South African Business 2018 edition
Welcome to the sixth 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, supported by an e-book edition at www.southafricanbusiness.co.za. 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. Feature articles on topical issues such as sustainability and African trade provide unique insights, together with an interview with the newly elected chairman of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers, Mr Thomas Schaefer. Another special feature focusses on an exciting project to transform South Africa’s small harbours and coastal properties. 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. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa, supported by an e-book edition at www.southafricanbusiness.co.za 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. Feature articles on topical issues such as sustainability and African trade provide unique insights, together with an interview with the newly elected chairman of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers, Mr Thomas Schaefer. Another special feature focusses on an exciting project to transform South Africa’s small harbours and coastal properties. South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. Visit www.globalafricanetwork.com for more business and investment news, opportunities and events.
Welcome to the sixth 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, supported by an e-book edition at www.southafricanbusiness.co.za.
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. Feature articles on topical issues such as sustainability and African trade provide unique insights, together with an interview with the newly elected chairman of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers, Mr Thomas Schaefer. Another special feature focusses on an exciting project to transform South Africa’s small harbours and coastal properties.
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.
First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa, supported by an e-book edition at www.southafricanbusiness.co.za
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. Feature articles on topical issues such as sustainability and African trade provide unique insights, together with an interview with the newly elected chairman of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers, Mr Thomas Schaefer. Another special feature focusses on an exciting project to transform South Africa’s small harbours and coastal properties.
South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. Visit www.globalafricanetwork.com for more business and investment news, opportunities and events.
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OVERVIEW<br />
tive, working better with the<br />
communities in which it operates.<br />
New CEO, Mxolisi Mgojo,<br />
is simultaneously leading his<br />
company, Exxaro Resources, on<br />
a programme to make mining<br />
sustainable through measures<br />
such as water sharing with local<br />
communities and finding ways<br />
to help communities gain access<br />
to energy.<br />
The national government’s<br />
Phakisa programme is also to be<br />
applied to mining. Intended to<br />
fast-track solutions to development<br />
problems, an Operation<br />
Mining Phakisa Lab has been set<br />
up to create concrete plans.<br />
Another significant change in<br />
the <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> mining landscape<br />
was the decision of Anglo<br />
American to focus on three<br />
minerals: copper, platinum and<br />
diamonds. Although Anglo has<br />
not begun a wholesale sell-off of<br />
coal, manganese and platinum<br />
assets (because rising prices have<br />
made some mines very profitable<br />
again), sales have begun. The<br />
first move came in April 2017<br />
with the sale of Anglo’s thermal<br />
coal operations to Seriti, a blackowned<br />
company lead by Mike<br />
Teke, the outgoing president of<br />
the Chamber of Mines.<br />
Seriti paid R2.3-billion for the<br />
New Vaal, New Denmark and Kriel<br />
collieries as well as four closed<br />
collieries. Seriti thus became the<br />
second-largest provider of thermal<br />
coal to Eskom.<br />
The other big supplier to<br />
Eskom is Exxaro, which supplies<br />
about 33-million tons. Exxaro’s<br />
recent purchase of Total Coal<br />
<strong>South</strong> Africa (TCSA) took to six<br />
the number of mines the company<br />
has in Mpumalanga. Exxaro’s Grootgeluk mine in Limpopo is a<br />
huge operation and gives the company a presence in the Waterberg<br />
area, where an estimated 40% of <strong>South</strong> Africa’s coal reserves lie. This<br />
amounts to about 75-billion tons of coal, but to get that coal to the<br />
coast for export would mean a rail extension of 464km at a cost of<br />
R37-billion. Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) is conducting a feasibility study.<br />
Assets<br />
<strong>South</strong> Africa has huge reserves of platinum and chrome and produces<br />
about 40% of the world’s vanadium and vermiculite. The country has<br />
large reserves of ilmenite, palladium, rutile and zirconium and 80% of<br />
the world’s known manganese reserves are located in the Northern<br />
Cape Province. <strong>South</strong> Africa also produces 75% of the world’s platinum<br />
and 73% of its chrome.<br />
Despite uncertainty on the global market, Northam Platinum has<br />
continued to buy assets. In 2015 it bought Everest <strong>South</strong> in Limpopo<br />
from Aquarius, a move that will allow it to consolidate operations at<br />
its adjacent property, Booysendal <strong>South</strong>. Northam, which also has<br />
assets in the North West province, aims to produce 850 000oz of<br />
PMGs from 2022.<br />
A court ruling in February 2017 has opened the way for Ivanhoe to<br />
build its Platreef Project on the northern limb of the Bushveld Igneous<br />
Complex. R70-million has been committed to the first phase. If the<br />
mine achieves the projected production rate of 12 Mtpa with 1.2-million<br />
ounces of PMG, it will rank as the biggest PGM mine in the world.<br />
Amplats and Lonmin are trying to reduce costs. Amplats has sold<br />
its Rustenburg operations to Sibanye and Lonmin has put some shafts<br />
that are expensive to run on care and maintenance.<br />
With a depressed platinum price, platinum miners are hoping that<br />
SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS <strong>2018</strong><br />
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