Limpopo Business 2017-18 edition

SPECIAL FEATURE The

SPECIAL FEATURE The Great North Road passes through Limpopo from the south to the border town of Musina and on to Zimbabwe and its neighbours in the Southern African Development Community. The busy N11 highway links the province to Botswana to the west and Mpumalanga Province to the east. Most of South Africa's logistics operators have a presence in the provincial capital city of Polokwane and freight logistics hubs have been established at that city and at Musina. Limpopo covers about 10% of South Africa's land mass and is home to about 10% of the country's population (5.4-million). The main languages of the people of Limpopo are Sesotho, Xitsonga and Tshivenda but English is widely used in business and government. Transport within the city of Polokwane is being transformed by the introduction of a bus rapid transport system, Leeto la Polokwane. In the province as a whole, 22.6% of households in Limpopo use bus transport and 45.8% use taxis. Great North Transport falls under the Limpopo Economic Development Agency. The company has more than 500 buses, covers about 36-million kilometres every year on 279 routes, employs more than 1 200 people and transports 37.6-million passengers. The Polokwane International Airport (PIA) is wholly owned by the provincial government and run by the Gateway Airport Authority Ltd (GAAL), an agency of the Department of Roads and Transport. It has the potential to be an important regional cargo airport. SA Airlink offers 21 flights to Johannesburg six days a week. The airline also provides links between Phalaborwa and Johannesburg, and between Hoedspruit and Johannesburg and Cape Town. The province also has a sophisticated rail network which Transnet Freight Rail aims to further expand, primarily to haul the province’s vast reserves of coal away to the coast at Richards Bay. Special Economic Zones One of the ways in which Limpopo is leveraging its strategic location is through the establishment of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone. Recently promulgated by national government, the SEZ will have among its core functions the clustering of logistics operations. Located in the Vhembe District in the far north, this SEZ is near the border of Zimbabwe and on the Great North Road, thus linking with the broader Trans-Limpopo Spatial Development Initiative. Other focus sectors are agri-processing, energy and mineral beneficiation. Exxaro and De Beers have large mining operations nearby. A consortium of Chinese investors, Sino, has agreed to put R40-billion into the Musina-Makhado SEZ to run the mineral beneficiation operations. A second application for an SEZ has been made within the province’s platinum belt in the east of the province. The Tubatse SEZ, in the Sekhukhune District Municipality, will focus on the beneficiation of platinum group metals (PGMs) and mining-related manufacturing. LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2017/18 18

SPECIAL FEATURE The following areas have been identified as priority zones for the province’s industrialisation strategy: Polokwane, Lephalale, Tubatse, Tzaneen and the Makhado-Musina corridor. Economic strengths When it comes to exports Limpopo punches above its weight because of the abundance of mineral wealth under the ground, and the superb fruit and vegetables that the province's farmers cultivate. Potatoes are grown, together with 75% of South Africa’s mangoes and tomatoes; papayas (65%); tea (36%); citrus, bananas and litchis (25%) and 60% of the country's avocadoes. The best performing subsector of South African exports over the last five years is fruit and nuts (www. worldstopexports.com). Limpopo has been a major contributor to the country’s excellent export record: avocadoes, mangoes and macadamia nuts from the province's eastern regions are hugely popular in international markets and Limpopo's commercial farmers are extremely efficient. The province has huge reserves of coal, platinum, chromium, uranium clay, nickel, cobalt, vanadium, limestone and tin. Demand will always fluctuate, and the commodities cycle has recently been very volatile, but the world will always need minerals. Limpopo assets include the largest diamond mine in South Africa, the biggest copper mine in South Africa, the biggest open-pit platinum mine in the country and the biggest vermiculite mine in the world. The province has 41% of South Africa’s platinum group metals (PGMs), 90% of South Africa’s red-granite resources and approximately 50% of the country’s coal reserves. Antimony, a highly strategic mineral found in large quantities in China, is another of Limpopo’s major assets. Two of the largest engineering projects in the history of South Africa have recently been undertaken in Limpopo. Both the Medupi power station (at Lephalale in the far west) and the De Hoop Dam (in the south-east) have the potential to give the region's economy a massive boost. The combined land area of Limpopo's wnational, provincial and private game and nature reserves is 3.6-million hectares. According to the Premier’s office, the tourism sector employs about 22 400 people. The Kruger National Park is one of the world’s most famous conservation areas, and a major attraction for the region. Limpopo has two World Heritage Sites: the Mapungubwe National Park (the 19 LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2017/18