South African Business 2021
Welcome to the ninth edition of the South African Business journal. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa. This issue has a focus on economic recovery plans which have been put in place to tackle the challenges thrown up by the global Covid-19 pandemic. National government’s focus on infrastructure and the use of Special Economic Zones is highlighted, together with a feature on the nascent maritime economy. Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy and give a snapshot of each of the country’s provincial economies. South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. The e-book editions can be viewed online at www.globalafricanetwork.com.
Welcome to the ninth edition of the South African Business journal. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa.
This issue has a focus on economic recovery plans which have been put in place to tackle the challenges thrown up by the global Covid-19 pandemic. National government’s focus on infrastructure and the use of Special Economic Zones is highlighted, together with a feature on the nascent maritime economy. Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy and give a snapshot of each of the country’s provincial economies.
South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. The e-book editions can be viewed online at www.globalafricanetwork.com.
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OVERVIEW<br />
part of national energy policy. Private companies are responding<br />
to this changed environment. Renergen, which owns rights to a<br />
field of liquified natural gas (LNG) in the Free State, has started<br />
taking orders for its product from logistics companies. Bulk Hauliers<br />
International Transport (BHIT) has signed an agreement to take LNG<br />
to fuel 50 of its trucks, which should lead to lower operating and<br />
maintenance costs. <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> Breweries is another client.<br />
Delta Natural Gas (DNG) Energy announced in 2019 the rollout of<br />
400 natural gas refuelling sites across <strong>South</strong> Africa with a focus on the<br />
taxi and logistics sectors. The major economic sectors using gas are<br />
the metals sector and the chemical, pulp and paper sector. Brick and<br />
glass manufacturers are also big consumers.<br />
Anadarko Petroleum, a US company, is investing $20-billion<br />
to build a liquid natural gas (LNG) plant in Mozambique. The<br />
projected spin-offs for the <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> economy are estimated<br />
to top R7-billion.<br />
A new addition to <strong>South</strong> Africa’s pipeline network is a pipe to<br />
get natural gas from Mozambique to Gauteng. SacOil’s R90-billion<br />
project will deliver gas to Johannesburg and nearby towns.<br />
International chemicals and energy company Sasol has<br />
several large plants in Mpumalanga and the Free State. Sasol Gas<br />
is one of the four Sasol operations at Secunda, supplying natural<br />
gas to Sasol Synfuels and buying Sasol Synfuels’ methane-rich<br />
pipeline gas.<br />
Air Liquide Large Industries SA, a subsidiary of French company<br />
Air Liquide, has purchased Sasol’s oxygen production site in Secunda<br />
for R8.5-billion. The site, which contains 16 air separations units, will<br />
continue to supply gas and oxygen to Sasol’s various plants in terms<br />
of a supply agreement. Sasol is selling a number of its assets in an<br />
effort to reduce debt.<br />
Large quantities of oil are transported around the Cape of Good<br />
Hope every year: 32.2% of West Africa’s oil and 23.7% of oil emanating<br />
from the Middle East. Irrespective of market volatility, the longterm<br />
prospects for shipping and oil and gas are strong enough for<br />
national government to pursue Operation Phakisa (which includes a<br />
strong maritime economy element) and for Transnet National Ports<br />
Authority to spend heavily on upgrading the nation’s ports. The Port<br />
of Saldanha has a new open-access liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)<br />
plant run by Sunrise Energy.<br />
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic)<br />
has established a Gas Industrialisation Unit (GIU). The first two<br />
ONLINE RESOURCES<br />
National Energy Regulator of <strong>South</strong> Africa: www.nersa.org.za<br />
Petroleum Agency SA: www.petroleumagencysa.com<br />
<strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> National Energy Association: www.sanea.org.za<br />
<strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> Petroleum Industry Association: www.sapia.co.za<br />
sites identified by the DoE<br />
for liquefied natural gas<br />
(LNG) plants are Richards Bay<br />
(2 000MW) and the Coega<br />
Industrial Development Zone<br />
(1 000MW) in the Eastern Cape.<br />
This has the potential to turn<br />
the Richards Bay Industrial<br />
Development Zone (RBIDZ) and<br />
its Eastern Cape counterpart<br />
into energy hubs.<br />
The Coega IDZ is also<br />
home to the country first gasfired<br />
plant run by a private<br />
consortium, the Dedisa power<br />
plant. A new gas turbine open<br />
cycle power plant near Durban<br />
has been commissioned by<br />
Avon Peaking Power.<br />
The <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> oil industry<br />
generates annual sales of about<br />
R365-billion and includes global<br />
giants such as Engen, BP, Shell,<br />
Total and Chevron.<br />
Most of the oil that feeds<br />
the country’s four crude-oil<br />
refineries is imported. The<br />
refineries are in Cape Town,<br />
Sasolburg and Durban (two).<br />
In addition to <strong>South</strong> Africa’s<br />
crude-oil refineries, natural-gas<br />
conversion plant, coal-to-fuel<br />
and gas-to-liquid crude-oil<br />
refineries, Sasol produces fuel<br />
from coal at its Secunda facility<br />
and PetroSA has the country’s<br />
only gas-to-liquid (GTL) facility<br />
at Mossel Bay.<br />
Getting fuel to the province<br />
of Gauteng is the key mission of<br />
the new multi-purpose pipeline<br />
(NMPP) which started delivering<br />
fluids in 2012. The NMPP<br />
terminals allow for greater<br />
flexibility in supply. Refined<br />
products such as jet fuel,<br />
sulphur diesel and both kinds of<br />
octane petrol are carried. ■<br />
63 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS <strong>2021</strong>
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