Opportunity Issue 107

www.opportunityonline.co.za NOVEMBER/DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024 • ISSUE 107 

WHEN TALENT MEETS 

OPPORTUNITY 

A YES graduate tells 

his inspiring story 

ALTERNATIVE 

ENERGY FUND 

LAUNCHED 

Business Partners 

has opened an Energy 

Fund for SMMEs 

INVESTING FOR 

GENERATIONAL IMPACT 

A funding model that 

leaves a legacy for 

future generations 

BUILDING AN INNOVATIVE 

AND EMPLOYABLE 

WORKFORCE 

IF SOUTH AFRICA IS TO THRIVE, SAYS CHIETA CEO 

YERSHEN PILLAY, IT MUST CREATE A SKILLS-BASED CURRICULUM

Vezinhlanhla Mining strives to be a leading black-owned, diversified mining company in Africa while ensuring 

participation in the discovery, exploration and beneficiation of Africa’s mineral resources. It is also the mission of 

Vezinhlanhla Mining to develop and consolidate a diverse portfolio of high-quality assets and services for the benefits 

of its stakeholders. 

Misson 

To be a leading black-owned South African 

company that delivers value to all its 

stakeholders by: 

• understanding the needs of our stakeholders 

• delivering on and exceeding those needs 

• attracting and retaining the best talent 

• focussing on core assets – Pareto Principle 

• focusing on owning and operating our own 

assets 

• embracing diversity 

• ensuring sustainability, growth and good 

governance 

Services 

• Underground mining | Opencast mining 

• Project management | Facilities management 

• Plant maintenance | Conveyor maintenance 

• Crushing | Screening 

• Engineering | Drilling 

• Bulk material transportation | Hauling 

Versatility and innovation in mining 

Vezinhlanhla is a 100% wholly black-owned mining contractor that combines industryleading 

experience with the versatility and innovation required by mining to be sustainable 

for the long term. 

Established in 2017 as a mining contractor to service only the mining industry, Vezinhlanhla 

is an empowered turnkey contractor with capabilities across the underground and opencast 

contract-mining value chain. 

We provide extensive services for coal, gold, iron ore, manganese ore, chrome ore, nickel and 

platinum group metals (PGMs) producers, undertaking mining operations with continuous 

miners, roadheaders and drill and blast applications, enabling our clients to outsource 

according to their unique needs. 

Safety 

Vezinhlanhla’s commitment to safety, health, quality and environmental management 

standards means we work towards continuous improvements in risk management to better 

deliver project excellence. 

Black empowerment policy 

Vezinhlanhla is committed to the broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE). It 

supports the government’s initiative of transformation and affirmative action policies and 

will continue to implement such projects where possible. Vezinhlanhla has initiated projects 

whereby material and equipment are sourced from black SMME companies, thus speeding 

up the process of empowering one of our own. 

Vezinhlanhla’s black-empowerment credentials ensure that our clients benefit fully in terms of 

the Mining Charter requirement and the contractual conditions of key minerals purchasers.

• A 100% wholly black-owned mining contractor 

• Capabilities across the underground and opencast contract-mining value chain 

• Solely focussed on the mining industry 

• Promoting sustainable partnership and relations with our clients 

Our commitment 

The empowerment of women, youth and disabled persons should be achieved in all aspects 

of works. Vezinhlanhla has more women on board to strengthen the capacity of the business. 

Youth will also be employed by the company in order to pass on skills to the next generation. 

As Vezinhlanhla grows, bursary schemes will be introduced for students to further their studies. 

Vezinhlanhla has developed a culture where there will be no discrimination against disabled 

persons, hence it will seek to find, train and employ disabled persons with potential and 

enthusiasm. 

Community development plan 

Vezinhlanhla’s objective is to train its staff and community undergraduates from 

university and colleges, especially students in engineering, safety or mining. 

They will be given the opportunity to further their studies in their chosen 

field at Vezinhlanhla. 

The future 

• Reinforce our position in the market as a reliable and competitive 

independent producer and supplier 

• Grow sales and customer base 

• Vezinhlanhla Mining intends to acquire coal, gold, iron ore, 

manganese ore, chrome ore, nickel and PGM assets to 

develop new projects 

• Power generation is a key area of opportunity – a 

synergistic venture that is now indelibly written 

into our corporate objectives 

Contact details 

+27(0) 87 550 2087 

+27(0) 68 061 0184 

info@vezinhlanhla.co.za 

vezinhlanhla.co.za 

Vezinhlanhla mining 

Vezinhlanhla mining

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Contents 

ISSUE 107 | NOV/DEC/JAN 2024 

12 

18 

20 

22 

30 

34 

38 

42 

56 

30 

EDITOR'S NOTES 

Jobs are everyone's business. 

SACCI NEWS 

The SACCI Economic Development Unit has launched an e-mobility pilot 

project and aims to offer SACCI members access to power solutions. 

DEEPENING TRADE TIES WITH MEMBER STATES 

South Africa, represented by SACCI, is chairing the Trade and Investment 

Working Group of the BRICS Business Council. 

BUILDING AN INNOVATIVE AND EMPLOYABLE WORKFORCE 

If South Africa is to thrive, says CHIETA CEO Yershen Pillay, it must create a skillsbased 

curriculum. 

HOW EFFECTIVE IS TRAINING? 

Data is vital in assessing the effectiveness of workplace training, says Michael 

Hanly, MD of South African online learning solutions provider New Leaf 

Technologies. 

WHEN TALENT MEETS OPPORTUNITY 

A university degree was no guarantee of a job for a young man from 

Vosloorus, especially in the wake of the Covid pandemic. The path to 

employment began for Ntanganedzi Madzivhandila when he applied to join 

the YES programme and Nedbank has since hired and promoted him. An 

interview with Ntanga tells the inspiring story. 

BROADBAND IS BREAKING DOWN SOUTH AFRICA’S DIGITAL DIVIDE 

Fibre providers need to partner and collaborate strategically with the public 

and private sectors, says the Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of DFA, Praveen 

Govender. 

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY FUND LAUNCHED 

A R400-million Energy Fund for SMEs who need to find ways of keeping 

their businesses supplied with power has been created by Business Partners 

Limited. 

BARRIERS TO ENTRY FOR WOMEN MUST BE UNLOCKED 

The renewable energy sector is powering ahead, but Linda Mabhena- 

Olagunju of DLO Energy Resources Group says that more must be done to 

include women. 

20 

42 

34

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Contents 

ISSUE 107 | NOV/DEC/JAN 2024 

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CAREER-ENHANCING SKILLS ARE ON OFFER IN KURUMAN 

EduPower and Assmang Black Rock Mine Operations (BRMO) have combined to 

offer an innovative community development initiative in the Northern Cape. 

INNOVATION HIGHLIGHTED 

The University of Cape Town scored a clean sweep of winners in the first 

Student Project Fund challenge sponsored by RS Components South Africa. 

HOW TO AVOID CONFLICTS OVER EXPLORATION PERMITS 

Planning ahead and delivering real benefits will pre-empt many of the 

obstacles to securing rights, says Webber Wentzel partner, Bruce Dickinson. 

INVESTING FOR GENERATIONAL IMPACT 

Abdu-Rahman Abrahams, Co-Head: Hybrid Equity, a division of Old Mutual 

Alternative Investments, shares his experience of a funding model that leaves a 

legacy for future generations. 

THE FUNDING STRUGGLE 

Cerina Bezuidenhout, co-founder and COO of Future Females Empowerment 

Initiatives, lays out the facts about women and inequitable financing, based on 

research done in South Africa and four other countries by the organisation. 

MONEY IN A BOTTLE 

The Glass Recycling Company outlines how best to go about recycling glass. 

THE STATUS OF ROOIBOS IS INTERNATIONALLY PROTECTED 

The popular tea that is really a herb has a number of surprising qualities. 

Rooibos specialists Joekels shares 13 facts about South Africa’s beloved brew. 

MAKING ESG WORK FOR THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR 

Agribusinesses can maximise opportunities and promote resilience by 

adopting ESG strategies, according to two specialists from Webber Wentzel. 

LISTING IN CAPE TOWN 

Investors can invest in renewable energy on the Cape Town Stock Exchange. 

ECONOMIC DATA 

SACCI Business Confidence Index (BCI) and Trade Conditions Survey (SACCI). 

Latest graphs. 

64 

68 

87

UKZN IS EMBARKING ON 

A TEN-YEAR RENEWAL PATH 

This University of KwaZulu-Natal has developed a 10-year strategic plan – the UKZN 2023-2032 

Strategic Plan - which will “future-proof” it and guide its trajectory over the next decade. 

The strategy aims to position UKZN as an international research-intensive Higher Education Institution 

that contributes to practical solutions to challenges facing humankind. The plan will advance the 

Institution’s academic project and result in the production of graduates with high levels of knowledge, 

skills and values. 

The strategic plan is embedded in the ongoing Project Renewal - a systematic review of the University’s 

principal structures, including a renewal of the College model to strengthen teaching and learning, 

research and community engagement, together with the arrangement of professional services to 

support these core areas. 

Excellent Teaching and Learning; Excellent Student Experience; Excellent and High Impact Research 

Innovation and Entrepreneurship; High Impact Societal and Stakeholder Community Engagement; and 

Targeted Internationalisation are the five strategic goals that shape the new plan. 

The strategy assumes that classroom teaching and campus life will remain core to UKZN but will require 

digital extension and enhancement. Therefore, in the next ten years, the growth of the Institution will 

be restricted to the current geographic spread between the cities of eThekwini and Msunduzi. An 

exception is the Health Sciences, where there is a need for an extended platform into rural areas for the 

provision of training and services. Online education and other programmes for experiential learning 

will also be extended. 

The Plan’s successful implementation entails significant human, intellectual, material, and financial 

resources from diverse sources, including increased income from enterprises, University assets, alumni, 

and strategic partnerships; with a specific emphasis on research grants. To ensure the University’s 

ongoing viability, the University must develop a sustainable financial model that is responsive to the 

institution’s prevailing needs. 

We are excited to extend an invitation to potential partners to join us in a strategic partnership with the 

University of KwaZulu-Natal. As we embark on an important journey, your expertise and collaboration 

will be invaluable in achieving our shared objectives. We will identify key strategic areas that will align our 

vision for growth and impact. Your organisation’s contributions and insights would be instrumental in 

realizing these goals. Together we can create a meaningful change in various fields of our organisations. 

https://ukzn.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/UKZN-Strat-Plan-spreads.pdf

Jobs are 

everyone’s business 

So dire has the unemployment situation become in South Africa that some left-field 

solutions are now on the table. 

In the space of a few weeks in October, political leader Musi Maimane and 

John Dludlu, the CEO of the Small Business Institute, were arguing in favour of 

some kind of national service for young people. Dludlu, whose experience includes the 

editorship of the Sowetan newspaper, drew attention to the strangeness of what he 

was proposing in Business Day: “It may also be time to start thinking the unthinkable: 

reintroducing conscription.” 

He noted that white conscripts under apartheid had picked up “soft skills” such as 

discipline and opened academic and professional pathways. Maimane’s Build One SA 

political party presented “National Civilian Service” as one of the planks of its election 

campaign, the idea being to bridge the gap between school and work with a voluntary 

one-year programme that would also help clinics, police stations and schools with 

support staff. The private sector is supporting the YES4YOUTH internship programme 

and various levels of government are taking in young people to work in offices or be 

teacher assistants. Our news snippets section includes a reference to Harambee youth 

employment accelerator. The country’s Technical Vocational Education and Training 

(TVET) colleges are all seized with the importance of teaching skills that help people get 

jobs while at the same time trying to teach and promote entrepreneurship. 

Perhaps to create jobs – and in the absence of sustained economic growth – South 

Africa needs something startling. 

In this issue 

Jobs and relevant skills are at the heart of what CHIETA CEO Yershen Pillay does, and his 

description of his ambitious goals for the chemicals industry training sector, including 

raising digital skills levels, read like the sort of practical solutions that South Africa needs. 

The interview that leads the content of this magazine is an eye-opener. 

The sorts of internships that Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) 

like CHIETA facilitate has been rolled out by the private sector with astonishing 

success through the YES4WORK programme. More than a million opportunities to 

experience the workplace have been offered since the programme launched in 2019. 

The interview with Ntanganedzi Madzivhandila provides an inspiring insight into just 

how well the programme can work. In this young man’s case, with Nedbank, where 

his career is now progressing. 

Training and its effectiveness are the subject of Michael Hanly’s input. MD of South 

African online learning solutions provider New Leaf Technologies insists that training is 

not much use unless it can be assessed for effectiveness. Date is vital, he says. A practical 

skills project that culminates in employment opportunities in Kuruman is described by 

EduPower and innovators who have used their skills well are the subject of a report on 

an engineering competition. 

Business Partners has launched a fund to help small businesses get access to renewable 

energy to help them stave off loadshedding; Old Mutual is having success with its Hybrid 

Equity product, funding that tries to support projects that go beyond one generation; 

finally, Cerina Bezuidenhout unpicks the statistics related to the underfunding of 

women-owned businesses. DFA’s Praveen Govender stresses the need for collaboration 

if broadband is going to continue to break down barriers in South Africa 

John Young, Editor 

12 | www.opportunityonline.co.za 

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submission of articles and with their advertising. All rights reserved.

STRAPLINE 

News & snippets 

Industry insights from the past quarter 

Dressing for success 

A group of companies and charities are combining to ensure that work-seekers have a better chance of success at 

interviews through the Suitably Dressed campaign. “At H&M we want to enable our customers to look good, feel good 

and do good and the Suitably Dressed campaign perfectly embodies this philosophy. By leveraging pre-loved fashion as 

a valuable resource, we can collectively drive positive change, empower job seekers and transform lives,” says Caroline 

Nelson, H&M South Africa’s Country Manager. The project is made possible through H&M’s collaboration with not-forprofit 

social enterprises Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and Clothes to Good, as well as the entrepreneur, 

Miles Kubheka, who recently participated as a panellist, judge and mentor in the H&M Foundation’s Global Change 

Awards. H&M customers will be encouraged to drop off workwear. For each bag of workwear, donors will receive two 

“15% off” vouchers to use towards their next H&M purchases. Donations gathered at H&M will be collected and sorted 

by Clothes to Good, while the distribution to job seekers will be managed by Harambee. Harambee Youth Employment 

Accelerator collaborates with various partners to address the challenges preventing millions of young South Africans from 

accessing employment opportunities. Beyond its impact on employment barriers, the Suitably Dressed initiative aligns with 

H&M’s mission to foster a sustainable circular fashion industry that reuses and repurposes textiles before eventual recycling. 

Cleaner cranes can cut costs 

Fuel costs and emissions can be cut by up to 25% through the use of new technology, 

according to the agents for Konecranes. Lenny Naidoo, Acting National Operations 

Manager for Heavy Lift, a division of CFAO Equipment SA that sells heavy forklifts 

to container handlers and the ports industry, says that Konecranes’ investment in 

research and development has led to improvements in “the safety, productivity and 

cost-effectiveness of equipment”. The technology that has developed over many years, 

Konecranes Lift Trucks Flow Drive, also improves the driver experience and active 

operation time of the equipment is increased. With more than 80 years of experience 

in the lifting sector, Konecranes supplies lift trucks, reach stackers and forklift trucks for 

shipyards, ports and terminals. The innovative Flow Drive system uses hydromechanical 

variable transmission (HVT) to limit power at low speed, lowering wear, fuel consumption 

and emissions on a heavy-duty engine that maintains full performance. 

Accelerating access 

MTN South Africa intends to reshape local supply chains, drive economic growth and 

champion inclusivity with its newest Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) 

programme, MTN Xlerator. The company is intentionally supporting black-owned 

enterprises under the ESG pillar of its Ambition 2025 strategy. MTN’s Total Measured 

Procurement Spend increased from approximately R26-billion in 2018 to more than 

R44-billion in five years. R17-billion of that spend went to entities that are at least 

30% black women-owned in the 2022 financial year. Further investments are made in 

Supplier Development, Enterprise Development and Socio-Economic Development. 

MTN SA aims to lower the barriers to entry to the telecommunication and technology 

sectors. These have been notoriously difficult to break into due to the high cost of capital 

investment required. Beyond procurement opportunities, the ownership profile of the 

company’s Y’ello stores is being changed to better mirror South Africa’s demographics. 

14 | www.opportunityonline.co.za

News & snippets 

Industry insights from the past quarter 

Wasting the waste opportunity 

South Africa generates an estimated 122-million tons of waste per 

annum with 90% of this waste being disposed of to landfills. Much 

of this waste, however, could be reused as alternative secondary 

resources or in the form of waste-to-energy solutions and make a 

significant contribution to our energy crisis and our ecosystems. 

With the global shift towards building a circular economy, 

and national plans and legislation driving the diversion of waste 

from landfill disposal, we need a collective and collaborative 

effort to develop systems and processes to manage our waste 

more effectively. Interwaste is a company that has long years of 

experience in doing just that, offering a range of services from 

waste solutions of every type to hazardous waste disposal and 

turning waste into energy. 

Nicolas Meletiou on Pixabay 

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ULTIMATE 

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The Ports of Walvis Bay and Lüderitz lie on the West Coast 

of Africa. The Namibian Ports Authority (Namport) was 

established by the Namibian Ports Authority Act, No. 2 of 

1994. It is recognised as a public enterprise in terms of the 

Public Enterprises Governance Act, No. 1 of 2019. Namport’s 

mandate is to exercise control and manage Namibia’s ports, 

lighthouses and other navigational aids in Namibia and its 

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Warehouse 

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WASTE MANAGEMENT 

Effective waste management 

can reduce emissions. 

Don’t “waste” the opportunity to expand our economy, says 

Kate Stubbs, Marketing Director at Interwaste. 

The National Environmental 

Management Laws Amendment 

Act, 2022 (NEMLAA 4) came into 

effect as of 30 June 2023 – and it’s 

another positive shift for our approach to 

environmental protection. 

As per the outline from government, 

this Act aims to prevent pollution and 

ecological degradation and ensure 

sustainable development by providing for 

air quality measures, norms and standards, 

management and control by all spheres 

of government. Now that this Act has 

been enacted, it should not only help 

strengthen South Africa’s environmental 

enforcement but deter non-compliance 

with environmental laws. While some 

might say that South Africa is now making 

good headway in our fight against climate 

change, we must still consider that we are 

in a juxtaposition between fighting climate 

change and fighting economic turmoil. 

Which one comes first, or can they coexist? 

While the government has already 

indicated its intention to gain access to 

higher levels of climate financing with 

a goal of achieving $8-billion per year 

by 2030, we know that, considering the 

current economic environment, this may 

not be as easy. So, what is the immediate 

solution or potential opportunity? 

It’s important to note that the waste 

sector offers a crucial and often overlooked 

opportunity, not just towards reducing 

carbon emissions through effective waste 

management but in meeting the country’s 

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

However, we have a conundrum 

where many people across business, 

communities and government are 

under-informed about the potential of 

well-managed, compliant and innovative 

waste-management solutions. The 

reality is that with a population of 

61-million people which is growing by 

around 1% a year, and with each person 

generating around 2kgs of waste per 

day, we are heading towards a waste 

disaster that will impact our climate 

action and our goals significantly. We 

need solutions. 

Solving problems and creating jobs 

We are already seeing some movement 

in the waste and energy sectors through 

programmes such as the Just Energy 

Transition (JET), which aims to explore 

alternative sustainable options to key 

challenges and where waste can, and is, 

forming a critical pillar. But we need to 

understand that waste, if well managed, 

can also be a very powerful tool in job 

creation and social equality. In fact, the 

global waste-to-energy market is expected 

to grow from $28.4-billion in 2017 to 

almost $43-billion in 2024. As far back as 

2019, global employment opportunities in 

renewable energy was given as 11.5-million 

people gaining access. 

The International Renewable Energy 

Agency (IREA) has also proclaimed the 

opportunities that exist, stating that 

renewables have the potential to employ 

more than 40-million people by 2050. 

While this new legislation is very 

welcome in our fight to protect our 

environment, the good news is that 

climate action and economic preservation 

can coexist and should be seen as 

complementary. In fact, waste and effective 

waste management presents a large 

economic opportunity not only to establish 

new industries and revenue streams but 

to meet legislative requirements and to 

achieve our climate-action agendas. It’s a 

win for everyone. 

Biography 

Kate Stubbs is the current Group 

Marketing Director for the 

Interwaste Group which forms part 

of Séché Environment, a leading 

international environmental 

solutions business. She has held 

various executive positions in 

marketing, sales, strategy and 

communications over the last 20 

years, predominantly working for 

supply chain, logistics and waste 

management companies serving 

a broad range of industries. Her 

experience has enabled her 

to work with diverse local and 

international teams and she 

thrives in complex, intellectually 

stimulating environments. Some 

of her successes have been in 

creating and building new brands, 

achieving growth strategies and 

assisting with the integration of 

many acquisitions. She is passionate 

about developing sustainable 

solutions for businesses that are not 

only economically viable, but which 

are socially conscious and protect 

our environment for future. 


SACCI NEWS 

Building opportunities 

for corporate South Africa 

The SACCI Economic Development Unit has launched an e-mobility pilot 

project and aims to offer SACCI members access to power solutions. 

In August 2023, Zamlim Investments entered into a partnership 

with the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry 

(SACCI). The purpose of this partnership is to develop an 

Economic Development Unit, to be embedded in SACCI. 

Although SACCI is a non-profit company (NPC), it is at the 

forefront of engagements with big business. It is an inevitable 

evolution of its offering to corporate South Africa to be in a 

position to develop a pipeline of bankable opportunities that 

companies, commercial funders, development-finance institutions 

(DFIs) and OEMs can participate in that generate jobs, contribute to 

our growing Green Economy, increase skills transfer and generate 

community upliftment in both developed and underdeveloped 

parts of the country’s economy. 

Zamlim is a management consulting firm with interests in 

traditional consulting capabilities such as strategy, operations, 

implementation and investment promotion. Zamlim also has 

a wholly owned renewable-energy commercial and industrial 

(C&I) capability called Zamlim Power. Zamlim Power is serving 

industrial clients with a variety of solar solutions that incorporate 

a funding solution. 

The newly established Economic Development Unit, which 

is managed by Zamlim, has already generated several wins. A 

12-month e-micromobility pilot has been launched in Gauteng, 

alongside one of the Big Four banks. The aim of this pilot is to 

reduce last-mile-delivery CO2 emissions by over 300 metric tons 

per annum and employ hundreds of individuals from Alexandra 

township with the right skills to enter the rapidly expanding 

e-commerce market, while deploying a renewable-energy 

ecosystem that will include over 1.7MW hours of green energy 

per annum that will be used for the e-bikes. 

The final details are being in put in place of an arrangement 

with a DFI and another Big Four bank for a C&I renewable power 

solution. The product is known as “Power for You” and will be 

offered exclusively to SACCI’s 20 000 members nationally. The aim 

is to alleviate business dependence on grid power, while offering 

PPAs and lease-to-own options that will eliminate the need for 

SACCI members to deploy scarce capex. 

The Economic Development Unit played an active role in 

engaging senior stakeholders during the BRICS Summit held in 

Johannesburg and has influential relationships with the likes of the 

Confederation of Indian Industrialists (CII) as well as the Agency 

for Strategic Initiatives (Russia). Engagements are also ongoing 

with the European Union and the European Investment Bank, 

positioning the SACCI Economic Development Unit as a multipolar, 

multilateral player that is able to bring opportunities, FDI and 

outbound investment opportunities for corporate South Africa. 

These relationships are also being developed to expand into 

the SADC region, with Botswana and Zimbabwe being the initial 

pilot areas of cooperation. 

Zamlim Investments is led by its CEO, Dzingira Matenga, a 

former management consultant and industry executive who has 

led business units at the likes of McKinsey & Co and Ernst & Young, 

and also sat on the Exco of a Kazakhstan-based mining company 

with African interests in copper, cobalt, bauxite and platinum. 

The Zamlim team includes economists, actuaries, engineers and 

customer-value-proposition experts who are passionate about 

growing SADC economies, giving our youth a fighting chance to 

meaningfully participate in our economies, while also bringing the 

right level of rigour to engage local and foreign investors, partners 

and OEMs and encourage their participation in growth. 

The pilot is part of a disaggregated 

R1-billion upstream and downstream 

opportunity for South Africa... 


SACCI NEWS 

Green Economy - Our project addressess a significant decarbonization of 

last-mile-delivery in Gauteng. 

... and would meet several UNDP and NDP objectives 

www.opportunityonline.co.za | 19

BRICS AND AFRICA 

Deepening trade ties 

with member states 

South Africa, represented by SACCI, is chairing the 

Trade and Investment Working Group of the BRICS Business Council. 

SACCI President Advocate Mtho Xulu assumed the position 

of chairperson of the BRICS Working Group on Trade and 

Investment in May 2023 towards South Africa’s hosting of 

the BRICS Summit. He reflects on the importance to South 

African business of the international grouping and its deliberations. 

South Africa proudly hosted the 15th BRICS Summit in 

Johannesburg in August 2023. The summit, which was held 

under the heading, “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually 

Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive 

Multilateralism”, will be remembered as the summit where the 

five member states made a commitment to expand the group to 

include several other countries. 

But another significant anniversary took place that was 

celebrated, it being 10 years since the BRICS Business Council 

(BBC) was established during the Fifth BRICS Summit held in 

2013 in Durban. The idea behind the Council was to constitute 

a platform which will promote and strengthen business, trade 

and investment ties among the business communities of the five 

BRICS countries, ensure that there is regular dialogue between the 

business communities and governments of the BRICS nations and 

identify problems and bottlenecks to ensure greater economic, 

trade and investment ties. The BBC is divided into various Working 

Groups, and each nation has its own chapter which runs the 

relevant Working Groups. When a particular country hosts the 

BRICS Summit, the host country becomes the Chairperson of the 

Working Group. The SACCI President was duly appointed to that 

position. As Advocate Xulu says, “I was honoured to be appointed 

by the BRICS Business Council to chair this important Working 

Group that has a very specific mandate to deepen and balance 

trade and investment among members states and the economies 

and have a bearing on BRICS.” 

The task of the chairperson is to maintain relations with 

colleagues in other chapters, but also, as Advocate Xulu explains, 

it entails “mobilising resources and expertise to fulfil the mandate 

of the working group, building synergies with the other working 

groups and facilitating knowledge sharing with domestic 

and international actors who have an interest in the trade and 

investment affairs of BRICS”. 

The benefits to South African business of being part of such 

Working Groups are clear to Advocate Xulu: “It gives us access 

to a platform of peers where we gain access to market-access 

opportunities for South African goods and services, investment 

pools to drive industrialisation, entrepreneurship and innovation 

and expert exchanges that will enable South Africa to become 

globally competitive.” 

Background to Trade and Investment Working Group 

The Trade and Investment Working Group is a cross-cutting 

Working Group, working in partnership with the other Working 

Groups to identify barriers to trade and investment in the targeted 

sectors and seeking ways to overcome these barriers. 

A key objective of the Working Group is to strengthen and 

promote economic, trade, business and investment ties among 

the business communities of the five BRICS countries. 

The purpose of the Working Group is to implement a more 

targeted approach towards: 

• the analysis of trade between the BRICS countries 

• the fostering of regulatory harmonisation to increase trade 

between member countries 

• the identification of trade barriers within specific industries 

• making recommendations on how these barriers might be 

overcome through multilateral or bilateral solutions 

• the examination of global trade and investment measures that 

have a bearing on BRICS economies and evolving common 

positions on the same. 

