo Sun, 

the result of a merger with Gold 

Reef Resorts. Southern Sun remains 

as a brand for premier 

hotels in the group, which has 

a total 95 hotels and 15 casinos 

across Africa, the Middle 

East and the Seychelles. The 

new Southern Sun Elangeni & 

Maharani complex will boast 

734 rooms and nine restaurants 

when Tsogo Sun completes 

the R220-million project 

to amalgamate two previously 

separate hotels on Durban’s 

Golden Mile. 

The new group’s latest 

acquisition is The Grace in 


114

Rosebank, Johannesburg, 

renamed ‘54 on Bath’. The 

Beverly Hills in KwaZulu-Natal 

is the group’s other ultra-luxury 

hotel property. 

Other Tsogo Sun hotel 

brands include Sun Square, 

Garden Court and StayEasy. 

In May 2013, Tsogo Sun reported 

an annual turnover of 

R9.9-billion, a 10% increase 

over the previous year. 

Protea Hotels is South 

Africa’s other large group. With 

a presence in eight African 

countries, Protea has a total 

of more than 130 properties 

across three brands: Fire and 

Ice, Protea; Protea Hotels and 

African Pride Hotels, the premier 

brand. In South Africa, 

there are 90 Protea properties. 

Several local companies 

have partnerships with 

international brands. Sun 

International’s Table Bay Hotel 

and Lost City at Sun City are 

also members of the Leading 

Hotels of the World group. 

Sun International runs 17 hotels 

and 20 casinos throughout 

Southern Africa. Locations 

include Botswana, Namibia, 

Swaziland and Zimbabwe. 

Orient-Express Hotels 

has two five-star hotels: The 

Westcliff in Johannesburg and 

the iconic Mount Nelson Hotel 

in Cape Town. 

Within the luxury segment, 

companies like The Mantis 

Collection aim to cater to clients 

anywhere in the country; 

for instance, it has a small hotel 

in Port Elizabeth where clients 

stay before transferring to the 

game lodge at Shamwari. 

OVERVIEW 

Relais & Châteaux has 10 properties in South Africa including 

Londolozi Private Game Reserve, within Sabi Sands, and the 

Gorah Elephant Camp inside the Addo Elephant Park. 

Forever Resorts offers a range of accommodation options for 

every pocket. The group has 12 hotels and lodges together with 

many self-catering, camping and caravanning destinations, mostly 

located in the north of the country but also located at Gariep Dam 

and Plettenberg Bay in the Southern Cape. 

Nature 

South Africa has a great reputation for beaches, landscapes, 

superb wildlife and a rich cultural history. 

South African National Parks and the South African National 

Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) are outstanding national organisations 

that oversee a range of important, but easily accessible sites. 

The Kruger National Park is about the size of Belgium and attracts 

almost a million visitors every year. Kruger covers nearly 20 000 

square kilometres, it has six ecosystems, 1 982 species of plants, 

517 species of birds and 147 species of mammals – including 

the ‘Big Five’: lion, leopard, African elephant, African buffalo and 

rhinoceros. The area adjacent to Kruger is rich in private game 

reserves, some of which are regarded as among the finest luxury 

tourist offerings in the world. The Sabi Sands Game Reserve 

has several accommodation options within its 65 000 hectares, 

ranging from the luxurious to the ultra-luxurious. 

The Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape is a 164 

000-hectare facility that attracts more visitors than East Africa’s 

Serengeti National Park. Addo Park uniquely offers the Big Seven: 

with more than 450 elephants and significant numbers of the rest 

of the Big Five, the park includes a marine section where great 

white sharks and whales can be sighted. 

The brief of the South African National Biodiversity Institute 

is to run nine national botanical gardens. The 7 500 hectares of 

conserved gardens represent an astonishing biodiversity, ranging 

from the fynbos of Harold Porter to the harsh beauty of the 

Karoo Desert garden. 


• SA tourism arrivals rose 6.6% outperforming the global average. 

• SA’s Brand Equity has performed very well 

• Heritage is set to boost the SA tourism brand 

• SA is well positioned to benefit from halaal tourism 


OVERVIEW 

Events and conferences 

Bookings in the years to 2017 promise an injection of R1.6-billion. 

South Africa has more than 1 000 events and conference 

venues ranging from wine farms and bush lodges to 

huge halls and exhibition centres. The meetings, incentive, 

conference and exhibition (MICE) sector is well 

equipped to grow. 

The three biggest centres for conferences, exhibitions and events 

are Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, with each city having 

invested heavily in large venues. But many resorts and game 

reserves have facilities for conferences, and smaller towns are 

attractive to some conference planners. 

KwaZulu-Natal has a good reputation for hosting major events, 

conferences and exhibitions, and is set host the 22nd edition of 

the Commonwealth Games. Durban 2022 will host all 71 member 

territories from the Commonwealth of Nations. 

The provincial capital is the focus of the sector, but all of the 

province’s big towns have good facilities and the Garden Route 

and several wine routes are well suited to a combination of business 

and pleasure. 

The Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) plans 

to double in size, a R4.5-billion project that will create 8 000 jobs 

annually by 2018. 

Johannesburg Tourism Company has a dedicated unit, the 

Johannesburg Convention Bureau (JCB), which works to attract 

new business to the city. The JCB assists companies in preparing 

bid documents and is on hand 

to assist in supplying relevant 

information in key areas such 

as telecommunications and IT 

services and the securing of 

visas for delegates. 

The Sandton Convention 

Centre is surrounded by a 

range of hotels and is well located 

for delegates who want to 

shop in their free time. Eskom’s 

Megawatt Park Conference 

Centre and the Absa Convention 

Centre in Tshwane are some 

of the larger venues outside 

Johannesburg. In the Ekurhuleni 

metropole, the Airport Grand 

Hotel and Conference Centre is 

particularly well situated in relation 

to the main airport. 

Two of the region’s biggest 

venues are in the centrally located 

town of Midrand: Gallagher 

Estate and Kyalami Events and 

Exhibition Venue. 

A premier venue in Pretoria 

is the CSIR International 

Convention Centre. A new addition 

to the Pretoria skyline is the 

OR Tambo Building, a conference 

centre designed specifically 

to cater for the needs of South 

Africa’s National Department 

of International Relations and 

Cooperation. Regular meetings 

of the African Union and South 

African National Development 

Community (SADC) will be held 

in the R1.2-billion building, which 

also houses 2 500 departmental 

officials. 


116

Trade with Africa 

Improved infrastructure will boost intra-African trade. 

OVERVIEW 

South Africa aims to 

diversify its economy 

away from an over-reliance 

on the primary 

sector (mining and agriculture) 

towards a more varied economy 

in which increased capacity 

in existing manufacturing sectors 

is coupled to the growth 

of wholly new areas such as 

alternative energy, biofuels and 

digital television. 

Trade policies and anti-competitive 

legislation are being 

aligned with the imperatives of 

industrial policy, ensuring that 

tariff agreements with trading 

partners do not undercut strategic 

targets. 

South Africa, with an annual 

total trade volume of R2.3- 

trillion, benefits from preferential 

trade agreements with the 

US and EU and its membership 

of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The 

acceptance of South Africa into the BRICS group of nations 

(Brazil, Russian, India, China, South Africa) holds great potential 

for increased exports. 

Iron ore and coal are among the biggest export items to India 

and China, while the EU and US are strong markets for agricultural 

products like fruit. 

In the seven years before the global economic meltdown of 

2008, sub-Saharan exports to the US grew to $86-billion, four 

times more than at the beginning of that period (AT Kearney). 

A key factor in intra-African trade is the development of 

improved infrastructure. The establishment of regional corridors 

is intended to boost this trade, with the North-South Corridor 

the most significant for the Southern African region as it runs 

through 26 countries and ends in Durban. Ten corridors are being 

developed to ease trading and improve access to ports. 

More than half of South Africa’s trade is with other countries 

in Africa, but the cost of trade in terms of tariffs, permits and 

delays at border posts can be very high. Shoprite spends about 

R200 000 a week in permits to keep its shops supplied throughout 

the continent. 

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has initiated an 

automated custom system that is reducing costs and improving 

efficiency. It has been introduced at the Port of Durban, the 

country’s busiest port. 


OVERVIEW 

Information and 

communications technology 

ICT spend is on the increase nationwide. 

Government is leading the charge in ICT spending. 

According to a new Frost & Sullivan report‚ titled ‘ICT 

Spend in South Africa: Public Sector’‚ the public sector 

saw an ICT spend of $615.9m in 2014 and they estimates 

this will reach $707.6m in 2019. Managed services and fixed and 

non-cellular connectivity accounted for 73.1% of these investments. 

According to Frost & Sullivan ICT Industry Analyst Naila Govan- 

Vassen, the development and uptake of eGovernment services will 

be driven by South Africa’s National Development Plan‚ the National 

Integrated ICT Policy Green Paper‚ and the Broadband Policy are 

expected to drive. 

“ICT spend will centre around updating IT hardware and data 

centres and on supporting systems integration‚ especially within 

the health‚ education and administrative departments,” said 

Govan-Vassen. 

Current expenditure at present is limited to day-to-day ICT requirements 

across national and provincial departments. Creating a fully 

digital government is challenged by: 

• Legacy systems necessitating upgrades. 

• Limited infrastructure to connect all public sector buildings. 

• Lack of a coordinated plan to enforce ICT standards and ensure 

interoperability within national and provincial departments. 

• Security concerns surrounding shared and cloud computing. 

• Shortage of skilled resources. 

• Limited Internet reach and 

citizen access to online 

content‚ preventing twoway 

interaction with the 

government. 

About two-thirds of South 

Africa’s ICT companies are located 

in Gauteng Province. The 

ICT sector has about 200 000 

employees working for 6 500 

companies and contributes 

6.4% to national GDP (Wesgro). 

The sector contains a diverse 

range of hardware manufacturing, 

software design and various 

service offerings such as software 

management, systems 

programming and technical 

support. South Africa is highly 

regarded as a centre of software 

development and offers attractive 

inward investment opportunities, 

especially in: 

• Automotive electronic systems 

• Access control and security 

• Financial sector 

• Silicon processing for fibre 

optics 

• Integrated circuits and solar 

cells 

The combined ICT market in 

South Africa is estimated to 

be in the region of R60-billion. 

Spending on ICT is predicted to 

rise to R120-billion by 2016. 

(Continued on page 120) 


118

FOCUS 

MTN plugs R1.2-billion 

into KZN network 

MTN is spending billions of rands in upgrading its network and infrastructure. 

MTN, the second-largest 

mobile operator 

in South Africa, is 

targeting an extensive 

fi bre rollout that will stretch 

to more than 1100km and which will service in excess of 36 000 

houses within 1 080 residential estates and suburbs. It will also 

encompass more than 300 shopping centres, malls and business 

parks. The fi bre rollout and multi-tiered service offering applies 

equally to enterprise end-users as it does to home and SMME users, 

providing access to high-speed Internet Access and value-added or 

over the top services that traditional medium such as DSL struggle 

to deliver. 

Alpheus Mangale 

The rollout started in 2015 and MTN anticipates that it will be 

completed in 2017. 

Rolling out fi bre-to-the-home (FTTH) is seen as a vital step in 

building a world-class infrastructure to enable local businesses 

to operate on a world-class level, especially considering the 

national government’s drive to support SMMEs, entrepreneurs 

and local innovators. FTTH is capable of delivering speeds 

of up to 100 Mbps and, in support of the government’s drive, 

MTN have already rolled out FTTH to the Western Cape, which 

represents the fi rst expansion of its high-speed network outside 

of the country’s economic hub, Gauteng. 

Many in the industry view fi bre as the new frontier, and it 

is an area that the leading players in the industry all see as 

important to invest in. 

MTN has stated that their initial FTTH rollout will focus on 

“high-density urban areas, such as high-end gated communities, 

boomed-off suburbs, and high-rise buildings”. The scenic La 

Lucia suburb in KwaZulu-Natal is one of the fi rst in the region 

that will receive the service, with Umhlanga, Kloof, Berea West 

and Durban North also slated for FTTH. The civil works are well 

underway report MTN, whose South African subscriber base 

alone is just under 30 000. The company has already committed 

a total of R10-billion rand for increasing its coverage and 

capacity for its 2G and 3G clients, in addition to improving its 

long-term evolution technologies. 

MTN Business SA chief enterprise offi cer Alpheus Mangale 

has assured local residents as well as subscribers that the 

telecoms giant is “working tirelessly to resolve all outstanding 

issues to the satisfaction of all concerned”. 


OVERVIEW 

(Continued from page 118) 

International giants like Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, ICL, 

Cisco and Unisys have a strong presence in South Africa. 

International companies sometimes partner with local concerns, 

as in the case of Bharat Sync Technologies of India, who are 

rolling out mobile email push and calendar services with South 

Africa’s Milestone Connexions. 

Local manufacturing and assembly is increasing with companies 

such as Sahara Computers and Mecer. Since 2009, a number of new 

undersea cables have landed in South Africa, significantly boosting 

competition and making ADSL possible. 

Traditional technologies for broadband connection (dial-up and 

VSAT) are declining in popularity in South Africa as more sophisticated 

mobile technology becomes available. This includes WiMax, 

HSDPA and HSPA+. Growth in the sector is expected to be driven 

by mobile broadband and services that add value in the data field. 

Dube TradePort (DTP) has spent more than R100-million on 

ICT infrastructure that includes two data centres. Working with 

Dimension Data and Business Connexion, DTP sells voice and data 

services at a cheaper rate to its tenants. 

World Wide Worx reports that 46% of large South African firms 

are using cloud computing in one form or another. 

The Gauteng Provincial Government is developing a Smart City 

at Nasrec south of Johannesburg, which will comprise: 

• Electronics assembly and manufacturing 

• ICT research and development centre 

• ICT connectivity and transaction switching centre 

• Call-centre facility with 5 000-seat capacity 

• ICT knowledge centre in partnership with international companies 

such as ITE Education Services (Singapore) and MIT (US) 

Innovation in the sector will be encouraged by the mLab, a centre 

designed to support entrepreneurs in the mobile technology 

field. The CSIR in Pretoria hosts the facility together with The 

Innovation Hub. 

Public transport systems are moving to cashless ticketing supported 

by ICT. Digicore and Absa Bank have combined in Cape 

Town to roll out the system for minibus users driving between the 

city and the V&A Waterfront. With Vodacom spending in the region 

of R6-billion per year on its 3G and 4G long-term evolution network 

(LTE), the capacity of South Africa’s telecommunications network 

is growing fast. MTN and 8ta are also investing in LTE. 

MTN Business has given further weight to its intentions of supporting 

open access fibre networks by announcing a multi-tier model 

that leverages off MTN’s fibre infrastructure and applies equally to 

enterprise end-users, households, and SME users. Alpheus Mangale, 

Chief Enterprise Business Officer 

at MTN Business, says this solution 

is informed by the strategic 

decision the business has taken 

to give impetus to open access 

networks. 

“While MTN will continue to 

provide the high end, dedicated 

fibre network services complete 

with enterprise-grade service 

level agreements, smaller businesses 

will also benefit from 

MTN’s investment in its fibre 

infrastructure,” says Mangale. 

Hatfield says the market and 

timing is ripe for South Africa’s 

fibre infrastructure to graduate to 

the next phase that will be underpinned 

by shared services and 

infrastructure that will support 

greater affordability and choice. 

Mobile technology is being 

used in innovative ways by 

South Africa’s banking sector to 

gain new customers. Products 

include Absa’s PayPebble, 

Nedbank’s Approve-it, Standard 

Bank’s community banking and 

FNB’s eWallet application. 

Mobile phone penetration in 

South Africa currently stands at 

138% (total connections) and 

66% (individual subscribers) 

(Businesstech). These figures 

are expected to reach 171% 

and 79% by 2017. 


• ICT spending is outpacing 

real GDP growth. 

• Government ICT spend is 

set to reach $707.6m in 

2019. 

• Two-thirds of SA’s ICT 

companies are located in 

Gauteng. 


120

MTN rolls out fibre 

infrastructure 

PROFILE FOCUS 

MTN Business now offers wholesale multi-tiered service offering to all. 

MTN Business has given further weight 

to its intentions of supporting open 

access fi bre networks by announcing 

a multi-tier model that leverages 

off MTN’s fi bre infrastructure and applies equally 

to enterprise end-users, households, and 

SME users. 

MTN’s multi-tier model gives MTN the ability to 

cater to the individual needs of each customer 

segment. This service is a step up from traditional 

offering where other service providers are able 

to piggy-back off MTN’s fi bre infrastructure. The 

next level up from this is the reseller service that 

smaller IT service providers or residential property 

managers can offer as a value-added service. 

Alpheus Mangale, Chief Enterprise Business 

Offi cer at MTN Business, says this solution is 

informed by the strategic decision the business 

has taken to give impetus to open access 

networks. 

This strategy aims to speed up the rollout 

of fi bre infrastructure, and thereby introduce 

economies of scale and choice for home and 

business customers. 

“While MTN will continue to provide the high 

end, dedicated fi bre network services complete 

with enterprise-grade service level agreements, 

smaller businesses will also benefi t from MTN’s investment 

in its fi bre infrastructure,” says Mangale. 

Mangale says the market and timing is ripe 

for South Africa’s fi bre infrastructure to graduate 

to the next phase that will be underpinned 

by shared services and infrastructure that will 

support greater affordability and choice. 

“By accelerating our rollout, we will allow competitors 

and customers to leverage off that infrastructure. 

In order to be attractive to the widest 

range of customers we have created distinct 

offerings that we believe will further accelerate 

broadband fi bre adoption rates.” 

“Choice is important in this equation and we 

fully support the notion of open access networks 

that aim to meet customer needs rather than 

entrenched exclusivity and proprietary systems,” 

Mangale concludes. 

121 35 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2016

OVERVIEW 

ICT development in South Africa 

South Africa has the opportunity to realise great benefits by increasing its investments in 

the information and communications technologies (ICTs) infrastructure, which will ultimately 

drive the country’s social and economic transformation. 

According to the latest World Economic Forum’s Global 

Information Technology Report 2015 (GITR), sponsored 

by Cisco, which measures the relative capacity of 143 

economies to leverage ICTs for growth and economic 

and social transformation, South Africa dropped five places to 

75th in terms of the report’s Networked Readiness assessment. 

Networked readiness is a crucial indicator of a country’s ability 

to implement and take full advantage of ICTs. 

Cathy Smith, General Manager for Cisco South Africa, says South 

Africa can make massive strides in connecting more citizens and 

bringing about positive social and economic change by improving 

its Networked Readiness. 

“With political will and commitment from the private sector, 

progress can be made in bringing the benefit of ICTs to all South 

Africans. As we face the next wave of the Internet – the Internet 

of Everything (IoE) –South Africa needs to prioritise ICT development 

if it is to benefit from the new experiences and efficiencies 

that the IoE will bring. 

“At Cisco, we have learned that technology helps people find innovative 

solutions to address societal problems. We believe there 

has never been a better time to combine human ingenuity and 

technological innovation to improve the lives of all South Africans. 

Technology is at an inflection point and the South African economy 

needs to prioritise ICT adoption to take full advantage of the benefits 

that embracing digital transformation strategies will offer,” says Smith. 

Drawing from the various discussions that were held at the recent 

SAP Urban Matters event in Cape Town, we find a surprisingly enthusiastic 

new assortment of government officials willing to engage 

critically and in an innovative way with the issues that have arisen 

over the past few decades. 

On the topic of ICT integration in an African context, Nirvesh 

Sooful from African Ideas elaborated on the importance of including 

these strategies in local government practices to enhance their 

efficiency. “With the challenges that we have, we need efficient and 

cost-effective government, as all available resources need to be 

spent on dealing with our massive infrastructure backlogs. One 

of the challenges facing South Africa, is the burgeoning cost of 

government administration, without the necessary investment in 

infrastructure. This is a very dangerous position. Technology can help. 

In fact, it is the only real answer. 

We need to increase our investment 

in effective technology so 

that we can reduce the running 

costs,” Sooful said. 

Innovative governance and 

leadership practices were also 

important topics covered at 

the event and looked at best 

practices from cities within our 

country, as well as case studies 

presented on best practices 

from cities abroad. 

Sean O’Brien, vice president 

(global) of SAP Urban Matters 

& Public Security, discussed 

the broader theme of improving 

the lives of citizens by integrating 

innovative governance and 

leadership practices through 

transforming government and 

driving prosperity. He proposed 

that five government pillars be 

put in place: good governance, 

user empowerment, urban resilience, 

service innovation, and 


122

OVERVIEW 

community engagement. The 

five SAP strategy pillars that seek 

to integrate technology with the 

aforementioned are analytics, 

applications, mobile and cloud 

technology and databases. 

Looking at case studies, local 

examples of best practices 

and proposed strategies were 

discussed in an attempt to highlight 

solutions that can be implemented 

to address the issues 

governments face with regard 

to urbanisation. 

City of Cape Town CIO, 

Andre Stelzner elaborated 

on the topic of promoting 

social and economic value in 

modern urban environments. 

When speaking on the issues 

the city has experienced, he 

focussed on transformation as 

a central point that needs to be 

addressed. 

