Limpopo Business 2017-18 edition

FOCUS
Guests, who included members
of the Musina Business
Chamber and Musina Local
Municipality, representatives of
the Beitbridge and Zoutpansburg
Chambers of Commerce and the
Musina Youth in Business Forum,
discussed collective ways to turn
Musina around together.
Strategy
Venetia Mine’s procurement team
has successfully completed the
following initiatives in recent
months:
De Beers community fair:
Crowds of local business people
and entrepreneurs visited
the Supplier Development and
Zimele exhibits, giving them an
opportunity to understand the
requirements for doing business
with Venetia.
Community SMS database: The
Community Fair creates the opportunity
to build a database of
over 100 potential suppliers in
Musina and Blouberg who the
mine can now communicate
with directly regarding business
opportunities.
Opportunities specifically
targeting local business: HDSAowned
entities are sought which
can provide products and services
such as supplying kitchen
consumables, electric fencing,
rodent and pest control, manpower
required during shutdowns
and emergency repairs
and ad hoc work in the treatment
plant, repairs on tyre protection
chains, cleaning services and alien
plant control.
Community-focussed marketing
strategy: A comprehensive
campaign has been launched on local radio stations Mohodi FM
and Musina FM, local newspapers such as the Polokwane Observer
and the Northern Gazette and on posters at local municipalities,
tribal offices as well as public areas such as post offices.
Supplier Development Programme
At the end of the second quarter of 2017, a total of 226 local businesses
had expressed their interest in being involved through the
mine’s Local Procurement Drive. Of these, 58 companies were
shortlisted and fifteen local companies were awarded contracts,
with another seven to follow shortly afterwards.
Thirty-seven of the targeted 50 opportunities had already been
launched by July, and a further seven were due to be rolled out in
the third quarter. The focus for these vendor opportunities is in:
• road maintenance and construction
• repairs to bund walls
• cleaning at the Venetia Primary Crusher
• Venetia Mine takeaway canteen
• supply of LDV tyres, batteries and rims
• small civil works at Venetia Underground Project
• construction of the HTTS building at Venetia Underground
Project.
Six local companies have an established relationship with
the Venetia Mine and they are already enrolled in the Supplier
Development Programme. As companies win contracts, they are
added to the programme. Entrepreneurs or companies who have
been unsuccessful in application or in tendering are encouraged to
participate in the De Beers Incubator or other initiatives. The Seda
programme is an example of such a support programme.
Bussing Empowerment Deal
The Venetia Mine and VM Diamond Transport have called for locally
owned businesses in the Musina area to put their names forward
to be 40% shareholders in bus companies covering the Musina and
Blouberg areas. An empowerment initiative aimed at Historically
Disadvantaged South Africans (HDSA), the plan is for an eight-year
contract to transport workers to the mine at the centre of a share
purchase agreement. Technical training will be provided by VM
Diamond Transport as part of a two-year business development
programme and the local partners are expected to become majority
shareholders within a five-year period.
Similar opportunities in the broader transport sector include a
partnership with Bridgestone, Global Wheel and Willard to establish
a locally owned distribution centre for tyres, rims and batteries that
will service Venetia Mine and the wider community.
55 LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2017/18