South African Business 2023
A unique guide to business and investment in South Africa. Welcome to the 11th 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, supported by a website at www. southafricanbusiness.co.za. A special feature in this journal focusses on the importance of partnerships as the way forward for the country’s growing number of Special Economic Zones. There are now SEZs in eight provinces and collaboration between the private sector and government and its agencies is proving a crucial element in pursuing the goal of industrializing the South African economy. These zones intended as catalysts for economic growth in established sectors and in stimulating new industries. Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy and give a snapshot of each of the country’s provinces. The fact that South Africa’s law-enforcement agencies are arresting people alleged to have been involved in state capture and the Reserve Bank has started freezing assets in other matters leads the national overview because business can’t function properly without the rule of law. 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. These unique titles are supported by a monthly business e-newsletter with a circulation of over 35 000. Journal of African Business joined the Global African Network stable of publications as an annual in 2020 and is now published quarterly.
A unique guide to business and investment in South Africa. Welcome to the 11th 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, supported by a website at www. southafricanbusiness.co.za.
A special feature in this journal focusses on the importance of partnerships as the way forward for the country’s growing number of Special Economic Zones. There are now SEZs in eight provinces and collaboration between the private sector and government and its agencies is proving a crucial element in pursuing the goal of industrializing the South African economy. These zones intended as catalysts for economic growth in established sectors and in stimulating new industries.
Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy and give a snapshot of each of the country’s provinces. The fact that South Africa’s law-enforcement agencies are arresting people alleged to have been involved in state capture and the Reserve Bank has started freezing assets in other matters leads the national overview because business can’t function properly without the rule of law.
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. These unique titles are supported by a monthly business e-newsletter with a circulation of over 35 000. Journal of African Business joined the Global African Network stable of publications as an annual in 2020 and is now published quarterly.
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Construction and property<br />
The renewable energy sector has opened up new workstreams.<br />
The uptick experienced by the building and home<br />
improvement sector during Covid-19 came to an end in<br />
2022 as customers were no longer forced to spend time<br />
at home.<br />
However, Afrimat’s Construction Index showed in the second<br />
half of 2022 that a number of other indicators were trending<br />
upwards: plans passed, buildings completed, wholesale trade<br />
and building materials. Also, a Financial Mail interview with<br />
Raubex CEO Rudolf Fourie in late 2021 produced an upbeat<br />
assessment of the construction industry in <strong>South</strong> Africa.<br />
In response to Giulietta Talevi’s question about “future<br />
prospects”, Fourie said that tender activity was “buoyant” and<br />
that the company’s order book stretching beyond two years was<br />
something they had not seen in three decades.<br />
Raubex is active in infrastructure, roads and earthworks<br />
and materials. Like many <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> companies, Raubex is<br />
now also present in the burgeoning renewable energy market,<br />
offering civil works and electrical installations at projects such as<br />
the Redstone CSP project and Copperton wind farm (pictured) in<br />
the Northern Cape.<br />
For the year ending 28 February 2022, Raubex reported an<br />
increase of 30.9% to R11.58-billion and an increase in operating<br />
profit to R945.3-million.<br />
Covid-19 provided a sharp shock for many business sectors,<br />
but with the move towards working from home accelerated by<br />
the pandemic, none is going to have to look harder at its models<br />
for sustainability than the office rental sector.<br />
Logistics, often taken for granted in normal times, became an<br />
even more important component of the supply chain during the<br />
global lockdown and in the months that followed, with the second<br />
ONLINE RESOURCES<br />
Afrimat Construction Index: www.afrimat.co.za<br />
Construction Industry Development Board: www.cidb.org.za<br />
SA Reit Association: www.sareit.co.za<br />
<strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> Property Owners Association: www.sapoa.org.za<br />
SECTOR INSIGHT<br />
Home improvers are not at<br />
home as much as they were<br />
under lockdown.<br />
half of 2021 characterised by<br />
blockages and delays. In that<br />
context, the news that Fortress<br />
REIT had successfully let more<br />
than 100 000m² of logistics<br />
space in KwaZulu-Natal, was<br />
significant. FNB, which publishes<br />
a regular property barometer,<br />
has done an in-depth analysis<br />
of previous crises to help<br />
understand what may occur<br />
in the post-Covid property<br />
market. According to John Loos,<br />
a property strategist at FNB<br />
Commercial Property Finance,<br />
the most vulnerable sector<br />
is likely to be Retail Property.<br />
Smaller neighbourhood centres,<br />
with more essential items and<br />
greater convenience, will be<br />
less vulnerable. Statistics SA has<br />
found that the percentage of<br />
<strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong>s living in flats<br />
has risen markedly. Whereas 26<br />
out of 100 approved plans in<br />
2013 were for flats, this figure<br />
reached 59 in 2016. Although<br />
the total number of people<br />
living in flats is still relatively<br />
small (5.4%), this figure will rise<br />
as urbanisation increases. ■<br />
69 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS <strong>2023</strong>
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