OVERVIEWManufacturingIndustrial parks are receiving state support.Bolt and Engineering Distributors Group’s Welkom branch hasdecided to hire a specialist in personal-protective equipment(PPE). A term that became widespread in the time of Covidhas always been important for manufacturers and factoryworkers. Sales of hard hats, safety boots, gloves, eyewear, respiratoryequipment, high-visibility clothing and ear protection have grownfast in recent years.Originally Bolt’s Welkom focus was on gold mining but today itserves the mining, contracting, engineering, DIY and agriculturesectors, with maize and beef being the biggest components ofthe latter sector. Bolt Welkom has customers in the Eastern Cape,KwaZulu-Natal and Kathu, the iron-ore hub of the Northern Cape.All of the major towns have manufacturing capacity but Sasolburgin the northern Free State has the biggest concentration, and it is akey asset in South Africa’s chemicals industry. Sasol has the biggestpresence but entities such as Omnia and AECI are other majorcompanies which give the Free State the lead in this sector whichrelies on advanced technology.The existing manufacturing sector covers chemicals, agroprocessing,textiles, carpets, engineering, packaging, furnitureand jewellery. About 20% of the Free State’s manufacturing sitesare devoted to food and beverages, with soft drink giant Coca-Cola Fortune operating a large bottling plant in Mangaung. One ofLandzicht Wine Cellar’s wineries is in Jacobsdal, where grape juice forother producers and a range of sweet and dry white and red wines, ginand brandy are produced.Harrismith is home to Nouwens Carpets, Empire Gloves andBoxmore Plastics. Boxmore Packaging’s new PET beer bottles are thefirst PET bottles specifically designed for beer on the SA market.Kroonstad-based Octa Engineering makes specialised rail carriagesfor the mining sector. In Bloemfontein, Transnet Engineeringmanufactures new wagons for the Transnet group, including iron oreand cement wagons and fuel tankers.Manufacturing makes up 9% of Free State gross domestic product,4% of South Africa’s total. The Free State Regional Industrialisation Policyaims to ensure integration of infrastructure, bulk service provision,industrial sites and export and tax incentives to attract investment.ONLINE RESOURCESChemical and Allied Industries’ Association: www.caia.co.zaFree State Development Corporation: www.fdc.co.zaSouth African Textile Federation: www.texfed.co.zaSECTOR INSIGHTMatla-a-Tau Maize Mealis exporting.Employees at Bolt and EngineeringDistributors in Welkom willbe joined by a PPE specialist.A company that has successfullyturned support into exportorders is Frankfort-basedMatla-a-Tau Maize Meal, whichis now selling maize and samp toLesotho, Swaziland and the DRC.An industrial park revitalisationproject of the NationalDepartment of Trade, Industryand Competition (dtic) aimsto promote manufacturing.Parks targeted include thoseat Botshabelo, Phuthaditjhabaand Thaba Nchu. Further north,the strategically located Maluti-A-Phofung Special EconomicZone (MAPSEZ) has attractedR1-billion from investors. KevaliChemicals became the firstbeneficiary of the dtic’s BlackIndustrialists Scheme. ■FREE STATE BUSINESS 2025 36
OVERVIEWICTRural children are getting digital access.MTN and the Free State Department of Education havecooperated in the building of a digital multimedia centreat the JS Moroka High School in Thaba Nchu, Free State.The MTN SA Foundation handed over the keys tothe R1.3-million facility, pictured, in September 2024. Digital skillstraining will be available to 70 students.Further collaborations between the provincial government,Broadband Infraco and the State Information TechnologyAgency (SITA) have seen broadband connectivity extended to122 government facilities in the Thabo Mofutsanyana DistrictMunicipality through the Broadband Access Fund project.Under Phase 2 of the project, connections will be made to 4 921households and 304 WiFi hotspots in the Fezile Dabi and XhariepDistrict Municipalities rolled out. In addition, Broadband Infraco, inpartnership with Sentech and various Internet service providers, wasmandated to deploy 2 134 community WiFi hotspots and enable376 253 household connections over a three-year period.A Digital Hub in the Botshabelo Industrial Park has beenlaunched as a way of connecting citizens and giving people achance to develop digital skills. The National Electronic MediaInstitute (NEMISA) of South Africa will be running a Digital SkillsProgramming initiative which will benefit 4 000 unemployedyoung people.Coding and Robotics as a subject has been introduced in 111primary schools and 50 secondary schools in the province as part ofthe provincial government’s digital access programme.According to figures compiled by Stats SA in 2019, 5.4% ofhouseholds in the Free State had access to the Internet at home.Zero-rated sites are available through ConnectU, which allows peopleONLINE RESOURCESIndependent Communications Authority: www.icasa.org.zaTechnology Innovation Agency: www.tia.org.zaUniversal Service and Access Agency of South Africa: www.usaasa.org.zaSECTOR INSIGHTCoding and robotics areschool subjects.to browse job portals or look upessential information on healthand education. Vodacom has alsolaunched low-priced voice anddata deals for pensioners.A zero-rated e-Schoolplatform enables learning fromhome. To support this, VodacomCentral Region provided 30routers and 300 tablets to threeEarly Childhood Developmentcentres and to connectedlearners in QwaQwa.As of 2021, National Treasuryhas appointed four companiesas service providers to government,through its new mobilecommunication servicescontract, RT15-2021. Thecontract will save costs throughbetter controls.Vodacom has created theCitizen Engagement Platformas a means of improving andmanaging service delivery.To enable better communicationbetween citizens andthe South African Police Service(SAPS), Vodacom launched theMySAPS app.MTN Enterprise Solutionsallows state bodies to customisetheir shared voice, data, ClosedUser Group voice usage and SMSbundles at good rates. This is alsoscalable as usage increases orthe department in question rollsit out at a larger scale. ■37 FREE STATE BUSINESS 2025
