by John Young
Limpopo’s two greatest assets – mineral wealth and fertile soils –continue to define the province’s economy but there are encouraging signs that steps taken in recent years to encourage economic diversity are bearing fruit.
This is particularly noticeable in the tourism and manufacturing sectors. Many new tourism products have come onto the market, particularly in the golfing-estate and private game-reserve sectors, while several initiatives supporting the growth of the manufacturing sector have been pursued. Agencies such as Trade & Investment Limpopo (TIL) and the Limpopo Local Economic Development Programme (supported by the European Union) actively support the establishment of new enterprises – the establishment of a Jewellery Cluster being a case in point.
Manufacturing entities that already exist in Limpopo include smelting operations in support of the mining industry (silicon and platinum), fruit-juice processing, furniture manufacture, timber sawmills, and packaging. Petpak, a part of the Nampak group, has invested heavily in equipment at the Coca-Cola Fortune bottling plant in Polokwane. The plant has a capacity of 30 000 two-litre bottles per day.
TIL has identified several areas for potential investors: tanning, the cultivation of fruit and vegetables, the processing of meat, the manufacturing of jewellery, furniture and industrial chemicals and in the provision of engineering services. At seven economicdevelopment clusters in each of the province’s five district municipalities, factory space and good support infrastructure have been put in place.
Despite these advances, the bedrock of the economy remains the mining sector, comprising as it does 24.4% of provincial gross regional product (GRP). Although platinum mining in the province’s southern and eastern parts has been subjected to the vagaries of the mineral’s price on international markets, sentiment is generally bullish about future prospects.
Within Limpopo, approximately 400 prospecting and mining licences have been granted, across a wide range of minerals. These include the largest diamond mine in South Africa, the biggest copper mine in South Africa, the biggest open-pit platinum mine in the country and the biggest vermiculite mine in the world. In the ground, the province hosts 41% of South Africa’s platinum group metals (PGMs), 90% of South Africa’s red granite resources and approximately 50% of the country’s coal reserves.
In the province’s western region of the Waterberg, coal is the big talking point. South Africa’s power stations need energy and, in the absence of cleaner fuels, the country is turning to the coalfields of the Waterberg (said to contain more than 50% of national coal reserves) for the solution. Already Exxaro’s Grootgeluk mine has been identified as the site of a R9-billion expansion to supply Eskom’s new power station at Medupi with 14.6 million tonnes per year for the next 40 years.
The Medupi plant is located near another large power station at Lephalale near the province’s north-west border with Botswana. It is expected to cost in the region of R120-billion, supply 4 800 megawatts to the national grid and start coming on stream in 2012. Completion is expected to take place in 2016. Not only will the power station significantly increase the amount of power coming on stream for the country, but the massive project and the investment in its associated infrastructure is already having an economic impact.
The province’s other great asset is in the product of its soils. The vast citrus estates of Zebediela (in the centre of the province) and the great tea estates further north have been revived in recent years and provide a striking metaphor for the growth of the provincial economy, which grew at about 4.4% in 2007 and held up reasonably well to the buffeting of the global economic downturn.
Every kind of subtropical fruit flourishes in the eastern half of the province. Abundant fields of avocados, mangoes, paw-paws, litchis and tomatoes stretch as far as the eye can see. Cotton and potatoes are other major crops.
Livestock raising and hunting are carried out in the drier, western and northern regions. Several livestock farms have been converted to private game farms in recent years, mirroring a national trend.
The province is well served logistically, with the N1 highway connecting South Africa’s economic heartland of Gauteng to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to the north through Zimbabwe. Polokwane has an international airport and there are a further two regional airports at Hoedspruit and Phalaborwa.
There are high hopes that tourism numbers will continue to climb as well as they have in recent times: four million visitors came to the province in 2008 compared to 3.1 million the previous year. With the high profile that Limpopo will win when it hosts matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, this seems certain to happen.
The Kruger National Park is one of the world’s most famous conservation areas, and a major attraction for the region. Several other public and private game reserves also exist, as well as other leisure activities and attractions such as golf estates, adventure touring and eco- and cultural-tourism sites.
The Mapungubwe National Park in the northern part of the province has achieved World Heritage Site status: it is a hill site where a 12th century Iron Age civilisation settled and traded extensively in ivory, iron ore, copper and beads with traders from far afield.
Limpopo has five district municipalities:
Capricorn District
Capricorn district is home to the provincial capital, Polokwane.
Capricorn is also the economic centre of Limpopo, with Polokwane contributing 13% of the provincial GRP. The city now boasts an international airport, good educational and medical facilities, several industries and the regional headquarters of banking and retail operations. Polokwane will be one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.
Greater Sekhukhune District
Government is the largest employer in this southern district, followed by agriculture and hunting.
The vast majority of households are rural (94%). Groblersdal is the district capital. The region’s fertile lands produce maize, tobacco, peanuts, vegetables, sunflower seeds and cotton on a large scale. Agriculture makes up 25% of the local economy, while the value of the region’s gross production is estimated at R250-million.
Mopani District
Giyani is the administrative capital of the district and is as such key to the local economy;
the public sector is one of the largest
employers in the district.
The key sectors in Mopani are agriculture and mining. Mopani has an established food-manufacturing industry, in canned, preserved and dried-fruit production and vegetable juices. Phalaborwa is South Africa’s leading copper producer. Mopani borders the Kruger National Park and the tourism sector offers many opportunities.
Vhembe District
The Vhembe District borders on both Zimbabwe and Botswana. The district’s administrative capital is Thohoyandou. Vhembe’s vast bushveld supports commercial and game farming and the district has considerable cultural and historical assets.
The major economic sector is agriculture, both in terms of commercial and subsistence farming. Game farming is a growing subsector, as is ecotourism. De Beers’ Venetia Mine, situated just west of Musina, is South Africa’s largest diamond producer.
Waterberg District
The mining sector is
the largest contributor to regional GDP, while agriculture is also significant.
Several towns in the district are located on the mineral-rich Bushveld Igneous Complex. The district also features the riches of the Waterberg Coal Fields, iron-ore (Thabazimbi) and tin and platinum (Mookgophong).
The area around Mokopane is one of the richest agricultural zones in South Africa, producing wheat, tobacco, cotton, beef, maize and peanuts. The bubbling hot springs of Bela-Bela mark it as a very popular tourism destination and the district now offers many luxury golf estates.