The various Working Groups will now follow up on these objectives, 

which were adopted by the 15th BRICS Summit. 


BRICS AND AFRICA 

Focus on trade and investment promotion 

With regard to promoting trade and investment between BRICS 

member nations, the Working Group has identified a number of 

areas where specific steps can be taken to achieve these aims 

through data-driven decision-making. Concrete steps can be 

taken to: 

• track trade statistics among the BRICS nations 

• propose solutions to identified non-tariff barrier challenges 

• enhance the complementarities and opportunities 

• promote and enhance mutual trade and investment, creating a 

business-friendly environment for investors and entrepreneurs 

in all BRICS and African countries 

• develop a BRICS calendar of trade and investment promotion 

events to allow for joint participation 

• develop joint statements on trade, investments and sustainable 

growth in coordination with the other Working Groups 

• identify key industries for focused in-depth research and bestpractice 

sharing 

• share information among BRICS countries on exchanges and 

capacity-building programmes 

• identify areas where trade performance has not met 

expectations, understand the cause of the underperformances 

and develop solutions to drive trade and investment. 

Regarding implementation, Advocate Xulu notes that it is up to the 

Working Groups to carry them out. He adds: “An annual review will 

be conducted at the 16th BRICS Summit in Russia 2024.” 

Opportunity areas to drive trade and investment 

At the Johannesburg Summit, the South African delegation 

particularly discussed the opportunities that the trade deficit 

presents. As Advocate Xulu points out, there are opportunities 

to use it “to grow and modernise our exports to the other 

member states. We also highlighted the need to take advantage of 

the popularity of our raw mineral and agricultural commodities, by 

building horizontal and vertical integration for each commodity, 

thus growing and strengthening the domestic industrial base.” 

A goal of the Working Group is to reduce the trade deficit and 

improve the trade balance between members, we need to enhance 

solidarity between member states and to strengthen bilateral and 

multilateral trade and investment. 

This can be achieved by focussing on four main areas: 

Economic partnerships 

• Establish strategic economic partnerships with BRICS nations to 

expand trade and investment opportunities 

• Promote trade fairs, exhibitions and business forums to attract 

BRICS nations companies and investors 

Infrastructure development 

• Deploy expertise in infrastructure development and help 

African countries in sectors such as transportation, energy and 

communication 

• Build strong infrastructure networks to enhance regional 

connectivity and facilitate trade under AfCFTA 

Financing cooperation 

• BRICS nations offer various financing mechanisms for 

infrastructure and development projects 

• Explore financial cooperation opportunities, including bilateral 

investment agreements, infrastructure funds and loans from the 

New Development Bank 

Knowledge exchange and capacity building 

• BRICS nations have experts in various sectors. Organise exchange 

programmes, training and capacity-building initiatives to 

enhance skills and knowledge transfer. 

As to whether there is value to be gained from the Working Group, 

Advocate Xulu reflects, “The unique value of this Working Group is 

its focussed mandate on the practicalities of economic cooperation 

of the real transactions regarding trade and investment among 

member countries.” 


SKILLS TRAINING 

Building an 

innovative and 

employable 

workforce 

If South Africa is to thrive, says CHIETA CEO Yershen 

Pillay, it must create a skills-based curriculum 

Where did you do your tertiary studies? 

I did my undergraduate degree in Politics and Economics 

at the University of Cape Town. That was followed by a 

Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration at 

the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), 

University of Pretoria. 

I then graduated with a Master of Business 

Administration (MBA) qualification from GIBS 

in 2021. I am currently studying towards my 

PhD in Digital Transformation at the University 

of Johannesburg (UJ). 

At the time, did it feel that your studies 

were helpful in terms of developing your broader 

understanding of the world and pursuing a career? 

Absolutely. Studying across various institutions helped to broaden 

my worldview and develop a wide range of skills and interests. 

I gradually developed into a generalist with specialist skills in 

leadership and administration. 

To be successful requires knowledge, skills and experience 

together with the right attitude and character. By continuing to 

learn and acquire new qualifications, I made education fashionable 

which assisted my career growth tremendously. 

Should universities and TVET colleges be trying to strike 

a balance between education (in the broader sense) and 

training (for the workplace) or should there be a greater 

focus about what is offered at each type of institution? 

There needs to be more of a focus on a skills-based curriculum. The 

result will be more employable graduates who have a penchant 

for solving problems and generating new ideas, innovation 

will flourish and the country will grow. Universities and TVET 



There needs to be more of a focus 

on a skills-based curriculum 

colleges are producing graduates who lack innovation skills, 

entrepreneurial thinking and core skills such as empathy, courage 

and communication. 

What did you learn in the course of your 

diploma and Master’s at GIBS? 

My MBA journey at GIBS was more about the robust classroom 

discussions and the discussion-based learning than the tools and 

case studies offered. It was a journey of self-exploration and selfawareness. 

I learnt more about who I am as a human being and 

what I am capable of. I became more aware of my virtues, vices 

and “x-factor” skills. I learnt to be a knowledge seeker. In doing 

so, I realised my innate skills of curiosity, strategic communication 

and people development, all of which have served me well in my 

leadership roles as the Executive Chairperson of the NYDA, MD of a 

logistics firm, and now CEO of an education and training authority. 

How has your experience in the private sector shaped you? 

My experience in corporate South Africa was enabling more than 

debilitating. It was a totally different role to where I am now at 

CHIETA. I used to be in transport as an MD and not dealing much 

with SETAs. However, my next role was still in transport and logistics 

as a board member and director of Airports Company South Africa 

(ACSA). The jump from transport and logistics to education and 

training has been a seamless one. 

Many of your positions have been in positions 

affecting youth. Is this a passion of yours? 

I have always been passionate about people and service. Working 

in the public sector was a perfect fit. After my days as a student 

leader at UCT, I took up youth development for nine years, first 

as the Executive Chairperson of the National Youth Development 

Agency and then serving as the President of the Pan African 

Youth Union. Making a difference through public service is what 

I’ve always enjoyed. I have always been an advocate of youth 

development. I am acutely aware of the role that youth play in 

society. Our youth are our future. This is why I am so passionate 

about ensuring that youth are adequately skilled, trained and 

empowered for success. 

A SAFCOL board member has commented on your ICT 

competence: have you specialised in ICT? How important 

is ICT in driving progress within an organisation? 

Yes, absolutely! Over time, I have acquired essential skills in ICT and 

cybersecurity strategy. I am currently studying towards my PhD in 

digital transformation with a focus on people and technologies as 

this is a passion of mine. We live in an era of artificial intelligence 

(AI) and hyper digitalisation. The impact of technology on our 

daily lives is inevitable. We cannot afford to ignore the impact of 

technology. For this reason, I continue to play a role in the digital 

transformation of organisations. At ACSA, I am the Chairperson of 

the ICT committee where we are leading the digital transformation 

strategy of South Africa’s airports. At SAFCOL, we have introduced a 

number of automated and mechanised technologies for the digital 

transformation of forestry. At CHIETA, we are executing a digital 

transformation strategy to be a fully digitised SETA that offers 

digitised skills development and training services by 2025. 

What do you find rewarding about serving on boards? 

I have seized every opportunity as a learning opportunity to grow 

and develop in leadership and governance. Serving on boards in 

education, aviation and forestry has allowed me to develop a 

range of different perspectives and drive cross-sector collaboration 

which is a key factor of innovation. 



team of people at CHIETA. We are a people-centric organisation 

that focuses on high-impact, qualitative results. 

We adopted a zero-tolerance approach to non-compliance and 

a “people first, everything else second” philosophy. We actively 

seek to empower, recognise and reward our people. In return, 

our people delivered the results, in this case, a first clean audit 

outcome after five years. This clean audit outcome signifies a SETA 

that works! 

CHIETA’s digital transformation strategy aims to be offering 

digitised skills development and training services by 2025. 

I have had the privilege of acquiring a vast range of experience and 

innovation skills such as observational, discovery and networking 

skills. I now have an innovator’s DNA! Importantly, I have developed 

a relational intelligence (RQ) that has assisted me greatly in my 

current position as CEO of CHIETA. 

How did CHIETA achieve a clean audit? 

CHIETA received a clean audit outcome for the first time in five 

years. The key factor of success was our people. We have a great 

What are your broader goals for CHIETA? 

To be a fully digitised, innovation-driven SETA that is not just 

about skills development, but about sustainable livelihoods and 

improving the quality of life. We want to support the end-to-end 

value chain of sustainable livelihoods. This means supporting 

more startups and SMMEs, so we must achieve our target of 

2 000 SMMEs supported by the chemical SETA, and more than 

200 co-operatives. 

We have a goal of establishing nine SMART Skills Centres in 

every province by 2025. We are measuring grand goals such as 

livelihoods and the impact created through supporting more 

chemical startups, SMMEs, retrenched workers, gender-based 

violence and other social programmes, new hydrogen skills 

projects, VR-based training and the use of AI in education and 

training. We want to impact 100 000 livelihoods by 2025. 

As an innovation leader in education, skills development 

and training we don’t want to train for the sake of training and 

contribute to employment. Our broader goal is to improve the 

quality of life by focusing on sustainable livelihoods. 

Pan African Hydrogen Skills Conference 

The Chemical Industry Education and Training Authority 

(CHIETA), together with the Department of Science and 

Innovation (DSI), have hosted a number of events connected 

to the Green Hydrogen Economy. 

One such event was the Pan African Hydrogen Skills 

Conference held in Cape Town in December 2022. Other 

conference partners were Impact Hydrogen (Netherlands), 

the South African National Energy Development Institute 

(SANEDI), the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy 

Studies at Stellenbosch University, Durban University of 

Technology and the National Business Institute (NBI). 

The conference was officially opened by the Minister 

of Higher Education, Science And Innovation, Dr Blade 

Nzimande, pictured, who noted how CHIETA has repositioned 

itself to innovate for impact. The conference is an example of 

CHIETA providing leadership on skills development for the 

hydrogen economy. 

Under the title "Industry Perspectives, Experiences and 

Skills required for the Hydrogen Economy", the conference 

unpacked the skills required to bring about sustainable green 

economic growth and development. 

In the pursuit of a Just Energy Transition, Minister Nzimande 

stressed the need for even closer collaboration between 

industry (small and large), educational and financial 

institutions, investment partners and governments. 


Innovating 

for impact 

CHIETA aims to provide skills for the 

Fourth Industrial Revolution and beyond. 

The Chemical Industries Education & Training Authority (CHIETA) is a 

statutory body that was established by The Skills Development Act 97 of 

1998. Our purpose as a SETA is to facilitate skills development in the chemical 

and manufacturing industries and to ensure that skills needs are identified 

and addressed through a number of initiatives by the SETA and the sector. A 

Trusted Partner in Skills Development and Training for the Chemical Sector. 

Approximately 70 % of the Skills Development Levies that are obtained from 

the chemical industry are distributed back to member companies through 

grants. CHIETA also works in close collaboration with the Quality Council for 

Trades and Occupations to design and develop occupational qualifications 

and trades, quality assurance, accreditation, monitoring as well as 

certification of competent learners. 

Fourth Industrial Revolution 

In terms of CHIETA’s digitisation strategy, the fully automated, end 

to-end digitised SMART Skills Centre will be rolled out in every province 

of the country by 2025. 

WHAT WE OFFER: 

Learners 

The CHIETA offers learnerships and other youth programmes to unemployed youth with the aim of promoting employability in line 

with government policy as per National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS III) objectives 

Skills development training providers 

Accreditation processes for training providers and for assessors and moderators. Training providers of education and training must be 

accredited with an Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA) body under the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) 

Employers 

The CHIETA makes grant funding available during a window period in which it accepts applications from the employers. The opening 

of this window is advertised on the CHIETA website, national and community media 

CHIETA ACHIEVEMENTS 

Highlights from the CHIETA 2022/23 Integrated Annual Report 

• Unqualified clean audit opinion from the Auditor-General of South Africa 

• 100% performance against planned targets approved by DHET 

• 30 032 Learners supported through career exhibitions 

• 108 Co-operatives supported 

• 576 SMMEs supported 

• 6 036 Certificates issued by CHIETA ETQA 

CONTACT DETAILS 

72 New Road, Glen Austin AH (Grand Central), Midrand 1685 

Email: info@chieta.org.za | Tel: +27 87 357 6608 | Tel: +27 11 628 7000 | Website: www.chieta.org.za

ORBIT TVET COLLEGE 

Leading the way 

in AI education 

The Principal of ORBIT TVET College, Dika Mokoena, is 

proud of his students’ achievements in an international 

AI competition and the college’s powerhouse soccer 

team! Plans for a hotel school will bolster a college 

already strong in electrical and diesel mechanical trades. 

Is this a period of change for TVET colleges? 

The changes which are taking place within the colleges are spearheaded by 

the Minister of Higher Education and Training. He wants these colleges to 

become colleges which respond to the real situation that an individual South 

African is going through economically. That is why he has introduced the 

Centres of Specialisation. These centres are financed by the Ministry under his 

leadership. They are a beautiful game-changer where a learner who would 

have gone through the entire programme would have an opportunity to be 

employed. If not employment, then the learner has enough skills to start his 

or her own business. As a college we have responded very well to the call of 

Centres of Specialisation in the electrical trade and the most difficult trade 

of diesel mechanics. Drivers that own diesel-engine cars will tell you how 

difficult it is to find a diesel mechanic. We have done well in the certification 

of these two trades. 

Where are these offered? 

The electrical trade is offered at the Brits site and the diesel specialisation 

is attached to Mankwe Campus. 

What else is offered at Mankwe? 

We are just adjacent to Sun City so there is also a tourism focus. 

Because of the presence of Sun City and other holiday resort facilities 

in the area we intend to build a hotel school which will have training 

facilities for students and a conference centre. This hotel school 

will not be in competition with all other centres in the area. It is a 

puzzle that fits like a glove onto a hand because we are a training 

institution and we will then want to partner with these 

facilities. These centres would like to have a skilled labour 

force so where would they get their skilled labour force? We 

are still looking for a partner for the project but what is key 

is that the hotel school at the college will be complementing 

what these other facilities are currently doing in the area. We 

are looking at food preparation, hospitality services, client 

services and human relations, just to name a few areas we 

are looking to take care of, plus many more. 

ORBIT TVET College’s successful AI students, pictured with the 

Principal, Mr Dika Mokoena, right. 


ORBIT TVET COLLEGE 

So you are responding to what business needs in your area? 

Yes. In Brits it is electrical and for Mankwe it is diesel. Now we are 

looking at our Rustenburg campus to focus on IT. 

Has ORBIT College started to focus on IT already? 

ORBIT College is the first college within the Republic of South 

Africa which has a partnership with Intel. This partnership, which 

began in 2022, is all about artificial intelligence. 

The traditional way is that you go to school, you get 

registered, you leave with a certificate which says you have a 

particular skill and off you can go. The international trend from 

these big giants is that the certificate is secondary. What they 

want to see is what you can do. A modern learner will register 

with the college on an artificial intelligence programme which 

will be designed and categorised for “future workforce”. The 

categories need to be explained. There is a category for high 

school, a category for the future workforce, a category for those 

that are in employment already and yet another category for 

decision-makers. There is an excellent programme run by Intel. 

Learners will report that, for example, in the area where 

they live there isn’t enough sunshine for certain types of crops 

to grow properly. Once that person has identified the problem 

they go to a lab, which has software that was donated to the 

college by Intel. 

The lab you see in ORBIT College North West, South 

Africa, on the African continent, is exactly the same lab you 

will see in Singapore, Germany or Spain. The ORBIT College 

lab is the latest. Once the problem has been identified the 

students bring that problem into the lab and begin to develop 

algorithms which are going to talk to the problem and come 

up with a solution. 

Please tell us about the achievements of your 

students in the global competition. 

Intel brings students from all over the world into one melting 

pot and runs a competition showcasing problems solved 

in different areas. ORBIT College, representing South Africa 

and Africa in the future workforce category, participated in 

the 2023 competition with two projects which students had 

developed. Out of 1 350 projects which were submitted for 

the first round, both ORBIT projects were chosen among the 

75 which made the cut and then one of them ended overall in 

third position, which is a beautiful story to take home. 

Where was the competition held? 

It was held virtually but now the winners have been invited to go 

and celebrate in Poland. 

Was “The Decade of the Artisan” a good programme? 

Did you feel that was a good way of focussing 

the attention of the country on artisanship? 

There’s a phrase that says, “out of sight, out of mind”. If we as a 

country had not pulled artisanship up and placed it on the 

dashboard we would not have attended to the shortage of artisans. 

It was a good move that we made it a priority. 

Does ORBIT College have a sports programme? 

We subscribe to the adage, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull 

boy” and so we have a soccer team. 

Does your soccer team play in a league? 

You have just made my day. The soccer team is like that at any 

other school with youngsters playing soccer just to keep them 

active, but these youngsters gained momentum and now they are 

in the National First Division, just one level below the Kaizer Chiefs 

and the Pirates of this world. ORBIT College Football Club is now a 

professional soccer team. 

These youngsters have created employment for themselves. In 

the North West province there is no team at that level, so as much 

as it is the college they represent, they also represent the province. 

That’s how good their status is. 

And does that bring other benefits? 

It changes the culture of learning in an institution where we can 

sometimes overstretch ourselves. We expect that all students 

come in in search of academic knowledge and they will leave 

with that, but we are not all wired the same. There are those 

who are very strong in certain areas as compared to others. Now 

this sporting activity helps the total population of students to 

discover themselves even better. 

Do staff members help out as coaches? 

In the early stages the youngsters coming together would get a 

college staff member who would do some coordinating. Even now, 

it is just a staff member coordinating. It is for fun. 

So there is no director of sport of something like that? 

No, no, no. 

But when you’re in the Premier League, 

surely you will need that? 

I am aware of that. But I said to them, “Look you are students, go 

and have fun, go and have fun in the veld.” From day one they 

started in position number one. As we speak, they are still in 

position one in the league. 


ELANGENI TVET COLLEGE 

Skills development for 

employment and growth 

South Africa must prioritise relevant skills development, says Elangeni TVET 

College Rector, TJ Kula, if it is to achieve significant economic growth. 

Biography 

TJ Kula is a qualified educational specialist, armed with a wealth of professional 

experience and a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) from MANCOSA. TJ Kula's 

educational philosophy centres around the notion that creating an optimal learning 

environment, effective leadership and a dedicated educational team are essential factors 

in facilitating learning for all individuals. Her teaching career began in 1994 and in 2016, 

she joined the Department of Higher Education and Training as Rector of Elangeni TVET 

College, where she remains at present. 

TJ Kula, Rector of Elangeni TVET College 

As the Decade of the Artisan draws to a close, 

please reflect on whether it was successful. 

In general, this campaign has raised youth awareness of 

artisanship opportunities, resulting in more young people 

enrolling. The country is creating an average of 20 000 qualified 

artisans per year, which is a great step towards meeting the 

National Development Plan's goal of 30 000 artisans per 

year. At Elangeni TVET College, we are proud to have over 50 

skilled artisans who are currently undergoing training. We 

are making ongoing efforts to increase the participation of 

young individuals and the College obtained trade test centre 

accreditation for two trades, namely Welding and Electrical. 

This initiative will greatly contribute to the College's efforts in 

cultivating a larger pool of skilled artisans. 

Why was it so important to focus on artisanship? 

Prioritising the development of artisans is crucial, as they play a 

vital role in fostering future growth. In addition, the artisan sector 

contributes to the employment market. Artisan training also 

contributes to enhancing the employability of young individuals, 

facilitates job mobility and enhances the availability of skills for 

the global job market. 

Has progress been made in dispelling the myth 

that a university degree is somehow more 

worthwhile than a college diploma? 

There is a prevalent misconception that technical and vocational 

colleges primarily cater to underachieving students. However, 

depending on one's career path, a university degree may not 

always be the most suitable option. In my experience, TVET 

colleges provide numerous valuable opportunities. 

ETVET offers technical and vocational training to students 

who want to enhance their skills in high-demand areas. 

This is achieved through various programmes such as NCV, 

Business & Engineering Studies, as well as occupational and 

skills programmes. The practical and theoretical knowledge 

acquired from obtaining a qualification at Elangeni TVET 

College equips graduates with the necessary skills to actively 

engage in the labour market. 

Does the college have its own focussed programmes, 

that are in line with the “Decade of the Artisan”? 

Yes, Elangeni TVET College provides several vocational and skills 

programmes to build students' skills and knowledge and boost 

artisan development. Through a variety of skills programmes, 

learnerships, apprenticeships and ministerial-approved 

programmes, ETVET provides a broad-based education aimed 

at developing the rural and township economies and certifying 

students who have gone on to secure employment in a variety 

of industry sectors. 

Is the South African “skills development” 

sector on the right path? 

In order for South Africa to achieve significant economic growth, it 

is crucial to prioritise better access to relevant skills development. 

This can be accomplished by implementing educational and 

training opportunities offered by TVET Colleges. By offering 

such access, TVETs can effectively address inequalities and 

unemployment while also fostering employability and active 

participation in the country's economy. Skills development is the 

primary goal of education and training and it serves as a catalyst 

for economic growth. 


ELANGENI TVET COLLEGE 

What are areas that can be improved upon? 

The key to unlocking a better life for everyone lies in fundamental 

learning and skills development. One area that requires 

improvement at TVET Colleges is the workshops. If these workshops 

are aligned with the specific industry needs, students will have the 

opportunity to acquire accreditations as artisans, apprentices and 

undergo trade tests. As a result, this will lead to an enhancement 

in the level of skills development. It is logical for TVET Colleges to 

prioritise skills-based programmes. By doing so, artisans are able 

to make valuable contributions to the economy. 

Which of your study programmes are 

attracting student interest? 

Looking at enrolment trends based on College forecasts and also 

application trends based on student programme selections, the 

following conclusions were reached: 

The programmes with the most applicants: 

• Occupational Programmes: Electricians, Plant Production and 

Welding 

• Business Studies: Public Management 

• NCV: Office Administration and Hospitality 

• Engineering Studies: Electrical and Civil Engineering 

Do you see a link between that interest from students with 

the efforts of the College to promote certain programmes 

and the needs of the regional economy and local business? 

There is definitely a link as Elangeni TVET College promotes the 

offerings of practical and skills training for numerous vocations. 

ETVET is researching and exploring new College programmes 

that meet community needs, therefore boosting the rural and 

township economies by producing jobs. The College strives to 

build and sustain close relations with prominent industry and 

business figures in order to ensure that the programmes we 

offer fulfil the demands of the labour market. Our catchment 

areas are surrounded by industries and the College has begun 

linking its offerings to our programme qualification mix. In the 

near future, ETVET is planning to introduce the Transport and 

Logistics programme at Mpumalanga Campus, and partnerships 

with these businesses will make it possible for students to acquire 

knowledge and then be placed in industry, enabling them to 

obtain employment. 

Is it possible to teach “entrepreneurship”? If so, what works? 

There is a possibility. Firstly, it is essential for students to 

successfully fulfil the requirements of their chosen field of study 

or specialisation. The College often emphasises the importance 

of students not relying solely on the government and instead 

encourages them to be self-sufficient. However, it is observed that 

while some students possess entrepreneurship skills, they may lack 

the ability to effectively manage themselves and their businesses. 

Transitioning from the successful completion of a specific 

diploma or skill, students should have the opportunity to acquire 

entrepreneurial knowledge and skills through an entrepreneurship 

hub. This platform would enable students to gain expertise in 

creating business proposals, developing professional conduct 

for job applications, mastering the process of tender applications 

and effectively managing clients. Teaching entrepreneurship 

opens up these possibilities for students. ETVET is considering the 

establishment of an entrepreneurship hub in future. 

Do you have a good relationship with 

local businesses and SETAs? 

Several businesses have generously contributed training 

equipment to the College. ETVET has established international 

exchange programme partnerships with the UK, Netherlands, 

China and the US. The College maintains a positive rapport with 

several Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), which 

have generously provided funding for the College's learning 

programmes, infrastructure development and learner placements. 

We have also established strategic partnerships that have greatly 

contributed to the College's efforts in improving the delivery of 

teaching and learning. 

What lies behind the fact that Elangeni TVET 

College has received unqualified AG audit reports 

and is ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 rated? 

A positive audit report, such as an unqualified audit report, can be 

attributed to a robust and resilient compliance system. ISO 9001:2015 

[Quality Management System] and ISO 45001:2018 [Occupational 

Health and Safety Management System] are two compliance 

functions that are implemented in the College. These systems ensure 

that the ETVET is compliant regarding all its operational functions 

through the implementation of a policy and procedure framework 

monitored by the Quality Unit. The unit undertakes internal systems 

audit processes and regular monitoring of its operational objectives 

informing management of operational under-performance. This 

ensures success concerning external audit processes. 

What work does the Business Unit do? 

The Business Unit is responsible for providing skills training and 

establishing strategic partnerships. It serves as an additional 

source of revenue for the College, reducing its reliance on 

government funding. It is essential for the College to establish 

financial independence. 


TRAINING 

CREDIT: Jason Goodman on Unsplash 

How effective is training? 

Data is vital in assessing the effectiveness of workplace training, says Michael Hanly, 

MD of South African online learning solutions provider New Leaf Technologies. 

Businesses want to see the results 

of training programmes reflected 

in day-to-day operations. For 

learning and development (L&D) 

professionals, it’s no longer enough to 

simply facilitate upskilling of staff; they 

actively need to drive performance within 

a company. 

Where in the past the focus fell on 

learning outcomes, it’s now squarely on 

performance outcomes. If organisational 

training has little to no impact, it 

essentially means a business is wasting 

time and money that could be better 

spent elsewhere. Of course, it would 

rather not redirect these resources from 

training programmes, given skilled staff 

are crucial to the success of the company. 

According to Michael Hanly, MD of 

South African online learning solutions 

provider New Leaf Technologies, to get the 

most out of any investments in training, 

L&D leaders must embrace a broader role 

within the organisation and formulate an 

ambitious vision for the function. Most 

importantly, the results of this training 

must be quantifiable and make a marked 

difference to business performance. This 

is where data is playing such a crucial 

role, as it allows training professionals 

to make informed, factual and evidencebased 

decisions to the benefit of the 

organisation as a whole. 


EXECUTIVE EDUCATION 

Wits Business School: learning 

for real-world impact 

For Leoni Grobler, Director of Executive Education at Wits Business School, lifelong 

learning is necessary for those wanting to succeed and remain relevant. 

Executive education caters for 

working people at various levels 

of an organisation; it focuses on 

the key skills and competencies 

needed to manage oneself, others and a 

successful business. “Things are constantly 

changing, so whether you’ve just stepped 

into your first job, you’re a seasoned 

manager or a celebrated executive, you 

need to constantly reskill and upskill 

yourself,” she explains. 

Being a leader requires a different 

skillset from the technical competencies 

required to perform operational tasks. 

“Once you start managing people, you 

need to develop and recall different 

skills: you need to inspire and motivate 

people but still hold people accountable, 

because, at the end of the day, you’re 

working towards a common goal.” Grobler 

says calling these management skills “soft” 

is misleading because these foundation 

skills are among the most important 

traits for success. Business leaders must 

be adaptable to internal and external 

disruptions; therefore, flexibility, agility and 

resilience are important skills and mindsets 

to develop. 

