R52.6 billion and 8,000 jobs: Limpopo's new mining zone takes shape at Steelpoort

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau has called on traditional leaders and local communities to take an active part in the Fetakgomo-Tubatse Special Economic Zone, the Limpopo industrial site he says is built to process more of what the country mines and to create jobs in Sekhukhune District.

Speaking at a ministerial engagement in the province, Tau said the zone’s designation in May this year marked a milestone in Limpopo’s industrial development, according to SAnews (South African Government News Agency), whose report of the engagement is the source for this article.

The zone sits in the Steelpoort industrial hub, between the Lion Ferrochrome and Samancor Ferrochrome smelters, and has access to roughly 1,010 hectares of land secured through a lease agreement with the Dithamaga Trust. Tau said it was planned for mineral processing, metal fabrication, manufacturing, renewable energy and the logistics and services that support them.

His argument rests on a gap in the country’s mineral trade. South Africa holds significant reserves of platinum group metals, chrome, manganese, vanadium, titanium, iron ore, fluorspar, zirconium, rare earth elements and battery minerals, Tau said, yet continues to export substantial volumes of raw and semi-processed minerals while importing many finished products made from them.

“Our industrial policy is clear that we must process more of what we mine, and we must manufacture more of what we use. We must also export more of what we manufacture,” Tau said. “Few places make the case for beneficiation better than Steelpoort.”

The numbers attached to the zone are the ones residents of Sekhukhune will measure it by. The Fetakgomo-Tubatse SEZ has an investment pipeline valued at R52.6 billion, projected to support around 8,000 jobs in the short to medium term and potentially 20,000 over a ten-year period, according to the agency’s report.

On the ground, Tau said the zone has cleared several regulatory and construction hurdles. Township establishment has been approved and environmental authorisation granted through a Record of Decision. Phase 1 infrastructure development, covering about 75 hectares, has begun. Site clearance is complete, perimeter fencing is reported to be 95 percent complete and construction of the guardhouses about 65 percent complete.

The Limpopo Provincial Government is funding the zone’s operational costs and has committed R445 million towards bulk infrastructure, Tau said. The Development Bank of Southern Africa has been appointed to provide project preparation and implementation support, including help with an application to the department’s SEZ Fund. “The next step is to ensure that the funding application is complete, technically sound and aligned with the Fund’s requirements,” he said.

Eskom is carrying out detailed design and technical assessments for electricity infrastructure, with a regular steering committee alongside the zone. Bulk water and water-treatment works are at the concept and viability stage, with detailed design targeted for completion by January 2027.

Tau directed part of his appeal at the mining companies operating around Steelpoort, whose supply chains he said the zone needs. “You are central to the success of this Zone. Share your demand for goods and services. Open your supply chains to local manufacturers,” he said. “Consider anchoring your own investments here.”

Partnerships with Sekhukhune TVET College, the University of Limpopo and the Tshwane University of Technology are expected to support skills development and prepare young people for the work new investment would bring. Tau also said industrial growth must respect the environment and the communities living alongside it. “That is how we build a Zone that lasts,” he said.

The Fetakgomo-Tubatse SEZ forms part of the national Special Economic Zones programme. According to the agency’s report, South Africa’s SEZs host 234 private companies with a combined investment value of more than R47 billion, and the programme has created 134,478 jobs, of which 32,904 are permanent.

SAnews (South African Government News Agency) published the original report at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/fetakgomo-tubatse-sez-game-changer-limpopo-mining-and-jobs on 20 October 2026. This article is a summary of that report rather than of the ministerial address itself. The R52.6 billion pipeline and the job projections are the figures the agency carries, and the water infrastructure timeline runs to January 2027.