The R10 billion Vedanta Zinc International’s Gamsberg Phase II Concentrator Expansion, which was launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in Aggenys, Northern Cape yesterday, does not only demonstrate continued investor confidence in South Africa, but also in the country’s Special Economic Zones Programme.
This is the view of the Acting Deputy Director-General of Investment and Spatial Industrial Development at the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), Mr Maoto Molefane.
The expansion, that has been hailed as one of South Africa’s largest mining investments of the past decade, is located in the Namakwa Special Economic Zone, which was designated by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr Parks Tau in May 2024. It comprises a zinc concentrator plant that will increase the company’s annual zin-in-concentrate production to about 500 000 tonnes.
“As a department responsible for the implementation of the country’s Special Economic Zones Programme aimed at achieving economic growth through industrialisation and investment promotion, we are excited about Vedanta’s massive investment in the Namakwa Special Economic Zone. We are excited because the SEZ, which we only designated two years ago, has not only landed its first mega investment project, but it is an investment that brings the country’s strategic objective of beneficiating critical minerals at the source into reality and practical implementation,” says Molefane.
He adds that the investment is a major boost to the SEZs Programme as it has enabled it to increase its contribution to the South African economy through the number and value of investments, as well as job creation.
“The R10 billion investment has led to an increase in the total value of SEZs-based operational investments, which is now estimated at just above R50 billion. More importantly, the investment has created more than 400 direct jobs, thus increasing the total permanent jobs created through the SEZs Programme to more than 30 000,” says Molefane.
Molefane hails the investment, saying it will not only support South Africa’s economic growth and exports, but will also provide a platform for future beneficiation of the country’s critical minerals, value addition and industrialisation.
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