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Gauteng Business 2022/23

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The 2022/23 edition of Gauteng Business is the 13th issue of this highly successful publication that has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the Gauteng Province. In addition to the regular articles providing insight into each of the key economic sectors of the province, a special feature on the growth and significance of the green economy is included in this edition. Every sector from agriculture to transport and logistics is referenced, with several Gauteng companies taking the lead in the field of creating a more sustainable future for themselves and for their clients. The fact that mining companies and others are starting to build facilities to generate power is significant for the country as a whole. Gold Fields’ 40MW solar project at its South Deep mine is one of the first of its kind and it is certainly a precursor of what we can expect to see a lot more of in the future. The unexpected fall from power in the province’s three big metropolitan municipalities in 2021 of the political party that is in charge at provincial and national level, the African National Congress, is noted in the Regional Overview. Whether this presages a change beyond the borders of Gauteng in elections to come remains to be seen, but the huge budgets which now fall under the control of coalition governments in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni will certainly serve to sharpen the focus of ANC election planners for national elections in 2024.

OVERVIEW Agriculture

OVERVIEW Agriculture Hydroponic farms on rooftops are growing. The Urban Agriculture Initiative is a project of Wouldn’t It Be Cool (WIBC) and the Johannesburg Inner City Partnership. The project aims to establish an urban agricultural value chain in the inner-city with hydroponic farms on rooftops as the key element. WIBC piloted the concept with a young entrepreneur from Kagiso and implemented the first commercial farm in the project in 2017. Grant funding from Seda saw another 100 farms established. In Melville, Zakir Kathrada is growing rocket, baby spinach, gem lettuce and tomatoes on the roof of The Whippet Coffee, to whom he sells the produce. Urban farmer Puseletso Mamogale is shown in the picture on this page. The Fresh Produce Market in Johannesburg is South Africa’s biggest market. The region’s other metropolitan areas, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, also have busy markets. The Springs Fresh Produce Market accounts for 3% of South African market share. Gauteng’s agricultural sector is focussed on producing vegetables. There is commercial farming in the southern sector of the province (part of South Africa’s maize triangle) and the farming of cotton, groundnuts and sorghum is undertaken in areas near Bronkhorstspruit (east) and Heidelberg (in the south). The province is home to some of South Africa’s biggest agricultural companies, including AFGRI. Africa’s largest feedlot for cattle is located in Heidelberg: Karan Beef’s facility can accommodate 120 000 cattle. The feedmill processes 1 400 tons per day and the associated abattoir in Balfour in neighbouring Mpumalanga sometimes deals with 1 800 head of cattle per day. The Kanhym Agrimill in Vereeniging is one of three in the company’s portfolio, which collectively processes 250 000 tons of animal feed annually. Kanhym Estates is the largest producer of pigs in the country. There are many poultry farm and production facilities in Gauteng. Companies include Astral Foods, RCL Foods and Daybreak Farms. The Gauteng Industrial Development Zone (GIDZ) located at OR Tambo International Airport has an agro-processing plant which is intended to encourage the export of high-value goods. The Provincial Government of Gauteng has set up Action Labs to focus on agriculture and agro-processing with a focus on land tenure issues and improving food security. If food producers can be linked to ONLINE RESOURCES Agricultural Research Council: www.arc.agric.za South African Poultry Association: www.sapoultry.co.za WIBC: http://wibc-w-live.azurewebsites.net/ SECTOR INSIGHT KLL Group has bought Tongaat Hulett’s starch assets. the value chain then township economies can benefit. In almost every aspect of the spatial planning being carried out by the Gauteng Provincial Government, agriculture and agro-processing are key components, either of Special Economic Zones (SEZ), industrial parks or agri-parks. Tongaat Hulett, best known as a sugar producer, has sold its starch business (with three milling plants in southern Gauteng) for R5.3-billion to the KLL Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barloworld Logistics Africa. ■ GAUTENG BUSINESS 2022 20

Mining Tailings are proving lucrative in Gauteng. OVERVIEW SECTOR INSIGHT Harmony’s purchase of Mine Waste Solutions is paying off. Gauteng is home to many old mines which means that the province has to guard against many of the aftereffects of deep mining such as acid mine water and subsidence. The Council for Geoscience is actively engaged in research projects into such issues but the high prices that gold is attracting globally means that another byproduct of mining, tailings, has become more lucrative. Mine Waste Solutions, a tailings retreatment operation bought by Harmony from AngloGold Ashanti in 2020 and operated by subsidiary Chemwes, has performed well for the group. Production of 2 057kg (66 133oz) of gold in the nine months to June 2021 reflected high productivity at a healthy average gold price of R729 882/kg. Harmony Gold’s acquisition strategy, including the purchase from AngloGold of Moab Khotsong, will result in it being the country’s biggest gold producer. With 350 000 new ounces coming from Mponeng, it could produce an annual total of 1.7-million ounces. A new company, Shallow Reefs Gold, has been created to pursue projects in the shallow reefs of the Witwatersrand Gold Basin. The company believes that the grade of the deposits makes for a good economic proposition, especially as the infrastructure required for shallow mining is much cheaper than for the deep mining that has characterised the sector in the past. Cullinan diamond mine is engaged in an expansion programme called the C-Cut Phase 1 project. Cullinan is famous for its rare blue diamonds. The University of Witwatersrand started life as the South African School of Mines. The School of Mining Engineering at Wits is the highest-ranked school at the university in terms of the QS World University Rankings. ONLINE RESOURCES Council for Geoscience: www.geoscience.org.za Minerals Council South Africa: www.mineralscouncil.org.za National Department of Mineral Resources: www.dmr.gov.za Credit: Harmony Gauteng is home to most of the research and training bodies associated with mining. Sibanye- Stillwater supports the Wits Mining Institute’s Digital Mining Laboratory (Digimine). AECI, the explosives and chemicals company, sponsors the Virtual Reality Mine Design Centre at the University of Pretoria. The Mandela Mining Precinct is a joint venture between three government departments and the Minerals Council South Africa which aims to develop research into mining and showcase the country’s manufacturing abilities. Mintek is an autonomous body based in Randburg which receives about 30% of its budget from the Department of Mineral Resources. The balance comes from joint ventures with private sector partners, or is earned in research and development income, the sale of services or products and from technology licensing agreements. Pretoria University has a Department of Mining Engineering, the University of South Africa offers three national diplomas in minerelated fields, the University of Johannesburg has mine-surveying courses and the Vaal and Tshwane Universities of Technology have engineering faculties. ■ 21 GAUTENG BUSINESS 2022

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