| LOCAL
COMPETITIVENESS FUND
PROJECTS
Limpopo Starts Jewellery Making To Add Value
To Mining
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For
all of its mineral wealth, South Africa produces as little
as 2% of the world's jewellery. Making matters even worse,
Limpopo adds virtually no value to its rich deposits of diamonds,
platinum
and other precious minerals, metals and stones.
Now, the Limpopo LED Programme is
investing R7 million to support the establishment of a community-based
Limpopo Jewellery Cluster that will go a long way towards
achieving a key provincial government objective: to add value
to mining output by manufacturing jewellery in the province.
Partners in the Limpopo jewellery manufacturing
cluster being supported by the Limpopo LED Programme
include (from left) Michael Joseph, manager for beneficiation
at Anglo Platinum; Demos Takoulas,
chief executive of Vukani-Ubuntu which is leading the
project; and Imfundiso Skills Development representatives
Cedric Mahlake and Isaac Nkwe who will train emergent
jewellers. |
The Cluster will be the only downstream
manufacturing enterprise in Limpopo based on the mining industry.
It will provide mining houses with opportunities to meet Mining
Charter obligations to involve themselves in enterprise and
socio-economic development in areas where they operate. With
major mines in Limpopo, Anglo Platinum has committed R3 million
towards the project, giving the Cluster total funding of R10
million.
The Cluster is being established within a refurbished Polokwane
diamond cutting and polishing factory where an initial 10
black people will be trained in jewellery design and manufacturing,
and supported to market Limpopo-branded products nationally
and internationally.
The R7 million grant from the Limpopo LED
Programme has been awarded to Vukani-Ubuntu Community Development
Projects which will co-ordinate implementation and management
of the Cluster. Vukani has already established seven community-based
projects in four provinces where 260 black jewellers have
been trained, most of whom are now working in the jewellery
industry.
Vukani is working with three partners in
the development of the Limpopo Jewellery Cluster. They are:
* Zurel Bros diamond cutting
and polishing factory in which the Cluster is being established.
Zurel has considerable experience in skills development and
is currently training 275 rural women under the Mining Qualifications
Authority (MQA) Diamond Processing Learnerships programme.
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* Imfindiso Skills Development which has
been involved in nine community-based jewellery training
projects including five in rural parts of Limpopo. MQA-accredited
learners from these projects will be a source of recruits
for the Cluster.
* Plataurex, a recently established company
specialising in manufacturing platinum jewellery and industrial
components. Plataurex, in which Anglo Platinum has a shareholding,
is the Cluster's commercial partner, thus making the venture
more
sustainable.
Limpopo LED funding is being used to support
development of the Cluster's three main components:
* A jewellery manufacturing
facility;
* A jewellery skills development, training
and design institute; and
* A SMME development and incubation hive
providing support services to small enterprises. This will
enable them to become more sustainable and competitive and
to graduate from the marginalised 2nd economy to the mainstream
1st economy.
Zurel Bros' diamond cutting and polishing works
in Polokwane where the Limpopo Jewellery Cluster is
being established with support of
a R7 million grant from the Limpopo LED Programme and
funding of R3 milion from Anglo Platinum. |
A key market being targeted by the Cluster
is the growing Fair Trade market which gives accredited producers
in developing countries access to markets in the developed
world. Buyers in this market are known as "ethical consumers"
because they are prepared to pay higher prices for products
in order to ensure that producers in developing countries
receive a fair reward for their labours. The so-called "social
premium" is paid back to producers, enabling them to
become more competitive, to build sustainable enterprises
and livelihoods, and to contribute to community development.
However, while Fairtrade -- the main organisation
that regulates the so-called ethical trading market -- has
set standards for accreditation of producers in such fields
as agriculture, similar standards for trading in jewellery
must still be developed by the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation.
As an interim measure, Vukani and other projects
involved in jewellery skills development and manufacturing
in South Africa have established their own FairMade brand
based on Fairtrade principles.
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FairMade was launched late last year at trade shows in South
Africa, the US and the UK. Sales of more than R300 000 worth
of jewellery have already been achieved.
The Plataurex jewellery making factory which is being
established within the Zurel Bros' diamond cutting and
polishing works in
Polokwane. Emergent jewellery makers will be mentored
in the Plataurex works and the company will be responsible
for marketing
products produced by the new Limpopo Jewellery Cluster.
Seen with Plataurex chief executive Peter Lester (second,
right)
are (from left) metal accounting officer
Langa Dube, production assistant
Fabian Mace and waxer
Sarah Masombuka. |
The premium paid by buyers of FairMade jewellery
will accrue to a trust, and income will be used to support
community projects. When international standards for jewellery
manufacturers have been established, Vukani will apply for
Fairtrade accreditation on their behalf.