He highlighted some of the 

technical difficulties the city has 

faced in this regard: “The lack of standardised policies and procedures, 

old order IT systems, out-dated back office systems that 

are functionally inadequate and not properly integrated—these 

systems hinder the ability of municipalities to improve governance, 

be responsive to changing citizen needs and render services.” 

Looking at urbanisation in another South African city, the City 

of Johannesburg’s Department of Social Development’s Jak 

Koseff spoke on a variety of issues that are being looked at in 

their municipality, including youth unemployment and the way it 

links to education. 

He says according to a 2011 City of Johannesburg report: “Only 

a small number of those without post high-school qualifications 

make it into formal employment, and those with qualifications are 

far more likely to be part of the labour force than those who do not. 

For example, across all age groups, 56% of those with matric or 

equivalent qualifications are employed, compared to 31% of those 

who left school in Standard 8. At the other end of the scale, 88% of 

those with honours degrees are employed, as compared to 78% 

of those who hold bachelor degrees.” 

Koseff suggested approaches to this problem by synthesizing 

the National Development Plan and World Bank data. On the supply 

side of the labour market, the city can connect the dots between the 

private sector, the key educational institutions and the basic education 

system such that schooling and skills training are expressly linked 

to market need. He concluded by saying that the city can act as a 

social change agent with technology as an enabler. 


PROFILE 

VeriFi 

VeriFi is the leader in the business of verification and certification for BBBEE recognition. 

South Africa requires an economy that can meet 

the needs of all its economic citizens – its people 

and their enterprises – in a sustainable manner. 

Government’s objective is to achieve this vision 

of an adaptive economy characterised by growth, 

employment and equity. Achieving authentic 

BEE has required a reassessment of traditional 

business models and corporate cultures. The Bill, 

code and strategy document rely upon two core 

policy instruments that have been designed to 

bring about BEE. Both of these instruments are 

essentially measurement tools that will permit 

the public and private sectors to evaluate the 

BEE status of a particular enterprise. Failure to 

adapt to the new paradigm will have signifi cant 

consequences. A real commitment to BEE is 

now an economic imperative. 

Description of services 

• Assess and certify BBBEE rating 

• Provide insight into BBBEE challenges 

facing various organisations 

• Provide insight and guidance on the actions 

required to elevate BBBEE status 

• Verifi cation of supplier BBBEE status 

• To assist small, medium and large enterprises 

in acquiring a certifi ed BBBEE verifi 

cation, and to clarify the codes of good 

practice, BBBEE Act and guide and advise 

where necessary, thus ensuring a suitable 

level of recognition. 

Target markets 

Small, medium and large enterprises achieving 

an annual turnover of below R5-million, between 

R10-million and R35-million, and over R50-million 

respectively (including all charter sectors). 

Pricing 

Pricing for BEE Consultancy Services is based 

on the client’s requirements and can be structured 

on an hourly or monthly basis. 


124

PROFILE 

For BEE Verification and issue of a BEE 

Compliance Certificate, please contact the 

offi ce for the current rates. 

BBBEE explained 

Government BBBEE legislation consists of: 

• The Strategy for Broad-Based Black 

Economic Empowerment 

• The Broad-Based Black Economic 

Empowerment Act, No 53 of 2003 

• The Codes of Good Practice for Black 

Economic Empowerment 

• Various sectoral BEE Charters or Codes 

In terms of these Codes of Good Practice, 

businesses are divided into three categories: 

• Where turnover is less than R10-million a 

year, or when in the fi rst year of incorporation, 

a business is categorised as an Exempt 

Micro Enterprise (EME). However, it is necessary 

to confi rm this status by providing 

proof of annual income. 

• Businesses with a turnover of between R10- 

million and R50-million a year are categorised 

as Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs). 

These organisations must comply with any 

four of the seven elements that comprise 

the BEE Scorecard set out in the Codes of 

Good Practice. The criteria for each of these 

elements are less onerous for QSEs than 

for companies with turnovers exceeding 

R35-million per annum. 

• Where annual turnover exceeds R50-million, 

businesses are evaluated against all seven 

elements of the scorecard. 

The value of verification 

With BBBEE recognised as an imperative by 

companies committed to building an equitable 

South Africa, verifi cation is an essential requirement 

that confi rms a company’s participation 

and contribution. Verifi cation is performed in 

a manner similar to that of a fi nancial audit: it 

provides an independent assessment of investment, 

performance and initiatives as a control 

system. Criteria against which companies are 

measured are provided by government, and 

like an audit, verifi cation must be performed 

annually. 

A BEE certifi cate from VeriFi is advantageous for: 

• Proposals for new business with government 

• The licensing of regulated activities which 

include mining, liquor sales and the granting 

of credit 

• Leasing of premises from government or 

private businesses 

• The creation or continuance of business 

relations with clients seeking assurance of 

a company’s BEE compliance 

Once a verifi cation and certifi ed rating through 

VeriFi is accomplished, a company can perform 

business in confi dence when engaging with other 

organisations, as its commitment to equality, 

nation-building and unique South African business 

processes will be recognised. 

Key facts and figures 

Year established: 2005 

No of staff: 15 

Major clients: BP, Ford Motor Company of South 

Africa Limited, Scaw Metals, Hertz Car Rental 

CONTACT INFO 

Tel: +27 86 175 3233 

Email: info@verifibee.co.za 

Website: www.verifibee.co.za 


OVERVIEW 

Banking and financial services 

South Africa’s biggest economic sector has seen significant adjustments in the 

banking landscape, 

The finance, real estate and business-services sector is South 

Africa’s biggest, comprising 21.1% of South Africa’s gross 

domestic product (GDP). The South African banking and 

financial-services sector is highly regarded internationally 

because of a strong regulatory and legal framework. The sector 

provides a full range of services including commercial, retail and 

merchant banking, mortgage lending, insurance, auditing and 

investment. 

A small number of firms handle most of the country’s biggest auditing 

accounts. The big four are Deloitte, Ernst & Young, PwC and 

KPMG, with SekelaXabiso also in the running thanks to the award by 

Transnet of a R1.3-billion account. The financial sector has consistently 

added to the country’s total real annual growth, even in years 

when the total has declined. 

South Africa is an ideal stepping stone into Africa and several international 

concerns have set up head offices, primarily in Johannesburg. 

These include Bank of China, Bank of Taiwan, Citibank, Deutsche 

Bank AG and HSBC Bank. 

Standard, which operates as Standard Bank or Stanbic in 

THE MOBILE ECONOMY IS INCREASINGLY 

IMPORTANT FOR BANKING 

17 African countries outside 

South Africa, is Africa’s largest 

corporation. Banks such 

as the Development Bank of 

Southern Africa and the Land 

and Agricultural Development 

Bank of South Africa focus their 

loans on support for infrastructure 

and developmental projects. 

Institutions 

The South African Reserve 

Bank (SARB) is the central bank 

and falls under the National 

Department of Finance. It sets 

monetary policy and decides on 

domestic interest rates. 

The SARB oversees the 

banking-services sector, while 

the Financial Services Board 

(FSB) governs the non-banking 

financial-services industry. 

The Banking Association of 

South Africa represents all registered 

banks, local and interna- 


126

OVERVIEW 

attracting and retaining clients. In its latest annual report, FNB 

noted a 15% increase in online banking transactions, and a massive 

7% jump in banking through its app, and a further jump of 

25% in mobile transactions. 

tional. Major sub-committees 

oversee capital supervision, 

credit risk, consumer affairs 

and the SA Securities Lending 

Association. 

South Africa’s principal financial-service 

markets include 

the national stock exchange, 

the JSE Ltd, the Alternative 

Exchange (AltX) and the SA 

Futures Exchange. 

The JSE Securities 

Exchange is the largest stock 

exchange in Africa and consistently 

ranks in the world’s top 20 

derivatives exchanges by number 

of contracts traded. 

The AltX is a division of the 

JSE and attracts a diverse 

range of small and mediumsized 

high-growth companies. 

Mobile-friendly 

The mobile economy has become 

increasingly important in 

Retail banking 

Retail banking has for many years been dominated by the big 

four – Standard Bank, Nedbank, Absa/Barclays and First National 

Bank–but there has been one significant new entrant into the 

market. Capitec has made remarkably quick progress in gaining 

a share of the retail market – and not only among the previously 

unbanked. 

According to the latest banking customer data, there has been 

a shift between Nedbank and FNB, with Nedbank replacing FNB 

in third place, while Absa has had to repay millions of rands in 

miscalculated credit card interest. 

In its full year report to June 2015, FirstRand’s full year report 

to June 2015 reported a drop in total FNB banking customers to 

7.1 million, on the heels of a slide to 7.3 million customers in 2014 

from 7.6 million in 2013. The drop is due to the bank reorganizing 

its customer data, in which process over 300 000 accounts in 

2015 were reclassified as dormant. In 2014 the bank lost a big 

portion of mass-market customers when it lost the government’s 

social grant tender. 

Nedbank’s interim results to June 2015 reported an 8% in 

main banked clients over the period, with total clients up 6% to 

7.3 million. 

Miscalculated credit card interest rates have cost Barclays 

Africa Group’s Absa Bank millions of rand in repayments to customers 

in arrears . This is the second time the bank has made 

an error in interest rate calculations. Customers are advised to 

scrutinise their statements. Thousands of customers have been 

affected. 

South African banking customers at June 2015 

Bank 

2014 

customers 

2015 

customers 

Change 

Standard Bank 11.1 million – – 

Absa Bank 9.2 million 9.2 million 0.0% 

Nedbank 7.1 million 7.3 million +2.8 

FNB 7.3 million 7.1 million -2.7% 

Capitec 6.2 million 6.7 million +8.1% 


OVERVIEW 

Development finance 

and SMME support 

Entrepreneurs can get help from a variety of sources. 


128

OVERVIEW 

Small business is taken very seriously by government, as 

reflected in Minister of finance Nhlanhla Nene’s 2015 

budget, which firmly responded to the call to encourage 

and promote entrepreneurship and the small business 

sector in South Africa, according to Sipho Zikode, the acting Chief 

Executive Officer of the Small Business Development Agency (Seda), 

an agency of the Ministry of Small Business Development. Zikode 

further commented that tax exemption for a small business with an 

annual turnover below R335 000 is a win-win for tax authorities and 

the small business sector and welcomed the R3 billion allocated to 

the Department of Small Business Development for mentoring and 

training. The funds are expected to go a long way in supporting and 

improving the “township-economy” as well as helping develop a 

much broader support network by the Department of Small Business 

Development’s agencies to be more visible and accessible to more 

beneficiaries of small enterprise support services. 

One of Seda’s main contribution to the small business sector is 

helping small businesses with debt collection from government 

departments. Seda runs a hotline through which small businesses 

can request assistance in securing payment from government 

departments for services rendered. 

Seda has 42 incubation centres in South Africa. The National 

Department of Trade and Industry (dti) intends setting up 250 incubators 

for small business by 2016. Towards this end, the dti’s 

Manufacturing Competitiveness Enhancement provides a cash grant 

to companies planning to upgrade machinery or buildings, or invest in 

training. Programme has paid out R1.6-billion in order to protect and 

create jobs in the sector. Indeed, this programme has proven incredibly 

popular among companies seeking to improve their competitivity. 

“Over the last three years the number of applications has skyrocketed. 

We have a massive backlog,” dti director-general Lionel 

October was quoted as saying. 

Launched in 2012-13, the programme will have had a total of 

R7.4bn allocated to it by 2017-2018, when it concludes. 

The clothing industry, in particular, has benefited substantially 

from this assistance. 

In the three years to the end of January, By end January 2015, 

the programme had paid out R1.6-billion, with R307-million claims 

awaiting processing. 

Seda assists SMEs in getting financial help, as well as providing 

advice in the drafting of business plans, marketing strategies and 

in skills training. The agency runs several incubators around the 

country under its Seda Technology Programme (STP). 

An example is the Zenzele Technology Demonstration Centre, 

a project that helps small-scale miners and mineral-processors 

to create viable businesses. 


OVERVIEW 

According to research done by Absa, SMMEs were supporting 

60% of the country’s employable population in 2011, against a 

figure of just 18% in 1998. 

National government has created a new agency to spur the 

development of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs). 

The Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) will do the work 

previously done by three separate bodies, and aim to get loans 

out to small businesses as quickly as possible. Sefa will have 

access to R1.4-billion for disbursement over three years to 2015. 

The SMME sector is seen as the most likely to create new jobs 

efficiently and cheaply. 

The new agency is under the control of the Industrial Development 

Corporation, which is itself a funder of many projects. 

Through the IDC’s Transformation and Entrepreneurial Scheme, 

a black economic empowerment project is under way at Kakamas 

in the Northern Cape, where emerging farmers are planting citrus. 

Vaal Community Citrus should create 1 330 jobs. 

Provincial governments and municipalities are obliged to 

promote procurement policies that support small businesses. 

Regional bodies such as the Eastern Cape Development 

Corporation also play a major role in this regard. 

The Northern Cape Department of Finance, Economic 

Development and Tourism (DEDT) has a unit devoted to product 

development and it channels funds into promising small 

enterprises, particularly in the 

manufacturing sector. 

In 2011/12, the DEDTsupported 

Bed Factory had 65 

employees and had started distributing 

its products to other 

provinces. 

The launch in 2011 of 

the Enterprise Development 

Fund (EDF) by the National 

Empowerment Fund (NEF) was 

a positive step in providing more 

funding for start-up businesses. 

The NEF’s Strategic Projects 

Fund has a five-year pipeline 

of R30-billion. The focus of this 

fund is large projects, but small 

enterprises will benefit from related 

contracts. 

Private companies also 

support entrepreneurship. A 

new SMME Business Park 

was opened in Rustenburg in 

2011. One of the area’s biggest 

businesses, Xstrata Alloys, put 

R2.4-million into the Zinniaville 

facility which now hosts North 

West Craft and Design Institute, 

Sivumo Safety and Keba Shades 

among other enterprises. 

Anglo America’s Zimele fund 

has hub managers at various 

locations around the country 

based on the resource mined 

by the Anglo subsidiary. The 

Thermal Coal Hub and the 

Platinum Hub are two examples. 

The Mondi Zimele Hub in 

Piet Retief supports businesses 

in the supply chain and forestry. 

Zimele is supporting a bottled 

water business that employs 

seven people at the eMalahleni 

water reclamation plant. 

In order to stimulate job 

creation, in 2014, Business 

Partners Limited launched its 


130

Franchise Fund—an innovative 

platform backed by the 

Development Bank of Southern 

Africa (DBSA)—aimed at allowing 

young and previously 

disadvantaged entrepreneurs, 

with limited assets and access 

to capital, to qualify as 

franchisees. 

The total Franchise Fund 

amounts to R107.03-million 

and consists of R48.65m 

from National Treasury’s Jobs 

Fund (R38.92m for financing 

and R9.73m for technical assistance), 

as well as R58.38- 

million from Business Partners 

Limited. 

According to Christo Botes, 

Executive Director at Business 

Partners Limited, a specialist 

risk finance company for formal 

small and medium enterprises 

(SMEs) in South Africa, the 

Franchise Fund aims to create 

jobs through entrepreneurship 

via franchised businesses. 

“Purchasing a franchise in 

South Africa can be quite onerous 

given that the franchisor 

normally requests a 50% own 

contribution. This fund will provide 

affordable franchising opportunities 

to those who would 

otherwise not have had the opportunity 

to acquire a business.” 

The Development Bank of 

Southern Africa is responsible 

for administering the national 

Jobs Fund. As at February 

2015, it had 76 projects in 

full implementation. The Jobs 

Fund has disbursed R1.966 

million in grant funding to the 76 

implementing projects, which 

has leveraged a further R2.344 

billion from project partners. 

OVERVIEW 

These 76 implementing projects have to-date created 37 239 

permanent new jobs. These projects have also created 11 092 

short terms jobs while 86 301 individuals have received training. 

The Jobs Fund has also partnered with Century Property 

Developments to build the Riversands Incubation Hub in Diepsloot, 

Gauteng. The project will potentially create 1,440 permanent jobs 

and places the SMME Incubation Hub in one precinct with large 

industry. For example, Sello Makhamate, a metalworker from 

Diepsloot, ran his business from his house. Due to the space 

constraints he was not able to expand his business or diversify 

is product. Now based in the Riversands Incubation Hub, he has 

larger formal business premises available where he can invite 

clients from more affluent markets. “This gives me access to a 

more customers especially from the new housing developments 

taking place in the area” says Sello. “At the Hub I have many 

specialists from the steel industry to learn new techniques that 

can grow my business.” 

According to Jenny Retief, Acting CEO Riversands Incubation 

Hub,“The Jobs Fund has played a crucial role in helping micro 

and small businesses from the Diepsloot area overcome the 

barriers that obstruct them from growing into the formal market. 

This creates desperately needed jobs and work opportunities.” 

All of the major retail banks have SMME offerings. Absa Bank’s 

SME Fund is driven by its Small Business Division and SMMEs 

make up more than 75% of Absa’s new business client list. There 

are also Enterprise Development Centres located all over South 

Africa, sponsored by Absa. The bank hosts a procurement portal 

which has more than 11 000 SMMEs and 1 000 buyers registered. 

Standard Bank runs a Community Investment Fund. 

Nedbank offers an enterprise development product for businesses 

with turnovers up to R35-million. Small Business Friday 

is a joint venture of the National Small Business Chamber and 

Nedbank. 

The commercial division of FNB has sections that deal with 

Start-up Funding and BEE Funding. The bank is a sponsor of an 

SMME training centre in Soweto and runs an advice bureau for 

small business called BizNetwork. 


• The Small Enterprise Finance Agency has a R1.4-billion warchest. 

• On Small Business Friday, entrepreneurs attend seminars. 

• Absa hosts a procurement portal for SMMEs. 

• The SMME Opportunity Roadshow is a eventing platform 

aimed at mentoring SMMEs in Johannesburg, Durban, Port 

Elizabeth and Cape Town 


OVERVIEW 

Education and training 

Education and training is possibly the most critical factor in achieving a sustainable future. 

South Africa is investing heavily in education to empower future generations, with South 

African universities winning increased recognition in several global surveys. 

Higher education 

South Africa has 23 public higher education institutions: 11 universities, 

six comprehensive universities and six universities of 

technology. 

There are also 87 registered and 27 provisionally registered 

private higher education institutions. 

The University of Cape Town has 40% of South Africa’s A-rated 

researchers (32) and a strong international reputation. QS World 

University Rankings put UCT among the world’s top 100 universities 

for the quality of its teaching in eight subjects: education, 

history and archaeology, geography, English, politics, psychology, 

earth and marine sciences, and law. The university gained a top- 

200 ranking for 19 other subjects 

UCT is rated as Africa’s top university and is ranked in joint 

120th position in the world according to The Times Higher 

Education World University Rankings 2015-2016, which list the 

best global universities and are the only international university 

performance tables to judge world class universities across all 

of their core missions - teaching, research, knowledge transfer 

and international outlook. 

The University of Pretoria and the University of the Witwatersrand 

(Wits) are also highly regarded as research institutions. Wits has 

been ranked in the top 1% of world institutions in seven fields of 

research. The university offers studies in more than 40 schools 

in five faculties. 

South African universities also feature highly on the Quacquarelli 

Symonds University Rankings, 

which placed eight of South 

Africa’s universities in the top 

100 universities in BRICS, with 

the highest placed institutions 

being UCT (14) Wits (28), 

Stellenbosch (34) and Pretoria 

(49). There are six comprehensive 

universities in South Africa, 

offering diplomas and degrees 

with a mix of vocational and 

academic programmes. These 

institutions grew out of mergers 

between universities and 

colleges. 

The University of South 

Africa (UNISA) offers correspondence 

courses. Its headquarters 

are in Pretoria but it 

has sites throughout South 

Africa. UNISA has a staff of 

more than 4 000 and 300 000 

registered students in South 

Africa and Africa. 

Universities of technology 

have a specific focus on 


132

educating young people in fields 

that will enhance the country’s 

economic performance. 

Technology is at the core of the 

learning experience. 

Most institutions have multiple 

campuses. Plans are in 

place for universities to be 

established in the only provinces 

that currently do not have 

one, the Northern Cape and 

Mpumalanga. The Northern 

Cape has two FET colleges, 

Mpumalanga has three. 

According to the National 

Student Financial Aid Scheme, 

funding for bursaries to support 

students at tertiary level increased 

to R8.2 billion in 2013, . 

Business schools 

Gauteng has three of South 

Africa’s top five business 

schools: the Wits Business 

School, the University of South 

Africa’s (Unisa’s) Graduate 

School of Business Leadership 

and the Gordon Institute of 

Business Science. 

The Graduate School of 

Business (UCT) is accredited 

by the European Foundation 

for Management Development 

while Stellenbosch’s Business 

School has a specialist unit 

called the Centre for Project 

Management Intelligence. 

The University of KwaZulu- 

Natal’s Graduate School of 

Business is a founder member 

of the Association of BRICS 

Business Schools. Rhodes 

University’s Business School 

has a strong focus on environmental 

management. 

