Limpopo Business 2019-20 edition

New mining projects, investments in Special Economic Zones and superb
tourism assets are expected to underpin economic growth in Limpopo.
By John Young
With R150-billion in committed
investments so far, Limpopo’s
newest major project, the
Musina-Makhado Special
Economic Zone (SEZ), has every chance of being
a real game-changer.
The SEZ takes advantage of one of Limpopo’s
greatest strategic advantages, namely its location.
With a stated aim of benefitting the economies
of the region, including neighbours Botswana,
Zimbabwe and Mozambique, the SEZ is expected
to create more than 20 000 jobs in a range of
sectors. The largest projects will be in minerals,
mineral beneficiation, energy and logistics.
Another SEZ at Tubatse in eastern Limpopo,
together with an industrial park designed to
promote and enhance opportunities along
the value chain that the marula fruit can bring,
and the revitalisation of industrial parks at
Seshego and Nkowankowa point to the fact
that parks are a central plank of provincial
economic planning.
Mining continues to be biggest contributor
to provincial Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
at 24.5%. The number of jobs in this sector
reached more than 100 000 in 2018, up from
just over 70 000 in 2013. With several big new
projects underway, a significant number of
new jobs will be created in the short term.
Tourism is seen as one of the biggest potential
earners (and employers) with almost limitless
potential. The sector within tourism that is
receiving the most attention from authorities at
the moment is biodiversity but there are equally
unrivalled opportunities in adventure tourism,
culture and heritage, birding, golf and the list goes
on. Nearly eight million international tourists have
visited the province since 2014 and more than
27-million South Africans have visited some part
of Limpopo in the same period. The combined
land area of Limpopo’s national, provincial and
private game and nature reserves is 3.6-million
hectares. According to the Premier’s office, the
tourism sector employs about 22 400 people.
Limpopo covers about 10% of South Africa’s land
mass and is home to about 10% of the country’s
population. The 2011 census recorded 5.4-million
residents. The main languages of the people of
Limpopo are Sesotho, Xitsonga and Tshivenda but
English is widely used in business and government.
The Limpopo Province’s 125 754km² covers
a remarkably diverse geographical and cultural
landscape that is also rich in minerals and
agricultural products.
The N1 highway (“Great North Road”) is a key
reason for the province’s important role in the
nation’s logistics sector. It passes through Limpopo
from the south to the border town of Musina and
on to Zimbabwe and its neighbours in the Southern
African Development Community (SADC). The busy
N11 highway links the province to Botswana to the
west and Mpumalanga Province to the east.
Most of South Africa’s logistics operators
have a presence in the provincial capital city of
Polokwane and freight logistics hubs have been
established in that city and in Musina.
Transport within the city of Polokwane is
being transformed by the introduction of a bus
rapid transport system, Leeto la Polokwane. In
the province as a whole, 22.6% of households in
Limpopo use bus transport and 45.8% use taxis.
Great North Transport falls under the
Limpopo Economic Development Agency. The
company has more than 500 buses, covers about
36-million kilometres every year on 279 routes,
employs more than 1 200 people and transports
37.6-million passengers.
The Polokwane International Airport (PIA) is
wholly owned by the provincial government
and run by the Gateway Airports Authority Ltd
(GAAL), an agency of the Limpopo Department
of Transport. It has the potential to be an