“The world is forcing us to be far more 

fluid in the way we think and nobody 

can afford to be resistant to change,” says 

Grobler. Creative thinking is important 

across all levels of business as this skill 

goes hand in hand with problem-solving 

and a growth mindset. While creativity is 

important, it needs to be coupled with 

critical and analytical thinking that support 

sound decision-making. Stay ahead of the 

curve and register for an upcoming course 

in digital business. 

Mentorship and coaching training are also 

in high demand for executives because 

leaders are expected to guide, empower, 

motivate and inspire the people they work 

with. This entails cultural sensitivity, an 

appreciation for diversity and inclusivity 

and a collaborative approach. 

Developing authentic leadership, 

especially in the South African context, is 

crucial. Our country requires leaders who 

are steadfast and purpose driven, guided 

by a personal and organisational North Star 

that helps them navigate decisions and 

interactions. Social responsibility, ethical 

business practices and sustainability 

are also important to incorporate into 

operations. Learning is not something 

that is done; it is something that is lived. 

A learning mindset is one that permeates 

every aspect of life and ensures continuous 

growth and development. 

“This does not mean that lifelong 

learning is without challenges,” says 

Grobler. This is even more true when it 

comes to structured, formal executive 

education programmes. “It’s never easy to 

find a balance between professional and 

personal responsibilities; therefore, one 

of the most important things we offer our 

delegates is flexibility.” 

Learning from the best 

Graduate and postgraduate studies are 

theoretical and academic in nature, while 

executive education programmes are 

more experiential. Staying relevant means 

staying up to date in theory and practice. 

This practical approach is why Wits Business 

School’s programmes are presented by 

what Grobler calls “pracademics”: “A lot of 

Leoni 

Grobler, 

Director 

of Executive 

Education at 

Wits Business 

School 

organisations and leaders are concerned 

that business schools may not be in touch 

with the realities of the world of work. Our 

teaching faculty have a good theoretical 

and technical base, but more than that, 

they have practical experience and have 

walked the journey themselves. So, if 

they talk about implementing a strategy, 

they can give real-world examples of the 

problems they faced and the solutions 

they implemented. We ensure that our 

delegates gain knowledge from someone 

who is speaking from experience. We get 

people from business to teach business.” 

Upcoming programmes: 

• Management Advancement Programme 

• Digital Business 

• New Managers Programme 

• Senior Leader Development 

• Executive Development Programme 

For Wits Business School, working with 

pracademics ensures delegates receive 

the necessary theoretical knowledge 

and practical experience needed to stay 

ahead in their professional environments. 

Combined with the fostering of a growth 

mindset and lifelong learning, delegates 

are supported and challenged to grow 

personally and professionally, helping 

them to succeed and stay ahead. 


TRAINING 

The right lens 

It’s all about having the right lens to 

measure value, Hanly says, and New Leaf 

Technologies’ Training Intelligence System 

is one of the tools meeting this requirement. 

“If you experience administrative burdens 

and inefficient ways of analysing data 

effectively, then this system can guide 

you and allow you to align your training 

interventions to promote a human capital 

advantage and achieve your strategic 

training objectives,” he says. 

“You must remember, it’s far easier 

to drive behaviour than it is to change a 

belief, and by making use of the Philips 

or Kirkpatrick model of evaluation you'll 

shape a clear lens on training effectiveness. 

This is all directly measurable through the 

Training Intelligence System.” 

This enables the user to undertake analysis 

to better understand learner behaviour 

and update existing training methods if 

required. These cues can then be used to 

create personalised and more effective 

learning paths that enable learners to 

learn, practise and obtain feedback and 

remediation far more effectively through 

informed data-led decisions. 

Hanly says a common mistake is that 

businesses tend to view an outcome 

through a single platform. For example, 

they might want to find out how 

many learners logged in, or how many 

passed a particular module. But this 

does not consider all the information 

the organisation has in its operational 

technology stack in its software ecosystem. 

“Why not rather connect the dots of 

training with your CRM/ERP and HRM 

system? Doing this will give you the full 

picture and tell you the right story visually 

in real time.” 

When organisations start to use data 

at a strategic level, it can lead to more 

informed decisions being made. It might 

be aware of data lying in different systems 

and steps can be taken to integrate these 

platforms to arrive at a more holistic view 

of what's going on. 

At the highest level of analytics, a 

business can start looking at past trends 

and start modelling future behaviour 

predictively. “Suddenly you have 

contextual and impactful training that will 

enhance your organisation’s capability and 

give you the edge you need against your 

competition,” Hanly says. 

An essential component of this effort 

is a comprehensive, coordinated strategy 

that engages with departments, SMEs and 

the business holistically. 

Reactively executing demands from 

other departments or heads of department 

is a negative strategy and L&D professionals 

should rather position themselves as the 

drivers of performance. 

“To achieve this, you need to have a very 

clear lens on business goals and objectives. 

This is why data within the L&D space has 

become so critical. 

“At the end of the day, the goal of learning 

and development is to develop or change 

the behaviour of individuals or groups for 

Michael Hanly, 

MD, New Leaf Technologies 

the better, sharing knowledge and insights 

that enable them to do their work and 

improve their performance. The effective 

use of data will cultivate the type of culture 

that can help them perform better.” 

About New Leaf Technologies 

New Leaf Technologies provides learning 

software and services to corporations, 

training companies and educational 

institutions throughout Africa and 

the Middle East. Its products include 

aNewSpring, a cloud-based Learner 

Experience Platform (LXP); New Leaf LMS, 

an enterprise-grade Learner Management 

System; and Wisenet, a sleek student 

management system. The company also 

offers over 20 000 off-the-shelf courses 

and tailor-made course content, shareable 

through these platforms, as well as a 

turnkey design and production service, to 

create holistic e-learning experiences. 


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YOUTH EMPLOYMENT 

When talent meets opportunity 

A university degree was no guarantee of a job for a young man from Vosloorus, especially in the wake 

of the Covid pandemic. Having started on a path to actuarial science, Ntanganedzi Madzivhandila 

switched majors and graduated from Stellenbosch University with a BCom: Investments Management 

and Statistics. His path to employment began when his application to join the Youth Employment 

Service (YES) programme was approved and since then Nedbank, the company that took him in 

for work experience, has hired and promoted him. Ntanga’s skill set got him placed at Nedbank 

Wealth, where his ingenuity and expertise were instrumental in restructuring and centralising 

the people-data function. Ntanga's curiosity saw him explore other possibilities within the bank 

and he is now a specialist in the HR team, but still working with data. Getting a helping hand was 

all this curious, hard-working and highly teachable young man needed. Ntanga tells his story. 

Your first course of study at university was 

actuarial science. How did you come to think 

of that as a possible avenue of study? 

My inspiration to want to study actuarial science was my mentor 

who was my maths teacher at the time. He was really inspired by 

my journey because I was a late bloomer in school. Mr Musada 

thought I should continue testing my boundaries and go for 

something that will really challenge me. I only bloomed in the 

last two years at school and then I was not entirely sure where to 

take my career. The guidance I received was, perhaps you can find 

some insights in actuarial science and some future there as you 

have great potential, and so I went for it. 

Some of the people around me were going for more 

conventional degrees and courses and I thought that was fine, 

because it would set me apart from the rest. I felt I needed to be 

more ambitious and hence I looked into the actuarial science 

direction and took on the challenge. 

Had you done well in mathematics at school? 

From the early stages from primary school to perhaps Grade 10, I 

was more of an average student, but then in Grade 11 and Grade 

12, I was a straight-A student in mathematics. 

Was this in Vosloorus? 

I grew up in Vosloorus but I went to high school in Johannesburg, 

at Dominican Convent School, a fairly small Catholic school. 

Could you have done with more guidance in 

terms of choosing a university career? 

I think at the time, yes. However, I always knew the decision lay 

with me and because I did not know my potential, it was a lot more 

difficult for me to know exactly what I wanted to do. 

The guidance that I received helped launch me in the right 

direction. When I got to university, I experienced a lot more 

opportunities and that’s when I was able to decide, this is the 

future that I want for myself. 

It sounds as though you needed some 

time to find your way at university. 

Yes. Most BCom students were doing exactly the same set of 

modules in the first year. In the second year it became more 

streamlined and career focused. It was then that I realised that 

I actually wanted to focus more on statistics and the investment 

side. It was more of a self-discovery than anyone nudging me in 

a specific direction. The more I interacted with people and with 

the course materials, the more I realised that I was actually where 

I want to be. 

Were your parents supportive of your decision 

to switch to investments and statistics? 

It was a difficult conversation because they had bought into 

the idea of actuarial science, but they were supportive. They 

believed in my capabilities and they trusted the decision that I 

was making. They also believed that I was giving it my all and it 

worked out. It was quite a shock to them but in the long run it 

proved to be a good decision. My mom and dad were the first 

in their families to go to tertiary institutions, so they saw how 

academics changed their lives. 

They had encouraged me to go and further my studies 

as it would definitely benefit me and it would open more 

opportunities for me. If I decided to follow other trajectories that 

did not involve academics I could do so, but at least I should have 

some academic background. 

What fields are your parents in? 

My dad is a chemical engineer and my mom is an artisan. However, 

they both decided to start their own business and pursue their 

own goals. 



A YES4YOUTH Induction ceremony. 

Credit: YES4YOUTH 

When did you first become aware of the YES programme? 

I had a friend who was in the 2021 YES intake at Nedbank and 

he told me about the experience. He told me that he was really 

enjoying his time and learning a lot so I was on the lookout. 

When the applications came out, I was looking for it on various 

platforms. I found the link and I applied. 

So how does it work? Do you 

immediately start with a salary? 

While you do get a monthly stipend, the focus is on the work 

experience that you are going to gather. You first go through 

training for the various roles that you might play in the programme 

and after the training you get hands-on experience. So while you 

will earn an income, the focus is not necessarily about the money 

but to get you ready for the workplace. 

But you are paid something? 

Yes, we received a stipend. 

How long does that period last? 

The YES programme is 12-months long. In cases like mine, where 

they see potential in you and they want to develop you further, 

you may be offered employment at the end of your 12-month YESwork 

experience year. So I was drawn into the company before 

the conclusion of the contract. The initial stage was in November 

2022 when I started interacting with people from the group. They 

saw potential in me and they thought that my expertise could be 

used on a larger scale. 

What do you think those qualities are that they saw in 

you? Curiosity? Hard work? Maths ability? 

I think it is a bit of everything. The most important 

qualities would be hardworking, curiosity and 

having a teachable spirit. By that I mean 

wanting to go out there and learn more and 

also interacting with people. Not being 

afraid to raise your hand and wanting to 

know more about not just what you do, 

but what other people do and how can you 

help the business grow. You need to have 

an entrepreneurial spirit and I think that’s 

what they saw in me. 

What sort of work was 

allocated to you? 

My job was pretty clear. I had to assist with 

the way that reporting was being done, 

regarding people data and analytics. I had 

to bring innovation and new insights. I had 

to bring to Nedbank new ways of reporting 

through creating dashboards and visualisations 

for effective reporting using accurate data. I 

was expected to bring all the data together at a 

centralised point. 



Does that mean you have to be very capable in IT? 

Not necessarily, but you do have to have some knowledge when 

it comes to working with data. I don’t necessarily know about 

advanced IT programming but I do have some programming 

knowledge, which helps me to handle the data better. It is certainly 

advantageous to have that knowledge. 

Have you done IT courses? 

No, but I do have a teachable spirit and I am curious. I work 

independently and I look for resources to upskill myself. 

And yet you are now in Human Resources (HR), 

which seems at first glance to be a very different 

field. Are you still working with data? 

Here at Nedbank, there is a great project that aligns with what 

I want and with how I see myself working in the future. We are 

working towards moving HR to be more data driven. We are 

working towards presenting insights from people analytics. I can 

still serve a purpose here for the short term to medium term and 

I am quite comfortable in this department. 

Do you have siblings? 

I have two siblings; my sister is the one that follows me and who is 

studying in Stellenbosch. The youngest is in Grade 10. 

What your parents started is now an entrenched family 

tradition, then. Please give me an overall comment on 

how you have experienced the YES programme. 

I think YES is a great opportunity for young individuals like myself. 

It has given me an opportunity to penetrate the work market, an 

opportunity that would be rather difficult to come by even with 

the level of qualifications that I have. I think it is an initiative that 

should be implemented on a larger scale. Only a few organisations 

are currently participating in it and I think it will definitely benefit 

the entire country now and in the future. As a matter of fact, we 

should have not just a YES initiative but more initiatives like this 

to give the youth an opportunity like the one I was given. There is 

great potential out there that is just waiting to be recognised and 

to be given an opportunity. 

Do you think you could be a mentor one day? 

I look forward to that. We live in depressed societies and not 

through any fault of our own. It can be very difficult if you somehow 

stand out from the rest, by for example, applying for university. 

I spoke earlier about my family setup which was very supportive 

about me going to university but at some point, I did have to focus 

and isolate myself from the people in my neighbourhood as their 

life had taken a different trajectory. There is a danger that you are 

going to fall into that trap as well with societal pressures and peer 

pressure. It was a challenge but it is something that I conquered 

and I am grateful that I did. 

ABOUT YES 

YES participant Ntanga Madzivhandila 

has risen quickly from intern to specialist within Nedbank. 

Having completed the YES programme, is there 

someone with Nedbank who is mentoring you? 

Yes there is. I used to have a bi-weekly meeting with a mentor 

but now the onus is on me to schedule how frequently we meet. 

We do speak and I am also part of a team. I engage with them 

more frequently and they tell me or they teach me how they do 

things and how I can further improve myself so in this way, I have 

a support structure. 

What do your parents think about your career right now? 

More than anything I think they’re excited, they’re very hopeful 

and they see exponential growth. I am the one who is a bit anxious 

but on their side they’re very excited, they think that this is only 

the beginning for me and it’s only up from here. 

YES has reached the milestone of one-million job 

opportunities. It is beginning to show success in shifting 

South Africa’s complex and concerning challenge of youth 

unemployment. YES is the highest-impact private-sector 

youth-employment programme in South Africa. YES was 

launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the first 

cohorts kicked off the programme in 2019. YES addresses 

the country’s youth unemployment crisis by empowering 

businesses to create jobs for our unemployed youth. It is a 

non-profit organisation that receives no government funding. 

It works with leading businesses in various sectors to provide 

12-month quality work experiences for unemployed young 

people to become the future managers, skilled professionals 

and entrepreneurs who will drive the economy forward. 

In return, businesses receive one or two levels up on their 

B-BBEE scorecard and can integrate participation into their 

ESG strategies. YES does not perform a recruiting role. More 

than 1 500 companies have signed on to the YES programme. 

Website: www.yes4youth.co.za 



Nedbank and YES 

Nedbank's Youth Employment Services (YES) 

programme is the largest programme in the 

financial services sector and has involved 

10 000 young people, and counting, with 

another two cohorts which started in mid- 

2023. This makes Nedbank one of the largest 

participating companies, second only to a 

national retailer. Nedbank's commitment to 

the initiative is also evident in the impressive 

absorption rate of YES participants into 

permanent roles or continued employment 

contracts upon completion of the programme, 

which currently stands at an exceptional 12%. 

This rate significantly surpasses the statutory 

target of 2.5% and highlights the programme's 

ability to create meaningful and sustainable 

career opportunities for those who participate. 

Nedbank’s focus has been on training YESyouth 

for the jobs of the future, particularly 

focused on our Green Economy strategy, 

including training our YES-youth to work on 

solar energy projects. 

Nedbank is a leader in taking on YES candidates. 

Credit: YES4YOUTH 

M 

MASHOBANE 

ETHICS EXCELLENCE EMPATHY ENERGY 

Mashobane Advisory Services was founded in 2019 by Anastasia Machobane, 

who is an Admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa with over two 

decades of legal experience. The company is 100% black-female owned as well 

as level 1 B-BBEE compliant. We are a company based in Pretoria and Durban. 

Mashobane Advisory Services are expert Company Secretaries and Legal 

Advisors and are able to provide turnkey solutions, seamlessly moving 

between legal services and corporate governance, which allows the client to 

use one service provider with knowledge of their business. Our services are 

geared toward directors and executives who demand certainty and efficiency. 

The company’s specialised service offering consists of: 

Governance advisory 

Meeting administration 

Legislative compliance 

Legal services 

Mashobane Advisory Services also has a mentorship programme which 

has more than 60 mentees and 10 mentors. The mentorship is offered at no 

charge because the core of the business is youth development and giving 

back to society. 

Contact | Tel: 065 660 0060 | Email: info@mashobane.com | Website: www.mashobane.com

CONNECTIVITY 

Broadband is breaking 

down South Africa’s 

digital divide 

Fibre providers need to partner and collaborate strategically 

with the public and private sectors, says the Chief Sales 

and Marketing Officer of DFA, Praveen Govender. 

Fibre connectivity is solving some of South Africa’s 

most pressing challenges, playing a significant part in 

empowering and uplifting communities and contributing 

towards building a successful economy. With the right 

support and participation from both the private and public sectors, 

the telecommunications industry is in a better position to ensure 

that the growth of fibre connectivity in South Africa is not only 

tangible, but sustainable. 

Demand for telecommunications services has grown 

significantly in the last seven years, due in great part to the 

introduction of new technology, along with the impact of the 

Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, which highlighted the urgency 

for wider connectivity access across the country. 

In fact, the number of households and businesses in South 

Africa with fibre connections has risen by a staggering 4 200%, 

with demand for fibre at an all-time high. 

Government is also in the process of establishing over 33 000 

community Wi-Fi hotspots to provide more South Africans with 

access to the Internet by 2025. 

What’s more, estimates indicate that the South African telecom 

market's revenue is expected to grow at a compound annual 

growth rate (CAGR) of 5.32% over the next five years. This trend is 

expected to continue in the coming years, driving the growth of 

the telecommunications market in South Africa. 

South Africa is investing in data and telecommunications 

infrastructure, mining, manufacturing, energy, property, logistics 

and food and beverages sectors, exceeding the target originally set 

in 2018. Structural reforms such as the Rapid Deployment Policy 

are being implemented to improve economic competitiveness, 

and the National Skills Fund is looking into a new model of training 

unemployed young people in digital skills. The digital economy is 

proving essential for overall economic growth and job creation, 

as well as the provision of key services such as education, social 

services and healthcare. 

Connecting the continent 

This is happening across Africa; for example, the African 

Development Bank (AfDB) is facilitating the development of 

Internet infrastructure that includes backbone fibre projects 

and has pledged a $55-billion investment into this as part of the 

Connect Africa initiative. The understanding and goal behind 

this project is that expanding access to fibre Internet will create 

economic growth and inclusive development in African countries. 

A good case study can be found in Singapore, where fibre 

infrastructure development and connectivity availability is already 

leaps and bounds ahead of Western counterparts. This will boost 

the country’s growth potential and contribute greatly towards 

economic growth and innovation. 

Closer to home, access to high-speed broadband is breaking 

down South Africa’s digital divide, creating opportunities for 

people living in outlying, emerging and previously disadvantaged 

areas. We’re seeing more of our youth develop digital-literacy 

skills that boost their employability. Entrepreneurs can tap into 

ecommerce opportunities and grow their businesses and local 

economies are beginning to thrive as a result. 

Access to reliable, high-speed, high-volume connectivity 

allows for the deployment of smart technologies in commercial 

buildings and cities. This will be a game-changer for South Africa. 


CONNECTIVITY 

Automation and IoT will help optimise electricity and water 

consumption, manage traffic levels, streamline public transport, 

reduce carbon emissions, and promote good governance and 

citizen participation in the well-being of the country. One example 

is Eskom’s Demand Side Management (DSM) programme which is 

designed to reduce energy consumption to reduce peak demand. 

The advent of the Internet has changed how businesses operate 

and communicate, transformations which have also impacted the 

energy sector. Using the medium of the web as a tool to facilitate 

information flow within DSM implementation requires widespread 

connectivity, which is enabled by fibre infrastructure – connecting 

mobile towers for cellular connectivity, as well as fibre to the home 

or business. Fibre will also be critical in the healthcare space, from 

managing and securely storing healthcare data to telemedicine 

innovations that allow medical professionals to remotely treat 

high-risk patients. 

Fibre remains our best bet at achieving the future we as South 

Africans and Africans dream of attaining. This means that fibre 

providers need to partner and collaborate strategically with 

both the public and private sectors, not only in terms of fibre 

infrastructure rollout, but for the greater good of our industries 

and the country. 

About DFA 

Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) is a leading South African wholesale, openaccess 

fibre-infrastructure provider to Internet Service Providers 

(ISPs) and other ICASA-licensed network operators, including 

telecommunications operators, data centres and a wide range of 

other service providers. 

Praveen Govender, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, DFA 

Since the company first began rollout in 2007, it has deployed 

fibre infrastructure across major metros, secondary cities and 

towns across South Africa, making its world-class fibre network 

accessible to more end-users across the country. It offers 24/7 

technical support to ensure that the network and all related 

connectivity services continue to function without interruption. 

This has made DFA a preferred partner for businesses and service 

providers seeking reliable and high-speed connectivity solutions. 

For more information, visit: dfafrica.co.za 


Total trust, infinite growth 

Secure the future of your business 

New threat vectors require a different type of 

coordinated security response 

Cybercrime will cost the global economy around $10.5 billion by 2025. New threats emerge every seven seconds. 

Protecting your business and your data requires a different approach to security. BCX Secure can help. 

1022336 

Traditional approaches to cybersecurity aren’t keeping 

up in the face of a sustained onslaught of cybersecurity 

attacks. 

Ransomware attacks have increased about 435% yearon-year 

and new malware or new viruses emerge every 

seven seconds 1 . That equates to about a million new 

variants every day. Eight years ago, that was around 30 000 

a month. And the threats are escalating. 

Organisations are increasingly being held to ransom for 

their own data through double extortion ransomware 

attacks. Hackers breach a network, encrypt the data and 

ask for a ransom to unencrypt the data, plus a ransom to 

keep the data private and not release it to the public. 

Gartner estimates that cybersecurity spending in 2021 

totalled $150 billion, up more than 12% from 2020. 

Spending in 2022 is likely to continue to grow rapidly as 

the number of threats, as well as cybersecurity solutions 

and their costs, increase. 

At the end of last year, it was estimated globally that there 

are four million vacant cybersecurity jobs. Businesses 

across the world are engaged in battles they cannot win, 

both due to the intensity and frequency of attacks, and the 

lack of trained people to deal with them. 

Ransomware attacks have increased about 

435% year-on-year. New malware or new 

viruses emerge every seven seconds. 

The BCX Approach 

Cybersecurity threat prevention and detection have 

traditionally been approached via a combination of 

products (toolsets) and Security Information and Event 

Management (SIEM). This is where BCX’s approach differs. 

At BCX, we are reimagining trust. Trust between you and 

your executives, and your business and its stakeholders. 

We believe security is a strategic issue that impacts product 

capability, organisational effectiveness and customer 

relationships. This is why we’re delivering security as a 

product-agnostic service. 

BCX has broken up its business to cater to all aspects of 

cybersecurity: security and risk management, security 

architecture and engineering, network security, identity and 

access management, security operations, asset security, and 

software development security. 

At the beginning of any security engagement, our expert 

teams conduct a security gap assessment to establish a 

business’s current security posture, what tools and services 

have been deployed, the gap between the business and 

the IT department, and what the organisation’s cybersecurity 

strategy dictates. 

Once the groundwork has been established, our teams start 

monitoring and analysing the environment. IT departments 

procure tools and products; add to that the tools that 

business units have acquired, and most organisations are 

a mishmash of overlapping products that don’t give the 

cybersecurity team that one thing it desperately needs – 

Safeguard your evolution 

#NetworkResilience

visibility. Attackers are well aware of this and use this 

knowledge to create a lot of noise across the organisation, 

which masks their actual location and distracts defenders 

from the hackers’ real target. 

BCX’s team considers detection and response, as well as 

proactive intelligence and threat hunting. In other words, 

rather than waiting for breaches to happen, BCX monitors 

the dark web for chatter, scans social media networks for 

fake accounts, conducts threat hunting inside the network, 

and deploys canary files to tempt and shut down hackers 

before they can act. 

BCX acts to bring all of these disparate streams of 

information and technology into one central point where it 

can be monitored, addressed, improved and reported on 

as required, using collectors from 119 security vendors. 

If you’re looking to partner with a business that 

understands and can work to bridge the gap between 

IT and your executive team, can hunt down and contain 

patient zero within hours, understands your governance 

and compliance needs, and can provide real telemetry 

using a host of best-in-class tools – call us. 

A Threat Detection Centre (TDC) is a 

centralised function within an organisation 

employing people, processes and 

technology to continuously monitor and 

improve an organisation’s security posture 

while preventing, detecting, analysing and 

responding to cybersecurity incidents. 

BCX Secure delivers all of these services from its Threat 

Detection Centre (TDC). The TDC is a centralised function 

within an organisation that employs people, processes 

and technology to continuously monitor and improve an 

organisation’s security posture. 

For BCX’s clients, this means that there is a dedicated team 

of experts monitoring what is going on in their environment, 

proactively hunting down and neutralising threats, and acting 

immediately to address intrusions as they are detected, 

irrespective of which vendor or provider is supplying the 

various security capabilities or not. 

1 1 https://www.av-test.org/en/statistics/malware/ 

Secure 

SD-WAN 

Visibility & 

Awareness 

Live 

Telemetry 

Privileged 

Account 

Management 

Compliance 

Enabling 

End Point 

Security 

BCX 

TDC 

Governance 

Driven 

DLP 

Explore the capabilities of the 

BCX Threat Detection Centre 

IoT Security 

Network 

Security 

MDR 

SASE & CASB 

www.bcx.co.za 

Our most important customer, is yours.

ENERGY FINANCING 

Keeping the lights on is a priority for business 

owners. Credit: Nathalia Rosa on Unsplash 

Alternative energy 

fund launched 

A R400-million Energy Fund designed to cater to small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who need to 

find ways of keeping their businesses supplied with power has been created by Business Partners Limited. 

According to data published by the South African 

Reserve Bank, the accumulative loss of Stage Six 

loadshedding amounts to between R204-million to 

R900-million per day. 

A proportion of these losses are incurred by the thousands 

of small businesses who simply do not have the resources 

to install back-up sources of energy to continue operations 

during power cuts. 

In a bid to provide business owners with much-needed relief 

and finance to invest in viable alternatives, Business Partners 

Limited has launched a R400-million Energy Fund for small to 

medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 

Commenting on why the time is now right for small businesses 

to invest in alternative energy systems is Jeremy Lang, Executive 

Director and Chief Investment Officer at Business Partners Limited. 

As he suggests: “While the ongoing energy crisis presents many 

uncertainties, one thing we do know is that loadshedding will 

continue to be a reality for the foreseeable future. 

“South African businesses need to mitigate this risk by 

decreasing their reliance on the national grid and start investing 

in systems that will provide a consistent and reliable source of 

power. Not only will this be a vital contributing factor to business 

continuity, but it will also bring small businesses one step closer 

to realising their sustainability goals.” 


ENERGY FINANCING 

The need in numbers 

In the Q4 2022 SME Index, a quarterly survey conducted by 

Business Partners Limited, SMEs were asked whether they 

have the necessary funds to invest in energy solutions such 

as generators, inverters and solar-powered systems. A total of 

35% of respondents revealed that they have budgeted for this 

investment and 37% reported that plans to divert to alternativeenergy 

systems were being put in place. Unfortunately, about 

30% of small businesses said that they cannot afford the large 

outlay required to make this investment. 