For more information, please contact:
Demos Takoulas.
Tel: 012 326 8534;
Fax: 012 326 6241;
Cell: 082 772 4623.
E-mail: demos@vukani.org
Website: www.vukani.org |
Zebediela Takes Another Big Step
Having
been saved from the brink of collapse, Limpopo's flagship
Zebediela citrus estate is taking another big step to restore
its position as one of the world's great fruit farms.Now owned
by the local Bjatlhadi community, Zebediela has teamed up
with sister estate Lisbon and an internet-based marketing
agency to meet rapidly changing market demands and boost their
competitiveness.
Backed by a R2,1 million grant from the Limpopo Local Economic
Development (LED)Programme, the two estates are transforming
by becoming wholesalers instead of being bulk fruit suppliers
to middle-men.
They are re-inventing themselves by planning to install and
share specialized packaging equipment; to deliver their fruit
in consumer-friendly packs; and to re-brand and promote their
products.
They believe their actions will increase the competitiveness
of Limpopo's fruit industry by ensuring Zebediela and Lisbon
estates' direct access to local and international markets.
The Limpopo LED Programme grant is a contribution to costs
of changes to the Zebediela and Lisbon pack houses, new packaging
equipment to be shared by the two estates, and marketing and
branding of their oranges and mangoes.Evicted from the Zebediela
area in the 1920s, the Bjatlhadi community was granted ownership
of the famous estate and surrounding areas in 2003 under South
Africa's post-apartheid land restitution law.
The community then formed a partnership with Zebediela workers
and Limpopo-based commercial farmers, the Boyes Group, to
manage and develop the estate. A similar management structure
has been introduced at Lisbon involving local communities
and workers.
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However, falling
citrus prices in recent times have been turning Zebediela
into a marginal producer. With Lisbon facing similar problems,
the community and its partners decided their only solution
was to increase margins by adding value in the form of modern,
innovative packaging, proper marketing and re-launching the
Zebediela and Lisbon brands.
"We have to adapt or die," Zebediela said in its
application for Limpopo LED Programme support.Until now, estates
like Zebediela and Lisbon have delivered most of their produce
in bulk to third parties who re-pack them for sale.
With consumers preferring to buy fruit in
handier quantities, the estates aim to meet supermarket demand
for smaller, high-value packs of fruit.
Research indicates this is also the preference
of municipal market agents, hawkers and small fruit and veg
stores.By re-branding and changing packaging, the farms will
be effectively changing their focus from selling to wholesalers
to becoming their own wholesaler. This will release value
from the supply chain directly to the farms in the form of
higher returns.It will also increase their market share, turnover
and profitability, thus bolstering long-term sustainable production
and pricing.
The partners will benefit not only from the estates' greater
competitiveness. The estates are also certified by Fairtrade,
the international trading organisation which buys from emerging
market producers who adhere to certain socially-responsible
standards.Products sold by Fairtrade command premium prices
from consumers who want to support fair trade practices. The
premium is shared by workers and communities on Fairtrade-certified
farms.As a partner with Zebediela and Lisbon, internet-based
marketing agency FruitOne is a founder member of Fairtrade
South Africa and therefore able to facilitate greater market
access for the estates. |
The partners in Zebediela's operating company:
Lesetja Tlolane, chairman of the Bjatlhadi
Communal Property Association which owns the estate,
and Frans Ledwaba, vice chairman of the Workers' Trust.
Johannes Aphane, chairman of the Workers' Trust, and
John Boyes of the Boyes Group. |
FruitOne will be responsible for the estatesÕ branding
strategies and for co-ordinating their marketing. Zebediela
and Lisbon will be able to share new packaging equipment because
they produce at different times of the year. By moving equipment
between Zebediela and Lisbon, the estates will effectively make
use of it for 11 months of the year, leaving one month for relocation
and servicing. |
Moves In Line With Limpopo Government Strategy
The initiatives being taken by the
partners fit in neatly with the Limpopo government's Provincial
Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS).The provincialgovernment
was instrumental in saving Zebediela from the brink of collapse
after inheriting the then State-owned estate following South
Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy in the early
1990s.Zebediela was expropriated from its private owners
in 1973 by the apartheid regime which handed over its management
to various State agencies. For the next 20 years, the estate
made a profit on only three occasions, with mismanagement
taking a heavy toll on the estate, exacerbated by drought,
labour unrest and floods in the 1990s.
