The 2023/24 edition of Limpopo Business is the 15th issue of this highly successful publication that, since its launch in 2007, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the Limpopo Province.
In inviting investors to consider Limpopo, the Premier of Limpopo and the MEC for Economic Development, Environment and Tourism outline concrete steps that have been taken to add and improve infrastructure within the province and to tackle socioeconomic challenges.
The delicate balance between the need to utilise the bounty of the earth’s minerals for economic progress and the imperative to do so in a way that both boosts the local economy and does not degrade the environment is the subject of a special feature in the front section of the journal. Several mining companies have mitigation projects, employ local people and support local small businesses but Exxaro’s appointment of an all-female team of mounted game rangers stands out as a rather special initiative. News related to mining, agriculture, tourism, construction and property, water, education and development finance is carried in overviews of the main economic sectors.
To complement the extensive local, national and international distribution of the print edition, the full content can also be viewed online at www.globalafricanetwork.com. Updated information on Limpopo is also available through our monthly e-newsletter, which you can subscribe to online at www.gan.co.za, in addition to our complementary business-to-business titles that cover all nine provinces, our flagship South African Business title and the newest addition to our list of publications, African Business, which was launched in 2020.
Colonel MR Mphashi
Colonel MR Mphashi thanks PETCO Regional Recycling Manager, Tlou Sebola, for the separation-at-source container. to the third part of the equation in expressing its pride in appointing the rangers as part of efforts to “empower historically marginalised people in order to foster equitable and sustainable socio-economic prosperity”. Volunteer rangers In the Mopani and Vhembe districts, 50 young volunteers have been trained as Honorary Rangers in a step to enhance skills among young people and to fight against environmental crimes. This initiative is part of the drive by the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET) to integrate the Green Economy more fully into the lives of communities around the province. Biodiversity Economic Nodes have been identified and business plans are being developed for 10 areas which have shown potential. Feasibility studies are tackling the question of how a local community can best extract economic benefit from the communal areas over which they have control, and how this can be done in a way that brings both material benefit and serves to protect or enhance the environment. The plan is to connect these core conservation areas to all other conserved spaces, including public and private game reserves. A Wildlife Transformation Policy has been presented to the legislature by LEDET. Key features of the policy include the aim of bringing communities into the mainstream conservation and wildlife economy and supporting eco-tourism as a sector. The many game and nature reserves owned by the Provincial Government represent an opportunity to provide commercial opportunities to local communities, especially through the hospitality function. At Nylsvlei Nature Reserve, 20 new tourist chalets have been built and various improvements have been made at Wolkberg Nature Reserve, Makutsi Camp in the Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve, Letaba Ranch Nature Reserve and Blouberg Nature Reserve. Waste management LEDET is also trying to get the province thinking green. A Greenest Municipality Competition covers waste management, water management, energy efficiency, conservation, tree planting, landscaping and beautification. A joint programme with the Industrial Symbiosis Programme and the National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC) aims to connect companies throwing stuff away with other companies that might be able to use that stuff. The NCPC is an implementing agency of the Department of Science and Innovation hosted by the CSIR. If this circular approach is widely adopted, much less waste will go to landfill and small businesses will have new avenues and markets. The South African Military Health Service (SAMHS) training centre at Lephalale has joined the recycling movement. PETCO recently supplied the base with a container to receive separated waste. With up to 250 recruits on site at any one time, tons of waste that currently goes to landfill will thus be diverted. PETCO is a Producer Responsibility Organisation representing the South African plastic industry’s effort to self-regulate post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling. PETCO is involved in LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2023/24 14 PHOTO: PETCO
SPECIAL FEATURE every aspect of the PET value chain – from resin producers through to converters, bottlers, brand owners, retailers and consumers. Bins and cages have also been placed at the base’s kitchen and accommodation quarters. Once filled, these are taken to the container, where participants in the Working on Fire programme, an initiative of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, sort and store the recyclables. PETCO has also run recycling workshops to ensure that new recruits understand the different types of recyclables and how to sort and separate them. Moving to conserve Sometimes even really big spaces are not big enough. You might think that 32 000ha is a large area but when it comes to elephants and their habitat, thinking big is the order of the day. The Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve in northern Limpopo is part of the De Beers Group Diamond Route and near to the underground mine that the company runs there. The reserve is home to 400 species of birds and numerous flora and fauna but as the area could only properly cater to the movements and diets of 70 elephants, a new home was needed for 200 of the giants. In 2018, working in partnership with Peace Parks Foundation, De Beers embarked on one of the biggest translocations ever attempted. The 1 700km journey to Zinave National Park in Mozambique presented many difficulties but the trip was worth it: with 400 000ha in their new home, there is lots of room for the elephants to roam. The De Beers Diamond Route network covers 200 000 hectares on eight reserves in Southern Africa. For every hectare of land used for operations, six are set aside for conservation through the Diamond Route. A Live Cam has been installed at a waterhole at one of the reserves, which can be found on the De Beers website under Sustainability. Since the Peace Parks Foundation and Mozambique’s National Administration for Conservation Areas (ANAC) signed an agreement to rehabilitate the Zinave National Park, ravaged as it was by the country’s civil war, more than 2 400 animals from 15 different species have been reintroduced. In 2022, seven critically endangered black rhino were safely translocated from Manketti Game Reserve to the park. A partnership between Exxaro Resources, Peace Parks Foundation and ANAC will see more than 40 rhinos relocated over a three-year period. White rhinos had previously been reintroduced to the park. These white rhinos are helping to restore Zinave’s grasslands as they graze, whereas black rhinos browse on very specific plants and process them uniquely, acting as a natural fertiliser and allowing the nutrients from vegetation to be cycled back into the earth efficiently. This is a case of nature providing the solution to the difficult problem of soil health. Nature might yet provide the solution to the triple challenge of balancing resource development, conservation and community. ■ Mozambique’s Zinave National Park is now home to seven endangered black rhinos after a successful translocation from Manketti Game Reserve in Limpopo. PHOTO: Exxaro Resources 15 LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2023/24
