Civil Engineering January-February 2022 | Vol 30 No 1

32 January/February 2022 Civil Engineering I n br i ef S outh Africa’s only zinc refinery closed down in 2011, while Africa’s only other zinc refinery stopped operating in early 2020. In recent years, South Africa imported as much as 86 000 tons of refined zinc per annum at a current cost of R3.99 billion. If South Africa had its own local source of refined zinc, it would significantly reduce the input cost of hot dip galvanised steel for construction and mining. However, a key input to competitive zinc ore concentrate supply is determined by the cost of transporting the ore to the nearest refinery or port. At present, there is a state-owned railway line running from Sishen in the Northern Cape to Saldanha in the Western Cape. “Why should this line be used exclusively by one company? Privatising the Sishen-Saldanha line is a very hot topic. The line, opened in 1976 for use by the former state-owned Iscor, has since become used by a single JSE-listed company that is the sole benefi- ciary of a rail link paid for by South African taxpayers,” argues Simon Norton from the Africa Desk of the International Zinc Association. Another urgent issue he identifies is the need to construct new rail links from Gamsberg and Prieska in the Northern Cape to the Sishen-Saldanha line to allow zinc miners to export zinc ore concen- trate by rail to Saldanha Bay. Currently, Northern Cape zinc miners must transport ore by road. Norton also stresses the urgency of rebuilding the national goods and passenger rail network, perhaps even with a wider rail gauge that can run faster, heavier trains over long distances. Investing in such critical rail infrastructure would result in an increase in both refined zinc and galvanised steel demand in South Africa. “If the government focuses solely on growth in the railway industry, it will be a major stimulus for engineering, employment and socioeconomic development. It is a tremendous win-win situ- ation,” comments Norton. South Africa’s galvanising sector itself has shrunk from 38 companies to 24. Norton believes the dramatic decline in the use of refined zinc over the past decade in South Africa is directly proportional to the dearth in major civil engineering projects, combined with a decline in mining infrastructure growth and expansion. This is particularly significant because more than 60% of refined zinc is used globally to produce galvanised steel for construction and civil engineering. “If the zinc decline continues unabated, then the South African government will wake up to a non-existent construction and infra- structure industry within a matter of years,” warns Norton.  Call for Sishen-Saldanha ore rail link to be privatised T he Coega Development Corporation (CDC) is on track to complete the multi-billion-rand Phase 1 of the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (TASEZ). “Just over a year in, and amid a global pandemic, Phase 1 construction at TASEZ is close to completion. Top structure construction of most suppliers is well advanced, and some are al- ready operational,” says Chuma Mbande, CDC’s Executive Manager of Business Development for External Infrastructure Programmes. The Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone is Africa’s first automotive city and is envisaged as the preferred investment destination for the automotive industry on the African continent. Its proximity to an established automotive industry allows for increased economies of scale and scope, thereby lowering the cost of doing business. TASEZ is also a catalyst for employment, transformation and socio-economic development and industry growth. It boasts the most skilled labour in the sector, easy access to a strong consumer base, and connectivity to both suppliers and potential markets while promoting export-orientated industries and local integration. In the year-to-date, government, comprising the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, the City of Tshwane, and the Gauteng Provincial Government, has spent R1.85 billion on the TASEZ development, while R1.3 billion has been invested by the private sector. Over 3 000 construction jobs have been created across five facto- ries within the TASEZ since its launch in 2019, with more to come as construction is completed and existing operations ramp up.  Coega fast-tracks construction at TASEZ Phase 1 of the TASEZ is close to completion as scheduled Growth in railway infrastructure would be a major stimulus for engineering