Northern Cape Business 2024-25

OVERVIEW Manufacturing

OVERVIEW Manufacturing Concrete products plant reopens in De Aar. De Aar is almost exactly equidistant from Cape Town and Johannesburg but in fact the first railway line went through what is now the capital of the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality to get to diamond-rich Kimberley. At De Aar, the first railway planners built a junction to link the north-south line with the south-east and north-west parts of the network and the town played a vital role in South Africa’s economic history. Agriculture and solar farms are doing well in the current era but the announcement by Colossal Concrete Products that it is to reopen a manufacturing plant in De Aar is of huge significance for the regional economy. The previous owners of the facility that made precast concrete products for the railways, Aveng Infraset, mothballed the factory but the acquisition of that company by a consortium comprising Colossal Africa Group, Mafoko Holdings, Clone Capital and Randvest Capital has made possible this reset. The catalyst was the signing by Colossal Concrete Products of a one-year contract with Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) to supply precast concrete railway sleepers for the parastatal’s network upgrade. Colossal has acquired an adjoining property and will consider entering the market for precast wind turbine towers. South Africa’s (and the Northern Cape’s) renewable energy sector is now achieving the kind of critical mass where manufacturing makes sense. In the neighbouring Eastern Cape province, Nordex has announced plans to build a wind tower plant in Humansdorp which will create 300 jobs. De Aar’s central location will again play a role in helping get products to market and gives Colossal a major advantage. Over and above rail and renewable energy, many construction companies in the Northern Cape (and the adjacent provinces of the Free State and Eastern Cape) will be glad of the concrete precast manufacturing plant being back in business. The same is true for provincial and local governments intent on improving and building new infrastructure. The long legacy of mining in the Northern Cape means that the skills supporting the sector are still available. The foundry business ONLINE RESOURCES Kathu Industrial Park: www.kathuindustrialpark.co.za Manufacturing Circle: www.manufacturingcircle.co.za Northern Cape Economic Development, Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (NCEDA): www.nceda.co.za SECTOR INSIGHT Renewable energy sector has great potential. that De Beers started in 1891 is still supplying mining houses in South Africa and other parts of the world. Kew Foundries has also supplied sheave wheels to one of India’s largest hydroelectric projects. Anglo American Kumba Iron Ore, as part of its Corporate Social Investment programme, initiated a study into the establishment of an Industrial Park in Kathu. This will boost the manufacturing sector. The Industrial Development Corporation is a strategic partner and the project has been included in national government’s National Infrastructure Plan, Strategic Integrated Project 5 (SIP5, Saldanha–Northern Cape Development Corridor). ■ NORTHERN CAPE BUSINESS 2024/25 54 PHOTO: Colossal Concrete Products

Tsantsabane community celebrates newly upgraded hospital FOCUS Partnership between Kumba Iron Ore’s Kolomela mine, the SIOC Community Development Trust and local and provincial government delivers enhanced public healthcare. From left to right: Mavis Kolberg, Corporate Affairs and Social Performance Manager; Thando Njoko, Principal Social Performance; MEC Maruping Lekwene; Beauranne Luvuno, CEO Postmasburg Hospital; Pranill Ramchander, Executive Head of Corporate Affairs; Tebogo Mushi, Kolomela General Manager; Faith Basson, SED Specialist; Keaobaka Matilo, Community Liaison; Tsantsabane Local Municipality Executive Mayor, Cllr Helena English; Masala Mutangwa, Head of Social Performance; Dr Angel Ndlovu, Occupational Medical Practitioner, Kolomela Mine; and Irene Williams, Kgatelopele Municipality Executive Mayor. After 18 years, the Tsantsabane community has a working hospital theatre again. The newly upgraded theatre at the Postmasburg hospital was handed over to the Northern Cape’s Department of Health by Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore, providing a major boost for public healthcare in the region. The lack of a functioning theatre meant no surgical procedures could be performed at the Postmasburg hospital. This meant that patients needing even minor surgeries would have to be transported to Kimberley or Upington, reducing the availability of emergency medical resources in the Tsantsabane municipal area. The new theatre will change all that and will gradually introduce a wider range of surgical procedures. The new theatre is the result of a partnership between the Northern Cape Department of Health, the Tsantsabane local municipality and the SIOC Community Development Trust. Kumba Iron Ore’s Kolomela mine spent around R13-million on the upgrade, with the SIOC-CDT contributing an additional R3-million. Speaking at the handover of the theatre, Kolomela mine General Manager Tebogo Mushi explained what the theatre will be doing, starting with cataract removals. The theatre project falls within the company’s community health facility standard and is an important milestone in local healthcare. “Only 24% of the people of Tsantsabane are members of a medical aid, which underscores the importance of public facilities in the area. This new theatre is just part of our commitment to building a sustainable community that will thrive long beyond the life of the mine. This is an important milestone in local healthcare, and we are privileged to be able to make this contribution to community health,” said Mushi. MEC for Health in the Northern Cape, Maruping Lekwene, said the new theatre would capacitate the hospital and enhance public healthcare in Tsantsabane. “Kumba and SIOC’s contribution is mammoth. We cannot quantify it in rands and cents. We just want to say we appreciate your support from the bottom of our hearts,” he said. Dr Alexandra Plowright, Head of Community Health and Wellbeing at Anglo American, said that building a more equitable healthcare system was part of the company’s DNA, and how it does business. It forms an integral part of Anglo American’s Sustainable Mining Plan. One of the plan’s main focus areas is to create thriving communities through better health, well-being, education and employment outcomes. “We’ve got a long history of supporting major public health programmes to help improve the health of our employees and host communities. We’ve been running major health facilities around our operations over many decades, because good health and wellbeing are essential to building thriving communities and economies,” she said. The theatre started doing cataract removals in mid- March 2023 as part of its first phase, before moving to more advanced procedures. Phase 1 covers cataracts and male circumcision. In Phase 2, the theatre will provide caesarean sections and other minor surgical procedures; Phase 3 will extend the range of procedures to sterilisations and general minor surgeries, with Phase 4 to provide orthopaedic surgeries. ■s of communities. We applaud it for being a partner in sustainable mining and an ally in building resilient, thriving communities.