KwaZulu-Natal Business 2016-17 edition

SPECIAL FEATURE
Although mining plays a far
smaller role in the economy than
it used to, it still contributes significantly
to GDP, employment
and taxation income. Demand
for platinum, iron ore and manganese
from the new global
powerhouses of China and India
is motivating investment in the
sector in South Africa.
Mining companies account
for about a third of the market
capitalisation (R1.86-trillion) of the
country’s stock exchange, the JSE.
One of South Africa’s fastestgrowing
manufacturing sectors,
catalytic converters, also owes
its existence to the minerals that
make up the converters, and one of the central
planks of the South African government’s economic
policy is to ensure that value is added to the
country’s mineral resources. The country already
has many steel mills and aluminium smelters,
but many thousands of tons of raw materials are
exported in their raw state. A number of Industrial
Development Zones and Special Economic Zones
have been set up and promulgated in order to attract
investment as well as to increase local manufacturing
capacity.
The automotive industry is one of South Africa’s
most important sectors and accounts for about 12%
of South Africa’s manufacturing exports, with many of
the major multinationals using South Africa to source
components and assemble vehicles for both local and
international markets.
Dube TradePort's head office, 29 0 South.
The country has been through a challenging period
during which there have been serious energy constraints.
These have proved to be an impediment
to economic growth and a major inconvenience to
everyone in the country. Overcoming the challenge
was uppermost in government’s programme.
"Government is doing everything within its
power to deal with the problem of energy shortage
in the country. We are quite aware of the fact
that this is indeed a difficult period, but it shall pass
because we do have strategies in place to deal with
this matter," Zuma said.
Government has developed a sustainable plan
that involves short-, medium- and long-term capacity
and infrastructure development, beginning with a
plan for improved maintenance of existing Eskom
power stations, enhancing the electricity generation
capacity and managing the electricity demand. The
long-term plan involves finalising South Africa’s longterm
energy security master plan.
"As a priority we are going to stabilise Eskom’s
finances to enable the utility to manage the current
period," said Zuma, adding that government
was supporting Eskom with R23-billion for the 2016
fiscal year.
Energy
Agriculture
Agriculture is a catalyst for growth and food security
and there is a strong public-private sector drive to
develop an Agricultural Policy Action Plan aimed
at bringing one-million hectares of under-utilised
land into full production over the next three years.
"Among key interventions this year, we will promote
the establishment of agri-parks or cooperatives
and clusters in each of the 27 poorest district
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