Schools 

OVERVIEW 

South Africa has 26 000 public schools. The Education 

Department’s 2007 statistical review gave a figure of 12 048 821 

pupils in all public schools with a further 352 396 in independent 

(private) schools. The overall budget allocation for 2015/16 for 

the Department of Basic Education is R21.511-billion. Last year, 

the budget allocation was R19.699-billion. This is an increase of 

R1.821 billion, which is equivalent to 9.24%. 

A new Conditional Grant, namely the Mathematics, Science 

and Technology (MST) Grant, intended to promote the teaching 

and learning of Mathematics, Science and Technology. This 

Grant, an amalgamation of the Technical Schools Recapitalisation 

Grant and the Dinaledi Schools Grant, has been allocated a 

total of R1.1 billion over the 2015/16 to 2017/18 MTEF period. 

The Department’s 2015/2016 budget allocates infrastructure 

delivery funding through the Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) 

at R29.622 billion for the MTEF period; and the Accelerated 

Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) funded to the 

tune of R7.042 billion. 

Advtech is a JSE-listed company that runs several schools 

including Abbotts College and Varsity College with an enrolment 

of some 35 000 students. Curro Holdings is also listed on the JSE 

and, in the first six months of 2012, grew its national school portfolio 

from 12 to 22. A funding agreement with Old Mutual Investment 

Group SA (OMIGSA) and the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) 

will see Curro roll out 11 low-fee independent schools in the period 

to 2019. These will be called Meridian Independent Schools. 

The LEAP Science and Maths School model is far from the JSE 

company model: these schools have low fees and have to raise 

funds to survive but they offer excellent teaching, particularly in 

mathematics, science and English. There are six schools in South 

Africa and they are enabling children from black townships to do 

well enough at school to go on to study engineering at university. 

LEAP also has a teacher-training programme for its own graduates. 

The Mpumalanga Regional Training Trust (MRTT) provides 

quality customised training interventions, practical workplace 

training, placement and after-care via technical and mobile training 

and The MRTT hospitality and tourism academy. Learners at the 

training centres have access to three or four classrooms at each 

centre where they receive theoretical instruction. Classrooms 

vary in size and from centre to centre, but can accommodate 

between 20 to 50 learners each. Most of the training is provided 

on campus, but the MRTT can provide off-site training through 

its mobile workshops which travel to remote areas and enable 

members of local communities to access skills development 

interventions close to their homes. 


OVERVIEW 

Waste recycling 

The monetisation of South Africa’s waste is proving to be a key area for job creation. 

A 

world without waste does not simply have to be an 

unreachable imagined dream; instead it can be a guarantee 

for future generations with the right action today. 

While waste management is one of the most significant 

challenges that we face today, it is one that provides countless 

methods to overcome the environmental, social and economic 

problems that society faces. 

Waste recycling legislation in South Africa is centered on The 

National Environmental Management: Waste Act No. 59 of 2008. 

Its purpose–to reform the law regulating waste management in 

order to protect health and the environment by providing reasonable 

measures for the prevention of pollution and ecological 

degredation, promoting conservation, and securing ecological 

sustainable development and natural resources, while promoting 

justifiable economic and social development. 

When we start to recycle we reduce the amount of waste going 

to our landfill site thus prolonging the lifespan of our landfill sites. 

We need to look further than just the financial gain of recycling 

to the environmental impact. 

Recycling saves energy. Using recycled material when making 

plastics and paper uses less energy than producing them from 

new materials. Recycling reduces the amount of waste put into 

landfills. Landfills are potentially hazardous due to the concentration 

of non-biodegradable items that slowly leach toxic chemicals 

into the surrounding garbage in the landfill. 

Recycling improves the soil. Composting or simply mulching 

organic waste such as lawn 

clippings, leaves, and kitchen 

scraps keeps them out of a 

landfill, but the benefits are 

even greater. The carbon, nitrogen, 

and other nutrients inherent 

in organic waste enriches 

the soil, encouraging beneficial 

organisms and reducing the 

need for artificial fertilizers or 

other soil amendments. 

There are many companies 

at the forefront of evolving 

needs and trends commuted to 

the principles of sustainability 

in business and the promotion 

and education of the different 

types of recycling. 

Recycling tyres 

Since its inception in 2012, 

The Recycling and economic 

development Initiative of South 

Africa’s (REDISA) governmentbacked 

national Waste tyre 


134

OVERVIEW 

Management Plan has diverted 

more than 125 000 tonnes of 

used tyres from landfill into new 

supply chains by subsidising 

the collection and recycling 

process. The initiative is supporting 

190 SMMEs and says 

it has created 2 505 new jobs 

across South Africa – mainly 

for individuals and small entrepreneurs. 

“Before REDISA existed, 

South Africa had a [waste tyre] 

recycling rate of 4%. We have 

been able to increase that to 

19% by the end of 2014 and are 

well on our way to increase that 

[further] by the end of 2015,” 

says Erdmann. 

But the real success story 

has been the scheme’s ability to 

economically empower poorer 

South Africans. According to 

company statistics, 98% of the 

2 505 jobs created by REDISA 

have benefited previously 

disadvantaged individuals. In 

addition, 41% of workers are 

18-35 year olds and 37% are 

women. 

“We have been able to put 

80% of revenue collected from 

the waste management fee 

back into local communities by 

creating a market for the handling 

of waste,” says Erdmann. 

Recycling e-waste 

The e-Waste Association of 

South Africa (eWASA) was established 

in 2008 to manage 

the establishment of a sustainable 

environmentally sound e- 

waste management system for 

the country. 

E-waste (electronic & electrical waste) includes computers, 

entertainment electronics, mobile phones, household appliances 

and less obvious items such as spent fluorescent tubes, batteries 

and battery-operated toys that have been discarded by their 

original users. 

E-waste makes up to 5% to 8% of municipal solid waste in 

South Africa. Recycling SA’s electronic waste (e-waste) will be a 

source of new business, job creation and will develop the country’s 

economy, says Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa, 

SA has an unemployment rate of 25%, and Molewa says government 

recognises the potential of the e-waste sector in helping 

drive job creation and is committed to working with the sector. 

“There are opportunities for job creation and poverty alleviation, 

and entrepreneurial opportunities from a well-planned, strategically 

resourced, well regulated, managed and controlled e-waste 

system,” said Molewa. 

The minister says her department has identified recycling as a 

way to regulate waste management in the country, and not only 

protects citizens’ health and the environment, but create jobs at 

the same time. “Most of the components of e-waste are recyclable. 

The department has put systems in place for the collection, 

transportation, sorting and recycling of e-waste,” added Molewa. 

Plastics 

During 2014 a total of 1 084 400 tons of plastic waste was sent 

to South African landfills. This is according to the latest plastic 

recycling statistics released by Plastics|SA. 

Plastics|SA commissions research into the status quo of the 

plastic recycling industry each year. The information is gathered 

by interviewing recyclers from around the country and intends 

to provide valuable data for the industry, government and other 

stakeholders. 

Anton Hanekom, Executive Director of Plastics SA explains the 

need for this research: “It gives us a clear indication of the flow of 

plastics products in South Africa, the state of the plastics recycling 

industry and the recycling markets. It is therefore a valuable tool 

for promotion, knowledge of the industry, forward planning and 

policy development.” 

According to the statistics, 47 420 people are employed by the 

industry’s informal sector, and 6 037 people by the formal sector. 

Overall, job creation in the industry increased by 11.4% in 2014 

compared to the previous year. 

There are 221 recycling companies in South Africa and an 

estimated 1 800 converters in the industry, most of which are 

Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). 


OVERVIEW 

Waste compliance 

Although South Africa has made some great strides in addressing key issues experienced 

in waste management over the past 20 years, the industry remains problematic, 

unsustainable and unable to achieve legislative goals and targets in its current state. 

According to 2012 statistics released by the Department 

of Environmental Affairs, an approximate total of 108-million-tonnes 

of waste is generated nationwide. General 

waste accounts for around 59-million-tonnes, unclassified 

waste 48-million-tonnes, and hazardous waste the remaining 

one-million-tonnes. Of all this waste, only ten percent is recycled– 

the rest is landfilled. 

Waste generated in South Africa is expected to double to approximately 

216-million-tonnes by 2025. “Our current lack of 

recycling facilities and great dependency on landfills–most of 

which are not compliant–means that we are rapidly running out of 

space to contain our waste,” says I-CAT Environmental Services 

manager Rachelle Stofberg. 

Additional challenges include; increased complexities of waste 

streams, historical backlogs of waste services and a limited understanding 

of waste flows and SA’s national waste balance. Underpricing 

is a major issue in local waste management, and there 

are also few compliant hazardous waste management facilities. 

In response to these challenges, the National Waste 

Management Strategy (NWMS) was developed and subsequently 

implemented by government in 2012. It is a legislative requirement 

of the National Environmental Waste Act (NEMWA) of 2008, in 

order to achieve the following objectives: 

• Promote waste minimisation, re-use, recycling and recovery. 

• Ensure the effective and efficient delivery of waste services. 

• Grow the waste sector contribution to the green economy. 

• Ensure awareness of the impact of waste on people’s health, 

wellbeing and the environment. 

• Achieve integrated waste management planning. 

• Ensure sound budgeting and financial management for services. 

• Provide measures to remediate contaminated land. 

• Establish effective compliance with an enforcement of the Act. 

A variety of tools have been developed to assist in achieving the 

goals set out in the NWMS. These tools include inter alia: 

• Waste Classification and Management System. 

• Norms and Standards. 

• Licencing. 

• Industry Waste Management Plans. 

• Extended Producer 

Responsibility. 

• Priority Waste. 

• Economic Instruments. 

The Waste Classification and 

Management System provides 

a methodology for the classification 

of waste and provides 

standards for the assessment 

and disposal of waste 

for landfill disposal. To this effect, 

the Waste Classification 

and Management Regulations 

came into effect in August 2013. 

Under the Regulations, all 

waste generators are required 

to classify each waste stream 

according to the SANS 10234 

Globally Harmonised System 

of Classification and Labelling 

of Chemicals. 

SANS 10234 establishes 

criteria for the classification 

and labelling of hazardous 

substances and mixtures, including 

waste, to ensure safe 

transport and disposal. Under 

SANS 10234, it must be established 

whether the waste 

is hazardous based on physical, 

health and environmental 

hazardous properties (hazard 

classes), and the degree or 

severity of the hazard posed 

(hazard categories). 

Stofberg indicates that most 

of the timeframes for achieving 

goals set out in NWMS have 

not been met. She adds that 


136

hazardous waste is also not 

being classified in accordance 

with SANS 10234 nor classified 

within 180 days of generation. 

“General, hazardous and 

recyclable waste are still being 

mixed. Unfortunately, this demonstrates 

little commitment to 

compliance.” 

Stofberg attributes this lack 

of compliance from industry to 

a variety of factors, including; 

a lack of understanding of the 

new regulations and the incorrect 

interpretation of roles, responsibilities 

and compliance 

timeframes associated with 

regulations. “This is further 

compounded by financial costs 

associated with new waste 

management infrastructure, record 

keeping, and SANS 10234 

classifications, together with 

TURN 

SCRAPMETAL 

INTO CASH 

OVERVIEW 

limited compliance enforcement from the regulating authorities.” 

Certain compliance, such as the NEMWA Waste Classification 

and Management Regulations, must be complied with within three 

years of promulgation. 

This means that mandatory compliance is little more than a 

year away. I-CAT offers a comprehensive range of services to 

assist its clients in complying with the new Waste Classification 

and Management Regulations. These include: 

• Waste licencing applications. 

• Integrated waste management plans. 

• SANS 10234-accredited waste classification & management. 

• Integrated waste and water management plan. 

• Waste assessment for landfill disposal. 

• Industry waste management plans. 

• Waste inventory management in accordance with the 

National Waste Information System. 

“I-CAT Environmental Solutions adds measurable value in assisting 

various operations in the industrial and mining sectors, by offering 

specialist services in waste classification and management, 

environmental compliance monitoring (water, dust, noise), environmental 

authorisation processes, and comprehensive annual 

audits and reviews,” Stofberg concludes. 

POLOKWANE SCRAP METALS 

C/o Yster & River St • Ladine • Polokwane 

T/F: 015 293 1060 • Cell: 083 657 1030 • E-mail: niets@polka.co.za 

Factory F1 • Kabakuk Industrial • Lebowakgomo 

Competitive 

prices offered 

on all kinds 

of scrap metal 


INTERVIEW 

The importance of 

responsible e-cycling 

Ulze van Wyk is leading the call for an increased awareness 

for the importance of responsible recycling e-waste… but 

she is also excited by the employment and entrepreneurial 

opportunities that the industry has to offer. 

Ulze van Wyk 

BIOGRAPHY 

Ulze van Wyk is the Managing 

Director of Africa e-Waste, 

a recycling company that was 

founded in February 2011. Ulze 

has 7 years’ experience in e- 

waste management services 

and is currently serving on the 

board of directors of EWASA. 

This has afforded Ulze an incredible 

opportunity to gain 

fi rst-hand information in terms 

of electronic recycling as well 

as the local and international 

laws and trends relating to the 

industry. 

What does your company do? 

Africa e-Waste specialises in refurbishing and dismantling of electronic 

equipment. By refurbishing the equipment we can resell it 

into the second-hand market locally as well as into Africa. This 

strategy ensures an increased return on the equipment, as well 

as helping to keep the equipment away from landfi lls. 

What are the major trends in e-cycling? 

Electronic recycling still needs a lot of awareness, but the biggest 

challenge for people today is fi guring out where to take their 

e-waste. People only seem to want to take TVs, fridges, cellphones, 

PCs (any product that operates with batteries or electricity) to try 

and fi x them and get them to work again. This slows the fl ow of 

electronic products that waste collectors can collect. Sadly, when 

a discarded product can’t be fi xed people usually just take the 

metals out - such as the copper - and dump what’s left of the 

product. Our concern is that this can lead to hazardous gases and 

leakages from these products being released into the environment. 

What’s been your highlight of serving on EWASA’s board? 

EWASA was heavily involved in getting the Waste Act changed 

in January 2009. They were in front and campaigned heavily and 

were working hard to get things done. I was a director there so I 

know that, in the last few years, they have been very active with 

the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA). The DEA called 

a meeting with the industry and asked for a formal e-Waste 

Management Plan for South Africa. The DEA assisted with forming 

a Steercom to put the plan together and I was privileged to 

be part of the Steercom. 

What is the basis of the Steercom’s plan? 

In the plan we submitted we proposed four tiers of operators, with 

the biggest and fully licensed being the Tier 1 operators, who 

would all be fully licenced and have all the ISO certifi cation and 

other criteria needed to operate at Tier 1 level. They would not 

have a limit on size or weight criteria, but it would cost a lot to set 


138

INTERVIEW 

yourself up as a Tier 1 operator. Tier 2 would have 

a smaller weight quota, while Tier 3 won’t need 

all the licences. These would be like buy back 

centres, with certain criteria such as needing to 

sell to the top two tiers. Tier 4s will be informal recyclers 

who can take what they collect to any tier 

of operator. Logistics is a major part of recycling 

e-waste and is by far the most expensive cost, 

so this is going to be subsidised from the levy. 

There are seven companies who could adhere 

to the Tier 1s level operational, but only around 

25% of current e-waste is actively being recycled, 

so we urgently want to increase that fi gure. Our 

target is a 30% increase per year for the next fi ve 

years. The current companies who could adhere 

to the Tier 1s level are currently operation but 

they won’t be able to handle the total volume, 

so we want to work towards having up to 15 

Tier 1s operating, and these would each require 

a staff complement of between 50 to 70 people. 

The benefi ts of this will fi lter down to Tiers 2 to 4, 

which should result in a large boost in job creation. 

Tier 4s would be seen as entrepreneurs and informal 

workers who won’t draw a salary but will 

earn as they work and should be able to earn a 

reasonable living from their work. 

Importing e-waste 

Importing e-waste from Africa is seen as an interesting 

growth opportunity by many people as 

we have better recycling facilities and systems 

than anywhere else in Africa but, with the Basel 

convention rules to import need to be followed. 

We want to import e-waste and assist Africa as 

well as our economy and job creating, but we 

want to do it legal and environmentally friendly 

and human healthy! 

While it is true that we can recycle carefully, 

some ministers and government offi cials are 

against this. E-waste contains a lot of hazardous 

materials and the last thing we want is to be 

seen as the dumping ground for Africa’s e-waste. 

A lot of education and awareness is required to 

guard against that. 

Recycling cellphones 

The population in South Africa is currently around 

the 50-million mark, and at least 50% of our 

citizens have at least one cellphone. However, 

think about how many cellphones many people 

actually have. Most people I know have a second 

cellphone or even a third lying around due 

to advances in technology, as phones don’t last 

long and people are quick to upgrade, so in the 

next two years another 35 million cellphones are 

potential going to come into the waste stream – 

and that is just cellphones. Then add in all the 

teenagers and young adults who reach ‘cellphone 

age’ and get a cellphone. The waste 

stream of e-waste is the highest growth waste 

stream in the world. Most appliances are now 

electronic and most kids toys are also battery 

operated. Instead of keeping on mining minerals 

it is going to become increasingly important to 

rather reuse that which has been mined already. 

What are the hazards of e-waste? 

We are busy working on an awareness campaign 

for e-waste, as it was a long held belief that 

everything surrounding e-waste is hazardous, 

but in fact it is ONLY hazardous if not recycled 

correctly. When a computer manufacturer drops 

off laptops at a corporate offi ce they don’t need 

a hazardous truck to take it there as it is not 


INTERVIEW 

deemed as an e-waste product at that point. 

However, when I want to fetch those same laptops 

for recycling then they want me to collect 

them in a vehicle that can handle hazardous material. 

The problem is that once these products 

are placed in the storeroom then the Act wants 

to label them as hazardous, but they are not. 

Fortunately the Act has now changed, but it is an 

interesting point that needs to be clarifi ed - when 

does a product become hazardous? 

THE AVERAGE PERSON 

PRODUCES MORE THAN 12KG 

OF E-WASTE ANNUALLY AND 

WE ONLY RECYCLE 10 – 15% 

How to operate as an e-waste recycler 

To get a licence to operate as an e-waste recycled 

you need the permission of your surrounding 

neighbours. At Africa E-Waste we refurbish 

and manually take products apart, but all we 

are doing is manually dismantling products. No 

shredding or chemical or heating or processing 

is done at our site. Many people see all e-waste 

as hazardous. What is hazardous is if you leave 

that laptop or TV on the dumpsite or on the side 

of road and then you expose that to the sun and 

environment and wind and rain, this starts the 

decomposing of the unit and it starts oozing 

chemicals. Cellphone batteries goes fatter and 

fatter the hotter it gets, and when you add water 

that mixes with the chemicals as they start to 

be released then it can become very dangerous. 

The lifecycle of a cellphone 

If people look after their cellphones with care 

then they can really have a much longer life span. 

We have refurbished cellphone stock that is 10 

years old but that still works perfectly. Our motto 

is to try and rescue and reuse electronic products 

for as long as possible by taking it out of the 

waste stream. A third benefi t of e-waste recycling 

is that it gives technology on the recycling 

side time to catch up with other technological 

advances and ideas for how to recycle. We want 

to keep products out of the recycling loop for as 

long as possible so that we can get the most 

value out of the resource. 

What is a problem in the industry? 

Companies that are not licenced! If you operate 

legitimately you have to take hazardous components 

to legal sites, but this all comes at a great 

cost to us. Competition is a great thing, but we 

all need to be playing by the same rules. 

What are the opportunities for entrepreneurs 

to enter the industry? 

Locally there will be new opportunities for other 

companies or individuals in Tiers 1, 2 and 3 and 

there will be full-on government backing to support 

these companies and that is because of 

the environment benefi ts but also it’s a fantastic 

way to setup sustainable businesses for South 

Africans. Africa E-Waste offers franchise opportunities 

and we already have strong interest in 

Port Elizabeth, Limpopo and in the Northern 

Cape. I believe franchising will be great for the 

industry in South Africa, but there’s also great 

potential to add value across Africa. 

What do you know about e-waste ‘police’, 

The Green Scorpions? 

I have heard about them and from what I hear 

they are doing a great job. They monitor all waste 

streams and have a big area to cover. They are 

really good at what they are doing – when they 

get hold of you they really get hold of you. Our 

e-waste plan, rules and regulations will make 

it easier for them to enforce. I’m very positive 

and happy with the way government is handling 

this waste stream right now as they have a big 

drive underway and they have assigned a lot of 

resources from their side to help to plan and push 

us forward, as well as by offering their resources. 

It largely boils down to awareness, but government 

are addressing this in a major way. 


140

OVERVIEW 

Renewable energy 

South Africa’s renewable energy industry holds enormous potential for further development. 

Renewable energy holds the promise for a brighter future 

not only in South Africa, but Africa as a whole. In this 

context South Africa is well positioned to lead the continent 

forward, thanks to its internationally acclaimed 

Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procument 

(REIPPP) framework, under which “bidding windows” offer renewable 

energy power suppliers the opportunity to bid for projects 

that, once complete, feed into the national grid and contribute 

to South Africa’s energy security. REIPP has recently closed its 

fourth bidding window, testimony to the high repute in which the 

process is held. The fact is that the framework offers investors 

the reassurance of a robust business-friendly model, ensuring 

the sustainability of the sector as a whole. 

