Northern Cape can be South Africa’s next mining hub, says Minerals Council economist

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. South Africa's Northern Cape province has the potential to unlock significant revenue from a revitalised and expanded mining sector, Minerals Council South Africa acting chief economist Bongani Motsa told a stakeholders' collaboration session in Sandton ahead of the upcoming Northern Cape Investment and Jobs Conference 2026, which will be hosted in Kimberley from April 13 to 15. The Northern Cape, Motsa pointed out, has significant reserves of manganese and rare earth minerals which could catalyse economic growth in the province and South Africa as a whole. In addition to Northern Cape having the potential to be South Africa's next mining hub, Motsa expressed the view that it could also be the next beneficiation centre for manganese and iron-ore. "But there must be a deliberate strategy to extract value, and planning must start now," he urged, while calling for more investment in value-addition initiatives directed at South Africa's own needs. Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul told the collaboration session that mining is one of the six critical pillars of the province's industrialisation and development strategy, along with infrastructure development and transport corridors to support an expanded mining sector. Saul described the Northern Cape as one of South Africa's most under-explored and underutilised yet highest potential regions and invited business and investors to reimagine the Northern Cape as a future-facing, globally competitive industrial hub. "Across the world, industrial advantage is shifting towards regions that offer four things: abundant green energy; proximity to natural resources; a trained skills base; and access to markets through reliable infrastructure," said Saul. "This shift is drawing value chains back towards resource locations and the Northern Cape is firmly on this trajectory. The Northern Cape offers a scale of opportunities that few in the world can match. It is a large and under-used industrial landscape with room for energy, mining, agriculture, manufacturing, logistics and tourism." Amid global demand for critical minerals such as manganese, copper, and zinc rising sharply, Saul drew attention to the Northern Cape holding globally significant deposits of these minerals, while being well positioned to become a dependable, long-term supplier to global manufacturing value chains. "We're now moving up the value chain to a new greener smelting capacity for zinc, manganese, iron-ore, copper and lime, and key investors are already deeply invested in the Northern Cape," the Premier remarked. Government, business, investors and stakeholders will meet in Kimberley next month to discuss opportunities and partnerships to stimulate the Northern Cape's industrial development plans. The Northern Cape Investment and Jobs Conference will be held at the Mittah Seperepere International Convention Centre.