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Gauteng Business 2025

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The 2025 edition of Gauteng Business is the 15th 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 national and provincial policies underpinning Special Economic Zones is included in this edition. SEZs form an important part of the strategy of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA) in promoting sustainable economic growth across the province’s designated development corridors. This edition of Gauteng Business is supported by the GGDA, which is the implementation arm of the Gauteng Department of Economic Development. All of the main economic sectors of the provincial economy are reviewed, ranging from agriculture, transport and logistics, energy and manufacturing through to education and training. A plan to develop a large solar farm in the western reaches of Gauteng is proceeding, with mining company Sibanye-Stillwater having made land available for the project and various contractors having been identified to carry the project forward. In addition, the Provincial Government of Gauteng has revived an inner-city open-cycle-gas turbine and has begun a programme of equipping schools and medical clinics with solar panels. 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 under e-books. Updated information on Gauteng 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 as well as our flagship South African Business title and the new addition to our list of titles, The Journal of African Business, which was launched in 2020.

OVERVIEWMiningPlatinum

OVERVIEWMiningPlatinum is attracting investors.SECTOR INSIGHTTwo projects are underway atCullinan diamond mine.Where it all began: Driefontein gold mine.Platinum group metals (PGMs) are not dead yet. Sibanye-Stillwater, which started life as a gold miner in Gauteng in2013 and has become an international diversified miningand metals-processing group with a market capitalisationof R61.4-billion, is attracting large and reputable investors as thepotential for PGMs to play a bigger role in a greener global economybecomes more evident.Sibanye’s Keliber lithium project in Finland is being seen verypositively by the investment community, as it will supply locallyproduced lithium hydroxide in a world that is going to need largerquantities to support green policies. The battery electric vehicle (BEV)market is growing as countries around the world set ever-toughertargets. The EU demands that all cars sold after 2035 will have zerocarbonemissions. Lithium hydroxide is a key component of the driveto grow the BEV sector.The gold mines where Sibanye-Stillwater began are still activeand producing gold. In 2023, one of the original mines to bepurchased, Driefontein, produced 233 350oz of gold, in a Sibanye-Stillwater total for its South African operations of 810 584oz. That totalincludes volumes mined by DRDGOLD, in which Sibanye-Stillwaterhas a 50.1% stake. DRDGOLD operates surface tailings retreatmentfacilities on the West Rand and on the East Rand.Harmony Gold’s acquisition strategy, including the purchase fromAngloGold of Moab Khotsong, will result in it being the country’s biggestgold producer. It could produce anannual total of 1.7-million ounces.Of Harmony’s eightSouth African undergroundoperations, one is locatedin the Klerksdorp goldfieldand three in the West Rand.Mponeng near Carltonville isthe deepest level shaft in theworld at 3 891m below datumand 2 062m below sea level.In FY2023 Mponeng was thegroup’s largest gold producer,with the amount of 239 490ozcontributing 16% of totalproduction.A new company, ShallowReefs Gold, has been created topursue projects in the shallowreefs of the Witwatersrand GoldBasin. The company believesthat the grade of the depositsmakes for a good economicproposition.Cullinan diamondmine is engaged in twodevelopments projects, theC-Cut Extension and CC1-East, which will increase caratproduction and extend themine plan, possibly as far as2040. The mine’s revenue inFY2023 was 2.9-million,which represented 52% ofPetra Diamonds’ revenue.The company runs four othermines in other provinces.Cullinan is famous for its rareblue diamonds.GAUTENG BUSINESS 202520PHOTO: Sibanye-Stillwater

OVERVIEWMine bodiesGauteng is home to most of the research and training bodiesassociated with mining. Sibanye-Stillwater supports the Wits MiningInstitute’s Digital Mining Laboratory (Digimine). AECI, the explosivesand chemicals company, sponsors the Virtual Reality Mine DesignCentre at the University of Pretoria. Mintek is an autonomous bodybased in Randburg which receives about 30% of its budget from theDepartment of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE).The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic)has created two clusters to encourage innovation and collaborationamong all the relevant parties in mining in South Africa. These arethe Mining Equipment Manufacturers of South Africa (MEMSA) andthe South African Mineral Processing Equipment Cluster (SAMPEC),which falls under the South African Capital Equipment ExportCouncil, a dtic company. SAMPEC looks for opportunities for importreplacement and local beneficiation along the value chain.SACEEC runs an annual New Products and Innovation Awardsprogramme. In 2022, the overall winner was ABC Ventilation Systems(ABC) for a product “Hardline”, that also ranked top in the LocalManufacturing: Innovation New Product (Mining category). Theproduct is a modified HDPE polymer material converted into ductingfor ventilation underground. The “Hardline” product overcomes safetyand logistical as well as installation issues associated with traditionalsteel ducting. In 2024 ABC won again in the General Mining categorywith a system that uses smart technology to work out how manypeople are present at underground mining sites, and then adjusts thelevels of ventilation to suit that number.MEMSA, an industry cluster established in 2016, works hard tobuild a competitive advantage for South African mining equipmentmanufacturers by providing access to key markets and championingexisting and future local technology and innovation. MEMSA isrecognised by, and benefits from a close working relationship withthe DMRE, the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) andMinerals Council South Africa (MCSA).The Mandela Mining Precinct, a public-private partnershipbetween the DSI and MCSA, is managed by the Council for Scientificand Industrial Research (CSIR).The first MEMSA Manufacturing Excellence Awards was heldin 2022 and unearthed some innovative and ambitious projects.The awards evening was held together with SEIFSA Awards forONLINE RESOURCESCouncil for Geoscience: www.geoscience.org.zaMEMSA: www.memsa.org.zaMinerals Council South Africa: www.mineralscouncil.org.zaSouth African Capital Equipment Export Council: www.saceec.comABC Ventilation won an award at the2024 New Products and InnovationAwards for its MiVent system, whichcan sense how much ventilation isneeded in underground locations.Excellence. SEIFSA is the Steeland Engineering IndustriesFederation of Southern Africa.The MEMSA awards aresupported by the South AfricanMining Extraction Research,Development and Innovation(SAMERDI) programme, whichin turn is backed by the DSI andthe MCSA.The University of theWitwatersrand started lifeas the South African Schoolof Mines. The School ofMining Engineering at Witsis the highest-ranked schoolat the university in termsof the QS World UniversityRankings. Pretoria Universityhas a Department of MiningEngineering, the University ofSouth Africa offers three nationaldiplomas in mine-related fields,the University of Johannesburghas mine-surveying coursesand the Vaal and TshwaneUniversities of Technology haveengineering faculties. ■PHOTO: ABC Ventilation 21GAUTENG BUSINESS 2025

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