Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe says the Northern Cape is expected to play a huge role in South Africa’s mining and energy corridor of the future.
He was speaking at the 2nd Northern Cape Mining and Energy Investment Conference held in Kimberley.
“We note the observation made by the EU that without the realisation of Africa’s potential in minerals, there can be no green economic future.
“The green economy is heavily dependent on the mineral potential of South Africa and several of these critical minerals occur and believe been discovered in [the Northern Cape]. Therefore, the voice of this province in what we finish with those minerals is going to be critical in the future.
“Some rare earth mineral bearing rocks which acquire been identified…symbolise the revitalisation of the Northern Cape mining corridor. 80% of rare earth minerals discovered in Namibia are on our side. I am appealing to investors, please recede and enact exploration….it is going to be worth investing in exploration in the Northern Cape,” he said.
The Minister added that R500 million has been set aside by the Council for Geoscience for supporting emerging companies that want to enact mining exploration.
He acknowledged that a lack of grid capacity and transmission lines in the Northern Cape is hampering the economic growth of the province.
“Over the past five years of the investment drive led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, well over R90 billion in investments gain been pledged in the mining and energy sector in the Northern Cape alone. Some of these investment acquire translated into actual projects which are under construction with some completed and connected to the grid, thus supporting both mining activities and the economy.
“However, a notable challenge to further investment in the energy sector is the unavailability of grid capacity in the province. That is a huge problem and the coastal areas are receiving priority from the government. We will be investing into a brilliant future for this province in particular,” he said.
The Minister emphasised that overcoming the challenges faced by Transnet in logistics is also critical for GDP growth.
“The low contribution of mining [to GDP growth] is mainly attributed to two factors, mainly logistics in rail and port infrastructure inefficiencies. Particularly, the Northern Cape will be affected by this because it exports bulk minerals. These logistics impact directly on the Northern Cape.
“We are further encouraged by the efforts made by the mining sector with Transnet to improve constraints in rail and port infrastructure. We believe that resolving these constraints will enable transportation of bulk commodities to the ports thus improving our exports and the Northern Cape’s contribution to the GDP,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
Moon Peaches
Diary of an Englishman after he moves to South Africa….
**August 1**: Just got transferred with work from London, UK to our new home in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, South Africa. Now this is a town that knows how to live! Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by our pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my new home. I love it here.
**September 1:** Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I’m turning into a sun-worshipper – no blasted rain like back in London! Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me! Another scorcher today, but I love it here. It’s Paradise !
**October 1:** The temperature hasn’t been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s windy though. Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than we expected. Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed three days off work. What a dumb thing to do. Got to respect the old sun in a climate like this!
**October 25:** This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant fucking blow dryer. And it’s hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink and the repair man charged R200 just to drive over and tell me he needs to order parts from @#$# Johannesburg. The wife & the kids are complaining.
**October 30:** The temperature’s up around 40 and the parts still haven’t arrived for the fucking air conditioner. House is an oven so we’ve all been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bleeding R4 million house and we can’t even go inside. Why the hell did I ever come here?
**November 4:** Finally got the fucking air-conditioner fixed. It cost R1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 35 degrees. Stupid repairman. Fucking thief. If one more smart bastard says ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to fucking throttle him. Fucking heat! By the time I get to work, the car radiator is boiling over, my fucking clothes are soaking fucking wet and I smell like baked cat. Fucking place is the end of the Earth.
**November 9:** Tried to run some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in my car. I thought my fucking backside was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh, all the hair on the backs of my legs and off my fucking behind. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried bum and baked cat. The Weather report might as well be a fucking recording – hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and fucking sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 bleeding months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Fuck!!
**November 15:** Doesn’t it ever rain in this darn place? Water restrictions will be next, so my R5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the fucking pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the fucking flies. You don’t dare open your mouth for fear of swallowing half a dozen of the little buzzards!
**November 20:** Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 degrees today. Now the air conditioner is gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I wanted to shove the car up his backside. Anyway, had to spend the R2,500 of the mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid fool. Fucking PHALABORWA! What kind of sick, demented idiot would want to live here!
**December 1:** WHAT!!!! The FIRST day of Summer!!!!
You are fucking kidding me, right?
Mauve Cactus
Fun South African Fact: There are 11 official languages, each with equal status, in South Africa