“These findings are a strong indicator of a dire and urgent need 

that exists within the SME sector,” says Lang. "Small businesses have 

been impacted by power cuts in a number of ways including loss 

of output, increased overheads, additional capital expenditure, 

operational challenges and supply chain disruptions. Ultimately 

these consequences result in turnover reduction, margin shrinkage 

and long-term financial distress. What we also need to realise is 

that the intermittent return of power doesn’t always mean an 

immediate return to business as usual. This is particularly true for 

SMEs who run manufacturing plants. Some machinery takes an 

hour or two to warm up and become fully operational.” 

This is compounded by the need to clean machines when the 

energy supply is cut off and raw materials are wasted. In the case 

of Stage Six loadshedding, getting up and running after a power 

cut only to face another blackout a mere two hours later can 

have devastating effects on business operations. Finding ways to 

access a reliable energy supply is therefore not only a matter of 

sustainability but also one of survival. 

The Energy Fund 

The Business Partners Ltd Energy Fund for SMEs will directly 

address this problem. Through it, small businesses will gain 

access to loans of between R250 000 and R2-million. These 

loans will be offered at a competitive, risk-adjusted interest rate 

with a repayment term of up to five years. Business Partners 

Limited has optimised the accessibility and affordability of 

these loans by offering no repayment obligations for the first 

six months. 

In preparation for making their application to the Energy Fund 

for SMEs, Lang urges small businesses to ensure that their financial 

statements are up to date and that they have an equipment quote 

from a reputable accredited installer of their choice. 

Loans from the Energy Fund for SMEs can be used for the 

purpose of purchasing alternative energy solutions such as 

solar systems, back-up batteries and inverter systems, dieselpowered 

generators as well as other energy generation-related 

products. SMEs whose loans are approved may also be able 

to take advantage of the latest tax incentive, announced in 

the 2023 Budget Speech. The incentive allows businesses to 

reduce their taxable income by up to 125% of the cost of their 

investment in renewables. 

As Lang concludes: “The long-term benefits of running a 

more energy-secure business will far outweigh the cost of the 

investment. With alternative energy sources, businesses can 

futureproof their operations, position themselves as potential 

contributors to the impending embedded generation programme 

while also reducing the cost of energy.” Loan applications for the 

Energy Fund for SMEs can be processed online via the following 

portal: www.businesspartners.co.za 

About Business Partners Ltd 

Business Partners Limited is a specialist risk-finance company for 

formal small and medium owner-managed businesses in South 

Africa and selected African countries. The company actively 

supports entrepreneurial growth by providing financing from 

R500 000 to R50-million, specialist sectoral knowledge, business 

premises and added-value services for viable small and medium 

businesses. Since establishment in 1981, Business Partners Ltd has 

provided business finance worth over R20-billion in over 71 600 

transactions facilitating over 671 000 jobs. 

Jeremy Lang, Business Partners Limited Executive Director 


CENTRAL ENERGY FUND 

The Central 

Energy Fund is 

showing resilience 

in response to 

unprecedented 

challenges 

The CEF Group is navigating uncertainty and championing sustainable growth. 

In the face of unprecedented global 

challenges, the CEF Group, guided by 

its newly adopted “strategic investor” 

strategy continues to steer its course 

with resilience and determination. The 

repositioning of the Group marks a 

strategic milestone that aligns with the 

evolving energy landscape and its growth 

agenda in the energy landscape. 

This strategy is geared to position 

CEF and its subsidiaries to operate as a 

trilateral force in the energy landscape 

and uniquely to secure energy solutions 

for the country.Given the rapidly changing 

landscape, the organisation recognises 

the urgency to make swift and informed 

decisions to help the Group proactively 

adapt and be innovative in its quest to 

ensure energy security and contribute to 

economic growth. 

“Tasked with driving economic growth, 

CEF group has embarked on an aggressive 

acquisition drive focusing on enabling 

energy infrastructure geared to position 

the group as a credible energy investment 

company that will continue to invest in 

profitable growth opportunities across 

the energy value chain in Southern Africa 

to fulfil its mandate,” says Dr Ishmael Poolo, 

CEF Group Chief Executive. 

Key amongst these groundbreaking 

energy projects include the following: 

CEF increased its equity in the ACWA 

Redstone solar plant by 10% from 15% 

to 25%. Located in the Northern Cape 

Province, the 100MW solar plant is a first 

of its kind in Africa and is equipped with 

a 12-hour thermal storage system that 

will deliver clean and reliable electricity to 

nearly 200 000 households. 

SFF acquired 50% equity in the BP Cape 

Town Terminal. Through this asset, SFF will 

also be able to import finished products 

to mitigate risks associated with product 

shortage because of the local refining 

facility being closed. 

The Cape Town BP terminal has a storage 

capacity of approximately 86-million 

litres which includes diesel, petrol, jet fuel 

and illuminating kerosene. This capacity 

translates to 1.6 billion-litres per annum 

and it represents about 30% of the available 

terminal infrastructure capacity for the 

high growth of Cape Town’s fuels market. 

SFF further acquired a 60% equity 

stake in the assets of Avedia Energy, which 

includes the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) 

terminal in Saldanha on the West Coast. 

Through this asset SFF will also be 

poised to promote competitiveness 

in the downstream LPG market by 

enabling the importation of cheaper 

liquefied petroleum gas and storing it 

for the country’s energy needs as well as 

mitigating risks associated with product 


CENTRAL ENERGY FUND 

shortage because of the closure of the 

local refining plant. This will also allow 

previously disadvantaged South Africans 

(HDSAs) who want to participate in 

the petrochemical sector access to the 

infrastructure. iGAS, a subsidiary of the 

Central Energy Fund (CEF), partnered 

with Companhia Mocambiçana de 

Gasoduto (CMG), a subsidiary of the 

Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos 

(ENH), in acquiring 30% equity stake in 

the Republic of Mozambique Pipeline 

Company (ROMPCO) pipeline from Sasol, 

pursuant to the exercise of their respective 

pre-emptive rights. 

The successful conclusion of the 30% 

equity stake means that iGAS and CMG are 

now the majority shareholders, as their 

equity shares will increase from 25% each 

to 40%, respectively, with Sasol holding a 

20% minority shareholding. 

This transaction will be fully funded 

from past and future dividends generated 

by ROMPCO itself. Prior to the conclusion 

of this transaction, ROMPCO was a joint 

venture between Sasol South Africa 

(50%), Companhia Mocambiçana de 

Gasoduto (CMG) (25%) and South African 

Gas Development Company (SOC) 

Limited (iGAS) (25%), which owns the 

865-kilometre gas transmission pipeline 

from Mozambique to South Africa. 

The SFF and South Sudan Ministry 

of Petroleum negotiated terms and 

conditions which resulted in the signing 

of an exploration and productionsharing 

agreement (EPSA) to acquire 

exploration and production rights in 

Block B2 South Sudan. 

SFF has commenced with the 

exploration activities and a service 

provider was appointed end of June 

2022 to commence with the acquisition 

of Gravity Magnetic Data in Block B2. The 

project will also be completing the Scoping 

of the Environmental and Social Impact 

Assessment (ESIA) which will be submitted 

in 2024 for the approval of the Sudanese 

Government. The project is forecasting 

to finalise its exploration activities by the 

drilling of wells in 2026. 

Positive results 

PetroSA’s key turnaround initiatives are 

starting to yield positive results. For the 

first time since a recorded net loss of R14- 

billion in 2015, PetroSA is projecting a net 

profit of R2.4-billion for the period ending 

March 2024. PetroSA is fast-tracking its 

“Gas to Power” initiative to provide an 

early power-generation solution that will 

leverage the commercialisation of its tail 

gas for power generation for Eskom or an 

alternative off-taker. Through this project, 

PetroSA will plug approximately 180MW 

into the national grid as a long-term 

solution to address challenges relating to 

loadshedding. 

In June 2023, PetroSA acquired the 

terminal operatorship to supply jet fuel 

for George Airport and King Phalo airport. 

Throughput volumes have increased 

substantially. In June 2020, Cabinet 

approved the request by the Department 

of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), 

under the stewardship of Minister 

Mantashe, to merge three subsidiaries 

of CEF, iGas, SFF and PetroSA to establish 

the South African National Petroleum 

Company (SANPC). Subsequently, during 

the departmental budget vote held in 

2023, Minister Mantashe announced that 

following the tabling of the Upstream 

Petroleum Resources Development Bill 

in Parliament, the cabinet approved the 

merger of IGas, PetroSA and the Strategic 

Fuel Fund to form the South African 

National Petroleum Company (SANPC). 

A detailed baseline assessment 

identified up to R1.5-billion in cost synergy 

potential (roughly 8% of total cost today) 

typically achievable in three to five years 

because of the merger. Additionally, 

selectively leveraging the asset base 

of the entities will position SANPC for 

significant growth with up to 95-billion in 

market opportunity identified. Overall, CEF 

Group recognises its pivotal role in driving 

economic growth and security of energy 

supply for South Africa. 

The Mossgas oil-to-gas refinery is the key asset of PetroSA, the CEF Group subsidiary 

charged with improving security of the supply of fuel, oil and gas and managing the 

country’s crude oil reserves. 


CEF at a Glance 

CEF (SOC) Ltd is the holding company for a number of subsidiaries and associates that operate across the entire energysector 

value chain to contribute to security of energy supply for South Africa. This noble responsibility is at the core of 

our business operations and defines our existence as we execute our mandate, which flows from the Central Energy 

Fund Act, No 38 of 1977 (CEF Act) and successive ministerial directives. The core entities that make up the Group are 

the South Africa’s National Oil Company (PetroSA), Petroleum Agency SA (PASA), South African Gas Development 

Company (iGas), African Exploration Mining and Finance Corporation (AEMFC), Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) and the 

Energy Projects Division (EPD) which is housed under the CEF SOC and focuses on the renewable energy sector. 

The CEF Group is a Schedule 2 State Owned Company, incorporated in terms of the Companies Act, No 71 of 2008, and 

is governed by the Central Energy Fund Act, No 38 of 1977. The strategic relevance of the Group lies in the execution of its 

mandate in support of the broader objectives of the NDP through various strategic initiatives geared to national security 

of energy supply. CEF Group through its various initiatives contributes significantly into the South African economy. 

CEF (SOC) also administers and manages the Equalisation Fund on behalf of the DMRE and National Treasury for the 

collection and administration of petroleum products levies. 

Who we are 

MANDATE E 

The Mandate of CEF is derived from the 

CEF Act (No 38 of 1977) and the Ministerial 

directives issued thereafter. The mandate 

is in essence to contribute to the security 

of energy supply for the country. 

Values: 

INTEGRITY 

In Action 

VISION 

To be a leading diversified energy company 

that provides sustainable energy solutions 

for Southern Africa. This way CEF 

contributes to national energy security. 

BATHO PELE 

People First 

CONTINUOUS 

IMPROVEMENT 

MISSION 

To grow our footprint in the energy 

sector, to be the catalyst for economic 

growth and energy poverty alleviation 

through security of supply, and access 

to acceptable (affordable) energy in 

Southern Africa. 

STEWARDSHIP 

RESPECT 

The role of CEF group 

• Contribute to security of energy supply by providing affordable, reliable, diverse use of primary energy resources 

and contribute to economic development and alleviate poverty in an environmentally responsible manner. 

• Be a strategic partner to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy for providing insights in support of 

policy development and regulation, 

• Be a financially sustainable company that can be relied on to support the implementation of policies and programmes 

of the Department. 

• Reduce the country’s over dependence on multinationals. 

• Align with government’s broad objectives (NDP) and act as a vehicle for economic growth, poverty alleviation and 

economic transformation. 

This will be done through the acquisition, exploitation and manufacture of appropriate energy solutions [from coal, oil, 

gas and renewable energy resources] to meet the future energy needs of South Africa, the SADC and the sub-Saharan 

African regions.

The Historical Evolution of the CEF 

1950’s 

• Political situation leads the SA Government to 

invest in securing crude oil 

• Investment in Sasol 1 

• Moref (1954) 

• SAPREF (1956) built in Durban 

1960’s 

• Levies on liquid fuels managed by SEF/SFF 

• Investment in Island View and Milnerton facilities 

• Calref built in Milnerton (1960) 

• Investment in turning Ogies coal mines into crude 

oil containers plus filling over a long period 

• Soekor embarked on drilling programme 

1970’s 

• Petroleum Products Act and CEF Act 

• Natref built using Iranian resources in Sasolburg 

(1974) 

• CEF used as vehicle to invest in Sasol III following 

the 1974 and 1979 oil crises 

• Gas found offshore 

• Continue filling Ogies 

• Construction of Saldanha facility 

1980’s 

• Decision to build Mossgas GTL 

• Island View terminal sold 

• Some tanks at Milnerton (refinery side) sold to Caltex 

1990’s 

• Mossgas commissioned 

• Sasol loan repaid 

• Start of sell-off of Ogies oil 

• Publication of White Paperon Energy Policy (1998) 

• Decision to create PASA and PetroSA from Mossgas 

and Soekor 

• Sasol decides to build Mozambique gas pipeline 

• Decision to create iGas (1999/2000) 

2000’s 

• iGas takes up 25% share in Rompco 

• 2003 high level business strategy starts move from oil 

and gas to renewables through EDC (now EPD) 

• Profileration of small subsidiaries (CEF Carbon, CCE, 

ETA, SASDA, etc.) 

• Liquid Fuels Master Plan guides PetroSA strategic 

thinking 

• AEMFC created 

2010 and beyond 

• CEF participates in the REIPP Procurement Programme (land to gas project) 

• Capacity of Gas Pipeline from Mozambique to South Africa increased 

• AEMFC opens Vlakfontein mine 

• PetroSA embarks on a drilling campaign 

• PASA lodges a continental shelve claim 

• CEF vision 2025 approved 

• CEF Solar Park Project Concept approved by Cabinet 

• CEF Group rationalisation project initiated

The Group Value Chain 

Upstream 

Oil & Gas 

PETROSA 

- Exploration & Production (All 

indigenous oil & gas prospects) 

• Ghana 

PASA 

Promotion, licensing and Regulating the 

exploration and production of the country’s 

natural oils & gas resources 

Mid 

Stream 

SFF 

• Trading 

• Shipping 

• Logistics 

PETROSA 

• Petroleum 

Project 

Development 

EPD 

Investments 

in Renewable 

Energy Projects 

iGas 

• Gas Pipelines 

• LNG 

Terminals 

Downstream 

PETROSA 

Operations 

• Exploration 

• Field 

Development 

• Production 

Operations 

Acquisition of 

exploration rights 

and research for 

hydrocarbons 

below earth’s 

surface 

• Transportation 

• Processing 

• Storage & 

Distribution 

• Manufacturing 

Petro-Chemicals 

• Wholesale & 

Marketing 

The movement 

of storage & 

hydrocarbons 

Developments using pipeline 

& ships & value 

processing and 

blending of 

extraction of chain maximisation hydrocarbons 

hydrocarbons & Renewables to make fuels & 

from reserves inititaties chemical products 

PETROSA 

Marketing and supply 

to end users to fuel 

economic activity 

“The CEF Group value chain 

is our catalyst for value 

creation” 

AEMFC - Mining/coal in support of 

Power Generation and transition to 

clean coal 

EPD - Renewable power porjects, 

biofuels, clean enrgey projects and clean 

energy storage 

Global Footprint 

As at 31 March 2018, our 

business operations, investments 

and strategic partnerships 

spanned two continents and 

four countries. These activities 

are in oil and gas, technology 

and gas infrastructure, mining 

and renewables, and represent 

a diversified portfolio in line 

with our Group strategy. These 

countries are: 

1. South Africa 

2. Mozambique 

3. Ghana 

4. Netherlands 

Ghanaian Operations 

currently produces 100k 

to120k bpd 

South African Operations 

Mining, offshore production, 

Netherlands Operations 

The joint partnership in the 

cooperative venture company, 

Gas-to-Liquid (GTL).F1; Petro- 

SA, Lurgi 

Mozambique Operations 

Mozambique to Secunda 

Pipeline (MSP); 865km long gas 

transmission pipeline from Tein 

Mozambique to Secunda in 

South Africa

BEYOND 

SECURITY OF 

ENERGY 

SUPPLY... 

RE-IGNITING 

THE SOUTH 

AFRICAN 

ECONOMY 

CEF SOC Ltd. is involved in the 

search for appropriate energy 

solutions to meet the 

energy needs of South Africa, 

the Southern African 

Development Community and 

the sub-Saharan African region, 

including oil, gas, electrical 

power, solar energy, low-smoke 

fuels, biomass, wind and 

renewable energy sources. 

www.cefgroup.co.za

• EP&C of the Balance of Plant for Eskom’s four 

Gas Turbine Power Stations constructed in 

Atlantis and Mossel Bay in the Western Cape, 

South Africa. 

• Mechanical erection of 14x150MW gas turbines 

for Siemens and associated turbine halls. 

• Since 1990, Lesedi has successfully completed 

projects across Africa, illustrating our expertise. 

Technology 

Products 

LESEDI’S MARKETS 

UNLOCK YOUR 

UNLOCK POTENTIAL YOUR 

Oil & Gas WITH Mining 

POTENTIAL LESEDI SKILLS WITH ACADEMY 

LESEDI SKILLS ACADEMY 

• Execution of turnkey engineering projects in the 

minerals processing and mining industries. 

• Through its network of world-class technology 

partners, Lesedi offers gas-cleaning and 

emissions control plants for its clients. 

• Lesedi provides systems for the capture of dust, 

tars, acid mists, SO2 and various other acidic 

gases and contaminants in the mining sector. 

Biomass, Waste to 

Energy & Solar 

Nuclear 

• 30 years of upgrade and maintenance projects 

at Eskom’s Koeberg Nuclear Power Station in 

Cape Town, South Africa, including over 150 

modifications on the plant. 

• International maintenance services contracts in 

England, Brazil, China, France and the USA, 

including over 75 interventions since 2006. 

Thermal 

• Lesedi has successfully concluded agency 

agreements for several state of the art 

products and services such as CONCO 

System Inc. and Arkema (DMDS). 

LesediNS 

Lesedi Nuclear Services 

Lesedi__NS 


• Lesedi achieved preferential bidding status for 

two biomass projects for the South African RIEPPP 

(16.5MW - sugar cane & 5MW - wood chip.) 

• Lesedi is the local partner for Exosun (singleaxis 

tracking). 

• More than 20 projects under development in Africa. 

• Our global partner has built over 100 bio-energy 

power plants, totalling more than 2,650 MW. 

• Balance of Plant for Eskom’s Medupi and Kusile 

Power Station, the biggest dry-cooled power 

stations in the world. 

What can we do for you? 

Email: info@lesedins.co.za 

Phone: +27 21 525 1300 

www.lesedins.co.za 

The Lesedi Skills Academy (LSA) is the brainchild of Lesedi Nuclear Services. Lesedi is a leading African engineering, procurement, and 

The Lesedi The Lesedi Skills Academy (LSA) is the brainchild of Lesedi Nuclear Services. 

construction (EPC), and maintenance company with a long history in nuclear, industrial power, mining, oil and gas industries. 

Lesedi (amajority executes turnkey shareholder bespoke in the projects academy) from is concept a leading and African basic engineering, design to detailed procurement engineering, and construction procurement, (EPC), project and management, 

maintenance company 


with installation a long and history commissioning, in nuclear, industrial as well as power, project mining, and contract oil and management gas industries. function. The Lesedi Skills Academy, a private training provider and an 

EME (75% BO; 42,62% BFO), 

The 

opened Lesedi Skills 

its doors 

The Academy, 

in 2015. 

Lesedi a private Skills training Academy provider and (LSA) an EME is (75% the BO; brainchild 42,62% BFO), of opened Lesedi its doors Nuclear in 2015. Services. The Academy Lesedi provides (a 

skills 

majority 

development 

shareholder 

and training 

in 

(Mechanical 

the academy) 

Fitting, Boilermaking 

is a leading 

& Basic 

African 

Welding), 

engineering, 

allowing young people, 

procurement 

and previously 

and 

disadvantaged 

construction 

individuals to enter the formal job market. Through focussed quality training, employed and unemployed learners are provided with the 

(EPC), and maintenance company with a long history in nuclear, industrial power, mining, oil and gas 

The knowledge Academy and provides skills to progress skills development in the Engineering and training and related (Mechanical fields. Fitting, Boilermaking & Basic Welding), allowing young people, and 

industries. The Lesedi Skills Academy, a private training provider and an EME (75% BO; 42,62% BFO), 

previously disadvantaged individuals to enter the formal job market. Through focussed quality training, employed and unemployed learners are 

opened its doors in 2015. 

provided with the knowledge and skills to progress in the Engineering and related fields. Follow us:Contact Lesedi Skills Academy: 

The Academy provides skills development and training (Mechanical Fitting, Boilermaking & Basic Welding), 

CONTACT DETAILS: 

allowing young people, and previously disadvantaged individuals to enter the formal job market. Through 

Email: info@lesedins.co.za 

focussed quality training, employed and unemployed learners are provided with the knowledge Phone: +27 and 21 525 skills 1300 

to progress in the Engineering and related fields. 

www.lesedins.co.za 

CONTACT DETAILS: 

Email: info@lesedisa.com | Julian.vanderPoel@lesedisa.com 

Phone: +27 21 525 1530 

www.lesedisa.com

BUILDING, 

CONNECTING 

BUILDING, 

AND CONNECTING 

EMPOWERING 

BY LEADING THE POWER GENERATION, 

MINING, AND OIL & GAS 

EMPOWERING 

INDUSTRIES SINCE 1984 

LESEDI MARKETS 

Oil & Gas 

Mining 

Nuclear 

• EP&C of the Balance of Plant for Eskom’s four 

Gas Turbine Power Stations constructed in 

Atlantis and Mossel Bay in the Western Cape, 

South Africa. 

• Mechanical erection of 14x150MW gas turbines 

for Siemens and associated turbine halls. 

• Since 1990, Lesedi has successfully completed 

projects across Africa, illustrating our expertise. 

• Execution of turnkey engineering projects in the 

minerals processing and mining industries. 

• Through its network of world-class technology 

partners, Lesedi offers gas-cleaning and emissions 

control plants for its clients. 

• Lesedi provides systems for the capture of dust, tars, 

acid mists, SO2 and various other acidic gases and 

contaminants in the mining sector. 

• 30 years of upgrade and maintenance projects 

at Eskom’s Koeberg Nuclear Power Station in 

Cape Town, South Africa, including over 150 

modifications on the plant. 

• International maintenance services contracts in 

England, Brazil, China, France and the USA, 

resulting in over 75 interventions since 2006. 

Technology 

Products 

Biomass, Waste to 

Energy & Solar 

Thermal 

• Lesedi has successfully concluded agency 

agreements for several state of the art products 

and services such as CONCO System Inc. and 

Arkema (DMDS). 

• Lesedi performs Mechanical Heat Exchanger 

and Condenser Tube Cleaning as the African 

distributor for Conco Services LLC based in the USA. 

Conco has cleaned over 100 million condenser and 

heat exchanger tubes, making it the number one 

condenser and heat exchanger performance 

company in the world. 

• Lesedi achieved preferential bidding status for 

two biomass projects for the South African RIEPPP 

(16.5MW - sugar cane & 5MW - wood chip.) 

• Lesedi is the local partner for Exosun (singleaxis 

tracking). 

• More than 20 projects under development in Africa. 

• Our global partner has built over 100 bio-energy 

power plants, totalling more than 2,650 MW. 

• Balance of Plant for Eskom’s Medupi and Kusile 

Power Station, the biggest dry-cooled power 

stations in the world. 

• Turnkey Engineering contracts for plant life 

extension and major refurbishments icluding: 

- High frequency power supplies 

- Electrostatic precipitator 

- Ash handling systems 

www.lesedins.co.za | info@lesedins.co.za

An African thought leader 

Wits Business School leads research in areas critical to the continent’s sustainability. 

New leadership, a new strategy and international 

accreditation – Wits Business School (WBS) is 

consolidating its position as a leading African business 

school. Two and a half years after Professor Maurice 

Radebe took the helm as Director and Head of WBS, the School is 

experiencing a turnaround, as evidenced by its growing number 

of corporate clients. 

For Radebe, a former energy executive at Sasol Oil, leading the 

turnaround at WBS was an opportunity for him to give back, not 

only to WBS, his alma mater, but to society. “When the opportunity 

arose, I realised this is very much in line with my purpose, which 

is to develop the next generation of leaders who are ethical and 

who have a passion to make a difference.” 

Celebrating its 55th birthday in 2023, WBS is one of the oldest 

and most well-established schools in Africa and attracts students 

from all over the continent. Apart from its flagship Master of 

Business Administration (MBA) and newly launched MBA in the 

field of Healthcare Leadership, WBS offers a suite of specialist 

Master of Management degrees and postgraduate diplomas, 

many of which are the first of their kind and set WBS apart from 

its competitors. These programmes have specific focus on the 

African context, and include philanthropy, digital business and 

energy leadership. 

Centres of Excellence 

The Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI), 

the WBS Chair in Digital Business and the African Energy Leadership 

Centre (AELC) are leaders in new research in these fields, as well as 

academic curricula design. All of them offer master’s and doctoral 

programmes and focus on addressing scarce skills and issues 

threatening the inclusive growth of the Africa’s economy. 

“Having impact is at the heart of our strategy and that means 

making sure that WBS makes a positive, meaningful difference 

to the society we serve. A big part of this is producing relevant 

research that has practical application in today’s world. I am 

proud of the quality and quantity of our research output, which 

includes the award-winning cases that come out of our Case 

Centre,” says Radebe. 

The WBS Case Centre was the first dedicated business school 

case-writing centre to be established in Africa and has produced, 

to date, over 350 case studies. Most of these are South African 

and African case studies, and with a focus on emerging market 


Professor Maurice Radebe, Director and Head of WBS 

business scenarios, they are used at business schools globally as 

a highly effective teaching tool. One of its cases won first prize at 

the recent Association of Africa Business Schools (AABS)/Emerald 

Case Competition and another came second overall at the North 

American Case Research Association (NACRA)’s annual conference 

in the US in October 2023. 

Global partnerships 

Having an active role to play in the sustainable growth of our 

continent also means collaborating with other thought leaders 

and industry experts, and WBS aims to become the partner of 

choice for like-minded academic institutions, corporates and other 

key organisations not only in Sub-Saharan Africa, but globally. 

To this end, the School has signed agreements with, among 

others, the University of Namibia Business School, Strathmore 

Business School in Kenya and Rabat Business School in Morocco. 

Further afield, WBS is collaborating with the CT Bauer School of 

Business at the University of Houston on energy-related initiatives, 

such as its current series of cross-continental webinars on the 

energy transition as experienced by the Global North and South. 

The School also has active student exchange programmes with 

its Partners in International Management (PIM) partner schools, 

including Warwick, St Gallen, Chicago Booth, Duke, HEC Paris 

and Melbourne Business Schools, among many others. PIM is an 

exclusive network of top global business schools of which WBS 

is the only African member. When WBS first opened its doors in 

1968, the first course it offered was an Executive Development 

Programme, designed in partnership with Stanford University. 

Today, the Executive Education division is still on top of its game 

when it comes to short courses for leadership development. In the 

latest Financial Mail survey on executive education in South Africa, 

published in late July 2023, WBS was ranked number one in the 

category Schools the employers know well, as well as Schools that 

employers consider for executive education. 

Wits Business School benchmarks its MBA against the best in 

the world through its ongoing AMBA accreditation and became 

formally accredited with the Association of African Business 

Schools (AABS) for the first time in late 2022. 