The Limpopo government finally axed Zebediela's management
in the late 1990s, leaving the estate in the hands of two
caretaker managers. But since then, things have been looking
up.The partnership between the Bjatlhadi community -- which
took over Zebediela from the State -- workers and the Boyes
Group was facilitated by the Limpopo provincial government
under the Strategic Partnership model it has developed to
ensure sustainability of estates awarded to communities
which lack the expertise and resources to maintain farming
land.
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This has seen the establishment of an operating company
in which the Boyes Group holds an initial 55%; the Bjathladi
community 30%; and the estate workersÕ trust 15%.
The operating company leases the land from the community.
The Boyes Group has a 15-year management contract with an
obligation to build capacity among workers, empowering them
to play an increasingly important role in the estate's development.
The Boyes Group must also reduce its shareholding over time.
In addition to sustaining agriculture, the partnerships
meet other PGDS objectives which are being supported by
the Limpopo LED Programme. Among them is the imperative
for business to add value to production in Limpopo which
has traditionally been an exporter of unprocessed primary
products such as agricultural produce and minerals.
By cutting out middle-men and delivering fruit directly
to supermarkets and other outlets in consumer-friendly packaging
marketed under their own brands, Zebediela and Lisbon are
adding value at the estates and creating demand for their
products. This is making Limpopo businesses more competitive
and sustainable, creating greater value for communities,
and stimulating local economic development.
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Zebediela Workers' Trust vice chairman Frans Ledwaba
with the big traditional netted bag of oranges and the
new, handier, consumer-friendly small bag that will
be marketed under the Zebediela brand. The change in
packaging is part of Zebediela's strategy to meet rapidly
changing market demands and boost its competitiveness.
Sister estate Lisbon is pursuing a similar strategy.
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Turning Sewage Sludge Into Organic Fertiliser
Converting hazardous sewage sludge
into a safe and competitive organic fertiliser for Limpopo
farmers is the ambitious aim of a new Public-Private-Partnership.Now,
Pro Organic Agri, a company involved in the partnership
with Limpopo municipalities, has been awarded a R667 560
grant from the Limpopo Local Economic Development (LED)
Programme to develop, design and construct a demonstration
plant to test the process on a small commercial scale.
The company says the accumulation and dumping of sewage
sludge in Limpopo's larger cities is not only hazardous,
but its use by some farmers as a fertiliser is harmful to
the environment. Usage can lead to nitrate pollution of
groundwater, heavy metal accumulation in soil, and risks
to human health through exposure to pathogens and toxic
elements.
Turning the waste into organic fertiliser will givecommercial
and emergent farmers in Limpopo a means to enrich soil which
is becomingdegraded in many parts of the province, says
Pro Organic Agri.
In this way, says the company, Limpopo farmers will become
more competitive by being able to meet demand from Europe
and elsewhere for organically grown crops.
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"The Limpopo Growth and Development Strategy stresses
the value-adding approach as a vehicle to raise competitiveness
and investment in the province, to combine public and private
sector contributions to development, and to align the interventions
of various public development institutions for greater impact,"
says Pro Organic Agri.
"This will enhance the value chain and add value to
a waste product which is at this stage is a problem for
municipalities.
"With considerable experience in the bio-organic industry,
Pro Organic Agri is working with Limpopo's Polokwane, Mokopane
and Tzaneen municipalities to develop a process in which
sewage sludge and other organic waste products are "enriched
with nutrient elements to serve as an organic fertiliser
and to eliminate all hazardous components from the sludge
in an environmentally acceptable manner".The project
involves the universities of Limpopo and Pretoria which
will be responsible for capacity building by training postgraduate
students to undertake certain work.The University of Limpopo
will evaluate the enriched sludge at its experimental farm
near Polokwane. The University of Pretoria will also be
involved in this process, as well as quality control of
chemical analysis and pathological evaluation.Pro Organic
Agri says the project will also create opportunities for
Limpopo companies involved in transportation, packaging
and processing, and marketing.
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Time To Celebrate
Representing
commercial and emergent farmers, Letsitele Citrus Co-operative
has good reason to celebrate. Now in its 50th year, Limpopo's
oldest citrus packhouse has become the first in the province
to secure HACCP accreditation, enabling its 11 commercial
and 23 emergent farmer members to export to the European Union
(EU).
The co-op has been given a new lease on life through a R2,1
million grant from the EU-funded Limpopo Local Economic Development
(LED) Programme which is being implemented by the Department
of Local Government & Housing.
The grant has been used to assist the emergent and some commercial
farmers to upgrade facilities on their farms to Eurepgap standards
required by the EU. It has also enabled the co-op to upgrade
its packhouse and to secure HACCP (Health Analysis Critical
Control Points) accreditation which is a pre-requisite for
export to the EU.