The ten preferred bidders, as 

announced by the Minister, are 

Adams Solar PV Project (Pty) 

Ltd, Bellatrix Solar PV Project, 

Du Plessis Solar PV4, Steynsrus 

PV2, Heuningspruit PV1, 

Steynsrus PV1, Klawer Wind 

Farm, Hopefield Community 

Wind Farm, George Small Scale 

Biomass to Energy and Busby 

Renewables (Biomass). 

The 13 preferred bidders in the renewable energy independent 

power producer procurement programme’s Bid Window 4 were 

announced in June. 

The 13 projects are tipped to supply an additional 1084MW of 

electricity to the national grid. 

To date, more than 6 000MW of electricity has been procured 

from 37 renewable energy independent power producers. 

Of course, South Africa’s renewable programme is not only 

about electricity but, also broader empowerment. The contribution 

of REIPPP projects to the broader national development 

objectives, including economic development, social upliftment, 

job creation, broad based economic empowerment and development 

of small and women owned vendors, is a hallmark of 

the programme. 

In addition to REIPP there is the Department of Energy’s Small 

Projects Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers (IPPs) 

Programme. 

Ten winners were announced this year at the South African 

International Renewable Energy Conference (SAIREC) 2015. 

The programme is targeted at independent power producers 

that can roll-out projects with the capacity to produce between 

one and five Megawatts of energy. 

This amounts to creating opportunities for small and medium 

sized entrepreneurs in the renewable energy programme. 

The intention of the programme is to assist small developers 

to gain assistance in project development as well as in raising 

the necessary funding projects of this nature. 


142

OVERVIEW 

Africa could up its generation 

of renewable energy from 

5% to 22% by 2030, according 

to Mr Adnan Amin, the Director- 

General of the International 

Renewable Energy Agency 

(IRENA). 

As the demand for electricity 

is projected to grow by 2030, 

renewable energy will contribute 

towards the electrifying of 

households across the continent. 

Africa’s electricity demand 

has increased by 80% over 

the past 15 years. Africa is 

rising but needs secure and 

affordable energy to power its future growth. Africa has bountiful 

and buried renewable energy resources, including excellent 

solar across the continent, hydro in many countries, strong wind 

resources and powerful geothermal in East Africa’s rift valley. 

Renewable energy deployment in Africa can reach 310 GW by 

2030 on the basis of the technology and the business case that 

the world has today. 

More than 600-million people in Africa remain without electricity 

– the biggest unelectrified population in the world. 

This is expected to grow to 700-million by 2030, based on 

current trends. Renewable energy will be critical to lift these 

citizens from energy poverty. Access to electricity fulfils basic 

energy needs and can lead to a more accessible and reliable 

water supply, the extension of basic rural health care services 

and outreach of telecommunication services in rural areas. It is a 

means of stimulating economy wide development and a pathway 

to poverty eradication. 


INTERVIEW 

Plenty of scope for solar 

Annelize van der Merwe, the Director of the Green Economy for Trade and Investment 

South Africa, a division of the dti, discusses the potential for investment into solar energy 

in South Africa. 

In terms of solar power, there is definitely still 

scope for more investment into the glass industry, 

perhaps through partnerships with our 

local manufacturers. South Africa’s sand has 

a very high iron content which means that the 

sand is less suitable to use in the manufacturing 

process for PV glass. Our glass manufacturers 

would therefore need to invest in the technology 

to extract the iron from the sand before they can 

manufacture it into glass specifically for the solar 

industry–and that requires a significant capital 

investment. 

We are encouraging companies to look at 

partnerships and I think there is still scope for 

module manufacturers, especially given that 

sub-Saharan Africa is now waking up to the 

potential of solar energy and there are all these 

opportunities for off-grid solutions in many 

African countries. 

There are tremendous opportunities in 

terms of infrastructure, but the commercial and 

industrial rooftop market actually also provides 

many opportunities for module manufacturers 

— especially in light of the fact that the dti is in 

the process of designating PV panels for local 

content for public procurement. We also see 

opportunities for the glass industry in other areas 

such as coating the glass for the heliosats for 

the CSP (concentrating solar power) industry. 

When it comes to parabolic trough technology 

where the glass must be slightly bent, that is 

quite an expensive process and there is a need 

for investment there. One of the challenges the 

industry faces with manufacturing for the CSP 

industry and especially the parabolic trough 

technology is policy certainty in terms of the 

rollout of solar projects. 

Companies need to be certain of market 

(which translates into a certain amount of MWs) 

to be able to justify large capital investments into 

component manufacturing. 

We want the public and business to know 

that we can do unblocking, that we have funding 

and incentives available. We want to know if 

companies are facing problems or if there is 

anything that is hampering a company’s ability 

to grow because a large portion of investment 

comes from domestic investors wishing to 

expand their loal production. 

Incentivising investments 

Our dti incentives are generally quite well known, 

because it’s a cash grant, but our tax incentives 

are less well-known. 

The majority of our investments are in medium 

to large companies, but increasingly SMMEs are 

getting involved in innovative areas–you have 

small companies perhaps providing solutions 

or making something more energy efficient as 

well as the guys who would install PV solutions 

on rooftops. 

In my sector, which is renewable energy, I 

have not dealt with that many projects that have 

wanted to accept any extra funding. The type of 

projects we get involved in would normally be 

funded by the IDC–often they would take equity 

in the company and then help them to arrange 

further finance. A lot of the projects we deal 

with are companies that already have their own 

corporate finance and they have a good balance 

sheet, but the problem with smaller companies 

is that many times these smaller entitites have 

no finance available–they have a project but it’s 

not bankable. 

That’s what we find with a lot of companies, 

especially BEE companies who don’t have 

funding, and that can sink a project because 

you have someone who is prepared to take some 


144

INTERVIEW 

equity but you also have to have something of your 

own or you need to bring some available funding 

from your side. Also very often companies need 

money for operational costs and our incentives 

don’t stretch to that so we will give funding for 

the assets but companies need to bring their 

own funding to the deal as well. 

In terms of wind energy, in talking to some 

international companies we have realised that 

our key enablers (something that would enable 

us to attract more investment into component 

manufacturing for the renewable energy sector) 

cross-over between the wind industry and the 

automotive industry and this could count in our 

favour going forward. 

On the waste side there are still opportunities in 

tyre recycling, so we are looking for companies that 

can recycle tyres effectively. REDISA will endorse a 

project, but often those projects need financing or 

other investors involved in order to make it happen. 

REDISA will then refer some of those companies 

to us to take those projects further. 

We are getting in a huge amount of interest 

from companies as well as for waste-to-energy 

is policy certainty. However, you also have to 

appreciate that with the roll-out going forward, 

companies need long-term sustainability before 

they decide to setup a R300-million factory. 

They need orders first as blade manufacturing 

represents a huge capital outlay. It is very 

expensive and requires a massive facility. 

We are talking to some blade manufacturers 

and then there are some smaller components 

that go into the motors, the nacelles and the 

gearboxes and such,but those need even a 

bigger market to justify setting up manufacturing 

facilities in SA. There is some scope for a 

type of projects, especially companies using 

industrial waste. We have companies in the 

paper industry, fxor example, who want to 

take the pulp that they produce as a byproduct 

and convert it into steam. Projects like that are 

becoming increasingly interesting. 

In the agriculture industry all the packhouses 

and cooling facilities want to install PV in order to 

supplement their energy supply and to provide a 

backup during load shedding, so that is creating 

interesting opportunities, but we can’t keep 

up with the amount of companies looking to 

upgrade or invest in their area. 


LISTINGS 

South African 

business organisations 

A guide to South African business organisations. 

Eastern Cape 

Border-Kei Chamber of Business 

Physical address: 4 Stuart Star Crescent, East 

London 5205 

Postal address: PO Box 11179, 

Southernwood 5214 

Tel: +27 43 743 8438 Fax: +27 43 743 2249 

Email: info@bkcob.co.za 

Website: www.bkcob.co.za 

Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber 

Physical address: KPMG House, Norvic Drive, 

Greenacres, Port Elizabeth 6045 


Greenacres 6057 

Tel: +27 41 373 1122 

Fax: +27 41 373 1142 

Email: nicki@nmbusinesschamber.co.za 

Website: www.nmbusinesschamber.co.za 

Free State 

Manguang Chamber of Commerce & Industry 

Physical address: 32 President Street, 

Westdene, Bloemfontein 9301 

Postal address: PO Box 87, Bloemfontein 9300 

Tel: +27 51 447 3368 

Fax: +27 51 447 5064 

Email: bcci@intekom.co.za 

Website: www.bcci.co.za 

Kroonstad Chamber of Business & Tourism 

Physical address: Old Town Hall, 

Cross Street, Kroonstad 9500 

Postal address: PO Box 425, Kroonstad 9500 

Tel: +27 56 212 3611 Fax: 086 542 2356 

Email: kroonstad@act.co.za 

Website: www.kroonstad.org 

Gauteng 

Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) 

Physical address: Bentley Offi ce Park, Block 9, 

67 Wessels Road, Rivonia 2191 


Benmore 2010 

Tel: +27 11 784 8000 Fax: 086 609 8248 

Email: busa@busa.org.za 

Website: www.busa.org.za 

Chamber of Commerce 

& Industry – Johannesburg (JCCI) 

Physical address: 6th Floor, JCC House, 

27 Owl Street Cnr Empire Rd, Milpark 

Postal address: Private Bag 34, 

Auckland Park 2006 

Tel: +27 11 726 5300 Fax: +27 11 482 2000 

Email: info@jcci.co.za 

Website: www.jcci.co.za 

South African Chamber of Commerce 

& Industry (SACCI) 

Physical address: Chamber House, 

24 Sturdee Ave, Rosebank 2196 

Postal address: PO Box 213, Saxonwold 2132 

Tel: +27 11 446 3800 Fax: +27 11 446 3850 

Email: info@sacci.org.za 

Website: www.sacci.org.za 

Tshwane Chamber of Commerce 

& Industry 

Physical address: Kingston Howe, 852 Park 

Street, Arcadia, Pretoria 0083 

Postal address: PO Box 40653, Arcadia 0007 

Tel: +27 12 342 3236/7 Fax: +27 12 342 1486 

Email: info.tcci@mweb.co.za 

Website: www.tcci.co.za 


146

LISTINGS 

KwaZulu-Natal 

Durban Chamber of Commerce & Industry 

Physical address: 892 Umgeni Road, 

Durban 4001 

Postal address: PO Box 1506, Durban 4000 

Tel: +27 31 335 1000 Fax: +27 31 303 1149 

Email: chamber@durbanchamber.co.za 

Website: www.durbanchamber.co.za 

Zululand Chamber of Commerce 

and Industry 

Physical address: Buscom Centre, ZCBF 

Community Park, Alton, Richards Bay 3900 

Postal address: PO Box 649, Richards 

Bay 3900 

Tel: +27 35 797 1800 Fax: +27 35 797 3134 

Email: info@zcci.co.za 

Website: www.zcci.co.za 

Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business 

Physical address: Chamber House, 

Royal Showgrounds, Pietermaritzburg 3201 


Dorpspruit 3206 

Tel: +27 33 345 2747 Fax: +27 33 394 4151 

Email: pcb@pcb.org.za 

Website: www.pcb.org.za 

Limpopo 

Polokwane Chamber of Business 

Physical address: No. 47, 19 th Industrial Street, 

Polokwane 0699 

Postal address: PO Box 53, Polokwane 0700 

Tel: +27 15 297 8057 

Fax: 086 513 2644 

Email: admin@pcob.co.za 

Website: www.pcob.co.za 

Mpumalanga 

Middelburg Chamber of Commerce & Industry 

Physical address: 292 Walter Sisulu Street, 

Clubville, Middelburg 1050 

Postal address: PO Box 1152, Middelburg 1035 

Tel: +27 13 243 2253 

Email: secretary@middelburginfo.com 

Website: www.middelburginfo.com 

Barberton Chamber of Business 

Physical address: 19 Judge Street, 

Barberton 1300 

Postal address: PO Box 221, Barberton 1300 

Tel: +27 13 712 6490 Fax: 086 720 6290 

Email: nico@mountainlands.co.za 

Website: www.barbertonchamber.co.za 

Northern Cape 

Northern Cape Chamber of Commerce 

& Industry (NOCCI) - Kimberley 

Physical address: Bizznizz Centre Shop 10, 

14 Long Street, Kimberley 8301 

Postal address: PO Box 350, Kimberley 8300 

Tel: +27 53 831 1081 Fax: +27 53 831 1082 

Website: www.nocci.co.za 

Western Cape 

Cape Town Regional Chamber of 

Commerce & Industry 

Physical address: 4 th Floor, 33 Hammerschlag 

Way, Foreshore, Cape Town 8001 


Cape Town 8000 

Tel: +27 21 402 4300 Fax: +27 21 402 4302 

Email: info@capechamber.co.za 

Website: www.capetownchamber.co.za 

George Business Chamber 

Physical address: Nedbank Centre, 

111 York Str, George 6529 

Postal address: PO Box 24, George 6530 

Tel: +27 44 874 3349 Fax: 086 544 6998 

Email: info@georgechamber.co.za 

Website: www.georgechamber.co.za 

147 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2014

LISTINGS 

South African National 

Government 

An overview of South Africa’s national government departments. 

President 

Mr Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma 

Physical address: Union Buildings, Government Avenue, Arcadia, 

Pretoria 0001 


Tel: +27 12 300 5200 Fax: 012 323 8246 

Website: www.thepresidency.gov.za 

Deputy President 

Mr Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa 

Physical address: Union Buildings, Government Avenue, East Wing, 

1st Floor, Arcadia, Pretoria 0001 


Tel: +27 12 300 5200 Fax: 012 323 8246 


Minister in the Presidency 

Minister: Jeff Radebe 

Physical address: Union Buildings, Government Avenue, East Wing, 

1st Floor, Arcadia, Pretoria 0001 


Tel: +27 12 300 5200 Fax: 012 300 5795 


Department of Finance 

Minister: Nhlanhla Nene 

Physical address: 40 WF Nkomo Street, Old Reserve Bank Building, 

2nd Floor, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 323 8911 Fax: +27 12 323 3262 

Website: www.treasury.gov.za 


148

Ministry in the Presidency responsible for Women (minister of 

women in the presidency) 

Minister: Susan Shabangu 

Physical address: East Wing, Union Buildings, Pretoria 0001 


Tel: +27 12 359 0011 / 0013 Fax: +27 12 326 0473 

Website: www.women.gov.za 

LISTINGS 

Minister for Public Service & Administration 

Minister: Ngoako Ramatlhodi (Adv) 

Physical address: 123 Poyntons Building, West Block, 

cnr Schubart and Church streets, Pretoria 0001 


Tel: +27 12 307 2934/2884 Fax: +27 12 323 4111 

Website: www.dcs.gov.za 

Dept of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 

Minister: Mr Senzeni Zokwana 

Physical address: No 20, Agriculture Place, Block DA, 1st Floor, 

cnr Beatrix Street and Soutpansberg Road, Arcadia, Pretoria 

Postal address: Private Bag X250, Pretoria 

Tel: +27 12 319 7319 Fax: +27 12 319 6681 

Website: www.daff.gov.za 

Department of Arts and Culture 

Minister: Nathi Mthethwa 

Physical address: 10th Floor, Kingsley Centre, 481 corner Steve Biko & 

Stanza Bopape streets, Arcadia, Pretoria 0001 


Tel: +27 012 441 3000 Fax: +27 12 440 4485 

Website: www.dac.gov.za 

Department of Basic Education 

Minister: Angelina Motshekga 

Physical address: Sol Plaatje House, 222 Struben Street, Pretoria 0001 

Postal address: Private Bag Private Bag X9034, Cape Town, 8000 

Tel: +27 12 357 3000 Fax: +27 12 323 5989 

Website: www.education.gov.za 


LISTINGS 

Department of Communications 

Minister: Faith Muthambi 

Physical address: Tshedimosetso House, 1035 Frances Baard 

(Cnr Festival Street), Hatfi eld, Pretoria 0001 


Tel: +27 12 473 0000 Fax: +27 12 462 1646 

Website: www.doc.gov.za 

Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs 

Minister: Pravin Gordhan 

Physical address: 87 Hamilton Street, Arcadia, Pretoria 0083 


Tel: +27 12 334 0705 Fax: +27 12 326 4478 

Website: www.cogta.gov.za 

Department of Correctional Services 

Minister: Sibusiso Ndebele 

Physical address: 123 Poyntons Building, West Block, 

cnr Schubart and Church streets, Pretoria 0001 


Tel: +27 12 307 2934/2884 Fax: +27 12 323 4111 

Website: www.dcs.gov.za 

Department of Defence and Military Veterans 

Minister: Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula 

Physical address: cnr Delmas Avenue & Nossob St, 

Erasmuskloof, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 355 6101 Fax: +27 12 347 0118 

Website: www.dod.mil.za 

Department of Economic Development 

Minister: Ebrahim Patel 

Physical address: Block A, 3rd Floor, 77 the dti Campus, 

cnr Meintjies & Esselen streets, Sunnyside, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 394 1006 Fax: +27 12 394 0255 

Website: www.economic.gov.za 


150

LISTINGS 

Department of Energy 

Minister: Tina Joemat-Pettersson 

Physical address: 192 cnr Visagie and Paul Kruger St, Pretoria 0001 


Tel: +27 12 406 8000 Petroleum Fax: +27 12 319 6681 

Website: www.energy.gov.za 

Department of Environmental Affairs 

Minister: Edna Molewa 

Physical address: Environment House, 473 Steve Biko and 

Soutpansberg Road, Arcadia, 0083 


Tel: +27 12 310 3537 Fax: +27 086 593 6526 

Website: www.environment.gov.za 

Department of Health 

Minister: Aaron Motsoaledi 

Physical address: 20th Floor, Civitas Building, 

cnr Struben and Andries streets, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 395 8086/80 Fax: +27 12 395 9165 

Website: www.doh.gov.za 

Department of Higher Education and Training 

Minister: Blade Nzimande 

Physical address: 123 Francis Baard Street, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 312 5555 

Fax: +27 12 323 5618 

Website: www.dhet.gov.za 

Department of Home Affairs 

Minister: Malusi Gigaba 

Physical address: 909 Arcadia Street, Hatfi eld, 0083 


Tel: +27 12 432 6648 Fax: +27 12 432 6675 

Website: www.dha.gov.za 


LISTINGS 

Department of Human Settlements 

Minister: Lindiwe Sisulu 

Physical address: Govan Mbeki House, 240 Justice Mahomed, 

Sunnyside, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 421 1310 Fax: +27 12 341 8513 

Website: www.dhs.gov.za 

Department of International Relations and Cooperation 

Minister: Maite Nkoana-Mashabane 

Physical address: OR Tambo Building, 460 Soutpansberg Road, 

Rietondale, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 351 1000 Fax: +27 12 329 1000 

Website: www.dirco.gov.za 

Department of Justice and Correctional Services 

Minister: Michael Masutha 

Physical address: Salu Building, 316 cnr Thabo Sehume and 

Francis Baard Streets, Pretoria 0001 


Tel: +27 12 406 4669 Fax: +27 12 406 4680 

Website: www.doj.gov.za 

Department of Labour 

Minister: Mildred Oliphant 

Physical address: 215 Laboria House, cnr Francis Baard 

and Paul Kruger Streets, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 392 9620 Fax: +27 12 320 1942 

Website: www.labour.gov.za 

Department of Mineral Resources 

Minister: Dr Ngoako Ramatlhodi 

Physical address: 4th Floor, Block 2C, Trevenna Campus, 

cnr Meintjies and Francis Baard Streets, Sunnyside 


Tel: +27 12 444 3999 Fax: +27 12 444 3145 

Website: www.dmr.gov.za 


152

LISTINGS 

Department of Police 

Minister: Nkosinathi Nhleko 

Physical address: Wachthuis Building, 7th Floor, 

231 Pretorius Street, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 393 2800 Fax: +27 12 393 2812 

Website: www.saps.gov.za 

Department of Public Enterprises 

Minister: Lynne Brown 

Physical address: 

Infotech Building, 1090 Arcadia Street, Hatfi eld, Pretoria 

Postal address: Private Bag X15, Hatfi eld 0028 

Tel: +27 12 431 1000 Fax: +27 12 431 1039 

Website: www.dpe.gov.za 

Department of Public Service and Administration 

Minister: Nathi Mthethwa 

Physical address: Batho Pele House, 

116 Johannes Ramakhoase Street, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 336 1700 Fax: +27 12 336 1809 

Website: www.dpsa.gov.za 

Department of Public Works 

Minister: Thembelani (Thulas) Nxesi 

Physical address: 7th Floor, CGO Building, cnr Bosman and Madiba St 


Tel: +27 12 406 21978 Fax: +27 086 276 8757 

Website: www.publicworks.gov.za 

Department of Rural Development and Land Reform 

Minister: Gugile Nkwinti 

Physical address: 184 Old Building, cnr Jeff Masemola 

and Paul Kruger Streets, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 312 9300 Fax: +27 12 323 3306 

Website: www.ruraldevelopment.gov.za 


LISTINGS 

Department of Science and Technology 

Minister: Naledi Pandor 

Physical address: DST Building, Building No 53, CSIR South Gate 

Entrance, Meiring Naude Road, Brummeria, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 843 6300 Fax: +27 12 349 1041/8 

Website: www.dst.gov.za 

Department of Small Business Development 

Minister: Lindiwe Zulu 

Physical address: The dti, Block A, 3rd Floor, 77 Meintjies Street, 



Tel: +27 12 394 1006 Fax: +27 12 394 1006 

Website: www.dsbd.gov.za 

Department of Social Development 

Minister: Bathabile Olive Dlamini 

Physical address: HSRC Building, North Wing, 

134 Pretorius Street, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 312 7479 Fax: +27 086 715 0829 

Website: www.dsd.gov.za 

Department of State Security 

Minister: David Mahlobo 

Physical address: Bogare Building, 2 Atterbury Road, Menlyn, Pretoria 

Postal address: PO Box 1037, Menlyn 0077 

Tel: +27 12 367 0700 

Fax: +27 12 367 0749 

Website: www.ssa.gov.za 

Department of Sport and Recreation South Africa 

Minister: Fikile Mbalula 

Physical address: Regent Place, 66 cnr Madiba and 

Florence Ribeiro Street, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 304 5000 Fax: +27 12 323 7196 / 086 644 9583 

Website: www.srsa.gov.za 


154

LISTINGS 

Department of Tourism 

Minister: Derek Hanekom 

Physical address: 17 Trevena Street, Tourism House, 



Tel: +27 12 444 6780 Fax: +27 12 444 7027 

Website: www.tourism.gov.za 

Department of Trade and Industry 

Minister: Dr Rob Davies 

Physical address: The dti, 

77 Meintjie Street, Block A, Floor 3, Sunnyside, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 394 1568 Fax: +27 12 394 0337 

Website: www.thedti.gov.za 

Department of Transport 

Minister: Dipuo Peters 

Physical address: Forum Building, 159 Struben Street, 

Room 4111, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 309 3131 

Fax: +27 12 328 3194 

Website: www.transport.gov.za 

Telecommunications and Postal Services 

Minister: Dr Siyabonga Cyprian Cwele 

Physical address: Iparioli Offi ce Park, 399 Jan Shoba Street, 

Hatfi eld, Pretoria 


Tel: +27 12 427 8000 Fax: +27 12 427 8016 

Website: www.dtps.gov.za 

Department of Water and Sanitation 

Minister: Nomvula Mokonyane 

Physical address: 

Sedibang Building, 185 Frances Baard Street, 

Pretoria 0001 Postal address: Private Bag X313, Pretoria 0001 

Tel: +27 12 336 8733 Fax: +27 12 336 8850 

Website: www.dwa.gov.za 


OVERVIEW 

Regional overview: Eastern Cape 

The Eastern Cape, on the south-eastern coast of Africa, 

is fast coming to be seen as one of South Africa’s international 

assets. This status has been enhanced by the 

allocation of two of South Africa’s five industrial development 

zones (IDZs) to the province. The potential the province offers 

is significantly bolstered by the shipping traffic that operates 

between Europe and Asia and the Far East. 