“Receiving AABS accreditation was a major achievement for 

WBS as it means that we are being recognised for the impact we 

are having on our continent, and it confirms our position as a 

leading African business school,” says Radebe. 


SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION 

Changing the 

sustainability course for 

the agri-processing sector 

The National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa has produced a benchmarking study to 

guide agri-processing to resource-efficient and cleaner production. By Lesego Hlalethwa 

The agri-processing sector is among South Africa’s highimpact 

sectors with its value chains contributing 20.3% 

to the manufacturing gross domestic product (GDP) and 

2.7% to the total GDP. While the sector has great growth 

potential and is a positive contributor to the economy, it is water 

and energy intensive. This impacts on its sustainability and global 

competitiveness.The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and 

the National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA) 

have undertaken research which resulted in the “South African 

Dairy Processing Resource Efficiency Benchmarking Study”. 

The study sought to assess the gaps in the dairy-processing 

industry with a focus on the cheese and yoghurt industries, 

while identifying practical energy and water measures that can 

be adopted to improve resource consumption and management. 

The dairy-processing sub-sector was selected as a sample for the 

study for two reasons. Firstly, the NCPC-SA previously conducted 

assessments and gathered energy and water consumption 

data from participating dairy companies. Secondly, the study 

cements the collaborative work between the two organisations 

in improving efficiencies in the agri-processing sector including 

the development of the “Metering and Monitoring Guideline” 

aimed at transitioning the sector to better water and resourceefficiency 

practices. 

The benchmark study specifically highlights the following 

potential savings for the dairy sector based on the results of onsite 

assessments conducted in line with international best practices: 

• A 70% reduction in potable water consumption, reducing overall 

water utilisation by approximately one litre or approximately sixmillion 

kilolitres per annum nationally, translating into monetary 

savings of R138-million to R200-million per annum. 

• A 25-50% reduction in electricity consumption and associated 

greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions translating into 200 000 to 

400 000 megawatt per hour (MWh) per annum and a cost 

saving of R250-million to R500-million per annum. 

• A 30% reduction in fuel consumption and 50% reduction in 

GHG emissions for fossil fuels (assuming 50% uptake in fuel 

switching) which could potentially result in R180-million savings 

per annum. 

Reducing carbon emissions 

NCPC-SA Senior Project Manager Lindani Ncwane says, “We 

identified many resource-efficient and cleaner production 

opportunities that dairy companies can implement with little or 

no capital investment. 

"It is remarkably easy for companies with smaller operations to 

improve their processes and start saving,” he adds. 

The implementation of resource-efficient and cleaner 

production (RECP) interventions not only improves the efficient 

use of resources, reduces waste and saves costs. RECP also plays 

a major role in the industry’s ability to reduce carbon emissions 

and environmental impact. A strong business case for industry 

to operate sustainably is evident. There is increasing pressure 

for local and global markets to source and supply sustainably 

produced goods to mitigate the impact of carbon emissions. 

For instance, in South Africa, the KwaZulu-Natal province was 

struck by a natural disaster that can be directly linked to climate 

change: it impacted the province’s key economic drivers such 

as the damage that was incurred at the Toyota motor plant. 

There is also an increase in the global export markets’ demand 

for sustainably produced goods. 

The South African Dairy Processing Resource Efficiency 

Benchmarking Study was conducted through the IFC's Agri- 

Processing Resource Efficiency (APRE) programme, launched 

in 2019 to improve energy and water efficiency in the agribusiness 

sector in South Africa, with support from the Swiss 

State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The outcomes 

of the study, along with participant input from the workshop 

where the results were presented, will be used to produce 

another practical guide for the sector. It also promises to 

revolutionise the sustainability journey for companies who 

follow its recommendations. 

Contact 

For more information about the Agri-Processing Resource 

Efficiency interventions or to gain insight on how your company 

can benefit from the interventions at no cost, contact the NCPC-SA 

at ncpc@csir.co.za. 


National Cleaner 

Production Centre 

South Africa 

A national industrial 

support programme that 

partners with industry to 

drive the transition towards 

a green economy and 

save money.

WOMEN IN ENERGY 

Barriers to entry for 

women must be unlocked 

The renewable energy sector is powering ahead, but Linda Mabhena-Olagunju of 

DLO Energy Resources Group says that more must be done to include women. 

According to a report by the International Energy Agency 

(IEA), renewable energy is expected to account for 

60% of new-build-generation capacity in Sub-Saharan 

Africa (excluding South Africa) by 2040. With growing 

investment in renewables, it is critical to understand how womenowned 

companies can better position themselves to benefit from 

the opportunity. 

To date, South Africa’s Renewable Independent Power 

Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) has set a low 

threshold for female ownership. Independent power producers 

are currently only required to have a 5% female ownership 

level and a meagre 3% threshold for procurement from 

women-owned companies. Even with these low thresholds 

companies are struggling to meet them and women remain 

under-represented in the sector even from an employment 

perspective, where women currently account for 31% of the 

workforce in Eskom and make up 21% of the coal sector. 

from the energy sector. Companies want a strong track record and 

that in turn makes it exceptionally hard for new entrants.” 

To date a total of 123 projects have been awarded under the 

REIPPPP, attracting over $17.3-billion in investments and adding 

approximately 6 200MW of installed capacity (or 5% of South 

Africa's energy supply) to the national grid. It is considered as one 

of the leading renewable energy programmes globally. 

Says Linda: “The transition to clean energy is here but it remains 

crucial that women position themselves to participate in this 

transition and this will require funding, upskilling and an increase 

in ownership and procurement thresholds. 

“But even if the thresholds are raised, we still need to ensure 

women participate and this requires an understanding of the 

energy value chain and this is one of the areas we focussed on 

at the DLO African Women in Leadership that was held in August 

in Sandton. One of the initiatives we have as an organisation is to 

share as much knowledge as we can with women who want to 

participate in the sector. Workshops went into the granular details 

of the areas where women-owned companies can participate.” 

One of the key challenges identified as a barrier to entry for 

women in the energy sector is the lack of information about the 

sector and opportunities for participation. 

Can the progress made by women in mining be replicated in 

renewable energy? Credit: Exxaro 

Linda Mabhena-Olagunju’s company, DLO Energy Resources 

Group, is one of the few women-owned and operated energy 

companies in South Africa and she has been involved in the 

REIPPPP since inception. Linda, pictured left, notes: “The key 

challenge with the REIPPPP is that the bid requirements are very 

high and very few women-led companies are able to comply with 

the requirements. Furthermore, the decrease in tariffs has also 

made it more difficult for new entrants to secure funding. Many 

women do not know how to position their organisations to benefit 


HYSA INFRASTRUCTURE 

HYDROGEN 

R O A D M A P 

RENEWABLE ENERGY 

Vision 

HySA Infrastructure forms a Centre of Competence together with 

the North-West University and the CSIR. It is the intention of HySA 

Infrastructure COC to be a world leader and commercially relevant 

entity in the area of hydrogen production (electrolysis hydrogen 

linked to solar resources), in the area of hydrogen compression 

and storage and delivery. This will be achieved through securing 

IP rights and partnerships with world-leading OEMs, investors 

and research institutions. 

ELECTROLYSIS 

COMPRESSED STORAGE 

LOHC 

AMMONIA 

MOBILITY 

INDUSTRIAL 

Activities and expertise 

• Water electrolysis (WE) and components 

• Hydrogen safety, codes and standards 

• H 2 

storage expertise (LOHC) 

• Power-to-X and fuel blending 

• Techno-economic expertise 

• Ab-initio modelling expertise 

• Hydrogen recombination 

HYDROGEN EXPORT 

ENERGY STORAGE 

Projects and competencies 

Renewable H 2 

production, PEM 

electrolyser development, EHC 

systems, CCMs for WE 

Fundamental understanding, 

characterisation tools, development 

and testing electrolysers 

Biogas upgrade 

LOHC systems 

hysainfrastructure.com 

Power-to-X 

Ventilation 

mining facility


Career-enhancing skills 

are on offer in Kuruman 

EduPower and Assmang Black Rock Mine Operations (BRMO) have combined to offer 

an innovative community development initiative in the Northern Cape. 

The future looks bright for 40 young adults living in 

Kuruman in the Northern Cape. These youngsters – all 

people with disabilities – have been selected for an 

innovative, forward-thinking learnership sponsored by 

Assmang Black Rock Mine Operations. Aimed at socio-economic 

upliftment in the region, each of these learners will start to build 

a sustainable career. 

Sean Sharp, Executive Head of Sales at EduPower Skills 

Academy, says the learnerships are part of a bespoke solution 

that has been developed by the Academy in partnership with 

Assmang Black Rock Mine Operations. “We have created a 

solution for the mining sector that combines skills, enterprise 

and socio-economic development. Using this model, Assmang 

Black Rock Mine can contribute to job creation and socioeconomic 

advancement while also delivering on their mine 

community development,” he explains. 

Meaningful impact 

Assmang Black Rock Mine Operations is a local mining and minerals 

company situated 80km north-west of Kuruman in the Northern 

Cape. This remote region faces 

many pressing socioeconomic 

challenges 

including high 

unemployment, 

poverty and gangsterism. “Assmang Black Rock Mine’s investment 

in community development goes beyond compliance. The 

company views social upliftment as a strategic priority but the 

solutions that have been employed to support the community 

in the past have proved to be unsustainable,” says Sean. “When 

we first met with them, Assmang Black Rock Mine was therefore 

eager to implement a sustainable high-impact initiative that could 

deliver and drive meaningful socio-economic growth.” 

The solution 

EduPower’s skills-development model proved to be a perfect 

fit. The tried-and-tested system not only delivers 12-month 

learnerships but also serves to incubate small, independent 

businesses (SMEs) using Enterprise Development funding. 

“Working with Assmang Black Rock Mine and the community, 

we’ve set up a small Call Centre in Kuruman town which also serves 

as our training facility,” Sean continues. 

“We've registered 40 learners who are already busy with 

their Contact Centre NQF Level 3 learnerships. Training is both 

classroom-based as well as online and our workplace experience 

takes place in the Call Centre. ” Working an eight-hour day, 

five days a week, the practical experience that EduPower 

offers its learners is one of the Academy’s key differentiators. 

Candidates have the opportunity to work on live campaigns, 

not simulations, developing the learners’ skills and confidence 

for a real work environment. 

“The learners in our Kuruman Academy are currently working 

on two live campaigns, an outbound data management campaign 

and a customer-service inbound campaign. Over and above this 

work experience and the training, we also mentor our learners to 

develop their interpersonal and business skills, all of which ensures 

that when our learners graduate, they are job ready,” he adds. 

Building a business 

While it is running the learnerships, EduPower is also incubating an 

independent Call Centre. Working with an entrepreneur from the 

community and providing business support as well as assistance 

in sourcing campaigns, this business will employ the 40 learners 

when they graduate. “Using this model, we can guarantee results 

for both the entrepreneur and the learners. When they graduate, 

the learners receive long-term employment while the business 

owner gains a skilled labour force that will help the business to 

scale and grow.” 

Credit: ASphotofamily on Freepik 


MINE SAFETY 

M84 Geotech 

M84 Geotech has established itself as a reliable supplier of services to the mining 

industry with a strong reputation for safety as it approaches its 10th anniversary. 

Lj. Filipović on Unsplash 

M84 Geotech is a geohazards-mitigation and ropeaccess 

company specialising in rockfall protection, 

rockfall barriers, rock scaling, slope stabilisation and 

slope-monitor installations for open-pit mines. 

Who we are 

M84 Geotech is a South African company which was established 

in 2014 in the mining town of Mokopane in Limpopo Province. In 

the beginning, our goal was simply to trade with local mines to 

make a living. We were willing to do whatever work came our way, 

seeing each opportunity as a chance to grow and gain experience. 

Over time, we settled into our roles and proved ourselves as a 

geotechnical contractor for open-pit mines. We are one of the 

few contractors who are accredited to install slope stabilisation 

and rockfall-mitigation systems for open-pit mines. We are an 

accredited member of the Institute For Work At Heights (IWH). 

The specialists 

For us to stand a chance of being a successful business, we had to 

change our way of doing things and shift from being a middleman 

to being the main man. As a supplier we were just a middleman 

with not much control of our costs and profit margins. 

The decision was made that we were going to work on 

becoming specialists in our chosen discipline and therefore 

increase our value as a partner for mines. We sent two staff 

members to train in rope-access techniques and hired another 

two experienced rope technicians to make up our first team. That 

was how we started as a geohazards-mitigation and rope-access 

company. In 2018 we received our first working-at-height contract 

at Mogalakwena Mine. The job entailed rock scaling on a high wall 

and since then we have been building ourselves up as the best 

available partner when it comes to rockfall protection, rockfall 

barriers, slope stabilisation and rock scaling for open-pit mines. 

Our record 

As a company we pride ourselves on having a 100% completion 

rate on every project we have done and also in keeping a 100% 

on-site safety record. This is extremely important for us because 

we do high-risk and high-priority projects and that’s why we say, 

“Safety is Our Priority.” 

The systems we use to keep open-pit operations safe from 

rockfall hazards and slope failures are among the best in the 

market and with us as a contractor, the client is guaranteed a 

professional service and the safest installation methods. The use 

of rope-access techniques makes it possible for us to install the 

systems with minimum interruption to production. We can access 

high areas using the safest methods while keeping miners and 

equipment safe from possible rockfall hazards. 


MINE SAFETY 

Building the brand 

As M84 Geotech, our goal is to build our brand to be associated 

with what we do. We want to be a leader in the field of geohazards 

mitigation and rockfall protection systems in the mining sector 

and other related fields. We want to partner with mining 

companies to protect their miners and equipment from rockfall 

hazards in open-pit operations as well as in underground mining. 

M84 Geotech is the go-to contractor when it comes to slope 

stabilisation, rockfall protection, rockfall barriers, rock scaling, 

devegetation on high walls and slope-monitoring installation. We 

are very experienced when it comes to managing high-pressure 

and high-risk projects with a high level of quality and safety. For 

all of our mining clients, safety is very important and as a company 

that’s what we bring on-site: safety. Rockfalls are a very serious risk 

in open-pit mines and if such risk is not managed or controlled, 

lives could be lost and equipment damaged. 

• Devegetation 

If not controlled, vegetation on open-pit high walls can make it 

difficult for the Geotech team to monitor slopes. Using rope-access 

techniques, vegetation can be removed or trimmed to keep high 

walls clear of distractions. 

• Prisms installations 

Prisms are installed on high walls to monitor any movement on 

the slope. No production interference is needed because we do 

the work while suspended on ropes. 

• Rockfall protection 

Depending on the needs or scope required by the client, we have 

various systems which we use to protect open-pit mines against 

rockfall hazards. Our team will provide the relevant solution 

according to the needs and conditions of the site. 

• Drilling and anchor installation 

Whether on the surface or on a high wall, we have the expertise 

to drill and install anchors. 

M84 Geotech has the experience, resources and skills to provide 

your site with the right solution. The solution can come in the 

form of preventative measure such as installing slope monitoring 

prisms or through protection systems such as drape mesh, slope 

stabilisation or catchfence. 

Completed projects 

Some of the projects we have competed successfully include: 

• Rock scaling 

Rock scaling involves moving loose rocks on open-pit mine high 

walls to avoid them from free falling to the foot of the slope. We have 

moved boulders on high walls to protect miners and equipment. 

Addresses 

11 Sussex Street, Mokopane 0601 

26 Rhodesdrift Street, Building 4, Suite 3 Rhodesdrift Office Park, 

Bendor, Polokwane 0699 


Tel: +27 15 023 1400 

Cell: +27 72 203 8405 

Email: info@m84geotech.co.za | admin@m84geotech.co.za 

Website: www.m84geotech.co.za 

Social media 

Instagram: m84_geotech 

Linkedin: M84 Geotech 


COMMUNITY SUPPORT 

A primary school 

born out of necessity 

Steinmüller designs classroom in Kriel. 

In June 2023 Steinmüller Africa joined Eskom, Seriti, GE and 

Exxaro in handing over the Bonginhlanhla Primary School 

building at Kriel. Attending the handover was a director of 

the company, Moso Bolofo, together with project manager 

Tshephisho Nailana and other Steinmüller employees. Steinmüller 

Africa’s contribution was the design of the classroom for the school. 

Bonginhlanhla Primary school is in Thubelihle township in 

Kriel. Recognising the need for education within the community, 

company employees residing in Thubelihle took the initiative to 

establish a school for their children. Spearheading this project 

were Aaron Mkhonza and Jan Mahlangu, elected as committee 

members at Matla Power Station in 1992. Though the school 

building was not yet constructed, the school began its operations 

in January of that year, and was temporarily housed within 

Sibongamandla Senior Secondary School. 

Initially, Bonginhlanhla School borrowed eight classrooms 

and an office from Sibongamandla Senior Secondary School. It 

catered to students from SSA to Grade three, boasting a student 

population of 240 and a staff of 11. To further support the growing 

school, additional teachers were transferred from South Witbank 

School in August 1993. Acknowledging the dedication and need 

for proper classrooms, Eskom donated school building materials 

during this period. 

In July 1993, construction commenced on three blocks 

comprising 16 classrooms, separate toilet facilities for boys and 

girls and an administration block. By 1994, the construction 

was complete and Bonginhlanhla School was ready to welcome 

its students. On 18 February 1994, the new school opened its 

doors, accommodating 540 pupils, 13 teachers, one clerk and 

one general worker. The generous contributions from Matla 

Mine and Kriel Mine, including financial aid and garden tools, 

further reinforced the community's commitment to education. 

Since its establishment, Bonginhlanhla School has been an 

emblem of resilience, perseverance and community support. 

Surrounding power stations and coal mines have consistently 

demonstrated their commitment by providing ongoing 

donations for the school, which was initially a shack structure. 

The collective efforts of Eskom, Steinmüller Africa and other 

partnering companies made it possible for the school to have a 

proper structure. The contribution from this partnership included 

the design of the school and the building materials. This has 

nurtured an environment conducive to the learning and personal 

growth of children. 

The joy of the children and teachers for their new school 

cannot be explained in words. There was singing, dancing 

and appreciation for the collaborative companies. The event 

confirmed the truth and relevance of a statement by Nelson 

Rolihlahla Mandela that "education is the great engine of 

personal development. It is through education that the daughter 

of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker 

can become the head of the mine, and that the child of farm 

workers can become the president of a great nation". 

The partnering companies were pleased to see the impact 

their contribution has made in the children’s lives. Former pupils 

of Bonginhlanhla School, now in their 30s and 40s, serve as a 

testament to the transformative power of education. 


ENGINEERING STUDIES 

Innovation 

highlighted 

The University of Cape Town scored 

a clean sweep of winners in the first 

Student Project Fund challenge sponsored 

by RS Components South Africa. 

Kai Goodall designed and built a self-driving solar car. Here he 

shows off his Pedal n Spin washing machine. 

Credit: Candice Lowen, UCT 

ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash 

Held in 2022, the Student Project Fund challenge was 

aimed at third- and fourth-year university engineering 

students from across the country. Students had to share 

their current projects for a chance to win one of three R5 

000 vouchers that they could use at RS Components to purchase 

components, equipment and tools. 

Brian Andrew, Managing Director at RS, said that student 

competitions had been an exciting element within the company’s 

education offerings. 

“We have seen some amazing talent shine through from 

local South African students showcasing their passion for 

engineering on the global stage. With a strong focus on 

sustainable engineering, we have challenged students to 

share their designs, projects and prototypes with us, giving 

students an opportunity to win some amazing prizes from RS 

Components,” he said. 

Education forms one of the pillars that make up RS Global’s 

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy. RS’s 

focus is to build skills with young engineers and innovators, 

as well as foster innovations that improve lives. There is still a 

significant shortage of digital and engineering skills globally, 

and there is a need to inspire and encourage the young to 

seek careers in this area. 

The next generation will need to be equipped to meet the 

environmental challenges that the world faces, as well as helping 

to ensure that our industry continues to thrive. 

Andrew notes that from a South African perspective, RS had 

taken a strong focus in supporting future engineers through 

various initiatives and offerings throughout the year. “Some of 

the major offerings include Super Skills masterclasses which help 

to develop students’ interpersonal and people skills, so that they 

feel more equipped and ready for the workplace. Volunteering and 

partnerships with organisations like Engineers without Borders as 

well as Geekulcha and Girlcode allow RS South Africa to provide 

unique volunteering opportunities. 

“Technical learning can be achieved from our global 

DesignSpark website which contains a growing library of 

technical resources for learning, also to support societies in 

setting up their own mentoring programmes. Lastly, we also host 

various challenges such as the Student Project Fund to showcase 

the amazing work of the country’s talented engineering students. 

These challenges that we host throughout the year also helps 

to motivate and inspire the next generation of creators and 

tinkerers,” adds Andrew. 

The Student Project Fund is a competition that assists 

engineering students in becoming work ready. “We believe 

hands-on prototyping and experimentation are key to the 


ENGINEERING STUDIES 

education journey and want to do all we can to help students 

develop innovations that may change the world. 

“We are excited to have selected our first three Student Project 

Fund South Africa winners for 2022 and can’t wait to see how 

their project designs and ideas turn into reality using the tools 

and components from RS Components SA. The projects will be 

shared on our DesignSpark platform. 

“I encourage all students to keep an eye out for this, as well 

as enter the next Student Project Fund competition to get your 

project underway,” said Andrew. 

The three winners, all students at the 

University of Cape Town, were: 

• Nikhil Bejrajh: MSc Electrical Engineering 

Implementing a feasible and efficient underwater wireless 

charging system for unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). 

• Kai Goodall: MSc Electrical Engineering 

Designing and building an educational self-driving solar 

car for educational STEM outreach to excite and encourage 

underprivileged high school pupils in South Africa to study 

electrical engineering with the hope they will solve problems faced 

by their communities. 

Andrea Barrett, Vice President for Social Responsibility and 

Sustainability at RS Group says that RS’s aim was to reach onemillion 

young people in education globally. 

“Already, RS Components UK supports more than 200 UK 

universities and we will expand our Grass Roots programme 

globally. Meanwhile, we are continuing to build digital skills via 

our OKdo products and learning content, supporting 400 000 

students annually. Through RS Components in the UK, US, South 

Africa and Australia we are a partner in Engineers Without Borders 

which supports 20 000 future engineers annually. We are aiming to 

engage 1.5-million engineers through our DesignSpark community 

in activist engineering projects that will promote sustainable and 

socially responsible solutions,” added Barrett. 

For more information: 

Contact RS Components South Africa 

Email: education.za@rs-components.com 

The winning submission videos can be viewed as follows: 

Wireless charging system: https://youtube.com/shorts/SBTt-mlcv-Y 

Solar car: https://youtube.com/shorts/HxZhylDhaXg 

Mini-grid: https://youtube.com/shorts/wQhoTzeoFrY 

• Pitambar Jankee: PhD Electrical Engineering 

Investigating the hardware design and application of a physical 

GPT-controlled inverter hardware in a self-contained power 

system, a mini-grid. 

About RS Group 

RS Group plc (formerly Electrocomponents plc) is a leading 

global omni-channel industrial product and service 

solutions provider to customers who are involved in 

designing, building and maintaining industrial equipment 

and operations, safely and sustainably. We stock more than 

700 000 industrial and electronic products, sourced from 

over 2 500 leading suppliers, and provide a wide range of 

product and service solutions to over 1.2-million customers. 

With operations in 32 countries, we trade through multiple 

channels and ship over 60 000 parcels a day. 

We support customers across the product life cycle, 

whether via innovation and technical support at the design 

phase, improving time to market and productivity at the 

build phase, or reducing purchasing costs and optimising 

inventory in the maintenance phase. We offer our customers 

tailored product and service propositions that are essential 

for the successful operation of their businesses and help 

them save time and money. RS Group plc is listed on the 

London Stock Exchange with stock ticker RS1. 

For more information, visit: www.rsgroup.com 


NTGR ENGINEERING 

Unlocking engineering 

excellence 

A turnkey approach to innovation and sustainability. 

In today's ever-evolving world, 

engineering companies play a pivotal 

role in shaping the future of society. 

With our comprehensive range of 

services, NTGR Engineering stands at the 

forefront of innovation and sustainability. 

NTGR Engineering is an award-winning 

multidisciplinary engineering company, 

specialising in turnkey engineering services 

encompassing civil, mechanical, electrical 

and structural engineering, as well as asset 

management and environmental, social 

and governance services. 

Abednico Mkhari, Managing Director 

Embracing a turnkey approach 

At the heart of our operations lies a turnkey 

approach that sets us apart. By offering 

a holistic suite of engineering services, 

we provide our clients with a seamless 

experience from conception to completion. 

Whether it's designing and constructing 

a state-of-the-art infrastructure project 

or implementing innovative solutions 

to enhance operational efficiency, our 

turnkey approach ensures that all aspects 

of a project are expertly managed under 

one roof, minimising risks and maximising 

cost-effectiveness. 

Unleashing engineering expertise 

Our team of highly skilled and experienced 

engineers is the driving force behind our 

success. We have inhouse multidisciplinary 

engineering teams that provide 

comprehensive EPC services for clients 

across diverse industries, delivering capital 

efficiency and project certainty. We are 

experienced in EPCM/turnkey projectcontract 

suites such as FIDIC and NEC4. 

From civil engineers who masterfully 

navigate complex terrain and design major 

transportation and infrastructure projects 

to mechanical engineers who optimise 

machinery performance, design, alter or 

modify systems and components that meet 

project needs and eliminate malfunctions, 

electrical engineers who design intelligent 

energy solutions, to structural engineers 

who ensure safety and durability. Our 

cross-disciplinary collaboration allows us 

to deliver innovative solutions tailored to 

each client's unique requirements. 

Prioritising sustainability and ESG 

In an era of heightened environmental 

consciousness, the engineering industry 

bears a responsibility to minimise its impact 

on the planet. NTGR Engineering takes 

this responsibility seriously by embedding 

sustainable practices and environmental, 

social and governance (ESG) principles 

into every project. By utilising cuttingedge 

technology, conducting thorough 

environmental assessments and 

adopting eco-friendly materials and 

construction methods, we strive to create 

environmentally responsible and energyefficient 

solutions. 

Strategic asset management 

Recognising the importance of longterm 

success, we offer comprehensive 

asset-management services to optimise 

the lifespan and value of infrastructure 

investments. We have successfully 

implemented Geographic Information 

Systems (GIS) to track the location of assets. 

By leveraging GIS technology, we 

provide our clients with real-time 

visibility and accurate asset tracking. This 

not only improves security and reduces 

the risk of theft or loss but also enables 

efficient planning and scheduling of 

maintenance activities. By leveraging datadriven 

insights and predictive analytics, 

we maximise asset performance, reduce 

downtime and minimise life-cycle costs, 

ultimately ensuring a sustainable return 

on investment. 

Expanding into oil and gas: 

a vision for the future 

In line with our growth strategy, we are 

proud to announce our foray into the oil 

and gas sector. During recent visits to the 

United Arab Emirates, the Democratic 

Republic of the Congo and Uganda, we 

encountered dynamic opportunities 

that have inspired us to venture into 

this industry. These regions presented 

valuable insights, partnerships and 

resources that will propel us forward in 

this new chapter. 

Through strategic collaborations 

and partnerships, we aim to bring our 

expertise and innovative solutions 

to this sector. This expansion reflects 

our dedication to contributing to the 

continent's energy security, job creation 

and economic prosperity. We firmly 

believe that by diversifying our services, 

we can make a lasting impact on Africa's 

overall growth trajectory. 


