Limpopo Business 2022-23

A REGIONAL OVERVIEW OF

A REGIONAL OVERVIEW OF LIMPOPO PROVINCE The Limpopo tourism sector is welcoming several new hotels. The Meropa Casino and Entertainment World is an established part of Polokwane’s entertainment and leisure environment, with 54 rooms and six suites. Credit: Sun International Attracting new investments is one of the key priorities for the province’s newly-established Special Economic Zones. The province’s platinum resources are opening up huge opportunities in the green energy field. By John Young Limpopo is engaged in a concerted drive to attract new investors to the province. A number of targeted conferences have been held in several key sectors and the teams leading the push to establish Special Economic Zones in the Limpopo have been working hard to promote the Musina-Makhado SEZ and the Fetakgomo-Tubatse SEZ. Each of the SEZs has its own unique attributes but both of them seek to support the beneficiation of minerals that are plentiful in the region, encourage the growth of green energy hubs and green manufacturing, take advantage of their strategic location to welcome logistics companies and to use the SEZs as a means of uplifting local communities through training, jobs and contracts to supply goods and services to the SEZs themselves, and to companies that set up operations in the SEZs. Early in 2022, the Limpopo Investment Conference was the site of investment pledges in the order of R208-billion, a figure which the province’s premier described as going a long way to help industrialise the province and create jobs. Somewhat surprisingly in the wake of Covid-19, at least three new hotels are under construction in the province, a testament to the wonderful variety that the area has to offer visitors and to the resilience of the sector. Some Limpopo nature reserves are to be commercialised using private-public partnerships. Among the first reserves to be part of the programme are Masebe, Rust de Winter and Lekgalameetse. The Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET) is responsible for 53 provincial nature reserves. LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2022/23 8

SPECIAL FEATURE Three major national parks – Kruger National Park, Mapungubwe in the north and Marakele in the Waterberg – are run by South African National Parks (SANParks) and attract large numbers of tourists every year. The province’s private game reserves and lodges enjoy a reputation for luxury and excellence of service that attracts tens of thousands of international visitors. The combined land area of Limpopo’s national, provincial and private game and nature reserves is 3.6-million hectares. The provincial government has committed to enhancing the value of Limpopo’s two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Makapans Valley and Mapungubwe Heritage Site, where the superbly crafted little golden rhinoceros, a relic from medieval times, was found in 1932. This is also a priority programme in the National Tourism Sector Strategy. The Waterberg Biosphere Reserve is a UNESCO protected site. In his 2022 State of the Province address delivered in February, Premier Chupu Stanley Mathabatha stated, “We are steering our economy to a green, resilient and inclusive developmental path, in line with the National Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan and the Limpopo Socioeconomic Recovery Plan.” In support of the investment drive, major infrastructure projects have been undertaken, not least by two roads agencies. SANRAL is the national agency and it has been busy in every part of Limpopo, including the building of a new ring road around Polokwane, the provincial capital. Roads Agency Limpopo (RAL) has similarly been actively engaged in fixing and upgrading roads throughout the province, sometimes in partnership with mining companies. Several large water-supply projects such as the Mokolo Crocodile Water Augmentation Project and the Groot Letaba Water Augmentation Project have been implemented or are underway. These infrastructure investments are vital, not only for the sake of the citizens of Limpopo whose needs are great, but to keep the economic wheels of the province turning and to convince investors that work is being done to make it possible to allow private enterprises to create functional and sustainable businesses. Limpopo’s assets include the largest diamond mine in South Africa (De Beers Venetia Mine), the biggest copper mine in South Africa (Palabora Mining Company), the biggest open-pit platinum mine in the country (Anglo America’s Mogalakwena) and the biggest vermiculite mine in the world. The province has 41% of South Africa’s PGMs, 90% of South Africa’s red-granite resources and approximately 50% of the country’s coal reserves. Antimony, a highly strategic mineral found in large quantities in China, is another of Limpopo’s major assets. In 2019, the mining sector in Limpopo employed 48 782 workers and paid out R39.7-billion in wages and salaries. The mining sector was less effected by shutdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic than many other industries. Record prices for some commodities ensured that mining houses were able to post excellent results in June and July 2021 and expansion projects, such as the purchase of new rights by Amplats (platinum), the conversion to underground mining by De Beers (diamonds) and increased volumes promised by Exxaro (coal), point to confidence in the future of the sector and the resource beneath the ground. The provincial government records that the province will be receiving a total investment from mining of R36.3-billion in the period to 2025. Agriculture The provincial government is putting considerable resources into agricultural infrastructure. This includes upgrading old irrigation schemes and building new ones, building a packhouse, investing in processing equipment at a tomato paste factory and constructing and supplying Farmer Production Support Units around the province. These all constitute attempts to bring small-scale farmers into the value chain at a point where more money can be made. Limpopo is home to some of South Africa’s largest commercial agricultural enterprises who are drawn to the fertile and varied soils that the province has to offer. This is one of the reasons why Limpopo punches above its weight in exports. One of the country’s biggest exporters, ZZ2, is in the process of building a giant new packhouse at its headquarters in Mooketsi. As one of the country’s largest agricultural companies, ZZ2 is 9 LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2022/23