Welcome to the ninth edition of the South African Business journal. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa.
This issue has a focus on economic recovery plans which have been put in place to tackle the challenges thrown up by the global Covid-19 pandemic. National government’s focus on infrastructure and the use of Special Economic Zones is highlighted, together with a feature on the nascent maritime economy. Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy and give a snapshot of each of the country’s provincial economies.
South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. The e-book editions can be viewed online at www.globalafricanetwork.com.
FOCUS Showcasing
FOCUS Showcasing Ivanhoe’s education initiatives Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education. Ivanhoe Mines places great value on the level of host community acceptance and trust, which underpins its social licence to operate. We strongly believe in collaborative problem-solving and employ a sustainability strategy that includes social development goals, targets and projects in alignment with host country regulatory frameworks and international frameworks such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our sustainability strategy recognises the power of education and aims to advance the objectives of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all (SDG 4). Ivanhoe has, accordingly, developed and implemented various educational initiatives across its three principal projects. A case study at the Platreef Project To enable access to education, and raise the quality of education across all stages of the education value chain (including the vulnerable in society), we have invested numerous educational infrastructure and support initiatives at our Platreef Project under the first Social and Labour Plan (2015-2019): • Investment into the development of the Lesedi Centre and its staff capacity to support the Early Childhood Development Function. • Under its scholarship programme, Platreef supported 426 learners from underprivileged families. Platreef further provided study assistance to 79 employees, and external bursaries to 37 employees and host community members, also partnering with universities in Canada and Japan for post-graduate qualifications. • Platreef established five E-learning venues with support from the Department of Education, which remain crucial during the Covid-19 pandemic to maintain momentum for learners at beneficiary schools. Expansion to four more schools is planned for 2021. • Platreef introduced the MiniChess programme at the Motshitshi Primary School through the Entrust Foundation. This resulted in a marked improvement in numeracy and mathematical abilities, spatial perspective development, critical/strategic thinking development and mastery of English mathematical terminology among learners. • Infrastructure support (food garden, irrigation system) was provided to the Thobela Disability Centre, which caters for 30 young people of various ages. • Free Wi-Fi access to the host communities has enabled digital inclusion. The phased development plan The MiniChess programme at Motshitshi Primary School has been a huge success for learners. SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2021 54 Ivanhoe is investigating a phased development plan for the Platreef Project, targeting significantly lower initial capital, to accelerate first production by using Shaft 1 as the mine’s initial production shaft. This plan will focus on initially targeting the development of mining zones accessible from Shaft 1 and maximising the hoisting capacity of this shaft, followed by expansions to the production rate as outlined in the 2017 Definitive Feasibility Study. www.ivanhoemines.com
Platreef-sponsored science laboratories help bring the subject to life and make it fun. 55 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2021