AN AWARD 

WINNING 

ENGINEERING & 

INFRASTRUCTURE 

DEVELOPMENT 

COMPANY 

AT THE FOREFRONT OF OFFERING INNOVATIVE TURNKEY ENGINEERING, ASSET MANAGEMENT AND ESG SOLUTIONS 

ABOUT US 

18 years in business 

100% black-owned 

Building towards iso certification through our own in-house compliance system 

Registered level 1 BBBEE contributor 

SACPCMP, SAIOS AND HWSETAGIS & model management registered 

EPCM/turnkey project contract suites such as FIDIC, NEC4 ETC 

SERVICES 

Turnkey engineering (civil, structural, electrical & mechanical) 

Engineering design 

Construction services 

Asset management 

Environmental Social Governance (ESG) 

By choosing us, you are guaranteed: 

WHY CHOOSE US 

Commitment to providing quality, value and delivery of services on time. 

Committed to profit maximisation at minimal cost. 

Committed to ESG goals. 

AWARDS 

Manufacturing Excellence Awards 2022 

Winner: Manufacturing Solutions 

Top Empowerment Awards 2023 

Winner: Fast Growth Black-Owned SMME of the year 

Manufacturing Excellence Awards 2023 

Winner: Digitised Services 

Contact Us 

www.ntgr.co.za 

Info@ntgr.co.za 

+27 14 5350 066 

Footprint 

South Af rica | Botswana 

Democratic Republic of the Congo 

Mozambique | Uganda | Zambia

EXPLORATION RIGHTS 

How to avoid conflicts 

over exploration permits 

Early engagement with communities and a collaborative approach will serve oil companies well if 

they want to avoid costly legal battles and delays. Planning ahead and delivering real benefits will 

pre-empt many of the obstacles to securing rights, says Webber Wentzel partner, Bruce Dickinson. 

Deepsea Stavanger, the Norwegian 

exploration rig, has twice visited South 

Africa’s shores in search of oil and gas 

resources. Credit: Anton Swanepoel 


EXPLORATION RIGHTS 

International Oil Companies (IOCs) with an appetite for 

exploration around South Africa’s turbulent but highly 

prospective coast have found it hard going, even before they 

have begun to battle the elements. 

In September 2022, the Makhanda High Court set aside the 

Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE)’s decision 

to grant Shell an exploration permit to conduct seismic surveys off 

the Wild Coast, after extensive opposition from NGOs and inland 

communities. The court ruled the group had not taken relevant 

considerations into account or complied with the necessary legal 

steps. Shell and the DMRE were given leave to appeal. 

TotalEnergies, which faced concerted opposition to its 

plans to drill block 5/6/7 on the Cape coast, was granted an 

environmental authorisation on 2 October 2023. According to 

Reuters, Climate Justice Charter Movement said it would appeal 

because Minister Barbara Creecy’s decision was “irrational and 

ignores climate science”. 

TotalEnergies has another important application in the pipeline, 

to commence production on blocks 11B/12B which, if successful, 

could reinvigorate the Mossgas GTL complex, ailing parastatal 

PetroSA and the Southern Cape region. It could also alleviate the 

energy crisis by providing a baseload feedstock for gas-to-power 

projects. But in February, Engineering News reported that The Green 

Connection and Natural Justice, two civil society organisations, 

had opposed the granting of an environmental authorisation 

because of “significant and unacceptable” impacts. 

This opposition to the granting of permits, though they 

may not ultimately be successful, is costly for the IOCs and 

causes lengthy delays. A lot of this expense could be saved 

if the IOCs took lessons from the experience of South Africa’s 

mining companies in securing permits. 

Legislative framework 

Currently, the Mineral and Petroleum Resources 

Development Act (MPRDA) allows IOCs to apply for 

various permits, including exploration rights and 

production rights. Applications require, among 

others, environmental studies, as well as ensuring that 

consultations with all interested and affected parties have 

taken place. South Africa also has an Upstream Petroleum 

Resources Development Bill in the pipeline. The Bill has 

moved through public hearings and proposed amendments 

have been drafted. It is still being considered by the National 

Assembly. This Bill will provide for an integrated Exploration 

and Production Right and lays down the procedures that 

must be followed by applicants, including a publicparticipation 

process. 

Applications can be better handled 

IOCs have encountered increasing opposition to the granting of 

authorisations in various jurisdictions, but they cannot use a “one 

size fits all” approach in South Africa. The South African context 

brings its own peculiar challenges and applications would run 

more smoothly if IOCs prepared thoroughly, anticipated likely 

challenges and proactively and pre-emptively put plans in place 

to mitigate the risks. South African mining companies have learnt 

the hard way. 

For example, in respect of potentially impacted 

communities, early engagement is essential. In order to do 

this, a thorough stakeholder mapping and evaluation exercise 

is invaluable (on a local, regional and national basis). In 

conjunction with this, needs analyses can be undertaken and 

integrated development plans reviewed, with a view to better 

understanding impacted communities, their dynamics and 

their needs. With these in mind, an appropriate engagement 

plan can be developed that will bring all important players 

together to discuss real actions that will address issues of most 

concern to the impacted community. 

The approach should be one of listening and responding, 

not “top down” and paternalistic, to ensure that communities 

buy into the plans and take ownership of them. Once the 

community’s priorities are identified and agreed upon, the IOC 

can then proceed to collaboratively put in place solid structures 

that will implement these plans and deliver the promised 

benefits. This can be undertaken in conjunction with, or as 

part of, the requisite introduction of historically disadvantaged 

individuals into the rights. 

Although offshore oil exploration 

does not generate large numbers of 

direct jobs, IOCs can be the catalyst 

for the creation of enterprises that 

provide sustainable jobs that are 

not tied to the lifetime of the rights. 

Mining community structures, as 

we are seeing more and more, 

are not sustainable post mine 

closure and communities will 

need to be transitioned away from 

this dependency. IOCs have the 

opportunity to do things differently 

and to foster sustainability from the 

get-go. A collaborative approach 

by IOCs would deliver a 

better outcome for 

everyone. 

Bruce Dickinson, partner, Webber Wentzel 


UPSTREAM OIL AND GAS 

Learning from 

incredible success stories 

Petroleum Agency South Africa co-hosted the Southern African Oil and Gas Conference 2023. 

Executive Manager: Communications & Stakeholder Relations, Sibabalwenathi Magida, stresses 

the importance of sharing correct information about the county’s indigenous oil and gas 

resources so that they can be sustainably developed in a way that boosts the economy for all. 

How is the potential of the South African oil 

and gas sector viewed at the moment? 

We are observing a growing interest and positive support for 

the sustainable development of upstream oil and gas in South 

Africa. Research done before the conference showed an impressive 

increase in interest in attending this conference and extending it 

to more people. The discussions that were scheduled were seen as 

very informative and critical for more South Africans to understand. 

Why is this conference so important to 

Petroleum Agency South Africa? 

PASA has realised that it is practically impossible for most South 

Africans, especially aspirants in the sector and emerging oil and 

gas entrepreneurs, to attend the more expensive conferences 

which can cost up to R120 000. As conference hosts, DMRE, PASA 

and SAOGA deemed it important that we organise a similar 

conference that provides the same quality of information for the 

price of R3 500 per ticket, with free access for students studying 

the industry or interested in participating. This removes the 

affordability barrier and makes the conference accessible. 

Why was this year’s conference different? 

Each year, we evaluate the stakeholder concerns and structure our 

conference to address them. This year’s theme focused on “Oil and 

gas development to address Southern Africa’s energy challenges 

while ensuring a Just Energy Transition.” It is unfortunate that we 

find ourselves with an energy crisis in 2023 when the region is richly 

blessed with the biggest indigenous oil and gas resources that can 

transform our region into a significant oil and gas-producing area. 

We have enough to self-sustain and even export much-needed 

oil and gas. We wanted to bring new insight and to ensure that 

we observe what other countries are doing. We zoomed into the 

success case of Guyana, the fastest-growing economy in the world 

on the back of its oil and gas resources. 

We invited the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana, 

Professor Paloma Martin, a strategist and academic who 

contributed to modelling this incredible turnaround growth 

path for Guyana. They are doing it sustainably, growing the oil 

and gas sector and balancing socio-economic development and 

transformation imperatives. 

This is an incredible success story that we should learn from. 

The Guyanese economy continues to grow rapidly. This includes 

the unparalleled expansion of the oil sector, supported by the 

government’s modernisation plans. Following record real GDP 

growth in 2022 of 62.3%, real GDP is expected to grow in 2023 at 

38%. Banks are well-capitalised and liquid.They are implementing 

a fast-paced public-investment programme focused on providing 

transportation, housing, flood management infrastructure and 

raising human capital. 

The spillovers from the oil and construction sectors support 

growth in the services and supplies sectors, while agriculture, 

mining and quarrying are also performing well. It is a no-brainer 

that South Africa can do the same. We can no longer sit with high 

unemployment, poverty, inequality, lack of skills and growing 

despair and indignity when we are richly blessed with natural gas 

and oil resources. Our neighbours, Namibia, have decided to follow 

Guyana’s example and open Namibia for business. They work 

together as government, business, the oil and gas industry, civil 

society, the judiciary and academia with an inclusive approach. 

They are determined to make a positive change to the course 

of their economy and the social destiny of current and future 

generations. 

So you think South Africa should be learning 

those lessons from Guyana? 

In my culture, we say “Intaka yakha ngoboya benye” which means 

a bird builds its nest with the feathers of other birds. 

What are the opportunities and barriers in 

developing the upstream petroleum industry in 

South Africa and how are they being addressed? 

There has been a growing negative sentiment against oil and gas, 

which is based on ideological battles often presented as being 

concerned about environmental protection, lack of meaningful 

consultation and questions about what impact the oil and gas 

industry will have on ordinary South Africans to take them out of 

poverty, unemployment and exploitation by “foreign investors”. 

The conference hosts deemed it necessary to openly discuss how 

PASA conscientiously ensures that each licence application is 

subjected to rigorous evaluation processes that ensure compliance 


UPSTREAM OIL AND GAS 

with legislative requirements, the MPRDA 

as well as NEMA, to ensure that they 

comply with the relevant environmental, 

economic and social requirements. It is 

also essential for us to lay the cards on the 

table about the very same violation of human 

rights, if we knowingly deprive South Africans 

of their right to access correct information, their 

human right of having access to clean energy, their 

human right to dignity, their human right to education 

and skills development and their human right to employment 

and economic development. 

What are PASA’s short-term goals as an organisation? 

While we continue with our mandate, we want to make sure 

that all our stakeholders have the correct information about the 

sustainable development of our indigenous oil and gas resource 

to support the recovery of our economy and contribute to: 

• security of energy supply, thus contributing to the diverse 

energy technologies 

• contributing to the fiscus 

• ensuring sustainable socioeconomic development and 

localisation 

Therefore, we want to focus on increasing our stakeholder 

education and awareness about the oil and gas industry. We 

want to correct the narrative and help South Africans decide on 

their future. 

Is the Upstream Petroleum Resources 

Development Bill (UPRD) viewed positively 

by industry participants and by PASA? 

I believe that the industry and PASA are looking forward to 

finalising the Bill, as that will bring much-needed stability and 

certainty to the industry. The industry needs certainty in the legal 

framework to make investment decisions with certainty. PASA also 

needs the same certainty to regulate more effectively. 

The Virginia gas project in the Free State has started commercial 

production. Credit: Renergen. 

What is the view of PASA on the progress of the 

Virginia gas project in the Free State? 

As the country's first onshore commercial project, the Virginia 

gas project is exciting. We are looking forward to seeing some 

of the opportunities the industry can provide to the country 

being realised through the project. The industry is still in its 

infancy in South Africa. By its nature, it is highly specialised and 

capital-intensive. This limits opportunities for local content and 

businesses and labour to participate and develop. 

These challenges are being partially addressed through the 

Social and Labour Plan (SLP) framework with the hope that as 

the industry grows, more opportunities will open up, as well as 

with the upcoming Bill, which proposes a local-content-policy 

framework to address these issues. The opportunities lie in the fact 

that this is a reasonably new industry with unexplored possibilities 

for the country’s growth and development. 


EXPLORATION 

World-class hydrocarbon 

discoveries confirm potential 

Exciting offshore discoveries are not the only areas exciting interest, as David van 

der Spuy, Manager: Resource Evaluation Manager at PASA, explains. Biogenic, 

coal-bed methane and shale gas are all showing possibilities. 

How significant is it that TotalEnergies EP South Africa 

has informed PASA of its intention to produce? 

It is extremely significant and important to the industry. The 

discoveries made by TotalEnergies and its partners at the 

Brulpadda and Luiperd wells prove very large deposits and in 

terms of size, are the first “world-class” discoveries of hydrocarbons 

made in South Africa. The fact that the TotalEnergies partnership 

has applied for a Production Right confirms that industry is 

confident of the potential that South Africa holds. It is critical for 

the development to go ahead, not only because it will avert the 

closure of the gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Mossel Bay and the 

loss of 1 500 direct jobs, but also because of the economic effects 

this will have on the surrounding area. Moving forward depends 

on negotiations between the TotalEnergies partnership and gas 

offtake customers, in this case PetroSA and Eskom. The gas may 

also be used to fuel converted power plants at Gourikwa, Dedisa 

and Ankerlig and a new gas powerplant of 3 000MV could also be 

supported. This is only from the already proven reserves – further 

exploration in the area could increase this potential even further. 

It has been shown in Brazil through the GNA project that gas 

is critical in supporting the integration of renewables into the 

energy mix at large scale. 

Are companies doing exploration 

obliged to share information? 

Yes, all data and information produced through oil and gas 

exploration belongs to the state and is archived by the Petroleum 

Agency SA in its role as the national repository for such data. 

Besides this, explorers are required to report on their progress 

to our compliance and technical teams twice a year at least and 

share their interpretations and findings. We have built up good 

relationships with all our explorers and frequently hold joint 

technical workshops with many of them where data, interpretations 

and ideas regarding prospectivity are shared. 

How does the size and potential of the Block 5/6/7 off 

the West Coast compare with the southern Cape coast? 

The area under licence is bigger than the licence area of the south 

coast and in our opinion holds great potential. TotalEnergies and 

its partners have submitted a work programme for initial drilling 

of up to five exploration wells in the area. 

What is the significance of what Shell 

found at the Graff-1 well? 

The Graff, Jonker and further discoveries made by Shell north of 

South Africa’s border, together with the Venus discovery made by 

TotalEnergies, are extremely significant for South Africa. The vast 

majority of the Orange Basin lies in South African waters and our 

own internal interpretation of data as well as that of our explorers 

has highlighted similar prospectivity in the South African sector to 

that discovered in Namibia. 

Renergen has been attracting a lot of interest. Are 

there other parts of South Africa that might have 

the same potential as the Virginia Project? 

Renergen, through Tetra4, is developing a biogenic gas discovery. 

There are other types of unconventional gas onshore, such as 

coal-bed methane and shale gas. There is very good potential for 

onshore gas: for example, Kinetiko, a subsidiary of AfroEnergy, is 

making excellent progress in their determination of gas reserves 

in the area between Amersfoort, Volksrust and westwards towards 

Frankfort. They have already proven contingent reserves of 6TCF 

and have stated a further potential of almost the same amount 

across the acreage they hold. There are many active exploration 

rights onshore; some other examples include Thungela Resources, 

who have a reserve estimate of 1TCF in the Lephalale Basin and 

Panoro Energy, who are in the early stages of exploring for biogenic 

gas. Then there is the potential for shale gas in the south-central 

Karoo. The interpretation work by Petroleum Agency SA indicates 

a potential of 209TCF recoverable gas. Our basin-analysis studies 

of the area also show indications of potential for conventional 

deposits of both dry gas and wet gas in the area. 


OIL AND GAS CONFERENCE 

A landmark event on 

the oil and gas and 

energy calendar 

The Chief Executive Officer of the South African Oil and Gas Alliance (SAOGA), Adrian Strydom, reflects 

on the third annual Southern African Oil and Gas Conference held in Cape Town in September 2023. 

Adrian Strydom, 

SAOGA CEO 

Was the SA Oil & Gas Conference well attended? 

The conference was very well attended. We have seen exponential 

growth over the three years since its inception in 2021. The growing 

interest is encouraging. We expect even greater numbers next year. 

SAOGC is fast becoming a landmark event on the oil and gas and 

energy calendar. 

Which sessions attracted the most interest? 

The winning factor is the superb content that was produced. This, 

with excellent speakers and brilliant facilitation by experienced 

programme directors resulted in a high-quality programme. We 

were fortunate to have had a look at Guyana as a new oil and gas 

country and its successful example of combining development, 

growth and respect for the environment. This was both popular 

and timeous. To hear first-hand about the successes of oil and 

gas exploration programmes in the Southern African region was 

another hit with conference participants. 

Was there any discussion at conference about 

whether the public participation process is 

adequate (given recent court cases)? 

The general sense is that more work needs to be done to engage 

and communicate adequately with affected communities in 

particular and the public in general, to provide credible information 

about oil and gas exploration. 

What conclusions were drawn by the panel 

discussion on what impact the Just Energy 

Transition will have on the oil and gas industry? 

We heard that the Just Energy Transition is real. That Africa is 

unique in terms of its context and energy needs and that this 

should be noted. The Just Energy Transition is by definition a 

process and not an event. South Africa is under-explored for oil 

and gas. We are importing oil and gas products at huge cost. The 

cost of loadshedding to our economy is exorbitant. Against the 

background of poverty, energy poverty and joblessness this is 

irresponsible, to say the least. 

Are technologies being developed to help 

the industry achieve net zero? 

We are in a unique position to derive benefit from lessons learnt 

from the technological successes and mistakes made globally. 

More work needs to be done to intentionally aggregate global 

learnings and to make sure we adapt these to our local context. 

South African universities are well placed to play a leading role 

here. Watch this space. 

What is the view of industry participants about the 

potential of the oil and gas sector in SA generally? 

Despite the slow progress South Africa is making compared to 

neighbouring countries like Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and 

Angola, industry players are relatively positive about South African 

potentiality. We were, however, warned that there is a limited 

window of opportunity to optimise oil and gas exploration and 

production in South Africa. 

Is the Upstream Petroleum Resources Development 

(UPRD) Bill viewed positively by industry participants? 

The general sense is that extensive consultation was done. 

The final product is generally welcomed, with some concern 

from industry participants that the attractiveness to investors 

could be improved. 


NON-DESTRUCTIVE EXAMINATION 

NJM Heat Treatment & 

NDE Services - meeting 

and exceeding customer 

expectations 

Committed to excellence, empowerment and transformation, a skilled technical 

team is backed by a vastly experienced management group. 

Established in 2009, NJM Heat Treatment & NDE Services 

is a 100% South African-owned business headquartered 

in Gauteng. NJM is a leading provider of heat treatment 

services and non-destructive examination to a wide range 

of industries, including oil and gas, mining, petrochemical and 

pipelines. The company also works on power-generation plants 

and manufacturing plants within South Africa and internationally. 

Management team 

Our management team, with 30-plus years of diverse industrial 

experience, boasts a proven track record of success. Alongside 

competitive pricing, we offer the leadership and technical 

expertise to excel in our operations, exceeding client expectations. 

B-BBEE Level 1 

As a B-BBEE Level 1, 51% black women-owned company, we 

are committed to promoting economic empowerment and 

transformation in South Africa. We believe in creating opportunities 

for historically disadvantaged individuals and are proud to be 

contributing to the growth and development of our country. 

Heat Treatment Services 

Annealing 

Electrical 

Gas combustion 

Hardening 

Normalising 

Pre-weld 

Refractory dry-out 

Stress relieving 

Tempering 

Non-Destructive 

Examination Services 

Conventional NDE 

Delta ferrite 

Hardness 

Liquid penetrant 

Magnetic particle 

Positive material inspection 

Surface etching 

Ultrasonic 

Vacuum box 

Our commitment to quality 

At NJM Heat Treatment & NDE Services, we are committed to 

delivering the highest-quality service to our clients. To achieve 

this, we have established a ISO 9001:2008 Management System 

which outlines our capacity to meet customer needs and exceed 

their expectations. We are currently working towards achieving 

certification of ISO 9001:2015, which focuses on a process-driven 

approach to quality management, as well as ISO 17020:2012 

which is based on the principles of impartiality, independence 

and confidentiality. 

Experienced technicians 

Our team of experienced and certified technicians use the latest 

technology and techniques to ensure the highest level of quality 

and conformity in all our services. (see table) 

Temporary furnaces 

Wall thickness 

Specialised NDE 

3D laser mapping; Phased-array ultrasonic; Radiographic; Tank 

floor; Guided ultrasonic inspection; C-scan mapping. 

Training 

NJM has embarked on a training initiative to up-skill, retrain and 

encourage new potential heat-treatment specialists in the South 

African market. As a professional heat-treatment service provider, it 

is our duty to ensure the best service is given to our clients by using 

the latest equipment and the most knowledgeable personnel. To 

achieve these goals a serious and hard look had to be given to the 

overall quality of heat-treatment technicians who fundamentally 


HEAT TREATMENT 

represent the heat-treatment industry in our country. Management 

identified significant areas where improvement was necessary 

and a level training system was developed. This was done in 

conjunction with an independent training school (UTC), and 

it enabled NJM to set a suitable standard that could holistically 

improve the quality of service our clients deserve. 

In 2022 NJM embarked on an initiative with Sasol, one of our 

major clients. Initially we trained up 20 existing technicians which 

in turn accelerated their continuous training and qualification 

programmes. All of NJM’s heat-treatment technicians were trained, 

retrained and qualified using the syllabus and training programme. 

This programme is in a constant state of flux as reassessment is 

done annually, thus providing improved awareness in the various 

techniques employed. 

Expansion 

NJM recently opened a branch in the Western Cape, located 

within the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (SBIDZ) 

Access Building from where we will serve the Western Cape and its 

surrounding area. This strategic initiative provides us the necessary 

infrastructure, along with a vast number of opportunities that will 

enhance our visibility and networking in the area aligned with 

our strategic objectives. We intend to be a major team player and 

partner within the IDZ in support and development of Western 

Cape businesses and skills. We recently embarked on an initiative 

where we trained 16 heat-treatment technicians (six from Cape 

Town and 10 from SBIDZ) via UTC, a Heat Treatment MERSETA 

training provider. NJM employed these students and provided an 

opportunity for them to earn a salary during their 200 hours of 

practical training at the Sasol Secunda Plant for the duration of 

that company’s shutdown. 

Contact Details 

Philly Le Roux, Operations Manager 

Tel: +27 82 451 8795 

Email: philly@njm-htd.co.za 

Company address: Unit 2, Greenway Park, Cnr Sam Green Road and 

Flower Close, Tunney, Germiston 

Postal address: PO Box 144, Bedfordview 2008 

Tel: +27 11 392 6662 

Email: info@njm-htd.co.za 

Website: www.njm-ht-ndt.co.za 

Commercial Director 

Vanessa Chungu is the Commercial Director, member of 

the board and shareholder in NJM Heat Treatment & NDE 

Services, a position she has held since 2018. 

In her role, Vanessa oversees administration, internal 

marketing, strategic planning, client relationships, 

supplier and client contracts, lease agreements and 

sub-contractor agreements and the tender selection 

and submission process. She is also a member of the 

company’s employment equity committee. 

Vanessa is tasked with ensuring that the company 

maintains its organisational and supplier requirements 

and remains compliant. In the past 12 months, Vanessa 

has witnessed how perception carries more weight 

than reality when challenges arise. This has seen her 

prioritising brand and reputation management and 

communicating purposefully with stakeholders. 

As the first woman to be appointed to the executive 

team, she brings fresh and diverse perspectives, 

experiences and skills to the team and the business as a 

whole. A perfectionist, Vanessa pays attention to detail 

and is an expert communicator. She is a firm but fair 

leader and is always willing to listen and learn. 


IMPACT INVESTING 

Investing for 

generational impact 

Abdu-Rahman Abrahams Co-Head: Hybrid Equity, a division of Old Mutual Alternative Investments, 

shares his experience of a funding model that leaves a legacy for future generations. 

The socio-economic challenges facing South Africa remain 

stark. According to StatsSA, South Africa’s youth continues 

to bear the burden of unemployment, with more than 

60% of those aged 15-24 currently unemployed and more 

than 40% of those aged 25-34 years. 

Over the last two decades, global and local economic shocks 

have put the South African economy on the back foot. The 2008/09 

global financial crisis caused our first recession in 20 years, and ever 

since, economic growth has been meagre to moderate at best. 

Notwithstanding our emergence from the 2021 recession 

caused by the Covid-19 crisis, South Africa’s economy still isn’t 

growing fast enough. The significant challenges we face are the 

energy crisis, rising inflation, rising interest rates and a weakening 

domestic exchange rate. 

In this context, fortunately, investors are no longer only 

concerned about the profit motive but also about the impact their 

investments can make in addressing socio-economic challenges 

that continue to affect the youth. This realisation has led to 

investors’ commitment to impact investing, which focuses on 

generating measurable, beneficial social or environmental effects, 

such as job creation and a financial return. 

Taking the idea further is the need for generational impact 

investing, which focuses on long-term, sustainable changes that 

will benefit future generations. Generational impact investing takes 

a longer view, focusing on investments that will have a lasting, 

positive impact over multiple generations, such as infrastructure 

and job creation. One of the investment vehicles proving its impact 

capability to address challenges such as economic transformation, 

youth job creation and access to information, for example, are 

alternative investments such as hybrid equity. 

Heeding the lessons learned 

This success over the past two decades is testimony that the hybrid 

equity funding model works and shows that B-BBEE can be done 

effectively and profitably for all stakeholders. The achievements 

are critical to creating sustained impact. 

Many of our investments are B-BBEE transactions where black 

industrialists or woman groupings have been funded to buy equity 

in established businesses. Alternatively, we have supported blackowned 

enterprises to grow through acquisitions or capital to grow 

the existing business to a much bigger scale. Below are some of 

the lessons we have learned over the past two decades that can 

be applied to the next decade, to invest for generational impact. 

Lesson 1: Mitigate risk 

With volatility and risk always present in markets, it is crucial 

that downside protection is incorporated into the investment 

strategy to protect investors from capital loss. To reduce risk, we 

have developed the expertise and capacity to select investments 

with excellent cash flow predictability in very defensive 

industries. Among the preferred sectors are infrastructure, 

telecommunications, food processing and financial services, as 

well as others which have proven resilient in the face of volatile 

economic cycles. 

Hybrid Equity has sourced, structured, invested, managed and 

exited transactions across multiple sectors and capital structures 

through various economic cycles. 

Lesson 2: Robust business selection 

Having an integrated environmental, social and governance (ESG) 

unit that’s embedded in the team and part of the decision-making 

process, our due diligence process goes beyond just financial 

diligence, lending itself to a far more robust due diligence and 

selection process. Among our various criteria, a key requirement 

is that the businesses we choose must have been operating 

successfully for several years; have an experienced management 

team in place; have a good performance record; have a high 

demand for products that are good for the environment; and be 

sustainable in the communities that they operate in. 

Our R150-million investment into Enable Capital, a short-term 

funder that uses innovative technology as a distribution platform, 

is a good example. It provides short-term funding solutions to small 

subcontractors who operate in the fibre Internet industry and have 

contracts with fibre companies like Vumatel or Metrofibre. 

In considering Enable Capital, Hybrid Equity identified that it 

had a sound business model; its team had adopted a hands-on 

approach and deeply entrenched relationships with its client base. 