Logistically, the Eastern Cape is well served, with two major 

airports in Port Elizabeth and East London, and several facilities 

serving smaller towns such as Mthatha and Bhisho. Many farms 

and private game reserves also have airstrips. Another key 

logistics factor is recent construction of the large new port at 

Ngqura, within the Coega IDZ, bringing to three the number of 

effective ports operating in the Eastern Cape. 

Key sectors 

Financial services, real estate and banking are the largest 

contributors to the province’s GDP. Absa, Nedbank, Standard 

Bank and Capitec Bank are among several big finance groups 

who have a strong presence in the Eastern Cape. 

Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ), an R86-million 

agro-processing multi-user facility, is booming. This facility is 

enabling small, micro and medium enterprises to expand their 

value addition activities in the Eastern Cape. Prospective investors 

involved in the processing of coffee, cereals, protein and energy 

supplements have shown a 

keen interest in the facility. 

The Eastern Cape Provincial 

government wants to ensure 

that that there is enhanced 

integration in the value chain 

and linkages to the deep-water 

container Port of Ngqurha for 

handling of global exports 

such as frozen pineapples 

from places like Ngqushwa that 

are destined for the Japanese 

market. 

In another groundbreaking 

development since the 

establishment of the Eastern 

Cape Rural Development 

Agency, the province has 

launched two rural enterprise 

development hubs at Mqanduli 

and Ncorha, to the tune R45- 

million each. The hubs already 

have 1 500 and 900 tons of 

mealies in storage respectively. 

In the 2015/16 financial year, 

two additional hubs will be 

established at Ludeke in 

Mbizana and at Mt. Arthur in 

Lady Frere. 

Tourism 

The Provincial government is 

working on a sustainable plan 

to revitalise Magwa and Majola 

tea estates, given the economic 

potential of the two entities. 

During the term it will also focus 

on diversifying the economic 

value add of the two estates 

through tourism promotion 

initiatives, among others. 

According to Premier 


156

OVERVIEW 

GENERAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES 21.2% 

PERSONAL SERVICES 10.3% 

FINANCE, REAL ESTATE & BUSINESS SERVICES 22.4% 

TRANSPORT, STORAGE & COMMUNICATION 8.9% 

WHOLESALE, RETAIL, MOTOR TRADE, CATERING 

& ACCOMMODATION 13.8% 

CONSTRUCTION 2.6% 

ELECTRICITY, GAS & WATER 1.1% 

MANUFACTURING 17.5% 

MINING & QUARRYING 0.1% 

AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & FISHING 2.1% 

Eastern Cape sector contribution. 

SOURCE: EASTERN CAPE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND TOURISM 

Phumulo Masualle, the 

province also intends to target 

the improvement of roads to 

tourism establishments in the 

province, prioritising the roads 

to Baviaanskloof, Hole-inthe-Wall, 

Dwesa-Cwebe and 

Coffee Bay. 

“We are rising to the task 

of creating sustainable jobs 

for our people. A total of 24 

737 jobs, against a target of 

13 234, have been created 

through economic agencies 

such as the Eastern Cape 

Development Corporation, 

the East London IDZ, and 

the Coega Development 

Corporation. We are targeting 

14 investments with the value of 

R2 237-billion in the two IDZs,” 

said Masualle. 

The following job creation 

targets were set for the 2015/16 

financial year: Eastern Cape 

Development Corporation 

(ECDC) 7 000, Coega 8 797 and East London IDZ 5 500. In 

the coming year, jobs will be created in manufacturing, logistics, 

alternative energy, agro-processing and services. 

Economic future 

Renewable-energy projects are flourishing throughout South 

Africa, but the Eastern Cape has many big projects planned. The 

transport of wind turbines from the Port of Ngqura to the Jeffreys 

Bay wind farm began in July 2013, and this is becoming one of the 

largest wind farms in South Africa, with in excess of 60 turbines. 

Basil Read Matomo also began construction on a R550-million 

wind farm near Port Elizabeth in 2015, while the 27MW MetroWind 

Van Stadens wind farm transported their nine turbines from the 

Port of Ngqura to their facility that aims to provide 27MW. 

The implementation of the Strategic Integrated Projects in the 

province is progressing well. The upgrades of the Mthatha Airport 

runway and apron are complete, with work nearing completion on 

the Mthatha Airport terminal building. The Mzimvubu Multipurpose 

Development Project is another impressive development which 

is comprised of a multi-purpose dam to supply water for new 

irrigation development, hydropower generation and domestic 

water requirements in the Mzimvubu River Catchment. 

The proclamation of the Wild Coast Special Economic Zone 

(SEZ) has been identified as a key focus area in the coming 

financial year, with a pre-feasibility study for the Wild Coast SEZ 

being approved in 2015. 

EASTERN CAPE www.ecprov.gov.za 

Capital Population Area Premier 

Bisho 6 916 200 (2015) 168 966km 2 Phumulo Masualle (ANC) 

Languages Afrikaans, isiXhosa, English 


INTERVIEW 

Buffalo City on the rise 

Buffalo City municipality is comprised of two diverse 

munici palities—East London and King William’s Town— 

that merged into a powerful innovation and economic hub. 

operations that build on the city’s proximity to agricultural 

pertise and produce a wide range of dairy and other food 

sses that tap into the gateway potential of the ELIDZ and its 

al logistics networks located within and around its borders 

TRATEGY IS PREMISED ON AREAS 

SION IS IN FULL AGREEMENT. 

Alfred Mtsi 

so that we maximise the 

base 

our manufacturing 

and agricultural 

ll benefit of their presence 

ens participate to the best of 

ing their lives, their 

eir social space 

ensure that we provide 

ective services to our citizens 

ial of the city as a tourist 

teway to other parts of the 

tional institutions located 

sly develop our skills base 

O.GOV.ZA 

BUFFALO CITY 

METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY 

BIOGRAPHY 

Alfred Mtsi is the Executive 

Mayor of Buffalo City Municipality. 

He has been a member 

of the Eastern Cape Legislature 

since May 2014 and has 

served at various structures of 

the African National Congress 

(ANC) and its tripartite alliance 

partners. Born in Ncerha Village 

near East London, he is a former 

Provincial Secretary for Cosatu. 

What does the future hold for Buffalo City? 

There is signifi cant potential for economic growth over the next 15 

years and we are actively seeking national and international investment 

and partnerships. The City has numerous core strengths 

and competitive advantages, including a large labour force and 

an abundance of natural resources. Much of the city’s wealth of 

resources is either undeveloped or under-developed, including 

arable land, water, hydrocarbons and our coastline. 

What are Buffalo City’s key attractions economically? 

We have a young population and a large pool of low, medium as 

well as highly skilled workseekers. Buffalo City is set to become 

a key benefi ciary of the Eastern Cape Job Strategy, which has set 

out to create an estimated 150 000 jobs over the next three years. 

What opportunities exist in the automotive sector? 

The Automotive Supplier Park (ASP) is up and running at the East 

London IDZ, offering attractive opportunities to component manufacturers, 

particularly those that supply the nearby Mercedes-Benz 

South Africa operation. There are numerous opportunities for 

investment into new component manufacture, automotive tooling, 

parts and components in the automotive component cluster. 

What support is there for local business? 

The city has consistent engagement with the Border Kei Chamber 

and has developed a number of strategies to support and drive 

SMMEs, including a Cooperative Development Strategy and an 

SMME Strategy. All these strategies have action plans that identify 

key activities in terms of projects and programmes that need to 

be implemented. The municipality provides Financial Support 

for SMMEs who require capital for expansion, particularly in the 

Agricultural and Manufacturing SMME sector. 

What is being done to promote women in business? 

The municipality supports initiatives such as the women-owned 

Agricultural Cooperatives (benefi ciaries of the Mdantsane Tunnels), 

while the Cooperative Development Fund has assisted in the 

acquisition of equipment for the BCMM’s Women Cooperative. 


160

BUFFALO CITY METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY 

VISION 2030 

BUFFALO CITY IS CENTRALLY SITUATED IN SOUTH AFRICA’S EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE AND IS BOUNDED TO THE SOUTH-EAST BY A LONG 

INDIAN OCEAN COASTLINE. IT IS THE KEY URBAN CENTRE OF THE EASTERN PART OF THE EASTERN CAPE AND CONSISTS OF A CORRIDOR OF 

URBAN AREAS, STRETCHING FROM THE PORT CITY OF EAST LONDON IN THE EAST THROUGH MDANTSANE TO DIMBAZA IN THE WEST. 

EAST LONDON IS THE PRIMARY NODE AND THE KING WILLIAM’S TOWN AREA IS THE SECONDARY NODE. THIS REGION ALSO CONTAINS A WIDE 

BAND OF RURAL AREAS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE URBAN CORRIDOR. 

BCMM Executive Mayor 

Cllr Alfred Mtsi 

Buffalo City consistently works towards meeting the goals of the National 

Development Plan (NDP) and Provincial Development Plan (PDP) and their Vision 

2030 via an anchor project strategy. We are supported in our actions by national 

and provincial government development initiatives. 

WE BASE MEETING VISION 2030 ON AN ANCHOR PROJECT STRATEGY THAT 

SUPPORTS: 

• Industrial parks • Educational institutions • Manufacturing enterprises 

• Logistics hubs and gateway systems • Tourism 

As a city with many public and private schools as well as Further Education and 

Training colleges and two reputable universities, we are poised to build the skills 

required to face the future. Our graduates are much sought after for their academic 

excellence and sporting prowess Fort Hare University - where Nelson Mandela and 

other struggle icons started their tertiary education - and Walter Sisulu University have 

well-respected track record in science, fine arts and technology training. 

The East London Industrial Development Zone (ELIDZ), which is partially owned by 

the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality has a wide range of innovative and new 

generation projects underway. 

We will work with the ELIDZ to promote and support economic development projects 

and programmes in the Metro. The ELIDZ has embarked on a range of initiatives that 

are firmly within the ethos of Vision 2030, including: 

• An organic vegetable farm that has been operational for three years 

• A science and technology park that encourages and supports the development of 

young talent as well as nurturing of start-up businesses 

• A variety of ocean economy businesses that tap into the potential for fish farming 

(abalone, cob, etc.) 

• A series of processing operations that build on the city’s proximity to agricultural 

land and substantial expertise and produce a wide range of dairy and other food 

products 

• A set of logistics businesses that tap into the gateway potential of the ELIDZ and its 

proximity to multi-modal logistics networks located within and around its borders 

OUR ANCHOR PROJECT STRATEGY IS PREMISED ON AREAS 

WHERE THE NDP 2030 VISION IS IN FULL AGREEMENT. 

THESE ARE: 

• To build our city region so that we maximise the 

returns from the asset base 

• To build and improve on our manufacturing 

base in the auto textile and agricultural 

sectors to realise the full benefit of their presence 

• To ensure that our citizens participate to the best of 

their abilities in improving their lives, their 

neighbourhoods and their social space 

• As local government, to ensure that we provide 

full proper and cost-effective services to our citizens 

• To maximise the potential of the city as a tourist 

destination and as a gateway to other parts of the 

province and country 

• To work with the educational institutions located 

in the city to continuously develop our skills base 

WWW.BUFFALOCITYMETRO.GOV.ZA 

BUFFALO CITY 

METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY

OVERVIEW 

Regional overview: Free State 

The Free State is one of the nine provinces of South Africa 

and is centrally located on the flat, boundless plains 

that dominate the area. It represents 10.6% of the total 

land area of the country and boasts wide horizons, blue 

skies, mountains and goldfields. The province covers an area of 

129 825 km 2 . 

The Free State province borders most of the other provinces, with 

the exceptions being Limpopo and the Western Cape. To the 

east, it has an international boundary with Lesotho, nestling in 

the hollow of its beanlike shape, and the escarpment separates 

it from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The Orange and 

Vaal rivers form the southern, western and most of the northern 

border and the last section of the north-eastern boundary is 

formed by the Klip River. 

This centrally located province uses its position to its advantage. 

The varied economy currently has 3.2-million hectares of cultivated 

land, although the services 

sector is the biggest economic 

contributor. 

Economy 

Mining and agriculture were 

for many decades the bedrock 

of the Free State economy. 

The north-western part of the 

province sits on top of a rich 

gold-bearing reef more than 

400km long, known as the 

goldfields region. South Africa 

is the world’s largest gold 

producer, and the country’s 

largest gold-mining complex 

is Free State Consolidated 


162

Free State sector contribution. 

SOURCE: FREE STATE DEPARTMENT OF CO-OPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS. 

OVERVIEW 

PERSONAL & GENERAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES 28% 

FINANCE, REAL ESTATE & BUSINESS SERVICES 20% 

TRANSPORT, STORAGE & COMMUNICATION 9% 


& ACCOMMODATION 11% 

CONSTRUCTION 2% 

ELECTRICITY, GAS & WATER 3% 

MANUFACTURING 14% 

MINING & QUARRYING 9% 

AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & FISHING 4% 

Goldfields, with an area of 

330km 2 . 

Agriculture 

Large percentages of South 

Africa’s agricultural production, 

particularly grains, originate in 

the Free State. More than half 

the nation’s sorghum, nearly 

half the sunflower and more 

than 30% of all wheat, maize, 

potatoes and groundnuts 

come from the fertile plains 

of the western and northern 

Free State, while the valleys 

of the east produce almost 

all of South Africa’s cherries 

and asparagus. Livestock and 

flowers are other important 

agricultural products. 

Services sector 

Like the rest of the country, 

the Free State is experiencing 

considerable growth in the 

services sector. BPO and call 

centres are flourishing in the province. Bloemfontein, the main city 

for economic activity, is at the core for Telkom’s switching centres. 

Various call centres are located in the city and have created many 

employment opportunities in the process. 

The geographical position of the province makes it a key 

factor for being a transport and logistics hub in South Africa. 

The resources available for use in the Free State has led to 

growth in other sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, 

mining and tourism. This puts the transport sector in a 

favourable position. 


International investors are focused on South Africa as a buzz has 

been created around the energy sector. Sasolburg, an important 

petrochemical site in the Free State, recently fired up a new power 

plant running solely on gas. This power plant is the largest of its 

kind in Africa. The plant produces 140MW of power for the usage 

of Sasol’s chemical factory adjacent to the site, and will also be 

fed into the national grid. 

Eskom has a few projects lined up that will feed the national 

grid. The Ingula scheme, bordering KwaZulu-Natal, has begun 

construction. Two dams will be connected via underground 

turbines just short of five kilometres long. The project will eventually 

deliver 1 332MW of hydroelectricity. 

Eskom has set aside R300-billion for infrastructure development 

across the country for the next years to 2018. Of that amount, 

Ingula has used 58% of the allocated R25.9-billion. 

FREE STATE www.freestateonline.fs.gov.za 


Bloemfontein 2 817 900 (2015) 129 825 km 2 Ace Magashule (ANC) 

Languages Afrikaans, English, Sotho, Tswana 


OVERVIEW 

Regional overview: Gauteng 

Gauteng is the smallest in area but the largest contributor 

to the national GDP. As the leader of South Africa’s 

economy, it is the core of South African business 

and continues to perform in various other sectors. 

Manufacturing, wholesale, retail and trade, finance and business 

services and transport are the main economic sectors responsible 

for Gauteng’s wealth. 

With a gross domestic product (GDP) valued at R811-billion 

(US$112-billion), Gauteng generates 33.9% of South Africa’s 

GDP and an astonishing 10% of the total GDP of the entire 

African continent 

Key sectors 

Most of the major banks are positioned around Johannesburg 

(which is home to Africa’s largest stock exchange, the JSE), 

and the finance and business services sector is a key focus 

in the provincial economy. Many international corporates such 

as Citibank, Microsoft and 

McDonald’s are headquartered 

in the province, as it is seen as 

the commerce capital and the 

gateway to Africa. 

Media services in Gauteng 

are extensive. South Africa’s 

national broadcaster is based 

there, as are many popular 

radio stations and large 

publishing houses. Gauteng 

has a highly competitive 

newspaper market which 

includes local and national 

publications such as The 

Sunday Times, The Sowetan, 

The Star, Rapport and also the 

Mail & Guardian. 


164

Gauteng sector contribution. 

SOURCE: GAUTENG GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY 


PERSONAL SERVICES 4.4% 










OVERVIEW 

Gauteng has a varied 

manufacturing sector; from 

heavy-steel, automotive 

assembly to the food and 

beverages industry as well as 

light commercial and industrial 

activity. Key food and beverage 

brands are in operation around 

Gauteng. Nestlé and Pioneer 

Foods have spent millions 

on new developments and 

improvements. Rainbow, one 

the country’s leaders in poultry 

production, has 18 farms and two 

feed mills in the province. 

South African Breweries (SAB) 

has recently constructed a new 

plant producing malted barley 

in Alrode to the value of R700- 

million. 

Companies such as 

Kimberly-Clark, Proctor 

& Gamble, ArcelorMittal, 

Transnet Engineering and 

Aspen all have manufacturing 

facilities in Gauteng Province. 


Gauteng is the heart of South Africa – all major roads and 

highways lead to it. Its infrastructure and transport has always 

been a focus. In line with ‘Gauteng Vision 2055’, there are big 

plans for infrastructure. 

Gauteng dominates the South African economy in every major 

sector except agriculture, mining and quarrying. Ironically, even 

with 97% of its land urbanised, the province’s agricultural output, 

beats that of the rural Eastern Cape, which is 10 times its size. 

An estimated 40.6% of South Africa’s manufacturing is done 

here, a third of its electricity, gas and water output, 41.9% of 

the country’s construction, 39.7% of its finance, real estate and 

business activity, 34.8% of its wholesale, retail, motor trade and 

accommodation, 32% of transport, storage and communication, 

and 38.8% of general governments services. 

The Gauteng economy itself is dominated by tertiary 

industries. The finance, real estate and business services sector 

makes up 22.8% of the province’s gross domestic product, with 

manufacturing contributing 16.5%, government services 16.3%, 

and the wholesale, retail, motor trade and accommodation 

sector 12.6%. 

Gauteng is embarking on major new infrastructure 

developments that are set to revolutionise the province and play 

a major role in positioning the province as the economic heart of 

the African continent. 

