North West Business 2019 edition

Regional overview of
North West Province
With easy access to South Africa’s biggest urban areas, the North
West hopes to add a thriving manufacturing sector to its strengths
in mining, agriculture and tourism.
John Young
The North West province makes up 6.8% of
the population of South Africa (3.6-million),
8.7% of the land mass (105 076km²) and
accounts for 5.8% of economic output in
terms of gross value added.
The North West is bordered on the west by the
Republic of Botswana and on the east by Gauteng
province, the engine of the South African economy.
The Vaal River runs along the province’s southeastern
border with the Free State, and the province
also shares borders with the Northern Cape to the
south and Limpopo in the north.
The province's strategic location goes beyond its
proximity to Gauteng: the major roads linking trade
on an east-west axis pass through the province, as
does the major railway line which runs from Cape
Town in the south to Zimbabwe and beyond in
the north.
The mineral reserves that still lie beneath the
ground in the province are enormous. Platinum
group metals (PGMs) predominate but there are
significant deposits of gold, uranium, diamonds,
copper, vanadium, fluorspar and nickel. Stone and
limestone are also found in rich quantities.
Mining beneficiation takes place at many
places, with Rustenburg being particularly strong
in this sector. The economy of the town is closely
linked to the fortunes of platinum mining, with the
sector contributing about 70% of the city’s gross
geographic product.
The North West is a major producer of maize
and sunflower seeds and many other agricultural
products. About 20% of South Africa’s maize comes
from the province, as does 15% of its wheat.
The dry western part of the province is home
to beef cattle, game ranching and hunting. The
normally well-watered eastern and north-eastern
regions can carry many kinds of crops, many of which
find themselves on the tables of the citizens of the
nearby urban centres of Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The agricultural sector also generates largescale
storage and logistics operations, particularly
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