Often these contractors needed help accessing funding 

from traditional sources to fund their execution of capital and 

labour-intensive infrastructure projects for their clients. However, 

through this investment, Enable has funded many small black 

subcontractors to ensure they have the necessary cash flow to run 

and grow their businesses. Many of these are young entrepreneurs. 

Lesson 3: Add value 

As a shareholder, we play an indirect advisory role to the company’s 

management on how to grow the business, which assists in 


IMPACT INVESTING 

Digital infrastructure has 

a long-lasting impact that 

goes beyond one generation. 

Credit: Lars Kienle on Unsplash 

driving a return on investment. 

This sets the model apart 

from traditional loan funding. 

Our advice provides insights 

into other industries on capital 

structure and lending, bolt-on 

investments and how to manage 

their treasury. We also contribute 

to elements such as governance 

and human resources strategy and 

formalise ESG data collection, analysis 

and continuous monitoring, helping 

make companies better. 

An example of this success is 

evident in the deal concluded in 2021 to 

fund the empowerment partner in the 

telecoms group MetroFibre Networks. 

This deal expanded MetroFibre’s 

empowerment credentials and assisted in 

its R3-billion capital expansion plan, allowing it to roll out fibre 

Internet infrastructure to more parts of the country. It increased 

access to more affordable broadband services to more South 

African households. 

Lesson 4: Focus on impact 

Once the investment is secured, we focus on its impact. 

Shareholders that we’ve funded would sit on the boards 

of these companies. They would also drive transformation 

on the ground in that business from a board level. We can 

therefore track the status around gender equality, job 

creation and demographics of staff, governance and social 

responsibility in the businesses that we have invested in over 

set timeframes. The Enable Capital transaction, for example, 

has fast-tracked the delivery of tangible fibre Internet access 

to low-income households. It also resulted in job creation 

across the board, helped to build sustainable businesses and 

economic transformation. 

Impactful enterprises combine their passion with good ideas 

that empower the nation through technological advancement, 

job creation, infrastructure, critical goods and services, and social 

and environmental benefits. The South African and international 

and local investment community would do well to heed similar 

lessons to leave a legacy for future generations. 

Abdu-Rahman Abrahams 

Co-Head: Hybrid Equity 


EQUITABLE FINANCING 

The funding struggle 

Cerina Bezuidenhout, co-founder and COO of Future Females Empowerment 

Initiatives, lays out the facts about women and inequitable financing, based on 

research done in South Africa and four other countries by the organisation. 

According to a report published by the International 

Financial Corporation (IFC) in 2019, South Africa had 

a $49-billion unmet financing demand for female 

founders, making it evident that there is a massive 

female-founder financing gap. This disparity often leads to low 

growth margins for female-founded businesses as they rely on 

alternative sources of funding. 

For that specific reason, Future Females Empowerment 

Initiatives, in partnership the International Tech Hub Network, a 

UK government initiative, conducted research on “Why Female 

Founders are Still Not Raising Financing Equitably in 2023”. 

The overall research, which consisted of surveys with 

open-ended and multiple-choice questions, was conducted 

with Tech Hubs in five locations: South Africa, Brazil, Kenya, 

Indonesia and Nigeria. 

Three important questions were identified: 

1. What is the current financing gap for female founders globally? 

2. What are the barriers faced by female founders in raising 

funding? 

3. Why have the existing interventions that target these barriers 

been unsuccessful? 

The survey revealed that female founders across the five 

countries are mainly bootstrapping their businesses to keep 

them operational and have raised an average of less than $10 000 

to date. Furthermore, 95% of female founders are still actively 

looking for funding but most of them struggle with identifying 

the funding opportunities available and how to connect with 

these opportunities. Plus, they are unfamiliar with the fundraising 

process and its requirements. 

There is a wide gap between the current form of business 

financing that female founders use and the type of funding they 

need to grow their businesses. The survey data yields extensive 

insight into the amount of funding raised to date across business 

stages, and the various sectors in which female founders operate. 

Key findings 

The research identified the following key reasons that inform the 

funding gap that female founders face in South Africa: 

• Lack of comprehension of the fundraising process: Only 19.5% 

of the female founders surveyed reported confidence in their 

ability to go through the fundraising process. (This number rises 

to 46% of questioned candidates in Kenya.) All other founders 

surveyed indicate needing help with the fundraising process, 

from grant-proposal writing to pitching, with 30% saying that 

they can’t go through the process by themselves. 

• Lack of information on investors: There is a gap in information 

about the funding opportunities available to female founders 

and the types of investors to approach. 42.1% of female founders 

report they do not know relevant investors to approach (an 

increase of 29.4% from Brazil). In the same vein, 39.6% report 

that they choose to stick with their current form of funding 

because they do not know how to access any other form of 

funding although a high percentage (91.8%) would welcome it. 

• Experienced gender bias: Though there is no explicit evidence 

of gender bias in our survey, 71.7% of South African female 

founders interviewed for the report said that they feel the 

fundraising process is more difficult because they are women. 

(This is higher than that of Indonesia where 45.6% feel this is 

a factor.) Overall, 13.2% say that the biggest challenge is that 

investors do not take them seriously. 

It is clear that female founders face big challenges globally in 

raising funding, especially when it comes to being educated on 

the funding process since a big gap for educational programmes 

persists. The series, consisting of a white paper for each of the five 

participating countries, includes insights on the current funding 

needs of female entrepreneurs, how these are or are not matching 

the funding that is available in the market, commentary around 

"the gap", and why previous interventions failed to close this gap. 

Thereafter it provides solutions to target these shortfalls and 

how female founders can draw on the resources available to 


EQUITABLE FINANCING 

them, requiring a multi-dimensional approach. This undertaking 

integrates female founders, startups and/or SME enablers such 

as incubators, accelerators and investors. The integration allows 

for information on funding opportunities to flow freely between 

investors and female founders, with enablers working as binding 

agents that train them on the fundraising processes and facilitating 

investor-founder matchmaking. 

After receiving repeated feedback about funding from our 

community, we were very excited to finally explore why, after so 

many efforts from the entrepreneurial ecosystem, there is still a 

gap between male and female funding. We are delighted to share 

the findings with everyone, and specifically the key players in the 

field, the startup enablers, the entrepreneurs themselves, and the 

different funders such as banks, grant originators and investors. 

May everyone who reads this feel they know better now how to 

close this gap. Future Females vouch, as an education platform, 

that we will support women and work with partners to educate 

women in the fundraising process, and we are happy to work with 

any partner who shares this goal. 

You can access the full white paper series on “Why Female Founders 

are Still Not Raising Financing Equitably in 2023”: 

https://join.futurefemales.co/fundinggapwhitepaper?r_done=1 

About Future Females 

Future Females is a movement that exists to increase the number 

of and support the success of female entrepreneurs globally. We 

provide a space digitally, physically and emotionally where women 

can connect, inspire and collaborate with each other and access 

the resources they need to succeed. 

through our structured training programmes across the 

world including Brazil, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Indonesia, 

Mozambique, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia. 

About UK-International Tech Hub Network 

The International Tech Hub Network is a UK-government initiative 

delivered by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport 

as part of the Digital Access Programme. It aims to catalyse more 

inclusive, affordable, safe and secure digital access for excluded 

and underserved communities in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, 

Brazil and Indonesia. 

Survey key points: 

• Due to lack of financing 57% of South African femaleowned 

businesses reinvest their profits into their 

company, which effects capital and growth potential 

• Nearly all, 91.8%, of business owners have at one stage 

actively tried to seek funding 

• Only 5.7% of female-owned businesses received funding 

from loans or grants 

• 71.7% of women surveyed say that they have experienced 

a perceived gender bias 

About Future Females Empowerment Initiatives 

Future Females Empowerment Initiatives exist to support 

the development of female entrepreneurs globally. We drive 

this empowerment through the digital skills development, 

interpersonal support and entrepreneurial activation of women, 

Credit: christina@wocintechat on Unsplash 

Cerina Bezuidenhout 


CONSUMER PROTECTION 

Consumer Goods and Services 

Ombud celebrates 10 years 

Queen Munyai is CEO of the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (CGSO). She reflects 

on how the CGSO has grown beyond all recognition since its founding 10 years ago, 

with a current retail footprint of 23 517 stores and outlets across South Africa. 

Biography 

Queen joined the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud in 

2013 as GM: Corporate Services. In 2018, she was appointed 

Chief Executive Officer of the CGSO after acting in that position 

for a year. An accountant by profession, Queen’s interest in 

consumer affairs began when she took on the Internal Audit 

and Compliance Officer role for the Consumer Goods Council 

of South Africa. Before joining the CGCSA, Queen worked 

as a financial consultant to public and private sector clients 

specialising in finance, internal audit and compliance. Before 

that, she worked for 12 years in financial services, first with 

Standard Bank and later at Momentum. 

Queen holds a Master of Business Administration from the 

University of South Wales and a BCom (Financial Accounting) 

from the University of Pretoria, a Forensic and Investigative 

Auditing programme and a postgraduate programme in 

Advanced Taxation from the University of South Africa 

(UNISA). She is a member of the South African Institute of 

Professional Accountants (SAIPA) and the Institute of Directors 

South Africa (IoDSA). 

Queen Munyai, CEO, CGSO 

What is the mandate of the CGSO? 

Our mandate is to facilitate the mediation of complaints that arise 

between consumers and suppliers, where a consumer is unhappy 

with the resolution by the supplier. 

Is it only consumers who can complain, or do you 

play a role with retailers and suppliers as well? 

Consumers and suppliers whose annual revenue is below 

R2-million can submit their complaints. 

What sort of skills does the office of the 

CGSO have, and need to have? 

Different skills in different departments are needed. For complaints 

handling we have a call centre where staff with good customerservice 

training and the ability to speak different languages handle 

the incoming calls. Among our administrators and adjudicators 

some have paralegal training. The majority are LLB graduates and 

others are admitted attorneys. 

Why is the Annual Report of CGSO such an important event? 

• We operate under the industry Code of Conduct which was 

promulgated by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition 

in 2015. In terms of this Code, we are required to compile a 

report which includes complaints type, businesses complained 

about, type and frequency of complaints, time taken to deal with 

complaints and types of sanctions imposed. 

• We are a public-benefit organisation; therefore, part of our 

mandate is to raise the standards of good conduct in the 

industry which we do through consumer awareness and 

supplier education. 

• The report plays a role in creating awareness among both 

consumers and suppliers. 

Has the CGSO been achieving clean audits? What underpins 

such achievements? 

Our expertise, our culture of accountability and our strong 

governance structures have ensured that we have maintained a 



good record. We are governed by the Board of Directors, comprising 

different skills sets and with representation from industry players, 

including retailers, manufacturers, industry associations, consumer 

bodies and independent directors. 

What have been highlights in the CGSO’s 10-year history? 

Since the Industry Code of Conduct was promulgated in 2015, 

our small but dedicated team has fielded over 200 000 queries, 

closed over 70 000 complaints, and, in the three years since we 

began keeping track of the quantum involved, facilitated refunds 

to the value of some R32-million. We have grown from humble 

beginnings, with 24 participants to 1 356 participating suppliers 

at group level, representing a retail footprint of 23 517 stores and 

outlets across South Africa. All major retailers and manufacturers 

are on board. The resolution of a five-year legal battle that started 

in 2017, where some industry suppliers were challenging our 

lawfulness, the process followed in promulgating the Code and 

our powers to levy fees. 

The idea of an ombud was new to SA in 1993. Has 

the country now embraced the concept? 

Consumer awareness has grown and the industry players and 

suppliers are continuing to sign up. However, there is still more 

to be done. The disappointing fact is that we still have industry 

players who are still not signed up, despite it being compulsory to 

do so. The Code applies to all participants unless they are regulated 

elsewhere by other public regulation. This Code is prescribed by 

the Minister in terms of Section 82 of the Consumer Protection 

Act (CPA) and/or where a complaint falls within the jurisdiction of 

an Ombud with Jurisdiction, or an industry ombud accredited in 

terms of section 82(6) of the CPA. 

ENSURING FAIR PLAY BETWEEN SUPPLIERS AND CONSUMERS 

Did you know? That If you manufacture, distribute, market or sell goods & services that are covered by the Consumer Protection 

Act, you are required to comply with the Consumer Goods and Services Industry Code of conduct. In terms of this code it 

is mandatory to register with CGSO and avoid reputational damage that arises from not addressing consumer complaints. 

WHO WE ARE? 

The Consumer Goods and Services Ombud is an impartial, independent dispute resolution scheme established in 2013 in 

terms of section 82(6) of the Consumer Protection Act(CPA) to mediate dispute and ensure that industry players abide by the 

Consumer Goods and Services Industry Code of Conduct. 

TO SIGN UP 

Visit the CGSO website https://www.cgso.za/cgso/register/: to register online or download the application: Fill out the 

application form and attach proof of turnover/Revenue when you return the form. This information is mandatory and will be 

kept confidential. For more information please call us on 011 781 2607. 



Looking out for 

bank customers 

Reana Steyn, CEO and Ombudsman for Banking Services, is proud that OBS has assisted 

thousands of customers—at no cost to the consumer—and recovered millions 

of rands, but she warns banking clients to be vigilant against scamsters. 

What is a bank customer to do if she feels hard done 

by? Is there any recourse if trying to lodge an 

objection or complaints have fallen on deaf ears or 

if the helpline is being particularly unhelpful? 

There is recourse for South African banking consumers. The name 

has changed a few times since the Ombud for the banking industry 

was set up in 1997, but the Ombudsman for Banking Services today 

is a strong and vital part of the financial sector’s architecture. 

Reana Steyn, who has held the office of CEO and Ombudsman 

for Banking Services since 2017, stresses that the primary role of 

her office is “to provide recourse to the aggrieved customers by 

putting things right”. 

The word “ombudsman” has its origins in Scandinavia and is 

linked to the idea of being a representative or proxy for someone 

else. In the case of the South Africa office of the Ombudsman for 

Banking Services (OBS), this means receiving, investigating and 

resolving complaints between banks and their customers relating 

to advice, services or products provided to them by the bank. This 

only applies to banks that are members of the Banking Association 

of South Africa (BASA). 

Says Steyn, “Any bank customer who has suffered a loss as a 

result of the bank’s mistake, negligence or maladministration or 

if the bank has violated a customer’s rights, abused its powers or 

made a decision that the customer believes is unfair, the customer 

can report the transgression to us.” 

Credit: wayhomestudio on Freepik 

What the ombud does not do 

The OBS cannot assist if a complaint involves the following: 

• a bank’s commercial decision about lending or credit, 

interest rates or bank charges, unless there has been 

maladministration on the part of the bank 

• a matter that would more appropriately be dealt with 

by a court of law or another dispute resolution process 

• a matter which is or has been the subject of litigation, 

subject to certain exceptions 

• an act or omission which occurred more than three years 

prior to the date when the complaint was lodged with 

the Ombud. The period of three years commences on the 

date on which the complainant became aware, or ought 

reasonably to have become aware, of such occurrence, 

whichever occurs first 

• a claim that has become prescribed by law 

The OBSSA is not a court of law, but it can and does, reports 

Steyn, act as “an alternative dispute resolution body, which, 

free of charge, assists bank customers resolve their queries with 

the banks”. 

The first objective is to ensure that, where there was 

wrongdoing on the part of the bank and the customer suffered 

loss as a result, the customer is put in a position he/she would 

have been in had there been no wrongdoing by the bank. 

But the OBS can impose sanctions. As Steyn says, “We also have 

authority to impose a distress and inconvenience award of up to 

R50 000.” The amount imposed would depend on the merits of 

each case. The intention, notes Steyn, is neither “to enrich the 

customer or punish the bank” but to ensure that mistakes are 

corrected and where possible, avoided in the future. 

Ombud services are free 

“We have assisted thousands of customers and recovered millions 

of rands for customers,” reports Steyn. In many cases the people 

who were helped would not have been able to afford to take the 

banks to court. 



“Our successes are published as case summaries in our annual 

report, website and press releases with the aim of providing 

awareness of our services to the South African banking public. 

The case studies also serve to warn the public of the prevalent 

scams that they may fall victim to as well as alert them of the 

unethical practices from the banks should we identify them,” 

adds Steyn. 

The independence of the OBS is carefully protected. The 

board of the OBS has a majority of directors who are unrelated 

to banking and it is that board that appoints the Ombud. Steyn 

is clear on the importance of independence: “For any Ombud to 

acquire the trust of the community that it serves, it must not only 

profess to be independent but must be seen by the community 

it is established to assist as being independent.” 

The OBS employs admitted attorneys with work experience due 

to the legal nature of the work done as well as the professional 

services that are offered to South Africans who ordinarily would 

not be able to afford to pay for a lawyer. 

The staff are expected to possess good ethics, fairness, 

good communication skills, be hardworking, team players, 

nonjudgmental and have the ability to remain neutral in conflictresolution 

situations. 

What to watch for 

In terms of volumes of complaints to the OBS, fraud normally 

provides the highest number. This is followed by service-related 

complaints, maladministration and complaints relating to bank 

customers being debt stressed. 

Steyn is acutely aware of what the country’s scamsters are up 

to and cautions, “South Africans should be wary of the phishing, 

vishing and smishing scams. These involve the fraudsters sending 

deceptive emails (phishing), SMS messages (smishing), or making 

phone calls pretending to be from the bank or some other 

legitimate organisation or service provider (vishing). Victims are 

requested to insert their Internet banking passwords and PINs 

into the links sent to them via emails or SMSs purporting to be 

from the bank or tricked into sharing their bank card numbers 

and/or OTPs as part of a verification process or by claiming that 

there is an urgent need for it.“ Unfortunately, the victims fall for the 

scam and unwittingly reveal their confidential banking details and 

discover once their accounts have been depleted that they were 

being defrauded.” 

Other scams to watch for are where the fraudsters call their 

victims pretending to be from the bank. They then inform the 

victims of an alleged fraud taking place in their accounts and 

convince them to provide their Internet banking access details. 

They then log onto the account of the victim and transfer the funds 

into their accounts under the pretext that the funds are being 

moved to safety. 

The other big one to be wary of, says Steyn, is, “SIM swapping 

fraud, where the fraudsters deceive the victim's mobile service 

provider and get a new SIM card with the victim's phone number. 

With the victim's incoming calls and messages now diverted 

to the fraudster's device, they can intercept OTPs and gain 

unauthorised access to the victim's online accounts or perform 

fraudulent transactions.” 

South Africans are advised to remain vigilant and to be aware 

that no bank or legitimate organisation will ever send a 

customer link requesting them to provide their confidential 

banking details, nor would they ever call a customer and 

request their confidential details. 


OBS Call Centre: 0860 800 900 

Email: info@obssa.co.za 

Whatsapp: +27 66 473 0157 

Website: www.obssa.co.za 

Reana Steyn, CEO and Ombudsman for Banking Services. 

Biography 

Before Reana’s appointment as Ombudsman for Banking 

Services in 2017, she held positions such as the Deputy 

Ombud at the Office of the Credit Ombud, Senior Manager 

in the Regulatory and Compliance services division at KPMG 

and legal advisor for the National Credit Regulator as well 

as for a leading insurance company. Reana holds BCom 

(Law) and LLB degrees and is an admitted attorney, having 

spent about nine years of her career at the international 

firm of Norton Rose Fulbright, specialising in matters 

as diverse as aviation and medical negligence. This was 

followed by a further decade specialising in insurance 

law. She also currently holds the position of Chair of 

the International Network of Financial Ombudsman. 


RAND WATER FOUNDATION 

Improving the quality of life 

by investing in communities 

The Rand Water Foundation has an admirable track record of work on school ablution facilities, 

the clearing of alien vegetation, food gardening, water harvesting and sanitation. 

The Zuurbekom Clinic has received upgrades as part of the "Rand Water Cares" programme. 

The United Nations has adopted a resolution recognising 

social investment as a driver of inclusive and sustainable 

economies. The resolution calls on all member states to 

promote social economy through national, regional and 

local strategies, policies and programmes. 

The resolution further stipulates that to unlock the 

potential of a social economy, there is a dire need for public 

support and private investment. In a country where most of its 

citizens are living below the poverty lines, businesses in South 

Africa should embrace Corporate Social Investment (CSI) as 

an effective mechanism to improve the living conditions of 

ordinary people. Rand Water Foundation (RWF), a legal entity 

of Rand Water, was established in 2003 as a way to reach the 

underprivileged and to improve the lives of our communities 

in the Rand Water service area. Since then, the organisation has 

performed exceptionally well. The RWF’s mandate is to carry 

out social responsibility initiatives on behalf of Rand Water 

to display its good corporate citizenship. Since its inception, it 

has accomplished several community-based projects. Some of 

those that have been accomplished include, but are not limited 

to, refurbishment of school ablution facilities, clearing of alien 

vegetation, food gardening, water harvesting, repairment of 

domestic water leaks and the eradication of the bucket system 

in certain areas. 

The RWF was registered in terms of the Companies 

Act 71 of 2008 and its responsibility are as follows: 

• Promote the delivery of water-related services to communities 

within and outside Rand Water’s areas of supply 

• Coordinate, administer and manage Rand Water’s CSI resources, 

undertaking community development projects in partnership 

with donors and relevant stakeholders 

• Spearhead strategic development role that may require decisive 

contributions to Rand Water’s socio-economic imperatives, 

the developmental priorities of the Department of Water and 

Sanitation and the government’s broader objectives 

In terms of governance, the RWF operates under the auspices of 

a Board of Directors, which oversees and determines strategic 

direction for the organisation to ensure it exercises prudent 

control over its affairs. Its mission is to strategically utilise 

Rand Water’s CSI resources to advance the quality of life in 

communities and their surrounds through sustainable provision 

of water and sanitation solutions. 

Addressing development 

Currently, the RWF is implementing a wide range of developmental 

projects to progressively address the societal issues relating to 

water and sanitation, skills shortages, poverty, unemployment 

and encourage entrepreneurship. The implementation of these 

projects is directly contributing towards sustainable livelihoods 

and enabling communities to participate in economic initiatives. 

The Foundation Projects Board Committee (FPBC) provides 

advice and assists the RWF in facilitating the initiation of socioeconomic 

development projects which are then approved by 

the RWF Board and the Board of Rand Water. The FPBC also offers 

support to existing projects encountering challenges, encourages 

the sharing of best practices and lessons learnt in terms of project 

implementation and management trends, reviews the project 

plans and implementation progress reports for presentation to the 

RWF Board. Under a focus area known as “Rand Water Cares”, two 

infrastructural development projects have been built in Mogale 

City (a Career Centre and a Resources Centre) and a clinic has been 

upgraded in Zuurbekom at Rand West. 



Some of the RWF’s flagship projects include: 

• Domestic water leaks repairs 

The project is aimed at enabling municipalities to curb 

water losses and save costs so they could be able to pay 

for water services rendered by Rand Water. This project is 

being implemented in the municipalities of Emfuleni and 

Merafong City in Gauteng. When the project was launched, 

it enrolled 240 local young people on a programme as part 

of skills transfer to train them in plumbing, water leaks 

detection, water use efficiency and technical support during 

the 2020/21 financial year. It was estimated that these young 

people would embark on retrofitting of 4 432 households in 

their respective municipalities. 

By the end of 2020/21 financial year, 4 161 households had 

been retrofitted. Furthermore, 100 young people were trained 

as water ambassadors. Their roles were to educate and create 

awareness on water-use efficiency in communities. 

The initiative to assist municipalities to manage water 

losses accordingly is in response to the government’s 2030 

vision of the National Development Plan (NDP). An important 

programme linked to the NDP as a priority outcome is to 

improve the quality of household life through basic services. 

Not only did young people benefit from this project, but 

temporary jobs were also created for 240 ordinary unemployed 

members of the community, whereas 220 local community 

members were trained as water conservation ambassadors. 

Their responsibilities were to educate and create awareness 

about water-use efficiency and significance of paying water 

services. A further 160 young people were trained in plumbing, 

entrepreneurship and innovation as artisans and 80 more were 

trained on end-user computing and technical support as Water 

Leaks Detectors (WLD). 

The RWF also assisted 10 small, medium and micro enterprises 

(SMMEs) to register to trade as plumbing businesses. Between 

the 2019/20 and 2021/22 financial years, 8 593 households were 

retrofitted according to the Impact Assessment Report issued 

by RW Cycle Management Department. Approximately 25% 

of water was saved in Emfuleni Local Municipality and 13% in 

Merafong Local Municipality. 

Career and Resources Centre in Mogale City. 

Credit: Enviro Loo 

• Schools sanitation and water supply 

The project is being implemented in the cities of Johannesburg, 

Ekurhuleni and Mogale City in Gauteng. It is also being 

implemented in the local municipalities of Thembisile Hani, 

eMalahleni and Dr JS Moroka in Mpumalanga Province and 

Madibeng in the North West. The focus area of this project 

is to eradicate the poorly designed pit latrines systems that 

pose a danger to learners. The project entails the construction 

and repairing of ablution facilities, drilling and installation 

of boreholes in rural schools and raising awareness about 

health and hygiene, operations and maintenance. The project 

benefited 10 schools with a population of 4 000 and created 

218 jobs for members of the local community. 



• Household sanitation and bucket eradication 

The main purpose of this project was to eradicate the 

bucket sanitation system in Petrus Steyn and Rietz 

Farms within Nketoane Local Municipality in the Free 

State. The project donated waterless-sanitation facilities 

to 140 households and created 119 job opportunities. 

The project cost R1.9-million. 

• Clearing of alien vegetation 

The flagship project had been implemented in partnership with 

the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment 

(DFFE) in the Thabo Mofutsanyane District Municipality, Free 

State. The project was aimed at protecting underground water 

supplies. The clearing of alien vegetation was implemented 

on all streams flowing into the Ash River catchment, which is 

a source of water for Rand Water. The project has cleared 298 

hectares of land and created 115 jobs for members of the local 

communities. The implementation of this project has benefited 

six SMMEs. The project cost was R629 000. 

• Water harvesting 

The project is implemented in the Mamafubedu, Lindley 

and Rietz townships in Nketoane Local Municipality in the 

Free State and in Oukasie, Lethlabile, Maboloka and Hebron 

townships in Madibeng Local Municipality in the North West 

and Siyabuswa, Marapyane and Libangeni townships in Dr 

JS Moroka Municipality in Mpumalanga Province.The project 

benefited 40 schools and two SMMEs were utilised and 310 

local jobs were created. This project contributed immensely 

towards water-demand management and conservation. 

Water harvesting promotes the collection and storage of 

rainwater during high rainfall months for productive use as 

an alternative source to municipal water. The project provides 

added capacity for water storage for schools. The project cost 

the RWF R3.3-million. 

Strategic Leadership 

Under the leadership of its General Manager, Mohlatleho 

Sekoaila, the organisation has brought smiles to thousands of 

school learners and created thousands of temporary jobs for 

the unskilled and unemployed beyond Rand Water’s areas of 

supply. She believes corporate social investment is a programme 

that strives to support sustainable initiatives and improve the 

living conditions of the poor and marginalised communities. 

That, Sekoaila said, would ensure that the programme achieved 

short and long-term positive impact in alleviating poverty and 

improving the environment. 

“The RWF’s corporate social investment is a vehicle which the 

organisation utilises to equip ordinary South Africans, schools and 

communities with the necessary skills and knowledge so they 

could build sustainable and dignified futures for their children,” 

she added. 