GAUTENG www.gautengonline.gov.za 


Johannesburg 13 200 300 (2015) 18,178 km 2 David Makhura (ANC) 

Languages Afrikaans, isiZulu, English, Sesotho 


FOCUS 

A Catalyst for Economic Development 

Johannesburg’s Urban Development Zone Tax Incentive is driving Gauteng’s development. 

The City of Johannesburg’s Inner City has a highly developed 

economic infrastructure and is the second most 

productive of Joburg’s Regions, adding about 23% to the 

City’s economy, a share larger than some of South Africa’s 

metropolitan economies combined. 

It continually demonstrates its economic powerhouse status by 

the fact that it houses the headquarters of several powerful mining 

houses, fi nancial services and expanding multi-national corporations. 

It also boasts several high-rise sectional title apartments and 

condominiums. However, as has been the trend internationally 

with large cities, economic factors in the 1980s caused Joburg’s 

Inner City to experience urban deterioration. These factors threatened 

the ‘heartbeat’ of the city. 

“One should not think that such a state of affairs was unique to 

Johannesburg”, says Lebo Ramoreboli, Deputy Director responsible 

for the Johannesburg Urban Development Zone (UDZ). She 

says Cape Town and many other municipalities who experienced 

similar urban deterioration. In 2004, the South African government, 

at the cities’ request, introduced the innovative UDZ tax 

incentive to assist Municipalities to revitalise their derelict CBDs 

and thus reverse their urban decline. This helped them to create 

new opportunities for the improvement and development of lo- 

cal Central Business Districts 

(CBDs). 

“The UDZ tax incentive has 

enhanced Joburg’s attractiveness 

as a preferred destination 

for property-related investment 

for new as well as existing investors, 

and has encouraged 

corporate and other residents 

to remain and expand their 

foothold in the CBD. It has 

helped to drive our mandate to 

transform the Inner City into a 

vibrant and dynamic economic 

node that will attract everyone, 

including international investors,” 

says Ramoreboli. Already 

more than R13-billion worth of 

investment has come into the 

CBD. 

“This initiative is an important 

economic tool that has assisted 

the City to further create 

Park Station renderings. 


166

an enabling environment for business in the 

property sector, hence the visible economic 

revitalisation that is taking place in the Inner 

City,” says Ruby Mathang, Member of Mayoral 

Committee (MMC) responsible for Economic 

Development. “Through this initiative we hope 

to encourage transformation of property ownership 

patterns that will involve large and small 

investors, black investors as well as women 

and the youth. We are looking forward to a city 

that is fundamentally different from the past, a city that embraces 

non-racialism, a city that embraces all cultures and religions, a 

cosmopolitan city that will attract not only South Africans but 

people from around the world.” 

MMC Mathang strongly emphasises the importance of the tax 

incentives: “The UDZ gives impetus for the other city departments 

to focus their efforts and spend on the areas such as those where 

the UDZ has attracted the renewal and developments seen thus 

far,” says Mathang. 

Live, Work and Play in the City 

Ravi Naidoo, the Executive Director for Economic Development 

under whom the Urban Development Zone tax incentive resides, 

expressed appreciation of the innovativeness of investors that has 

led to the creation of thematic precincts such as University City in 

Braamfontein (a whole-lifestyle precinct for students and emerging 

graduates). Other developments, such as those in Newtown, have 

been revived in the form of a combination of residential and retail 

spaces. This is in addition to the Zurich Building, Turbine Square 

precinct that comprises the headquarters of AngloGold Ashanti 

and The Forum, a unique conference centre. In Marshalltown, 

Ferreirasdorp, Doornfontein and part of Jeppestown attractive 

districts and streetscapes have been created such as Maboneng 

and Arts-on-Main, Fox Street, Ghandi Square and the Main 

Street precincts. 

“Expansion of the FNB’s Bank City has created an exemplary 

precinct comprised of the fi nancial services sector with signifi cant 

retail and offi ce space. It is one of the most attractive places in 

our City. It has continued to expand and attract investors into the 

node,” continues Naidoo. 

The idea is to rejuvenate the City of Johannesburg as a city 

where people can live, work and play by supporting the creation of 

several mixed-use precincts that attract a diverse range of investors, 

businesses, visitors and residents. Standard Bank continues 

to expand its Inner City premises, a further confi rmation of the 

FOCUS 

Future Mandela Park renderings. 

Inner City’s status as a fi nancial 

services’ hub. There is also a 

new trend that refl ects young 

investors’ appetite to purchase 

sectional title units. This is in 

accordance with our desire to 

lure young black professionals 

and women to come and invest 

in property within the various 

precincts of our Inner City and 

thus gradually diversify property 

ownership patterns,” adds 

Naidoo. 

The area adjoining the railroad 

that extends from Park 

Station to Fordsburg and from 

Park Station to Doornfontein 

is another potential area for 

new kinds of precincts in partnership 

with the private sector. 

Fordsburg can become 

a design centre to enhance 

activities that currently exist. 

Newtown is currently a cultural 

district, but has the potential 

to better align with academic 

activities due to its proximity 

to Wits University. There are 

also plans in place to commercialise 

Park Station as the 

biggest transit node in Africa by 

developing it to its prospected 

capacity, which is estimated to 

be 10 times the current size of 

Sandton City. 

“For the fi rst time, and as a 

result of the Gautrain roll-out, 


FOCUS 

business people and tourists can land at OR Tambo International 

Airport and come straight into the Inner City. This is an opportunity 

which we can maximise upon and one that we cannot afford to 

miss,” elaborates Ramoreboli. 

The City of Johannesburg has been able to use the UDZ as 

a catalyst for development, stresses Naidoo. “Over the years, 

we have seen that it is possible to create wall-to-wall thematic 

precincts by attracting the right kind of investors. In the same 

vein, we realised that it was foolhardy to develop one building 

and skip the next, because, in essence, what we would be doing 

would simply bring down the value of the ones that have been 

developed. Hence if we are to develop the inner city, then let it 

be on a wide scale.” 

“In order for the UDZ to be effective, there needs to be a connection 

that will make economic sense for the City, while transforming 

the Inner City at the same time. On that note, Africa’s tallest and 

the biggest retail complex and commercial node, the Carlton 

Centre, will soon be undergoing a facelift and reconfi guration 

which will see the creation of Film District and the resuscitation 

of the Carlton Hotel,” reveals Ramoreboli. “In this way, it is hoped 

that the City will become even more dynamic and attractive and 

add to its new crop of already diversifi ed investors streaming 

into the Inner City.” 

Ramoreboli points out that this will augur well for the City’s 

tourism initiatives as well as its efforts to attract the BRICS Bank 

into the Inner City – which is already a fi nancial hub in its own 

right. When measured against other recipients of the UDZ tax 

incentive, the City of Johannesburg has been able to attract 

more investment than the rest combined, and this is all thanks to 

aggressive marketing efforts and the city Council’s’ commitment 

to improving the investment climate, she continues. 

“This incentive enables property 

owners to increase the value 

of their properties and improve 

their earning capacity within 

the UDZ. Corporate or small 

investors who own buildings 

that have degenerated can now 

restore and renovate them, and 

recover the money spent. No 

matter what other sources you 

may get your income from, one 

can deduct from their taxable 

amounts any money spent on 

building or refurbishing within the 

UDZ,” adds Naidoo. 

“It should be government’s role 

to facilitate equitable solutions 

with regards to sharing space 

within the City because there 

will always be a contestation between 

the rich and the poor and 

as government we need to mediate 

and fi nd solutions,” concludes 

the MMC, Ruby Mathang. 

internatio 

investors 

to join th 

of the Ci 

Inner Cit 

UDZ tax 

UDZ is av 

investors 

refurbish 

located i 

It comes 

on invest 

renovatio 

For clarit 

Lebo Ra 

Deputy D 

Phone: + 

Email: leb 

www.j 

Restore, Renovate and Recover 

Joburg’s UDZ Boundaries 

There are signifi cant fi nancial benefi ts that accrue to investors as 

part of the city’s UDZ tax incentive scheme. “It does not matter 

how big or small your property is, because you are eligible for 

major tax deductions if it is within the UDZ boundaries. In order to 

qualify, the investor has to restore, refurbish or add onto income 

generating property within the UDZ, or demolish old buildings and 

build new structures in their place, or purchase new or refurbished 

buildings or units,” explains Naidoo. 

An investor will qualify for a 100% tax deduction spread several 

years, depending on whether the investor has refurbished 

an existing structure or constructed a new building, but it is not 

the only benefi t. 

The Joburg UDZ is about 1 800 

hectares and includes the core of 

the inner city (from Fordsburg to 

Jeppestown) and from Belleview 

to the M2 in the south. It also extebndes 

to Newtown, Hillbrow, 

Braamfontein, Yeoville, Troyville, 

Doornfontein, Ellis Park, Bertrams, 

Ferreirasdorp, Selby, Wolhuter, 

Vrededorp, Marshalltown, City 

and Suburban, Fairview and 

Benrose. 


168

Join the 2nd Gold Rush!! 

The City of Joburg equates the UDZ’s 

investment resurgence to the 2nd Gold Rush 

into the “Heart of the City of Gold”. 

The City therefore invites domestic and 

international investors; traditional property 

investors, new entrants, women and the youth 

to join the “2nd Gold Rush” into the “Heart 

of the City of Gold” and contribute to Joburg’s 

Inner City revitalization and benefit from the 

UDZ tax incentive. 

UDZ is available to income tax paying property 

investors who invest in construction or 

refurbishment of income-earning buildings 

located in the Inner City of Joburg. 

It comes in the form of accelerated depreciation 

on investment made towards construction or 

renovation of Inner City building. 

For clarity and technical information, contact: 

Lebo Ramoreboli 

Deputy Director: UDZ tax incentive 

Phone: +27 11 358 3437 

Email: lebor@joburg.org.za 

www.joburg.org.za/udz

OVERVIEW 

Regional overview: KwaZulu-Natal 

Golden beaches, tropical palms, sugar plantations as 

far as the eye can see and a balmy climate almost all 

year round. That, in a nutshell, is KwaZulu-Natal, South 

Africa’s “Garden Province”. 

Growth areas 

The province has shown considerable growth in the business 

services, transport and retail sectors. This manufacturing hub 

makes up almost a third of South Africa’s m Gauteng and 

KwaZulu-Natal account for 42% of the country’s population with 

Census 2011 revealing the economic heartland pipped its coastal 

cousin to the post in claiming the most residents. 

For the first time, Gauteng is now home to more South Africans 

than KwaZulu-Natal with 12.3-million people (23.7%) living inland 

against only 10.3-million people (19.8%) in KwaZulu-Natal. 

KwaZulu-Natal has made significant strides in implementing 

the objectives in line with the National Growth and Development 

Plan. KwaZulu-Natal employment has risen from 2.1-million people 

in 2010 to 2.4-million currently, despite the sluggish economic 

environment. 

It is these statistics that speak to the poverty eradication plan 

and dove-tail on a microeconomic level with the development 

initiatives and potential in places like the Makhathini Flats. 

In July Premier Sezo Mchunu announced the Makhathini Flats 

would receive a R1.1-billion investment to revamp agriculture 

and improve agricultural infrastructure. The main focus of the 

investment would be livestock, irrigation infrastructure and 

planting various rare crops including ground nuts and cassava. 

KwaZulu-Natal has also implemented the first stage of Operation 

Phakisa, the national initiative 

aimed at unlocking South Africa’s 

economic potential. 

Food production 

Food production makes a 

mark with companies such as 

Unilever, Illovo Sugar, Tongaat- 

Hulett Group, Rainbow 

Chicken and Clover. Industrial 

investment plays a substantial 

role in the provincial economy 

with two of the country’s 

busiest ports situated there, 

Richards Bay and Durban. 

The international trade 

success is to some extent 

dependent on developed 

transport and logistics 

infrastructure. Recently, the 

Dube TradePort has driven 

economic growth. It is home 

to the King Shaka International 

Airport, an agricultural 

greenhouse, a cargo terminal 

and various other sections 

relating to trade, business and 

transport, all on 3 000 hectares 

of land just north of Durban. 


170

KwaZulu-Natal sector contribution. 

SOURCE: STATS SA 

GENERAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES 13% 

PERSONAL SERVICES 6% 










OVERVIEW 

It has attracted a R2-billion 

foreign direct investment 

through Indian business 

conglomerate Action Group 

and is making a solid 

contribution to KwaZulu- 

Natal’s economy. 


The Renewable Energy 

Development Hub (RED 

Hub), a partnership between 

the provincial government, 

eThekwini Municipality, Ilembe 

District Municipality and private 

firms, is leading a renewable 

energy project. 

The deal was confirmed in 

March 2013 and will consist 

of various components 

including laboratories, a 

renewable-energy education 

and training facility (which 

will involve Durban University 

of Technology), as well as a 

technology hub for research 

and development. It will also host a manufacturing and technicalservices 

sector for the renewable-energy industry. 

Major new projects 

The R1.5-billion Inkululeko Development Project, piloted within 

the Ndumo community, is an integrated multi-purpose and 

multi-sectoral initiative that includes constructing high quality 

education centres, health services, modern roads and libraries, 

clean running water, sustainable livelihoods, job creation and 

community centres for vulnerable children and orphans. 

In terms of Inkuleleko, unveiled in December 2013, the provincial 

Department of Education has several projects including rebuilding 

St Phillips, Maphindela and Thelemama primary schools as well 

as building an as-yet unnamed new model school. 

“This is a project developed as part of the commitment to 

improving the lives of people who live in rural areas,” said Senzo 

Mchunu, Premier of KwaZulu-Natal today when he launched the 

province’s master plan to combat prevalent poverty affecting. 

Mchunu is also passionate about reducing HIV/Aids in the 

province, clearing the slums and raising the standards of the 

most vulnerable in society. In that debate was the desire to create 

900 000 new jobs by 2020. 

Mchunu stressed that by assisting the vulnerable it hd 

enabled government to reduce the “sense of exposure” that 

such communities felt and, in so doing, had helped precipitate 

economic growth by encouraging their participation. 

KWAZULU-NATAL www.kwazulunatal.gov.za 


Pietermaritzburg 10 919 100 (2015) 94 361 km 2 Senzo Mchunu (ANC) 

Languages isiZulu, English 


OVERVIEW 

Regional overview: Limpopo 

Limpopo is untamed Africa at its best. This is where some 

of the finest game parks on the continent are located – a 

place teeming with wildlife and a must-see destination for 

thousands of visitors from across the globe. 

Given the nature of Limpopo’s vast natural resources that range 

from abundant wildlife to spectacular scenery, it should come as 

no surprise that the province’s national parks (operated by SA 

National Parks, SANParks) remains among the country’s most 

popular family holiday destinations. 

But Limpopo is about far more than wild open spaces and the 

big famed five – it is the gateway to the rest of the African continent 

and is at the very centre of regional, national and international 

developing markets. 

Key sectors 

Cattle, sunflowers, cotton, maize, peanuts, avocados, tea, 

tomatoes, citrus and macadamias are among Limpopo’s key 

agricultural resources. 

Subtropical fruit like mangoes, paw-paws, litchis, bananas 

and pineapples are in abundance in the province and make up 

the bulk of export income. Many farms have been converted to 

private game reserves which are a great asset to the tourism 

sector in Limpopo. 

Mining 

The Mining Input Supplier Park in Steelpoort, which is funded 

by Xstrata, is an excellent example of private sector companies 

investing in the development of communities in which they operate. 

The Department has played a 

facilitation role in which 32 

industrial units have been built 

with 22 companies already 

signed up to move into the 

facility. 

Mining is a key sector of the 

provincial economy. Corridor 

Mining Resources (CMR), 

a subsidiary of LEDA, has 

successfully taken a number 

of its prospecting licenses to 

mining right and feasibility study 

stages. Mining development 

should reduce poverty and 

create more job opportunities 

in the affected communities. 

Commodities that are currently 

eyed for future prospects are 

iron ore and coal. 

Speaking at the Limpopo 

legislature the Pinky Kekana, 

MEC for Economic Development, 

Environment and Tourism 

announced the construction of 

the Masorini Iron Beneficiation 

(MIB) project worth R2-billion 

in Phalaborwa. This is a joint 

venture operation between Iron 


172

Limpopo sector contribution. 

SOURCE: MACRO-ECONOMIC INDICATORS, STATISTICS SOUTH AFRICA. 

Mineral Beneficiation Services 

(IMBS) and the IDC, which will 

produce a reduced iron product 

from PMC magnetite ore, for 

use in the steel-making industry. 

Feasibility studies have 

been completed for a further 

two plants with a capacity of 

producing 500 000 tons per 

annum and will directly employ 

about 650 people, as well as 

providing further opportunities 

for local support industries. 

Finally, showing more 

confidence in the sector, 

Anglo American subsidiary De 

Beers has approved a mining 

infrastructure expansion 

project in Musina worth 

R163-billion. 

Economic zones 

The Department submitted 

proposals and obtained approval 

from the Department of Trade and 

Industry for the establishment of 

OVERVIEW 











two special economic. 

During the recent recession Limpopo provided support to 

17 distressed companies through the Turnaround Solutions 

programme and was able to save 296 jobs. 

Limpopo’s provincial economy is dependent on the contribution 

of co-operatives and SMMEs which impact job creation in the 

province. To further guide business regulation and governance, 

the Department has completed amendments to the Liquor Act, 

which seeks to remove liquor outlets located close to schools 

and places of worship. 

Tourism and the environment 

Peermont Global has made an undertaking to the Gambling 

Board that it will commence construction of a third casino in 

Burgersfort in the Tubatse area, which is sure to boost visitor 

numbers to the region, while the annual Limpopo Marula 

Festival draws 30 000 participants and is growing in popularity. 

The Limpopo Environmental Management Act was drawn 

up to address specific provincial issues. Endowed with natural 

resources that are critical in providing national solutions that will 

foster conservation, sustainable use, as well as fair and equitable 

sharing of benefits from the use of natural resources. Limpopo is 

home to two transfrontier conservation parks, two World Heritage 

Sites, three biospheres, three national parks, 53 provincial nature 

reserves and more than 6 000 privately owned game farms, all 

enriched by beautiful landscapes. 

LIMPOPO www.limpopo.gov.za 


Polokwane 5 726 800 (2015) 125 754 km 2 Stanley Mathabatha (ANC) 

Languages Sesotho, Tshivenda, Xitsonga 


OVERVIEW 

Regional overview: Mpumalanga 

Mpumalanga’s charms, attractions, history and culture 

make it a must-see province, a place steeped in mystery, 

teeming with wildlife and filled with opportunity. 

Mpumalanga is all about vast savannas, sweeping grasslands, 

imposing mountains and raging rivers. It’s a place where 

memories are made, friendships formed and opportunities 

realised. The name means “the place where the sun rises” in 

the local tongue, and the province lies north of KwaZulu-Natal 

and borders Swaziland and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of 

South Africa’s land area. In the north it borders on Limpopo, to 

the west Gauteng, to the southwest the Free State and to the 

south KwaZulu-Natal. The former capital Nelspruit has recently 

been renamed Mbombela. 

Agriculture 

The climatic contrasts between 

the drier Highveld region, with 

its cold winters, and the hot, 

humid Lowveld allow for a 

variety of agricultural activities. 

More than 68% of Mpumalanga 

is used by agriculture. 

Crops include maize, wheat, 

sorghum, barley, sunflower 

seed, soyabeans, groundnuts, 

sugarcane, vegetables, coffee, 

tea, cotton, tobacco, citrus, 

subtropical and decidious fruit. 

(Continued on page 183) 


174

Mpumalanga 

OVERVIEW 

Province 

INVESTMENT DESTINATION OF CHOICE AND REGIONAL TRADE HUB 

THE PLACE OF THE RISING SUN 

TRADE AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES 

• Maputo Development Corridor 

• The Powerhouse of Africa 

• Mpumalanga: Key Sectors 

• Investment Opportunities 

• Economic Diversity 

• Nkomazi Special Economic Zone 

• Trade and Investment Services 

MPUMALANGA 

www.mega.gov.za 

175 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2016 

trade-invest@mega.gov.za

The powerhouse of Africa 

Mpumalanga offers a strategic location in the world market, 

along with modern infrastructure, sophisticated fi nancial markets 

and cutting-edge technology. The diverse, cost-effi cient mineral 

and agro-industry inputs, world-class telecommunications and 

information industry, rapid liberalization of trade and investment 

market and a government commitment to investment facilitation all 

combine to create an unparalleled quality of life in the Province. 

The South African Province 

of Mpumalanga’s diverse 

and resource-rich economy, 

coupled with its people’s 

indomitable spirit, makes it one 

of the most attractive Trade 

and Investment destinations 

in South-East Africa. 

Good access to East African 

and Indian Ocean Rim Markets 

Preferential access to the 

lucrative EU market 

Part of SADC – 280- million 

consumers 

Located next to 

Port of Maputo 

More 

than 

80% of 

South Africa’s 

coal is sourced in 

Mpumalanga. 

Mpumalanga 

AN IDEAL POSITION 

Situated in the north-east of South Africa, Mpumalanga province 

shares a common border with the independent Republics 

of Mozambique and Swaziland and has a population of 

4.1-million people and a total area of 83 000km 2 . In addition 

to its capital, Mbombela, the Province has a number of major 

cities including eMalahleni, Middleburg and Secunda which 

host some of the major industrial complexes of South Africa. 

