Limpopo Business 2019-20 edition

SPECIAL FEATURE
important regional cargo airport. SA Airlink offers
21 flights to Johannesburg six days a week. The
airline also provides links between Phalaborwa
and Johannesburg, and between Hoedspruit and
Johannesburg and Cape Town.
The province has a sophisticated rail network
which Transnet Freight Rail aims to further expand,
primarily to haul the province’s vast reserves of coal
away to the coast at Richards Bay.
Growth plans
The Provincial Government of Limpopo has
committed itself to the Limpopo Economic Growth
and Development Plan (LEGDP), which aims to build
a stronger, more industrialised economy and to create
jobs and reduce social inequality.
Existing manufacturing in the province is centred
on mining areas (smelters and refineries), agricultural
estates (juices and concentrates) and Polokwane
(food and beverages). Agri-processing is strong,
with Pioneer Foods, McCain, Granor Passi, Kanhym,
Westfalia and Enterprise Foods prominent, but this
sector still has potential to grow.
When it comes to exports Limpopo punches
above its weight because of the abundance of
mineral wealth under the ground, and the superb
fruit and vegetables that the province’s farmers
cultivate. Potatoes are grown, together with 75%
South Africa’s mangoes and tomatoes; papayas
(65%); tea (36%); citrus, bananas and litchis (25%)
and 60% of the country’s avocadoes. ZZ2 is one of
the country’s largest agricultural enterprises. ZZ2
is most famous for the large quantity of tomatoes
and avocadoes produced but its product range is
also large: mangoes, onions, dates, cherries, apples,
pears, stone fruit, almonds and blueberries.
The best-performing subsector of South African
exports in recent years has been fruit and nuts. Limpopo
has been a major contributor to the country’s excellent
export record: fruit and nuts from the province’s eastern
regions are hugely popular in international markets and
Limpopo’s commercial farmers are extremely efficient.
The province has huge reserves of coal, platinum,
chromium, uranium clay, nickel, cobalt, vanadium,
limestone and tin. Demand will always fluctuate, and
the commodities cycle has recently been very volatile,
but the world will always need minerals.
Limpopo assets include the largest diamond mine in
South Africa, the biggest copper mine in South Africa,
the biggest open-pit platinum mine in the country and
the biggest vermiculite mine in the world. The province
has 41% of South Africa’s platinum group metals
(PGMs), 90% of South Africa’s red-granite resources
and approximately 50% of the country’s coal reserves.
Antimony, a highly strategic mineral found in large
quantities in China, is another of Limpopo’s major assets.
The Provincial Government of Limpopo has
committed to allocating 20% of state procurement to
enterprises owned by both women and young people.
This is line with placing “young people at the centre of
our economic development programme”, in the words
of Premier Mathabatha.
Limpopo’s regions and major cities
Limpopo’s dry, cattle-rearing, western areas contrast
with the subtropical regions of the east where forestry
thrives and the central regions where vast plantations
produce 60% of the country’s tomatoes. The area
north of the Soutpansberg Mountains is semi-arid. The
Waterberg mountains stretch over 5 000km². There are
five district municipalities in Limpopo and the capital
city is Polokwane (population 629 000).
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