SPECIAL FEATURE
SPECIAL FEATURE Institute of Business Science) are examining employment rates, empowerment policies and the export value chain. At the same time, the Gauteng Innovation Hub is leading a process to bring innovation and research to the fore in economic policy making and planning. Partners include the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the University of the Witwatersrand and the Vaal University of Technology. The Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA) has a specialised subsidiary, the Gauteng Investment Centre, which acts as a one-stop shop for potential investors looking for advice and support. Overview of the province Gauteng shares borders with four provinces, the Free State, North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The southern border of the province is the Vaal River and most of the province is located on the Highveld. The Witwatersrand, which runs through Johannesburg, marks the continental divide: rivers running to the north drain into the Indian Ocean, rivers running south drain into the Atlantic Ocean via the Vaal and Orange Rivers. Gauteng draws its water from a series of interconnected river transfer systems. A major source of water is the Lesotho Water Highlands Project. The Witwatersrand was the source of the gold that drew so many thousands of people to the area in the late 19th century and was the origin of the word for South Africa’s currency, the “rand”. Gauteng is a leader in a wide range of economic sectors: finance, manufacturing, commerce, IT and media among them. The Bureau of Market Research (BMR) has shown that Gauteng accounts for 35% of total household consumption in South Africa. The leading economic sectors are finance, real estate and business (21% of provincial GDP), manufacturing (16.5%), government services (16.3%) and wholesale, retail, motor trade and accommodation (12.8%). The creative industries (including advertising and the film sector) employ upwards of 180 000 people and contribute more than R3.3-billion to the provincial economy. This sector is seen as a driver of future growth. In Johannesburg, financial services and The Cradle of Humankind is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. commerce predominate. The JSE, Africa’s largest stock exchange, is in Sandton and several new stock exchanges have recently received licences. Tshwane (which includes Pretoria) is home to many government services and is the base of the automotive industry and many research institutions. The Ekurhuleni metropole has the largest concentration of manufacturing concerns, ranging from heavy to light industry, in the country. The western part of the province is concerned mainly with mining and agriculture, while the south has a combination of maize farming, tobacco production and the heavy industrial work associated with steel and iron-ore workings. Gauteng is not just an important centre of economic activity it is also an important launching pad for local and international businesses to enter the African market. The country’s biggest airport, OR Tambo International Airport, is at the core of the province’s logistical network. Other airports include Rand Airport (Germiston), Wonderboom (Pretoria) Lanseria and Grand Central (Midrand). The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa (which has seats in Pretoria and Johannesburg) is a superior court with general jurisdiction over the province. Johannesburg is also home to the Constitutional Court, South Africa’s highest court, and to a branch of the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court. The province has several outstanding universities, and the majority of South Africa’s research takes place at well-regarded institutions such as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), Mintek, the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA), the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and several sites where the work of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) is done. GAUTENG BUSINESS 2019/20 12
INTERVIEW Supporting beneficiation and manufacturing Gauteng IDZ Company Chief Executive Officer Seipati Mangadi reports on the OR Tambo SEZ. Seipati Mangadi, CEO The Special Economic Zone mobilises industry in Gauteng INTRODUCTION Seipati Mangadi has held the position of CEO of the GIDZ (Gauteng Industrial Development Zone) since 2013 and has witnessed the growth her business unit has contributed to the Gauteng province. As one of the GGDA’s four subsidiaries, the GIDZ was created to support industrial development in Gauteng. A key project that fulfils this mandate is the OR Tambo SEZ (Special Economic Zone). What is the sectoral focus of the SEZ? Considering the competitive location of being in close proximity to OR Tambo International Airport, the focus is on mineral beneficiation and on additive manufacturing with localisation an important additional element. This is highvalue, low-mass beneficiation. Many value chains are linked to industries that use the airport. Ekurhuleni itself is the manufacturing hub of the country so possible investors are here, infrastructure is in place to support this process. Do you dovetail your plans with other bodies? The primary rationale of being located in that area is to be a catalyst for the broader aerotropolis economic strategy that Ekurhuleni has adopted. We work directly with ACSA and the Metro to make sure that we have synergies on the development that we attract. The Gauteng IDZ is a special purpose vehicle of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA), which is implementing economic development in the province. Is the Jewellery Manufacturing Precinct (JMP) an example? Absolutely. The Department of Mineral Resources has put forward a beneficiation strategy and we have chosen to implement a part of that. We chose jewellery beneficiation as a starting point. How is the JMP progressing? The design stage has been completed, we are just waiting for plans to be approved then the next stage is to put it out to the market for a contractor to come on board and develop. We have over 90% uptake in the pipeline. In May 2020 we should be able to give beneficial occupation to the tenants. By late 2020 there will be buildings for our tenants. The alumni of the existing design studio in Germiston regularly scoop up awards in the industry. What are your short- and medium-term plans? Approximately R640-million will be spent on the first phase of OR Tambo precinct which is 7.5 hectares in extent. The JMP (Southern Precinct) will be live in 2020. Parallel to that we have started with the conceptualisation of the second phase of OTR precinct, which is 29 hectares. There is definitely interest to come into the SEZ, which starts with domestic direct investment. Then the foreign direct investment will come. Every day we are fielding enquiries from potential tenants. 13 GAUTENG BUSINESS 2019/20