The Gross Geographic Product (GGP) of the Mpumalanga 

Province is US$23-billion (2013). 

Mpumalanga’s position and resources make 

it a valuable transport and logistics hub 

The province’s three biggest 

sectors are manufacturing, 

mining and agriculture. 

COMMUNITY 

SERVICE 16% 

MINING 25% 

MPUMALANGA’S ECONOMIC DIVERSITY 

The economic diversity of Mpumalanga is 

supported by world-class infrastructure, 

which makes the Province a unique investment 

destination in South East Africa. 

Mpumalanga shares a border 

with 4 provinces and 

2 independent countries 

TRADE 15% 

UTILITIES 5% 


AGRICULTURE 3% 


FINANCE 12% 

TRANSPORT 6% 

19 000 000 

19m tons of cargo per 

year moves through the 

Maputo Corridor. 

. 

0-rated 

Bulk cargo & transhipments 

are now zerorated 

in Mozambique. 

R4.9-billion 

The value of investment 

in Port of Maputo (160 

SMMEs employed). 

. 

2027 

The year the investment 

contract in Maputo port 

is up for renewal. 

11% 

Maputo Corridor truck 

traffi c increases at an 

annual rate of 10-11%. 

90 000pa 

Number of trucks that 

cross the Lebombo border 

into Mozambique.

Economic diversity: Investment opportunities 

The Provincial economy of Mpumalanga is exceptionally diverse. Established 

industries in the Province include Mining, Stainless Steel, Petro-Chemicals, Pulp 

and Paper, Ferro-Alloys, Tourism and Agro-Processing, amongst others. A wide 

range of raw materials and feedstocks are available for benefi ciation. 

• Mpumalanga Province was the one of the main 

contributors to the national economy in 2014, 

together with Gauteng (34.6%), KwaZulu-Natal 

(15.9%) and the Western Cape (13.7%). 

• The major components of the economy are mining, 

manufacturing, agriculture (which includes 

forestry and fishing operations) and tourism 

(part of which is included in the trade sector). 

• A significant contributor to the economy is the 

power-generation industry that operates within 

the utilities sector and accounts for some 96% 

of the sector. 

Mpumalanga is 

the third-largest 

coal-exporting region 

in the world 

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES 

SECTORS, INDUSTRIES AND PRODUCTS THAT CAN BE BENEFICIATED 

MANUFACTURING 

STAINLESS STEEL 

Cutlery 

Catering Equipments 

Surgical instruments 

Automotive components 

STEEL 

White & grey goods 

Pipes & tubes 

Wire 

PETRO-CHEMICALS 

Plastic products 

Recycling plastics 

Artifi cial rubber products 

Paint & vanish 

Inks & dyes 

FOOD PROCESSING 

Maize meal 

Machinery 

Frozen & dehydrated vegetables 

Preserves pickles & condiments 

Nuts 

PAPER 

Recycling 

SUGAR 

Confectionery 

MINING 

Machinery and services 

RENEWABLE ENERGY 

Solar and bio-fuel 

Biomass 

MINING 

COAL 

Waste briquettes 

GOLD JEWELLERY 

CHROME 

PLATINUM 

IRON ORE 

VANADIUM 

MANGANESE 

GRANITE 

Building cladding 

& tombstone 

CLAY 

Porcelain & ceramics 

Electrical insulators 

FORESTRY 

Beneficiation of 

timber products 

Builders hardware 

Furniture 

TOURISM 

Tourism infrastructure 

various grades of 

accommodation 

Infrastructure, hotels 

& lodges 

AGRICULTURE 

SUMMER CEREALS & LEGUMES 

MAIZE 

Maize meal 

SOYA 

Meal, Edible oil 

CANOLA 

Edible oil 

SUN FLOWER 

Edible oil 

TROPICAL & SUBTROPICAL FRUIT 

CANE SUGAR 

Sugar / confectionery 

CITRUS 

Juice & concentrate 

MANGOES 

Dried, frozen, juice & 

concentrates 

LITCHIS 


concentrates 

AVOCADOES 

Avocado oil 

GUAVA 


concentrates 

MACADAMIA NUTS 

Processed & confectionery

Mpumalanga: Key Sectors 

Mpumalanga is one of South Africa’s most productive and 

important agricultural regions. It also offers an ideal climate 

and topography for forests, major mineral resources, formidable 

manufacturing capacity as well as a sophisticated 

and well-segmented tourism sector. 

METAL 

ORES 

6.7% 

GOLD & URANIUM 3.1% 

OTHER MINING 

& QUARRYING 6.8% 

MINING 

Mpumalanga exports 

over US$14-million 

of macadamia nuts 

annually. 

The mining sector accounts for a quarter of all economic activity in the 

province and is also the largest single sector, providing employment to 

25% of the province’s workforce. 

The major mining activity in the province is centered on the coal and 

lignite industry. Mpumalanga contributes 83% of all coal produced in 

South Africa, making it the world’s third-largest coal-exporting region. 

Towns such as eMalahleni (Witbank) and Middelburg in the Nkangala 

District Municipality are at the centre of the coal-mining industry. 

Structure of 

the mining sector 

in Mpumalanga 

2014 

COAL AND LIGNITE 

83.4% 

Mpumalanga’s coal-mining industry is developing as 

a significant attractor of both foreign and local direct 

investment in the province. 

A significant percentage of the province’s 

coal is exported to countries such as China, 

India, South Korea and Japan. 

AGRICULTURE 

About 14% of the province’s land area is natural grazing land which is used in the 

production of beef, mutton, poultry, dairy and wool. The Mbombela district in the 

Lowveld is South Africa’s second-biggest producer of citrus fruit, while more than 

half of South Africa’s soya bean crop is produced in Mpumalanga’s Highveld areas. 

The agriculture sector in Mpumalanga can be divided into two broad categories: 

• SUMMER CEREALS AND LEGUMES 

This consists of maize, soya, canola and sunflower that has – in the main – 

been cultivated in the Highveld region of the province. 

• TROPICAL, SUBTROPICAL AND CITRUS FRUIT, NUTS AND CANE SUGAR 

These are mainly cultivated in the Lowveld region of the Province. 

AGRICULTURE 

& HUNTING 

58% 

FISH FARMS 0.5% 

FORESTRY 

& LOGGING 

41.5% 

Mpumalanga is one of South Africa’s most productive and 

important agricultural regions and plays a key role in the export 

profile of South Africa, primarily in fruit and nuts. 

Structure of the agriculture 

sector in Mpumalanga 2014 

10 000 000 

The region exports over 

10 million cartons of 

avocados annually. 

1/4 

About a quarter of SA’s 

tobacco crop is cultivated 

in Mpumalanga. 

R950-million 

Turnover from subtropical 

fruit, which employs 

about 13 000 people. 

80% 

Mpumalanga generates 

80% of South Africa’s 

energy. 

4 

Number of major pipeline 

networks that pass 

through Mpumalanga. 

120-mill ton 

Mpumalanga supplies 

80% of South Africa’s 

stainless-steel needs.

MANUFACTURING 

There are two primary pillars of the manufacturing sector in 

Mpumalanga, and these account for in excess of 75% of the 

output for this sector: 

• Fuel, petroleum and chemical products 

• Metal, machinery and appliances 

The fuel, petroleum and chemical products manufactured 

in Mpumalanga are essentially synthetic fuel and its byproducts, 

which are produced from coal in the Highveld 

region of the Province. 

The other major components of the manufacturing sector 

are the Ferro-Alloy, Steel and Stainless Steel industries based 

in eMalahleni (Witbank) and Middelburg in the Nkangala 

District Municipality. 

Agro-processing is centred primarily in the Lowveld region 

of Mpumalanga and it makes a valuable contribution to the 

provincial economy’s manufacturing sector. Agro-processing is 

centred around processing the vast amounts of tropical and 

subtropical fruit and nuts cultivated in the Lowveld. 

Mpumalanga has a diverse manufacturing 

sector that accounts for 15% of provincial GGP, 

in addition to an expanding retail sector. 

WOOD & WOOD 

PRODUCTS 6.2% 

FOOD, BEVERAGE 

& TOBACCO 

PRODUCTS 

10.7% 

METAL, 

MACHINERY 

& APPLIANCES 

25.5% 

OTHER MANUFACTURED 

PRODUCTS 7.0% 

Structure of the manufacturing 

sector in Mpumalanga 2014 

FUEL, 

PETROLEUM 

& CHEMICAL 

PRODUCTS 

50.7% 

Most of the nation’s power stations are located 

in Mpumalanga, and three previously mothballed 

power stations have recently been reopened. 

FORESTRY 

The forestry sector comprises logging, saw-milling, wood products, 

pulp and paper as well as specialised cellulose for global markets. Pulp, 

paper and specialised cellulose are the main exports, along with sawn 

lumber, wood chips and wattle extract. The industry is ideal for recycling 

initiatives. The forestry products sector continues to contribute about 

1% to national GDP, with the Far East, Europe and the UK making up 

its major export markets. The export market for pulp and paper from 

South Africa remains strong and, buoyed by better margins, pulp 

production figures have been on the rise since 2007. 

Global paper giants Sappi, Mondi and SAFCOL have extensive plantations 

and mill operations in the province, which is home to Africa’s 

biggest integrated pulp and paper mill. Attractive opportunities exist 

for small-scale growers, contractors and sawmillers, while forested 

areas also lend themselves to beekeeping and honey-making. 

Mpumalanga’s 

forestry sector 

accounts for 12.3% 

of South Africa’s 

agricultural GDP. 

Mpumalanga has the ideal 

climate and topography for 

forests, with South Africa’s 

biggest sawmill and largest 

panel and board plant. 

TOURISM 

Mpumalanga boasts world-class parks and reserves, astonishing 

botanical gardens, rivers and lakes. Safaris are a major drawcard, 

and the Kruger National Park is the jewel in South Africa’s tourism 

crown, while subsectors such as business travel (including conference 

facilities), adventure, heritage and cultural tourism all hold 

huge growth potential. 

The casino industry in particular has enjoyed great growth and 

shows signs of further potential for additional investment. In addition 

to the establishment a Provincial Liberation Heritage Route, 

priority investment projects that have been highlighted include: 

• A cable car over a part of the Blyde River Canyon. 

• A cantilevered glass walkway at God’s Window. 

• An International Convention Centre (ICC) in the capital, Mbombela. 

South Africa’s third mostvisited 

province, Mpumalanga 

has a sophisticated 

and well-segmented tourism 

sector attracting both foreign 

and local investment interest. 

The world’s 

most luxurious 

private game 

lodges are 

located around 

Kruger. 

70% 

30 million 

11% 

R40-billion 

9 

R2-billion 

The percentage of 

manufacturing jobs in 

food and forestry. 

The volume of water 

treated every day by 

local water authorities. 

The total land area 

covered by plantations 

or natural forests. 

. 

The annual value of the 

South African forestry 

industry. 

Number of scheduled 

flights departing KMIA 

on a daily basis. 

The value that Kruger 

brings to the South African 

national economy.

Nkomazi Special Economic Zone 

The Nkomazi SEZ is strategically positioned in the border town of 

Komatipoort. This Multi-Sector SEZ is the axis of economic integration 

between the South African provinces of Mpumalanga, Gauteng and 

Limpopo and the independent states of Swaziland and Mozambique. 

SOUTH AFRICA 

Lydenburg 

Sabie 

Middelburg Belfast 

Mbombela 

eMalahleni 

JOHANNESBURG 

Carolina 

SWAZILAND 

MOZAMBIQUE 

Komatipoort / 

Ressano Garcia 

NKOMAZI SEZ 

MAPUTO 

The Nkomazi SEZ offers the investor 

a unique and incentivised base of operations 

on the Maputo Development 

Corridor running through the most 

highly industrialised and productive 

regions of Southern Africa. 

LOGISTICS 

Nkomazi SEZ offers numerous opportunities 

for the creation of bonded warehouses, 

a distribution centre, container yard, truck 

stops and petrol depot (with maintenance, 

fitment and repair facilities). 

FMCG exports from the major South 

African retailers destined for their growing 

number of Sub-Saharan Africa branches 

provides many opportunities within the 

logistics sector, as does an intermodal 

facility (road-rail-road and rail-to-rail) for 

transhipment of citrus and minerals for 

further transport to the Maputo Port. 

MINERALS AND ENERGY 

The mineral resources of Mpumalanga are 

varied and several of the biggest, most 

diversified mining companies have multiple 

operations in the province. Mpumalanga 

accounts for 83% of South Africa’s coal 

production and is the third-largest coalexporting 

region in the world. 

Opportunities for investment have been 

identified in mining services and mineral 

beneficiation. A natural gas pipeline, 

connecting the gas fields of southern 

Mozambique with the industrial south of 

Mpumalanga Province, transverses the 

Nkomazi SEZ and affords an investment 

opportunity for a gas-fired power plant for 

electricity generation. 

Other investment opportunities in this 

sector include phosphate for fertilizers, the 

production of ammonia and urea and the 

beneficiation of fluorspar for downstream 

agro-chemicals and fluorine production. 

AGRO-PROCESSING 

The Nkomazi SEZ is strongly focused on the 

agro-processing sector and the establishment 

of an agro-processing industrial park 

within the SEZ is leveraged off the existing 

large-scale citrus and sugar industries in 

the region. 

Opportunities for investment that are also 

present in food processing and packaging 

for the large retailers operating in South 

Africa expanding their presence in the East 

African market. 

Other identified investment opportunities 

✈ Komatipoort Aerodrome 

Komatipoort 

Lebombo Dry Port 

N4 

N4 

Nkomazi SEZ 

R571 

include lemon oil and lemon juice concentration 

plant, subtropical juice concentrate 

processors, as well as a fresh produce 

trade hub supplying the national fresh 

produce markets. 

AUTOMOTIVE 

The automotive sector has significant 

opportunities in terms of the distribution 

of vehicles, both imported as well as those 

that have been locally manufactured. These 

opportunities extend to the manufacture 

and distribution of automotive components 

and accessories. 

Exports of commercial vehicles into 

Africa are expected to show above-average 

growth over the next few years. 

An identified investment opportunity lies 

in a Vehicle Distribution Centre (VDC) for 

final vehicle management and control prior 

to regional distribution. 

Lebombo border post 

N4 

SOUTH AFRICA 

MOZAMBIQUE 

15% 

100% 

11 years 

20% 

CCA 

12i 

Lower Corporate Tax 

rate of 15% for companies 

locating to SEZ. 

Tax allowance for green 

and brownfi eld projects 

in Mpumalanga SEZ. 

New buildings can be 

depreciated at 20% 

(year 1), then 8% pa. 

Improvements to buildings 

can be depreciated 

at 20% per annum. 

Customs Controlled 

Area: VAT Exemption 

and duty free area. 

12i tax incentive offers 

support for capital 

investment and training.

The Maputo Development Corridor (MDC) 

The MDC is South Africa’s leading Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) 

linking Mpumalanga, Gauteng Province and the Nkomazi Special Economic 

Zone with the deepwater Port of Maputo in fast-growing Mozambique. 

TOP EXPORTS 

Coal 

Macadamia Nuts 

Cane Sugar 

Ferro-alloys 

Manganese 

Wood 

Citrus Fruit 

The efficient corridor provides investors and exporters with good 

access to the export markets of South East Africa, the Indian 

Ocean Rim and Far East Asia. 

The Maputo Development Corridor comprises road, rail, 

special economic zone, border posts, port and terminal facilities. 

The corridor runs through the most highly industrialised and 

productive regions of Southern Africa. 

The Corridor has been extensively upgraded to international 

standards and links the industrial heartland of South Africa to 

its nearest port in Maputo, Mozambique, which is one of the 

fastest-growing countries in South East Africa. 

TOP EXPORT MARKETS 2014 

1 - Mozambique R2.8 bn 

2 - India R1.9 bn 

3 - Netherlands R1.8 bn 

4 - United States R1.7 bn 

5 - Japan R1.3 bn 

6 - Swaziland R1.2 bn 

7 - Hong Kong R0.8 bn 

GAUTENG 

MPUMALANGA 

MOZAMBIQUE 

FOREIGN MARKETS 

Pretoria 

Joburg 

eMalahleni Mbombela Nkomazi SEZ 

Middleburg Komatipoort Lebombo 

Maputo 

Africa & Middle East 

Asia & Australasia 

Europe & the Americas 

EUROPE 

3 559m 

AMERICAS 

2 046m 

OCEANIA 

80m 

ASIA 

6 099m 

MPUMALANGA’S FOREIGN TRADE 

Mpumalanga has a strong industrial export base, a consequence of the abundant primary 

resources and the secondary-sector opportunities which have developed as a result. 

Mpumalanga has been well integrated into the global trading system for generations and 

enjoys strong, established relationships with numerous countries in Africa, Europe, Asia and 

the Americas and expanding South-South and BRICS trade. The vast range of commodities 

and products produced in the province provides for great opportunity for diversification of 

traded goods, as well as creating scope for attracting new trading partners. 

AFRICA 

6 203m 

Mpumalanga’s Regional 

Export Markets 

SADC FREE TRADE AREA (FTA) 

• Provides for duty-free trade between 

15 SADC members, excluding DRC, 

Angola and Seychelles. 

• All goods shipped under SADC 

Certificate of Origin receive duty-free status. 

• A growing market for over 280-million people. 

16 

14 

12 

10 

8 

6 

4 

2 

0 

Mpumalanga’s Export Growth EXPORTS IN R-BILLIONS 

6.3 5.8 6.9 11.8 7.5 10.1 11.9 12.9 14 .1 17.9 

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 

TRILATERAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (T-FTA) 

• Negotiations are underway to establish a 

grand African FTA. 

• Will group the current COMESA, SADC 

and EAC blocs into one integrated market. 

• 26 countries with a combined population of nearly 

700-million people.

INVEST IN THE PROVINCE OF THE RISING SUN 

ECONOMY 

• Strategic location in world market. 

• Sound macro-economic policies and rapid 

liberalization of trade & investment market. 

• Stable political environment & government 

commitment to investment facilitation. 

• A large, growing domestic market and good 

access to African and Indian Ocean markets. 

INFRASTRUCTURE 

• Modern infrastructure and transport. 

• Cutting-edge technology and sophisticated 

financial markets. 

• World-class telecommunications & ICT. 

• Strategically located Nkomazi Special 

Economic Zone. 

CORPORATE 

• Modern banking and financial services. 

• 100% ownership permitted. 

• Liberal repatriation of profits. 

• Large economically active population. 

RESOURCES & OPPORTUNITIES 

• Rich in natural resources. 

• Self-sufficiency in agriculture. 

• Diverse and cost-efficient mineral and 

agro-industry inputs. 

LIFESTYLE 

• Unparalleled quality of life. 

• Good medical facilities. 

• High-quality, well-priced residential housing. 

• University of Mpumalanga. 

MPUMALANGA ECONOMIC GROWTH AGENCY 

THE MPUMALANGA ECONOMIC GROWTH AGENCY (MEGA) IS THE OFFICIAL TRADE AND 

INVESTMENT PROMOTION ARM OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OF MPUMALANGA. 

OUR VALUE PROPOSITION 

• We are experts on the economy of Mpumalanga 

and the investment opportunities it offers. 

• We use our knowledge of the province to 

package investment opportunities that have a 

high probability of success. 

• We have strong capabilities in all areas 

related to the total investment value chain. 

• We have solid alliances and partnership 

relationships with a range of investors 

and other potential contributors to the 

investment process. 

• We are focused on customer needs and 

provide innovative solutions with a high 

level of service. 

TRADE PROMOTION 

• Export & import enquiries. 

• Government export incentives. 

• Market information & contact 

details. 

• Custom duties, tariff headings 

& foreign trade documentary 

requirements. 

• Market research / export 

publications. 

• Regional trading issues and 

preferential trade agreements. 

• Foreign & local trade fairs 

and exhibitions. 

• Contact with foreign and 

bilateral chambers of commerce 

and South African trade 

representatives abroad. 

• Inward & outward trade missions. 

INVESTMENT 

• Provide accurate and latest 

market information and facilitate 

feasibility studies. 

• Assist with applications for incentives 

and claiming relocation costs. 

• Assist with work permits, obtaining 

factory space/land & facilitate finance. 

• Facilitate joint ventures. 

• Fast track applications. 

MBOMBELA OFFICES 

T. +27 13 755 6328 | F. +27 13 755 6239 

MPUMALANGA 

JOHANNESBURG REGIONAL OFFICE 

T. +27 11 783 4907/9 | F. +27 11 783 5912 

www.mega.gov.za 

trade-invest@mega.gov.za

OVERVIEW 

PERSONAL & GENERAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES 16.1% 




& ACCOMMODATION 11.2% 






Mpumalanga sector contribution. 

SOURCE: STATISTICS SOUTH AFRICA. 

(Continued from page 174) 

Forestry is extensive around 

Sabie in the far north of the 

province. Located near the 

forests, Ngodwana is the site 

of one of South Africa’s largest 

paper mills, Sappi. 

Natural grazing covers 

approximately 14% of 

Mpumalanga. The main 

products are beef, mutton, 

wool, poultry and dairy. 