Mohlatleho Sekoaila, who was appointed to 

lead the RWF in 2008, is in possession of the 

following academic qualifications: 

• Bachelor of Social Work (University of Venda) 

• Master of Social Sciences in Community Development 

(University of the Johannesburg) 

• Master of Management in Public Policy (University of the 

Witwatersrand) 

• Certificate in Advanced Programme and Project 

Management in Public and Development Management 

(University of the Witwatersrand) 

• Certificate in International Executive Leadership Development 

Programme (University of the Witwatersrand and London 

Business Schools) 

• NEXUS VII Leadership Programme Certificate (Gordon Institute 

of Business School) 

Sekoaila has 27 years’ experience in different sectors under her belt. 

She has worked in various sectors including non-governmental 

organisations, the local government sector, the water sector and 

the Departments of Social Development and Correctional Services. 


RECYCLING 

Money in a bottle 

The Glass Recycling Company outlines how best to go about recycling glass. 

Many individuals are looking for ways 

to earn an additional or informal 

income during challenging times. 

One such method is by collecting 

recyclables and selling to buy-back centres. The 

Glass Recycling Company, the national body 

encouraging the recycling of glass packaging, 

has some helpful tips for would-be recyclers who 

are struggling and require additional income via 

collecting glass for income in their community. 

Five key facts for glass collectors 

For anyone interested in collecting glass for 

recycling or suggesting this as a method for 

someone to make some extra money, it's 

important to know the essential facts. This list 

provides key points for recycling collectors in 

South Africa: 

Accepted glass types 

As a collector, focus on gathering packaging 

glass; this is clear and coloured glass bottles and 

jars. These can include beverage bottles, food 

containers and cosmetics bottles. Remember, 

items like light bulbs, window panes and mirrors 

are not accepted with glass bottles and jars! 

Earn money by selling 

Sell your collected glass to buy-back centres 

to earn cash. These centres are interested in 

purchasing glass for recycling purposes. 

Locate a buy-back centre 

Find local buy-back centres in your area. These 

centres purchase glass for recycling purposes 

and offer monetary rewards. Ask your buy-back 

centre to provide you with collection bags. Look 

for recycling centres, scrap yards and buy-back 

centres that accept glass. You can also contact The 

Glass Recycling Company www.tgrc.co.za to find 

one in your area. 

Preparing glass for recycling 

Ensure your collected glass is prepared properly. 

Separate metal or plastic lids or caps for separate 

recycling. You may crush your glass into cullet 

(broken glass pieces) but it’s very important 

not to crush your glass too fine. Each piece of 

glass should be no smaller than a R5 coin. When 

handling broken glass, take precautions to avoid 

injuries and secure it during transportation. 

Store glass safely 

Ensure your glass is kept safely and is not a risk 

to those around you. Make sure you are storing 

your glass away from children and not on public 

land, not in parks or along our rivers and spruits. 

Visit www.tgrc.co.za for advice, tips and support. 

As a glass collector in South Africa, you have 

the opportunity to earn money while making 

a positive impact on the environment. By 

collecting glass for recycling, you play a vital role 

in supporting the recycling industry in South 

Africa. Your efforts contribute to conserving 

resources and reducing litter and making our 

landfills smaller. Remember to focus on accepted 

glass types, locate a buy-back centre, and prepare 

glass properly to sell your collected glass for to 

earn cash. By following these steps, you contribute 

to a sustainable recycling industry and help create 

a better future for you, and the environment. 

About TGRC 

The Glass Recycling Company (TGRC) consists of 

a team dedicated to increasing glass recycling in 

South Africa. We are passionate about ensuring 

every South African realises the value of recycling 

glass and actively embraces this practice. TGRC 

is funded by our loyal member companies who 

manufacture glass or package their products 

in glass. While we do not physically recycle the 

glass, we strive to educate, enable, encourage and 

inspire our communities to separate their glass for 

recycling daily. We also aim to uplift impoverished 

communities through job creation and skills 

development in the recycling sector. 

TGRC believes in the infinite potential of glass 

to make a real and positive contribution to society. 

At TGRC we are committed to prove that glass 

recycling is worth the effort. 

For tips and advice, see Facebook: www.facebook. 

com/TheGlassRecyclingCo or visit our website 

http://www.tgrc.co.za/ 


ROOIBOS 

The status of Rooibos is 

internationally protected 

The popular tea that is really a herb has a number of surprising qualities. Rooibos 

specialist Joekels shares 13 fast facts about South Africa’s beloved brew. 

In the Cederberg region of the Western Cape grows one of the 

country’s most famous exports, Rooibos. This healthy herb has 

been infused in everything from skincare products and ice 

cream to undeniably its most popular form, Rooibos tea. But 

even the most ardent fans of Rooibos may not be aware of the 

rich history and incredible benefits of this homegrown South 

African product. 

“Rooibos has always been a popular tea among South Africans, 

but the growth in the international market has seen a major spike 

in the number of Rooibos consumers,” explains Candice Sessions, 

Laager Marketing Manager. 

“The Rooibos tea industry has grown faster than any other teas 

in the last decade because of the incredible taste and long-lasting 

health benefits of Rooibos.” 

The South African Rooibos Council (SARC), which was 

established in 2005 to responsibly promote Rooibos, has compiled 

a comprehensive background on the herb and shared several 

informative facts. 

Needle tea 

In bygone days, people of the Cederberg region called Rooibos 

naaldetee (needle tea) because of its sharp thin leaves springing 

out of the slender branches. 

Drought-resistant 

Rooibos is hardy and can withstand drought because it stores 

nutrients underground in its lignotuber, a woody thickening 

around the stem. Because the leaves are so narrow, they can retain 

the scarce moisture in the searing heat. 

Not a tea 

Despite its name, Rooibos is not a true tea but rather a herb. The 

tea is a herbal infusion known as a tisane. 

Homegrown 

Rooibos is only grown in one region in the whole world, the 

Cederberg region in the Western Cape. This region provides 

the Rooibos plant (aspalathus linearis) with the perfect set of 

conditions it needs to thrive. 

Job creation 

Rooibos is a major contributor to the South African economy. 

It’s estimated there are more than 500 Rooibos farmers 

with around 5 000 people working on Rooibos tea farms or 

processing plants. 

Big plantations 

The Rooibos tea plantations cover twice as much land as they did 

in the mid-1990s, with the expectation that they will cover around 

60 000 hectares in future. 

Tea for all 

In an average year, the Rooibos industry produces around 18 000 

tons, enough to make over seven-billion cups of tea. 

Local support 

Rooibos makes up around a third of the South African tea market. 

Rooibos is served at most cafés, restaurants and hotels, with a 

variety of Rooibos brands and products found in every grocery 

or supermarket. 

Geographical Indication 

One of SARC’s early achievements was attaining Geographical 

Indication (GI) status for Rooibos tea to protect the name 

internationally in the interests of the domestic industry. Other 

examples of products with GI status include champagne, parma 

ham, darjeeling tea, parmesan cheese and kalamata olives. 

Skincare celebrities 

Rooibos is being used extensively in the skincare industry. When 

asked about her beauty routine, South African-born Hollywood 

star Charlize Theron says that she favours natural ingredients from 

her native country, like marula oil and Rooibos tea to keep her skin 

“hydrated and glowy”. 

Tata for tea 

During former president Nelson Mandela’s 18-year imprisonment 

on Robben Island, Rooibos tea was his favourite beverage. 

Community benefit 

In 2019, an Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) agreement was 

established between the Rooibos Industry, represented by the SA 

Rooibos Council (SARC), and the Khoi-Khoi and San, represented 

by the National Khoi-San Council (NKC) and the South African 

San Council (SASC). This agreement will see the Khoi-Khoi and 

San communities benefit from the commercialisation of Rooibos. 


ROOIBOS 

Rooibos for children 

Laager pioneered the concept of a Rooibos 

brand specifically geared towards children 

in the early 2000s. Laager Tea4Kidz is 

available in five flavours with all the 

associated benefits of Rooibos, including 

boosting immunity and relieving 

symptoms of allergies. 

SOME HEALTH BENEFITS 

One of the biggest reasons that Rooibos 

tea continues to gain popularity – beyond 

its great taste – is its many health benefits. 

In 1968, Annekie Theron discovered her 

youngest child would finally settle after 

drinking Rooibos tea, despite suffering from 

stomach issues for years. Theron discovered 

that Rooibos tea was able to soothe colicky 

babies. She recalled: “It all started in 1968 

when I discovered by chance that Rooibos had 

therapeutic value. Until that stage, nothing unusual 

about Rooibos had been known.” 

Further research has revealed a number 

of other health benefits including: 

• Rooibos tea is a good source of antioxidants and is the only 

known source of a potent antioxidant aspalathin, which could 

play a role in combating several lifestyle diseases. 

• Rooibos tea is naturally caffeine-free, making it suitable for 

children, infants and breastfeeding mothers. 

• Rooibos tea has proven cancer-fighting properties in animal 

research studies, and exciting new research points towards 

the role that Rooibos can play in promoting heart health and 

preventing diabetes. 

• Rooibos tea has low amounts of tannins which are the bittertasting 

plant polyphenols that bind and precipitate proteins, 

interfering with iron absorption in the body. 

No negative side effects of Rooibos have ever been recorded. 

Find out more about Laager Rooibos, including Rooibos-infused 

recipes, by visiting www.joekels.co.za or @LaagerRooibosTea on 

Facebook and Instagram. 

ABOUT JOEKELS 

Joekels packs, blends and distributes some of South Africa’s most 

popular household tea brands including Tetley, Laager, Tea Time, 

Tea4Kidz and Society Coffee. Started in 1994 by businessman Joe 

Swart and Master Tea Blender Jonathan Kelsey, Joekels is an awardwinning 

business with both Halaal and Kosher accreditation, as 

well as the highest global-food safety and quality certification, 

FSSC 22000. The Laager Rooibos brand is accredited by the Heart 

& Stroke Foundation of South Africa. 

Visit www.joekels.co.za 


MOHAIR SUSTAINABILITY 

Protecting the land 

for generations to come 

SAMIL CEO Michael Brosnahan explains that sustainability is much 

more than a project for mohair farmers and producers. 

What are the main planks of SAMIL’s sustainability policy? 

Our core values are honesty and integrity which translate into 

looking after our small piece of the world and everything and 

everybody in it. To this end, everything we do is questioned as 

to whether it will have a detrimental effect on our environment 

or our people, whether it be how we farm our goats on the land 

or how we process the material in our factories. We only use 

chemicals that have been certified by OEKO-TEX or an equivalent 

certification proving that they cause no harm to humans or 

animals. We have created a work environment on our farms and 

in our factories and offices where all employees are viewed as 

assets and are treated as such. 

How can more jobs be created in the mohair industry? 

More jobs in the mohair industry can really only be created by 

creating awareness of this wonderful fibre around the world. The 

price of mohair limits its general use so the main end uses are 

high-fashion items with exclusive big-name brands. 

Are your farmers working on projects to protect the land? 

Our farmers are not working on “projects” to protect the land – this 

is a constant part of everyday life on the farms. The farmer needs 

to protect his livelihood, not just for himself but for his children 

and his children’s children. Many of our Angora farmers have been 

farming goats on the land for more than 100 years, some into the 

second and third generation. 

What is the Responsible Mohair Standard? Has its introduction 

had the desired effect? 

The Responsible Mohair Standard or RMS is an international 

voluntary standard that addresses animal welfare on goat farms as 

well as managing the “chain of custody” of mohair from the certified 

farms through to the final products purchased by the consumer. 

The key values of RMS are: 

• protecting animal welfare 

• regenerative agriculture 

• social responsibility 

• traceability 

Its introduction has definitely had the desired effect – mohair is 

once again globally desired which helps to protect the more than 

30 000 people employed in the industry in South Africa 

Do you see growth prospects for mohair globally? 

There are no doubt growth prospects for mohair globally as it is such 

a versatile fibre. We have to strike a balance, though, between the 

price that the farmer needs to ensure his mohair clip is an economic 

product to farm and the price that the consumer is prepared to pay 

for mohair products in the marketplace. 


yarns@samil.co.za | sales@samil.co.za | www.samil.co.za

ESG 

Making ESG work 

for the agricultural sector 

Agribusinesses can maximise opportunities and promote resilience by adopting ESG strategies, 

according to Lerato Molefi, Associate, and Dalit Anstey, Knowledge Lawyer, from Webber Wentzel. 

While some businesses in the agricultural sector are 

embracing Environmental, Social and Governance 

(ESG) and are benefitting from global ESG trends, 

such as ESG and impact investing, the agricultural 

sector in Africa has been slow to adopt ESG strategies. There is also 

cynicism among some agribusinesses with respect to the question 

of whether ESG is really a necessary or useful tool in their contexts. 

ESG Africa Conference recently hosted a webinar titled “ESG 

in Agriculture – A Distraction or the Solution?”, which considered 

whether ESG is a distraction from the core business activities 

of the agricultural sector, or a solution to the challenges faced 

by the sector. 

There appears to be a widely held view that when it comes to the 

agricultural sector, ESG is onerous. It appears that the agricultural 

sector finds it difficult to be profitable and green simultaneously. 

This criticism of ESG is not unique to the agricultural sector. ESG 

proposes an integrated approach to the triple bottom line, namely 

people, planet and prosperity. Older models of shareholder primacy 

emphasise profit over all else. Buy-in to ESG therefore requires a 

paradigm shift. On a closer look, the criticism appears to emerge 

from the experiences of many agribusinesses in trying to access 

green finance, which has proven to be difficult. Obtaining finance 

such as green bonds often comes at an additional cost to farmers, 

such as developing and marketing instruments and employing 

professional advisers. Again, this is not unique to the agricultural 

sector. This concern is valid and points to a challenge consistently 

being raised by developing countries/emerging markets, namely 

how do we incentivise ESG initiatives and funding, as opposed to 

simply creating more red tape? 

The reality is that ESG risks affect businesses across all sectors, 

including the agricultural sector. 

The agricultural sector's vulnerability to climate change is 

heightened by its reliance on water, land and favourable or 

reliable climate conditions, which are already being destabilised 

by climate change. When it comes to the social aspect of ESG, 

the agricultural sector in South Africa has had to transition away 

from racially discriminatory practices. A lot of progress has been 

made. However, there is still a long way to go to ensure that fair 

opportunities exist for black farmers with respect to resources, 

including land, water and equipment. One of the challenges for 

the industry is improving its stance on providing a living, rather 

than a minimum wage. 

Globally, we are seeing changing consumer and customer 

preferences for products which affect the agricultural industry. 

For example, regulators and consumers are demanding that 

products have a lower carbon footprint and that packaging is 

designed having regard to its end-of-life to ensure that it does not 

become waste. This may affect how fresh produce is treated or the 

product choice itself. Integrating ESG into the agricultural sector is 

not only important to deal with ESG risks, but also to ensure that 

opportunities are maximised. 

There are already some interesting and impactful ESG initiatives 

in the agricultural sector especially in regenerating ecosystems, 

farming methods and transformative partnerships. For example, 

farmers who are switching their farming methods to more 

sustainable practices are selling carbon or biodiversity credits. 

Collaboration among industry players and information 

sharing is key to building successful ESG 

initiatives. ESG could create significant 

revenue generation to complement 

farmers' existing sources of revenue. 

Resilience and adaptation are familiar 

concepts in the agricultural sector, which is 

no stranger to natural disasters. Given that 

ESG is ultimately a tool to promote resilience 

within organisations, among other things, 

the agricultural sector is well placed to grasp 

and adopt ESG. 

Credit: Fredox Carvalho on Pexels 


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BORDER SECURITY 

The Border 

Management Authority 

aims to improve security 

and streamline processes 

The first Commissioner and CEO of the newly appointed Border Management 

Authority, Dr NM Masiapato, shares his thoughts on how integrating 

functions will lead to improved security and better conditions for trade. 

South Africa’s rapid transition from global pariah under 

apartheid to a welcomed member of the global community 

under the country’s first democratically elected president, 

Nelson Mandela, brought with it many benefits. It 

also opened up the country to a range of threats ranging from 

intercontinental drug networks and arms smuggling to human 

trafficking. The country’s improved status also greatly increased the 

amount of trade that started flowing through the nation’s ports, 

airports and border posts. This was another benefit that brought 

with it some complications: greater volumes of trade created huge 

amounts of work for officials for a range of departments tasked 

with various aspects of border management and increased the 

possibilities for criminal activity. In response to these challenges 

South Africa’s newest entity, the Border Management Authority 

(BMA), was officially launched in the northern Limpopo town of 

Musina in October 2023. 

Musina is a border town with a busy crossing into neighbouring 

Zimbabwe, one of 53 ports of entry into the country that are on 

land. In addition, there are 11 international airports and eight 

seaports. The land border alone is more than 4 800km long and 

so the task of policing and administering the border is a big one. 

Because the Border Management Authority is a third national 

armed law enforcement authority (after the South African National 

Defence Force and the South African Police Service) it had to be 

formally launched by the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces 

of the Republic, President Cyril Ramaphosa. And that is why a 

formal sword of command was officially presented to the Border 

Management Authority’s first Commissioner and CEO, Dr Nakampe 

Michael Masiapato. 

Integration 

The process of bringing the BMA into being was not done 

overnight. Months of preparation have seen various officials 

being moved from various departments to the new, integrated 

operation. As Dr NM Masiapato describes the process, “We had to 

Dr NM Masiapato, Commissioner and CEO of the Border 

Management Authority 

integrate officials who were actually working at the ports of entry 

who were deployed by these various government departments. 

We had to move them out of those departments into the Border 

Management Authority so that it becomes an integrated border 

management platform for the implementation of border laws of 

the Republic under a single command and control.” 

Among the entities involved in border management are the 

police, the South African National Defence Force, South African 

Revenue Service (customs and revenue collection) and various 

government departments dealing with health, agriculture and 

the environment. Dr Masiapato notes that there was a level of 

complexity because it was necessary to “integrate various systems 

that had been deployed by various government departments 


BORDER SECURITY 

President Cyril Ramaphosa formally invests Dr Masiapato with 

the authority to lead the Border Management Authority. 

Three leaders: General David Chilembe, Deputy Commissioner: 

Operations (left), with fellow Deputy Commissioner: Corporate 

Services, MJJ Thupana, and Commissioner Dr Masiapato. 

which were operating in silos”. The goal entailed “moving away 

from the implementation of border management through a multiagency 

approach” and creating a single, integrated model, “with a 

single command and control across the ports of entry”. 

The key aspect involves the BMA working closely with “three 

critical organs of State and those are the South African National 

Defence Force, the South African Police Service as well as the South 

African Revenue Service” but could include any other agency or 

body whose work might relate to border issues. The BMA operates 

under guidelines which specify that it is “a Schedule 3A public entity 

that is supposed to be operating autonomously and it operates 

outside the public service but within public administration”. 

In welcoming the establishment of the BMA, President 

Ramaphosa wrote, “The Border Management Authority is tasked 

with ensuring that our country’s immigration laws are enforced, 

and that our borders are well-protected and ports of entry 

well-managed.” 

Tasks 

Among the critical functions of the BMA are: 

• access control 

• environmental bio-security 

• protection of human health 

• agricultural bio-security 

Commissioner Masiapato has highlighted that the method 

deployed by agents at ports of entry will be a “risk-based model 

that would be able to identify individuals that would be intercepted 

and prevented from committing criminal activities”. 

A number of successes have already been achieved by the BMA. 

The large and complex gathering which was the 15th BRICS 

Summit 2023 went off without a hitch, with the BMA contributing 

to that success by processing journalists, participating officials and 

more than 60 heads of state. 

Since the BMA started functioning as a separate entity, the 

following interceptions have been made: 

• 141 vehicles which were stolen or hijacked 

• more than 5 500 counterfeit goods prevented from entering 

• 95 217 people trying to enter the country with no documentation 

• 35 944 people trying to enter the country who were declared 

undesirable 

Trade and efficiency 

One of the biggest upsides of an efficiently functioning border 

management authority will be to improve trade between South 

Africa and its neighbours. Dr Masiapato wants to “make sure 

that we streamline the movement of trade between us and 

our neighbouring jurisdictions and among the broader global 

community of nations”. 

Work has begun on tightening border control with Zimbabwe 

and improving trade relations and synchronising systems with 

Mozambique. Instead of slow movement of trucks and port 

backlogs, Dr Masiapato wants to “make sure there is a better 

movement of trade”. Exporters and importers must see results, 

he says. Working on the efficiency of trade movement must 

not detract border operations from the security mission. Dr 

Masiapato stresses: “We also had to make sure that we look after 

the country’s national security and also its national interest and 

make sure that we are able to protect the Republic.” President 

Ramaphosa sums it up as follows: “The establishment of the 

BMA is a significant step towards safer communities, better law 

enforcement and the growth of our economy through greater 

trade with our neighbours.” 

For more information on the Border Management Authority, 

contact www.bma.gov.za 


FINANCE 

Listing in Cape Town 

Small and medium-sized companies looking for alternatives 

to list their stock now have more options than ever before. 

From 2017, a number of stock exchanges obtained licences 

to trade, replicating a trend in the issuing of new licences 

to banks. This is indicative of a trend towards more competition 

in the financial sector generally, with new entrants looking for 

ways to create new customers, whether it be via mobile phones 

or banking booths in retail stores. 

Most of the new stock exchanges took names that had a “tech” 

ring about them, and 4AX was no exception. Except that stock 

exchange decided to rebrand as the Cape Town Stock Exchange. 

Operations moved to a building, coincidentally called the 

“Exchange Building”, directly opposite the Stock Exchange Hotel 

in trendy Woodstock. If one were a person interested in odds, one 

might ask, “What are the odds of all those exchanges ending up 

next to or in one another?” 

But the bet on Cape Town was no shot in the dark. Cape Town 

was recently ranked second in Africa for competitiveness as a 

financial centre, according to the Global Financial Centres Index. 

Mauritius was top. Many asset managers are now located in greater 

Cape Town, joining the insurance companies and the financialservices 

groups. 

According to Tracxn, there are currently 173 fintech startups in 

Cape Town, including Jumo and Yoco. 

One of CTSE’s 2023 listings fitted in well with the idea of a 

new exchange catering to a new economy. In August, Gaia Fund 

Managers announced the listing of an initial tranche of preference 

shares of the Gaia Renewables REIT on the CTSE. This kind of fund 

allows investors to have a stake in the burgeoning renewable 

energy economy. CTSE CEO Eugene Booysen says that it helps 

that the bond investment community and “decision-makers” are 

in Cape Town. Says Booysen: “Our model closely aligns with the 

region’s digital drive, investment strategy and marketing." 

On the same floor as the CTSE is the Bandwidth Barn, a tech 

incubator run by the Cape Innovation & Technology Initiative 

(CiTi). Booysen was full 

of praise for the Western 

Cape’s investment agency, 

Wesgro, and the province’s 

premier, Alan Winde, 

who smoothed the way 

for the new exchange 

and welcomed the new 

business to the province.

Economic data 

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) regularly publishes economic data 

relating to business confidence and trade, the SACCI Business Confidence Index and the Trade Conditions 

Survey. As of 2023, SACCI has been collaborating with the Bureau of Market Research (BMR) in producing 

the Small Business Growth Index. For more statistics, see www.sacci.org.za and www.bmr.co.za 

SACCI Business Confidence Index Business confidence remains passive 

The SACCI Business Confidence Index (BCI) recorded a reading of 108.6 in 

August 2023, followed by 108.2 in September 2023, with the base year set 

at 2020=100. This represents a slight increase from the July 2023 figure of 

107.3 but the BCI has been lacking substantial upward momentum, hovering 

around an average level of 107.5. In comparison, the BCI for September 2023 

stands 2.7 index points below the corresponding level in September 2022. 

From an average level of 112.5 in the 4th quarter of 2022, the BCI declined to 

112.0 in the 1st quarter of 2023, further dropping to 107.6 in the 2nd quarter 

of 2023, before rebounding to 108.0 in the 3rd quarter of 2023. Despite the 

absence of a strong upward trend in business confidence, the BCI appears 

SACCI Trade Conditions Survey August 2023 

to have stabilised, with an average of 109.2 in the first nine months of 2023. 

In the South short term, African foreign Chamber business-related of Commerce factors, and Industry including merchandise 

imports, exports Trade and inward Conditions tourism, Survey had the most positive impact on 

business confidence in September August 2023 2023. Over the medium term, increased 

inward tourism and higher precious-metal prices made notable positive 

contributions. Conversely, the unpredictability of the weaker rand against 

major trading currencies, increased real cost of credit and reduced 

merchandise export volumes had the most notable negative impact on 

business confidence in September 2023. 

The SACCI Business Confidence Index (BCI) 2020=100 

Current Trade Conditions Index (TAI)* 

Activity Mar-23 Apr-23 May-23 Jun-23 Jul-23 Aug-23 

Sales volumes 50 50 45 42 50 40 

New orders 56 42 42 42 53 48 

Backlog on orders received 35 33 32 39 39 33 

Supplier deliveries 32 44 42 50 47 45 

Inventory level 35 42 61 63 47 45 

Selling prices 74 72 66 61 56 58 

Input prices 79 83 79 79 81 78 

Employment 29 33 37 42 42 35 

TAI 44 43 44 45 48 43 

TAI seasonally adjusted 42 41 43 46 48 41 

Note: The indices are diffusion indices and vary between 0 and 100. At 50 an index reflects 

a 'no change' situation and above or below 50 implies a positive or a negative reading 

depending on the trade component. 

* The TAI is the composite index of sales volumes, new orders, supplier deliveries, 

inventory levels and employment. 

Expected Trade Conditions Index (TEI)* 

Activity Mar-23 Apr-23 May-23 Jun-23 Jul-23 Aug-23 

Sales volumes 65 58 55 66 67 60 

New orders 62 61 55 63 67 60 

Backlog on orders received 44 47 32 37 36 33 

Supplier deliveries 50 44 47 50 53 53 

Inventory level 50 42 45 45 44 48 

Selling prices 76 72 63 61 67 70 

Input prices 85 92 87 84 78 73 

Employment 38 36 39 39 47 53 

TEI 55 51 50 55 58 56 

TEI seasonally adjusted 55 49 50 53 60 56 

* The TEI is the composite index of expectations on sales volumes, new orders, supplier 

deliveries, inventory levels and employment. 

The expectations are for six months ahead 

Trade Conditions Survey, SACCI 

Unsteady and constrained trade environment 

Cautionary note: A number of regular respondents went out of business 

in this period so results should be interpreted with circumspection. 

Trade conditions remain tight and unsteady. The composite 

index (TAI) of the survey, August 2023, represents the up-to-date 

performance of a number of trade elements, while the TEI measures 

expectations on trade elements in six months’ time. The present trade 

milieu remains difficult with 57% of the respondents experiencing 

negative trade conditions. Despite negative considerations, 56% of 

respondents are nonetheless positive about trade conditions six 

months from now. Except for a slight easing in input costs, all the other 

trade elements deteriorated. Input costs remain high, with 78% of 

respondents experiencing rising input costs in August 2023. With only 

58% of respondents reporting rising sales prices, inflationary pressures 

might ease further. Sales volumes and employment weakened the 

most of all the trade elements. The wholesale and retail trade (hotels 

and restaurants sector) contracted by 1.2% in the 1st half of 2023. 

Regardless of the current inhibited trade conditions, the positive 

expectations for the next six months support a positive outlook on 

trade. The number of visiting tourists increased by about 30%, but 

the number was still 35% below pre-Covid levels of February 2020.

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Opportunity Issue 107

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