Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies on Friday told the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry that ten potential special economic zones (SEZs) had been agreed upon with eight of South Africa’s provinces.

The proposed SEZs would now undergo feasibility studies to determine their viability.

The Department of Trade and Industry was presenting the SEZ Bill, which aimed to provide an integrated legislative framework for the designation, development, promotion, operation and management of SEZs and the establishment of an SEZ board, to the committee.

Three of the ten proposed SEZs would be located in Limpopo, with one in Tubatse to focus on platinum-group metals; one in Messina to focus on petrochemicals, agroprocessing and logistics; and one in Nkomati to focus on agroprocessing.

A proposed SEZ in Rustenburg, in the North West province, would serve as a platinum hub.

Further, an SEZ to focus on renewable energy was proposed for development in Atlantis, in the Western Cape, while an SEZ in Upington, in the Northern Cape, would focus on solar power.

The Wild Coast, in the Eastern Cape, and the Dube TradePort, in KwaZulu-Natal, could see the development of SEZs focused on agroprocessing, while SEZs focused on agroprocessing and logistics were proposed for development in Harrismith, in the Free State, and Nasrec, in Gauteng.

These zones would promote the delivery of socioeconomic benefits and the creation of decent work through the development of new industrial regions and the strengthening of existing ones.

The SEZ programme would be specifically used to promote the creation of a regionally diversified industrial economy by establishing new industrial hubs in underdeveloped regions of the country. It was, therefore, central to government’s strategic objectives of industrialisation, regional development and employment creation.

“The purposes of the SEZs include facilitating the creation of an industrial complex with strategic economic advantage for targeted investment and industries in the manufacturing sector and tradeable services.

“This will include the development of infrastructure to attract foreign and domestic direct investment,” Davies commented.

He added that the SEZs would be categorised as a free port, a free-trade zone, an industrial development zone (IDZ) or a sector-development zone.

The DTI’s IDZ programme was initiated in 2000 with the identification of four zones, three of which were currently operational – Coega, East London and Richards Bay.

“Once the new Act is passed, these will form part of the SEZs,” said Davies.

He added that the IDZ programme had seen good results, the most dramatic of which was the East London IDZ, which had seen private sector investment of R4-billion in 2012 and 2013, compared with R600-million in 2009.

Meanwhile, Saldanha Bay was the most recent area to be designated a potential IDZ, with development planned for 2013/14.

This followed the completion of a feasibility study in October 2011, which found that there was sufficient non-environmentally sensitive land upon which an IDZ development could take place.

Total direct and indirect jobs were 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.

The study also found that Saldanha Bay was a suitable location for the development of an oil and gas and marine repair cluster, as the Port of Saldanha Bay was 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.