The Saldanha Bay IDZ: A Potential 25 000 New Jobs

Honourable Minister, Honourable Mayor, CEO of Wesgro, Members of the SBIDZ Licensing Company, Staff Members of the Department of Trade & Industry, Western Cape Department of Economic Development & Tourism and Saldanha Bay Municipality, Invited Guests, Members of the Media

Today marks the official kick off of the 60 day public consultation period for the designation of an Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) in Saldanha Bay.

I encourage all members of the public to make use of this opportunity and voice their opinions on the proposed vision for Saldanha Bay as presented in the Application for IDZ Designation and Operator Permit for the Saldanha Bay IDZ document gazetted today.

Collaboration between government, citizens and business is necessary to build a Western Cape that is a better place to invest, to do business, get a job and earn a living, for everyone.

Saldanha Bay has long been acknowledged as an important resource for the sustainable growth and development of the West Coast region, and indeed, the whole of the Western Cape.

All indicators show that an Industrial Development Zone in Saldanha Bay would be to the benefit of the Western Cape, South Africa and the African continent as a whole in creating a functional, self-sustaining industry that contributes to economic development and sustainable employment.

The Saldanha Bay Feasibility Study published in October 2011, found that there was sufficient non-environmentally sensitive land upon which an IDZ development could take place.

And after a process of consolidation into an attainable business plan focussing on the Oil & Gas and Marine Repair Cluster, the socio-economic impacts were found to be that after 20 years, an IDZ in Saldanha Bay developed around these industries, would generate a minimum annual return of R11 billion for the economy and create over 25 000 sustainable jobs nationally.

The total contribution to GDP for the IDZ is expected to amount to R3.4 billion in the first year, increasing to nearly R6 billion in the second year. In the third year the contribution is expected to be slightly lower at R5.5 billion due to a decrease in capital spend, but then increasing by the twentieth year with a total annual contribution to GDP amounting to R11 billion.

Total direct and indirect jobs in the Western Cape are expected to amount to 4 492 in the first year, 8 094 in the second year, 7 274 in the third year, 10 132 in the fourth year and 14 922 in the fifth year. From the seventh year around 14 700 direct and indirect jobs would be sustained in the province as a result of the IDZ.

Saldanha Bay is an ideal location for the development of an Oil & Gas and Marine Repair Cluster. The Port of Saldanha Bay is also competitively located between the oil and gas developments on the West Coast of Africa, as well as the recent gas finds on the East Coast of Africa.

South Africa is a significant industrial economy in the sub Saharan region and is logistically well connected to the region. It is therefore a natural location for providing repair and maintenance services, warehousing and logistics and professional/technical services where proximity to end location is an advantage.

Our vision is to establish the Western Cape as the oil and gas hub for Africa and the Saldanha IDZ is crucial in achieving this objective.

I trust that the public will give the designation of the Industrial Development Zone a firm vote of confidence. We will pay due consideration to all the comments we receive.

The journey to the publication of the Application for IDZ Designation and Operator Permit for the Saldanha Bay IDZ document and its gazetting has been a long one.

There have been many crucial role-players without whose valued contributions to our joint-vision of an economy growing and job creating Saldanha Bay would not have materialized.

I would like to thank them individually:

• Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies

• The CEO of Wesgro, Nils Flaaten

• The Mayor of Saldanha Bay, Francois J. Schippers

• Janice Jonathan, Warren Smith, Antoinette Baepi, Khaya Ngqaka from the Department of Trade and Industry

• Jessica Longe, Herman Jonker, Nigel Gwynne-Evans, Jo-Ann Johnston and Solly Fourie from the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism

• Shane Cordom and Louis Scheepers from the Saldanha Bay municipality

• Herman Boneschans, Doug Southgate, Laura Peinke, Hannes Marais, Kaashifah Beukes from the Saldanha Bay Licensing Company, the implementing vehicle of the Saldanha Bay IDZ

I look forward to further engaging with all of you in bringing our vision to reality. I thank you.