As part of Letsitele Citrus Co-op's upgrading
to meet EU export requirements, staff are required to
maintain strict hygiene standards.
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"We are exceptionally proud of our achievements,"
said general manager Johan van der Westhuizen as the co-op
celebrated its 50th anniversary at a special function in Letsitele
near Tzaneen.Upgrading of farmers' facilities and the packhouse
has enabled the co-op to export 1,1 million cartons of citrus
to the EU. Some 170,000 tons -- or 16% -- was produced by
the emergent farmers, a massive increase in their production
during the previous season when they delivered only 35 000
cartons.
Celebrating Letsitele Citrus Co-op's 50th
anniversary are (right) Willie Muller, chairperson of
the co-op, (centre) Lilian Letsoalo, chairperson of
the Mariveni Farmers' Co-op which represents 23
emergent farmers, and deputy chairperson Joseph Mohlongo.
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Before receiving
the Limpopo LED Programme grant, Letistele Co-op had already
invested some R800 000 to make improvements to its old packhouse,
but even more investment was needed to upgrade the facility
to demanding EU standards.
Turning to the Limpopo LED Programme for
assistance, Letsitele said in its funding application that
"the immense capital expenditure required from us to
do the necessary improvements will ruin the members financially
if we have to borrow the money".
The Limpopo LED Programme awarded Letsitele Co-op a R2,1 million
grant from its Local Competitiveness Fund (LCF), one of three
funds through which more than R55 million has already been
invested as part of the Programme's objective "to reduce
poverty through pro-poor economic growth"
A R2,1 million grant from the Limpopo LED
Programme has enabled Letsitele Co-op to construct a
roof over its loading area in order to protect packed
citrus and meet standards required to export fruit to
the EU.
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The LCF aims to make business groups more
competitive in the priority sectors of Limpopo's Provincial
Growth and Development Strategy: agri-business, mining, tourism
and manufacturing.
The Programme's Marginalised Community Fund
assists poor, rural communities to mobilise their assets and
enter the mainstream economy, while the Local Government Support
Fund assists municipalities to create conditions conducive
to economy growth.
Lillian Letsoalo is one of 22 members of the Mariveni
Farmers' Co-op. They have joined forces with commercial
farmers to upgrade the Letsitele Co-op packhouse, enabling
them to meet EU standards and to open European markets.
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Arts, Crafts & Tourism Cluster Launched
With Limpopo LED Programme Support.
 An
ambitious plan to establish a co-operative to assist Limpopo
Lowveld artists and crafters to improve and market their products
and also attract tourists to the area has been launched with
the support of the Limpopo LED Programme.
The European Union-funded Programme has contributed R850 000
to the project. It aims to establish a regional Co-operative
Development Centre, three local hub centres, and a village
tourism network in the Limpopo Lowveld which is marketed to
tourists as the Valley of the Olifants.Known as the Heritage-based
Arts, Crafts and Tourism Cluster, the project could benefit
as many as 200 pottery and jewellery entrepreneurs, 100 traditional
musicians, poets, performers and story-tellers, 15 woodcarvers
and basket weavers, 25 tour guides, and 25 village tourism
enterprises.
The cluster is being developed in tandem with another project
which aims to conserve the musical heritage of communities
living in the Limpopo Lowveld. This project is being supported
by a R6,4 million sponsorship from the National Lotteries
Development Trust Fund.The projects were launched by the Haenertsburg-based
Village Tourism Trust and its partners during a function near
Tzaneen at the end of June.
In addition to funding from the Limpopo LED Programme, the
Arts and Crafts Tourism Cluster is being supported by Mintek,
the State-owned minerals research and development agency,
the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Mopani District Municipality
and a number of other provincial departments and agencies,
and Afrikania Pottery.
This Phalaborwa-based pottery venture has received a R1 million
grant from the Limpopo LED Programme to enable it to open
domestic and export markets for its products and to play a
greater role in nurturing other arts and crafts businesses
in the Limpopo Lowveld.
The Limpopo LED Programme is contributing
to development of the arts and crafts cluster project through
its Local Competitiveness Fund.
Examples of artworks produced in the Limpopo
Lowveld area in which the Limpopo LED Programme is supporting
a project to make artists and crafters more competitive
and to enhance the region's attractiveness as a tourism
destination. |
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The project is in line with the Limpopo Provincial Growth
and Development Strategy which emphasises development in
the province of competitive clusters.
By assisting artists and crafters in the local informal
economy to become more competitive, the project aims to
make it easier for them to gain access to the formal arts
and crafts and tourism economies.
