South African Business 2018 edition

The De Hoop Dam across the Steelpoort River
in the east of Limpopo has started supplying
water to rural communities who previously had
to walk to rivers to fetch water. These communities
in the Waterberg, Capricorn and Sekhukhune
districts are beneficiaries of a vast project that will
also deliver water to towns and mining operations
in the area. More than a million people will get
water from the dam.
Limpopo has two transfrontier conservation
parks, two World Heritage Sites, three biospheres,
three national parks, 53 provincial nature reserves
and more than 6 000 privately owned game farms.
The South African Golf Tourism Association
says that up to 10% of visitors to the country are
attracted by its golf courses, and Limpopo’s offering
has been extended and improved in recent
years. At the high end of the luxury offering are
the Zebula Golf Estate and Spa (west of Bela Bela)
and the Legend Golf and Safari Resort.
The growth of the Marula Festival, held annually
in February in Phalaborwa, caters mainly to
the local market. About 13 000 litres of marula
beer are regularly brewed by the 13 co-operatives
on duty, and large crowds attend for the outdoor
music concerts that are a feature of the festivities.
Limpopo Province has very varied tourism
assets that include the bare bushveld of the northern
regions, the misty mountains of the central
highlands, hot springs, a unique cycad forest,
great golf courses and the northern part of the
Kruger National Park.
The provincial government is committed to
enhancing the value of Limpopo’s two World
Heritage Sites, Mapungubwe Heritage Site and
Makapans Valley.
Adventurous visitors can choose from off-road
biking, hunting, elephant rides and tough 4x4
trails. A vast array of different cultures extends
from the Rain Queen and her people in the central
districts, to the myth-inspired art of the Venda in
the north, to the bright geometric house designs
of the Ndabele people in the Sekhukhune district.
Although most of the province’s resorts and
lodges are in private hands, the province has three
national parks, and the provincial government
runs 54 nature reserves of different types.
Economic future
REGION
The strategic value of Limpopo’s position as a link
to the SADC region is being exploited through the
creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The first
one has been promulgated at Musina-Makhado
where the focus is on logistics operations, agri-processing,
energy and mineral beneficiation. Exxaro
and De Beers have large mining operations nearby.
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.
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 (PGM) and miningrelated
manufacturing.
The following areas have been identified as
priority zones for the province’s industrialisation
strategy: Polokwane, Lephalale, Tubatse, Tzaneen
and the Musina-Makhado corridor.
The National Department of Trade and Industry
(dti) is the lead agent in SEZ creation, which in turn
feeds into the national Industrial Policy Action
Plan (IPAP). SEZs are designed to attract investment,
create jobs and boost exports. The dti says
that a consortium of Chinese investors, Sino, has
agreed to put R40-billion into the Musina SEZ
where they will operate the mineral beneficiation
operations.
Capital Polokwane
Population 5 800 000
Area 125 754km 2
Premier Stanley Mathabatha (ANC)
Languages Sesotho, Tshivenda, Xitsonga
151 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2018