Northern Cape positioned as South Africa’s next mining and industrial powerhouse

South Africa’s Northern Cape province is emerging as a high-potential mining and industrial hub, with industry leaders and government officials pointing to its vast untapped resources and strategic advantages as key drivers of future economic growth.

Speaking at a stakeholder collaboration session in Sandton, Bongani Motsa emphasised that the province could unlock significant revenue through a revitalised and expanded mining sector. The session was held ahead of the upcoming Northern Cape Investment and Jobs Conference 2026, scheduled to take place in Kimberley from April 13 to 15.

Motsa highlighted the Northern Cape’s rich reserves of manganese and rare earth minerals, noting their potential to catalyse economic growth both provincially and nationally. Beyond extraction, he pointed to the opportunity for the region to evolve into a beneficiation hub for manganese and iron ore.

“But there must be a deliberate strategy to extract value, and planning must start now,” he urged, calling for increased investment in value-addition initiatives tailored to South Africa’s domestic needs.

Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul reinforced the province’s strategic ambitions, identifying mining as one of six critical pillars underpinning its industrialisation and development agenda. He stressed the importance of infrastructure development and transport corridors in supporting an expanded mining sector.

Saul described the Northern Cape as one of the country’s most underexplored yet high-potential regions, inviting investors and businesses to reimagine it as a 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.”

With global demand for critical minerals such as manganese, copper and zinc rising, Saul noted that the Northern Cape holds globally significant deposits and is well positioned to become a reliable, long-term supplier to international 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,” he added.

The upcoming conference will bring together government, business leaders and investors to explore partnerships and unlock opportunities aligned with the province’s industrial development strategy.

The event will be hosted at the Mittah Seperepere International Convention Centre, serving as a key platform to accelerate investment and collaboration in the region.