The project aims to:
- Create a community-based institutional framework and
to link
local initiatives and enterprises with first economy institutions
and markets.
- Generate job opportunities by stimulating synergy between
artists, crafters and village tourism entrepreneurs under
a
co-operative structure.
- Develop markets, set-up marketing strategies and undertake
product development.
- Ensure that there is a design element that is current
in the art
and crafts manufactured by crafters and to ensure that
the crafts,
by bringing in the latest trends, will appeal to more
developed
markets.
The project spans the Mopani and Vhembe district municipalities
and includes villages within the local municipalities of
Greater Giyani, Thulamela, Greater Tzaneen, Ba-Phalaborwa,
Maruleng and Greater Letaba.Village Tourism Trust director
Michael Gardner explains the project has been launched because
"we realised that the craft sector was `drifting'.
There was no synergy between crafters; no focussed or sustained
marketing of craft products; no guidance regarding product
development and especially how craft items should meet changing
patterns of demand; no mechanisms to monitor quality and
outputs required to meet market requirements".
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The project, says
Gardner, will enhance the attractivness of the Valley of Olifants
as a tourism destination. "We believe there is a need
to create a vastly expanded `basket' of creative, varied,
fun and innovative products and experiences that will really
help to make this a unique destination within the context
of Southern Africa."
The planned regional Co-operative Development
Centre will aim to market, facilitate, develop and improve
competitiveness of artists and crafters in the area. It will
assist the craft sector with product development and design,
and research on trends in the interior decor industry, with
a view to bringing these elements into their design. This
will hopefully also assist expansion into new domestic and
international markets.
Developers envisage that the Co-operative Development Centre
will include an exhibition hall, an indigenous knowledge resource
centre, space to showcase cultural industries and enterprise
projects, a retail and wholesale sales facility, storerooms,
office space, training facilities, a mini-workshop space,
a glass recycling plant, dormitory-style accommodation, and
an outside entertainment and picnic area.
Development of a Village Tourism Network
is also envisaged. This will be based on accommodation in
villages where cultural tourism has already reached an advanced
state of development.The initiative will be driven by a Cluster
Development Agency.
Arts, crafts and tourism projects which participate in the
venture will be expected to donate part of their profits into
a fund that will partially sustain the agency.
For more information, please contact:
Michael Gardner: Village Tourism Trust.
Tel: +27 (0)15 276-4807
Cell: +27 (0)83 255 9448
E-mail: vavasour@mweb.co.za
Present at the launch of Village Tourism Trust's cultural
heritage projects were: (from left) Mishack Mulaudzi,
Limpopo Department
of Sport, Arts and Culture; Maurice Stander, vice chairman
of the Haenertsburg Development Foundation; Sheila Mafereka
from the Development Bank of Southern Africa; and Tim
Wilkinson, Team Leader of the Limpopo Local Economic
Development (LED) Programme.
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Expanding Grape Production In Lephalale
A combination of the strong rand and fragmentation
of individual farmers in the Lephalale area has undermined the competitiveness
of table grape production in the Waterberg. African Rural Development,
in partnership with four farms in the area, has received R850,000
to undertake a market research study to look at ways to improve
the competitiveness of the farms for exporting while also integrating
emerging farmers in the surrounding areas into a more coordinated
production area.
Developing Limpopo's Wild Game Industry
Together with Waterberg District Municipality
and Ecosystems, Afrivet Business Management has received a R800,000
grant to look into the development of the wild game industry in
Limpopo. This is a fast growing market, both domestically and internationally.
For instance, world demand for venison is 50,000 tons annually of
which South Africa only supplies 2,000 tons. This study will look
at ways to consolidate this industry and improve its competitiveness
in order to take advantage of this lucrative market.
Developing Neutriceuticals in Limpopo
Goldex 35 Pty has been awarded a R711,524
contract to look into the feasibility of developing a competitive
production and processing industry for neutriceuticals in Sekhukhune.
Neutriceuticals are medicinal plants and herbs which are made available
to the wider public through pharmaceutical methods, such as pills.
Not only does Limpopo have ideal climatic and soil conditions for
this extremely lucrative market, but growing cash crops from which
products are derived offers opportunities for income generation
and market access for small scale farmers.
A Marble Hall Horticulture Cluster
Greater Marble Hall Municipality,
together with the Citrus Growers Association, Limpopo Department
of Agriculture and Elandskraal Irrigation Scheme, has received R405
280 to explore the feasibility of setting up a horticulture cluster
in this area. A study will assess how to enhance the competitiveness
of this Provincial Growth and Development Strategy sector by looking
at value adding opportunities, creation of a logistics hub and skills
development of emerging farmers.
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