Mining 

Extensive mining is done and 

the minerals found include gold, 

platinum group metals, silica, 

chromite, vanadiferous magnetite, 

argentiferous zinc, antimony, 

cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, 

tin, coa and many more. 

Gold was first discovered 

in Mpumalanga province in 

1883 by Auguste Roberts in 

the mountains surrounding what is now Barberton. Gold is still 

mined in the Barberton area today. 

Mpumalanga accounts for 83% of South Africa’s coal 

production. 90% of South Africa’s coal consumption is used for 

electricity generation and the synthetic fuel industry. Coal power 

stations are in proximity to the coal deposits. A coal liquefaction 

plant in Secunda is one of the country’s two petroleum-fromcoal 

extraction plants, which is operated by the synthetic fuel 

company Sasol. 


The Khanyisa power project will be the first of its kind using 

circulating fluidised-bed (CFB) technology. 

This innovation takes place during the combustion process 

where a turbulent mixing of gasses and solids provides more 

effective chemical reactions and heat transfer. Anglo American 

Thermal Coal chose Kleinkopje colliery as the site for the power 

plant. 

The project manager Julian Eslait explained the challenges of 

choosing a site for the plant: ‘Identifying a non-undermined stable 

site big enough for the power station and close enough to fuel 

and water sources was a challenge.’ 

The plant will generate 450MW of power and is set to be fully 

operational by 2015. 

MPUMALANGA www.mpumalanga.gov.za 


Mbombela (Nelspruit) 4,283,900 (2015) 76 495 km 2 David Mabuza (ANC) 

Languages 

isiNdebele, siSwati, isiZulu 


OVERVIEW 

Regional overview: Northern Cape 

Big sky country, the Northern Cape is the largest of South Africa’s provinces but has the 

smallest population, making it one of the more remote areas of South Africa. 

The province has many major attractions, including its vast, 

open spaces, unique vegetation – notably the beautiful 

spring flower spectacle that transforms a semi-desert 

landscape into one of striking colour and beauty – and 

the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, which is famous for its lions. 

And, of course, the Northern Cape has diamonds. Who knows 

what sort of country South Africa would be today, were it not for 

the discovery of diamonds in the hot, dry flat interior of the country 

in the late 1800s? The small western portion of the Northern Cape 

Province bordering the Free State is now known as The Diamond 

Fields. Kimberley, which is also the Capital of the Northern Cape 

and the location of the Kimberly Big Hole, is at the heart of the 

province’s diamond fields. There are several diamond-mining and 

historical attractions in Kimberley itself, including the Big Hole and 

Kimberley Mine Museum. 

Agriculture 

With extensive stock and vegetable farming land, agriculture 

is central to the Northern Cape economy, but cutting-edge 

renewable-energy projects are revitalising this arid land. 

Major exports include fruit, 

especially table grapes and 

meat from the widespread 

sheep and goat farming in 

the province. Agriculture contributes 

more than its fair share 

to the economy, especially in 

terms of employment creation. 

For this reason, the revitalisation 

of the agriculture and agri-processing 

value chain is critically 

important. 

Initiatives like the Vaalharts 

Irrigation Scheme will be 

prioritised to meet the needs of 

irrigation across a large swatch 

of the province. Northern 

Province is also the lead 

province in South Africa when 

it comes to solar renewable 

energy initiatives and in terms of 

its Renewable Energy Strategy. 

It plans to be an exporter of 

renewable energy to the rest 

of South Africa by 2020. 

Renewable energy 

For its part, Eskom has connected 

950 Megawatts (Mw) 

of renewable energy from 

Independent Power Producers 

(IPP) to the grid, ahead of 

deadline. 

Eskom has also recently 

spent over R300-million on 

capital improvements in the 

Northern Cape, including the 

new Schmidsdrift Substation 

and the Canal Substation near 

Van der Kloof. These projects 

provide significant added ca- 


184

OVERVIEW 

Northern Cape sector contribution. 

SOURCE: NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCIAL SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK. 

pacity for farming in the area. 

According to Mining Weekly, 

companies like Kumba and 

Assmang believe that when rail 

and port capacity is sufficient 

in South Africa, and enough 

water and energy is available, 

iron ore is expected to reach 

a combined total output of 

100-million tons per annum in 

the upcoming years. 

Sol Plaatjie 

The province’s first university, 

Sol Plaatje, opened its doors 

in 2014 and is located close 

to Kimberley. The university is 

merging technikon courses with 

traditional university degrees in 

one department. It will add value 

to the Northern Cape economy 

and make a considerable 

contribution to the governmentservices 

sector. 











Emerging farmers 

The government’s Orange River Emerging Farmer Settlement 

and Development Programme has to date seen the allocation 

of 2 800 hectares of water rights to communities and groups of 

Historically Disadvantaged Individuals (HDIs). 

This programme aims to assist beneficiaries of the Land Reform 

Programme with infrastructural and project co-ordination along 

the Orange River. The remaining water rights will be allocated 

throughout the period 2015 to 2019. 

Education and health 

At least 65% of the Northern Cape’s budget is spent on education 

and health. A major effort is being undertaken to eradicate the 

backlog of water to schools, as well as to replace those schools 

constructed from inferior material. 

Plans are afoot to improve the province’s capacity for the 

training of nurses. It is also intended to fully capacitate the 

EMS College and disaster training initiatives, as announced 

by President Jacob Zuma during the opening of Harry Surtie 

Hospital in Upington. 

This state of the art hospital will soon be followed by a new 

hospital in De Aar, and these two projects highlight the route the 

province has travelled in accelerating the delivery of mega projects 

in line with its overall service delivery strategy. 

NORTHERN CAPE www.northern-cape.gov.za 


Kimberley 1 185 600 (2015) 372 889 km 2 Sylvia Lucas (ANC) 

Languages Afrikaans, isiXhosa, Setswana 


OVERVIEW 

Regional overview: North West 

North West is perhaps one of South Africa’s least known provinces, but it is, nevertheless, 

a place packed with interesting attractions, beautiful open spaces and welcoming people 

wherever you go. 

Situated in the north of South Africa on the Botswana 

border and fringed by the Kalahari desert in the west, 

Gauteng province to the east and the Free State to the 

south, it is known as the Platinum Province for the wealth 

of the metal it has underground. 

The capital is Mahikeng (previously Mafeking) a town best known 

for the famous siege during the Boer War, which ended in a 

decisive victory for the British 

and made a hero of Robert 

Baden-Powell. 

Mining 

Mining contributes 23.3% 

to the North West economy. 

Ninety-four percent of the 


186

OVERVIEW 











North West sector contribution. 

SOURCE: INVEST NORTH WEST. 

country’s platinum is found 

in the Rustenburg and Brits 

districts, which produce more 

platinum than any other single 

area in the world. 

North West also produces a 

quarter of South Africa’s gold, 

as well as granite, marble, fluorspar 

and diamonds. 

Employment along the 

Platinum Corridor, from 

Pretoria to eastern Botswana, 

accounts for over a third of total 

employment in North West. 

The North West is responsible 

for 64% of platinum, 46% 

of the granite and 25% of the 

gold produced in the country. 

Platinum is found in the 

Rustenburg and Brits regions, 

which produce more platinum 

than any other area in the world. 

Granite, marble and diamonds 

are also mined in the province. 

The Bushveld Igneous Complex is found in the region and is 

rich in PGMs as well as minerals like iron, tin, chromium, titanium 

and vanadium. 

South Africa produces 70% of the world’s chrome, and most of 

it is sourced in the North West where there are 20 chromite mines. 

The manufacturing sector comprises mostly fabricated metals, 

food and beverages and non-metallic minerals such as cement 

and stone. 

Food and beverages is the biggest subsector contributing 

to the manufacturing industry. 

Major companies with manufacturing capacity in the North 

West like Nestlé, Rainbow Chickens, Tydstroom and Clover 

have all taken advantage of the province’s strategic location 

adjacent to the business hub of Gauteng. 

Agriculture 

North West is sometimes referred to as the Texas of South 

Africa, with some of the largest cattle herds in the world found at 

Stellaland near Vryburg. 

The Marico region is also cattle country, while the areas around 

Rustenburg and Brits are fertile, mixed- crop farming land. 

The province is an important food basket in South Africa. 

Maize and sunflowers are the most important crops and the 

North West is the major producer of white maize in the country. 

NORTH WEST www.nwpg.gov.za 


Mahikeng 3 707 000 (2015) 104 882km 2 Supra Mahumapelo (ANC) 

Languages Tswana, Afrikaans, Sotho, Xhosa, Tsonga 


OVERVIEW 

Regional overview: Western Cape 

One of the world’s premier tourism meccas, and a province renowned for its exquisite 

natural splendours, the Western Cape is home to a booming tourism market, diverse 

manufacturing, world-class infrastructure and Africa’s largest wine exporter. 

Positive future 

When assessing what the Western Cape has achieved over the 

past years, Wesgro CEO Tim Harris is positive about its future. 

The province, for starters, has performed well on the Foreign 

Direct Investment (FDI) front, he says. “When it comes to FDI, we 

are doing quite well. Since 2010, the Western Cape brought in 

R7 billion, of which the bulk has gone to the services, technology, 

and communications industries,” Harris explains. “Apart from 

contributing to the provincial economy, these FDI projects have 

created 4 000 permanent jobs for instance in the manufacturing 

sector, as well as countless indirect jobs.” 

Wesgro figures show that the United Kingdom and the United 

States were responsible for the bulk of the FDI inflows into 

the Western Cape, with shares of respectively 26% and 23%. 

Other major investors were The Netherlands (8%), Germany 

(7%) and France (5%). A country that is gaining momentum in 

the Western Cape on the FDI front is China, with Hisense being 

one of the most important investors. This Chinese manufacturer 

of consumer electronics and household appliances opened a 

25 200m 2 factory in Atlantis – an 

impoverished area some 40km 

outside of Cape Town, on the 

West Coast. This town used 

to be a thriving manufacturing 

hub until the sector started to 

crumble. leading to high levels 

of unemployment. 

Resurrecting Atlantis 

Harris adds that the future 

for Atlantis is set to change, 

and that Hisense is just the 

beginning, as Atlantis is in the 

process of being established 

as a Special Economic Zone 

(SEZ) with a specific focus on 

manufacturing and renewable 

energy. Another important 


188


PERSONAL SERVICES 6% 








MINING & QUARRYING .1% 


OVERVIEW 

Western Cape sector contribution. 

SOURCE: STATS SA 

company that has settled 

down in the area is Gestamp 

Renewable Industries (GRI), a 

Spanish renewable energy firm 

which recently opened a new 

wind tower factory there. 

“Atlantis has some real 

benefits. There used to be an 

industrial base there, which 

over the past 20 years eroded,” 

Harris says. “The infrastructure 

and the sites are still there, and 

there is transport infrastructure 

too which connects Atlantis to 

the port of Saldana and the city. 

The MyCiti busses go there too, 

making it a well-connected 

space that is ready to go.” 

South Africa’s retail hub 

It doesn’t stop here. Many of 

South Africa’s and Africa’s 

largest retailers have their 

offices in and around Cape 

Town, including Pick n 

Pay, Shoprite, Clicks, and 

Woolworths. 

The same counts for start-ups, emerging businesses, and tech 

companies. Harris: “Cape Town is the home of some very exciting 

newcomers such as Takealot and Yuppiechef, which are among 

some of South Africa’s most successful businesses. 

The question is what makes the Western Cape the favourable 

business that it apparently is? “Businesses like it here because of 

our world-class infrastructure, and the fact that Cape Town, the 

central region in particular, simply works,” Harris says. “Secondly, 

the companies we have dealt with, have told us that it is easier 

to do business in the Western Cape and Cape Town than, for 

instance, in Johannesburg. This is an important consideration 

for any business owner who wants to settle down in South Africa.” 

Going green 

The province prides itself on ‘green living’. The provincial 

government marked the one-year anniversary of the ‘110% 

Green’ initiative in June 2013. Premier Helen Zille described the 

campaign as making a paradigm shift to connect environmental 

preservation and economic growth. Projects include installing 

solar-panel heating systems, recycling and promoting carbonneutral 

manufacturing. 

Companies that are on board with this initiative include Eskom, 

Juwi, Nedbank Group, Vineyard Hotel and Woolworths. 

A 90MW wind farm near Wolseley was recently given the goahead. 

This joins a demonstrative wind farm in Darling (5MW) and 

the Sere Wind Farm still under construction, which will produce 

a proposed 100MW, both in the Western Cape. 

WESTERN CAPE www.westerncape.gov.za 


Cape Town 6 200 100 (2015) 129 462km 2 Helen Zille (DA) 

Languages Afrikaans, isiXhosa, English 


FOCUS 

Khayelitsha – the power of 

township buying power 

There is a big drive to empower the township economy 

nationwide. In Cape Town, The Khayelitsha Development 

Forum (KDF) is a voluntary organisation that works to efficiently 

mobilise community development initiatives through 

extensive public participation, empowerment programmes, 

resources mobilisation and effective coordination. Lesley 

Julies, Marketing Manager of the KDF, shared his Forum’s 

vision for Khayelitsha. 

What role does the Khayelitsha Development Forum play 

within the Khayelitsha community? 

Our strong point within Khayelitsha is that we have the buy-in of 

the community and the community are dependable stakeholders 

in terms of issues of safety, health, job creation or economic 

development. We defi nitely need assistance to develop and grow 

our township economy, but whoever comes in will need the buy-in 

of the community. 

What potential is out there within Khayelitsha? 

Most of the community fi nds itse lf in a needy situation, and when 

you are needy there is always plenty of potential. Renewable energy 

is a possibility of course, and there was a Japanese company that 

visited us to investigate the potential for recycling as well as wind 

and solar systems, because there is room for such a development 

in the township. There are vast other business opportunities, including 

quite a lot that are not currently existent within Khayelitsha 

but that you will fi nd outside Khayelitsha, and sadly this paints 

the wrong picture. We believe that there is room for providing 

everything within Khayelitsha, but at the moment there is very little. 

The seaside in affl uent areas is an economic stimulant, but 

within our area it doesn’t play the same role – it is just sea and 

just a place that people can go during summer and swim a bit, 

but that’s it. It doesn’t have the economic spinoffs that many 

other coastlines offer. Another concern is that sport doesn’t play 

a meaningful role in Khayelitsha, as it is very underdeveloped. 

We have to explore everything possible that can turn Khayelitsha 

around. One of the problems is that any money-spinning ventures 

within Khayelitsha do not fully benefi t the people of Khayelitsha. 

They mostly just get the crumbs. Money that is generated within 

Khayelitsha generally does not stay in Khayelitsha – it fl ows out. 

The outlet is much much bigger than the inlet. 

What is your strategy for 

turning that around? 

We need money to come into 

the township, but it’s essential 

that the attitude of the community 

is correct. If we start creating 

a trend that says there can 

be quality within Khayelitsha 

and this is the way that we can 

spinoff positively for Khayelitsha, 

then it might just be the start of 

a good trend. At present people 

are caught in a situation that 

tells them the situation is the 

other way around. To change 

that we have to start at some 

point, even if it is so small a start, 

but we need to say to ourselves 

that we can do it. 

What is the benefit for the 

investor or business that 

invests in Khayelitsha? 

In a nutshell, money might be 

cheaper in Khayelitsha than 

elsewhere! You will be at the 

doorstep of a huge market, 

lower overheads and even the 

cost to employ staff would be 

vastly different. If your business 

is located elsewhere then 

a Khayelitsha resident must be 


190

FOCUS 

informed about you and they must then make an effort get to your 

product. However, a Khayelitsha resident is on the doorstep of 

your product. Randwise, the rates are defi nitely much cheaper in 

Khayelitsha, as are the overheads, and there are also a number 

of dti subsidies that businesses and investors could qualify apply 

for, and land will be cheaper than any other place - and there is a 

lot of land available and at times properties available. 

What businesses would flourish in Khayelitsha? 

Currently there is a big Boxer supermarket in Khayelitsha, and 

they do well, so retailers will do well here, and anything from fuel 

to vehicles. It is a fast-growing market, though, so food in particular 

has a huge demand, as well as for building materials, health 

products and medical assistance. After a certain time all doctors 

in Khayelitsha are closed, and there are only a few ambulances, 

so after hours medical assistance and services also offer a large 

potential market. it’s more than just the market – the real potential 

is the fact that anything that can be mass-produced can be done 

in Khayelitsha and then distributed throughout Khayelitsha as well 

as ‘exported’ to other suburbs. You know, it amazes me that a lot 

of people who are eating meat are in Khayelitsha, yet there are 

no abattoirs in Khayelitsha, and no fi sh factories. 

This is an old mindset: you’re 

comfortable with what works 

for you, but you are not doing 

anything to explore better avenues 

of bigger opportunities to 

grow your market. Why would 

you have milling companies 

elsewhere when maize is consumed 

mostly in Khayelitsha? 

Why have a big bakery outside 

Khayelitsha when the 

biggest market for bread is in 

Khayelitsha? So then all that 

bread you must bring into 

Khayelitsha. The same goes for 

clothes and stationery and everything 

that people buy. There 

is a need for these products in 

Khayelitsha, and this will benefi t 

the community greatly… but it 

will also be a very lucrative market 

for businesses. 


INDEX 

INDEX 

Abeco Tanks .................................................................................................................................................................................... 103 

Africa e-Waste .......................................................................................................................................................................... 138, 141 

Breede-Gouritz Catchment Management Agency (BGCMA) ..........................................................................................................104 

Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality ............................................................................................................................................ 160 

City of Johannesburg Urban Development Zone .................................................................................................................... 166, 169 

College of Cape Town ....................................................................................................................................................................... 44 

Columbus Stainless .......................................................................................................................................................................... 46 

Council for Geoscience...................................................................................................................................................................... 84 

Cummins South Africa....................................................................................................................................................................... 88 

Department of Trade and Industry (dti).............................................................................................................................................144 

Durban Investment Promotion .............................................................................................................................................................2 

Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) ............................................................................................................................158 

ENSafrica............................................................................................................................................................................50, 52, OBC 

Export Credit Insurance Corporation (ECIC) ......................................................................................................................5, 58, 61, 62 

Fibre Processing & Manufacturing Sector Education and Training Authority (FP&MSETA) .............................................................. 40 

Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) ...............................................................................................................................42 

IC Training.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 53 

Investing in African Mining Indaba...................................................................................................................................................... 83 

Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF) .......................................................................................................................................... 190 

Masisizane Fund ................................................................................................................................................................................31 

Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA)......................................................................................................................175-182 

Mpumalanga Regional Training Trust (MRTT).................................................................................................................................... 39 

MTN Business........................................................................................................................................................................... 119, 121 

National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA) .........................................................................................................................37 

Petroleum Agency SA .............................................................................................................................................................. 7, 74, 76 

Phodisa Holdings Limited.................................................................................................................................................................IBC 

Polokwane Scrap Metal ...................................................................................................................................................................137 

REDISA ...................................................................................................................................................................................... IFC, 56 

Transnet Pipelines ............................................................................................................................................................................. 78 

VeriFi .................................................................................................................................................................................................124 

Wesgro............................................................................................................................................................................................... 64 

Western Cape Government.................................................................................................................................................................24 


192

Phodiso Holdings Ltd is a South Africa-based healthcare 

investment and Management Group, with over 26 years of 

existence. The company has presence in private hospital operations, 

infrastructure development, equipment, and pharmaceutical supplies 

and hospital management expertise. 

The company was established by a group of 68 healthcare 

professionals and business professionals, with a joint vision and 

passion to bring healthcare to the people. Phodiso Holdings 

constantly keeps itself abreast of the latest technology, proven 

business models and secures strategic partners and alliances to 

grow and maintain the reputable status it has earned in the 

healthcare industry. 




Not only are we a shareholder in the second-largest private hospital 

group in South Africa with platforms in Dubai and Switzerland, we 

are currently expanding our healthcare platforms into the rest of 

the continent, where we engage government and private sector on 

healthcare development. 

Locally REDISA the continually Phodiso Group creates made positive two acquisitions, futures for businesses, Presta and 

Orthomed. people and Both the leaders environment in their respective by driving industries, a circular Presta economy being a that 

manufacturer will help redesign, and supplier reinvent of disability and reuse products the and products wheelchairs we consume. and 

Orthomed Our first-of-its-kind being producer plan and and supplier revolutionary of Orthotic systems and Prosthetic are making 

products meaningful the contributions continent of Africa. to our society – creating jobs, opportunities 


Our Pledge to you and the industry 

As one of the leaders in the industry we will maintain our focus 

to offer all citizens quality healthcare in South Africa and in Africa, 

thereby persistently attracting sustainable investment opportunities 

for the benefi t of all, and to grow our share in the industry through 

our intellectual resources. 

Tel 012 751 1780 • www.phodiso.co.za 

5 Bauhinia Street No 26 Cambridge, Offi ce Park 0157 

Highveld Techno Park, Centurion 

JOIN THE JOURNEY | www.redisa.org.za | /wasteintoworth | @wasteintoworth | +27 87 35-REUSE (73873)

ENSafrica.com 

ENSafrica | Africa’s largest law firm

South African Business 2016 edition

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