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I have received a parliamentary reply from the Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger, which revealed that the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Freeport Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (FSIDZ) and Sasol could see over 600 jobs recovered.

The MoU, which was signed on the 18th of October, will be valid for 5 years and the Saldanha Bay area is well placed to take the lead in driving the green hydrogen economy. This is because Sasol has further signed a joint project development agreement to look at the re-invigoration of the Saldanha steel plant together with ArcelorMittal (AMSA).

AMSA had previously lost 1000 direct jobs because of the plant being placed under care and maintenance in 2020. The MoU is, therefore, a welcomed step in promoting job creation and growth – particularly on the West Coast.

While pre-feasibility studies are still underway which are looking at the impact of the MoU on the Saldanha Bay area, it bears mentioning that we are talking about industrial mega-projects and, as indicated in the Minister’s response, the likely CAPEX investment will be over R10 billion.

Not only will this project drive growth and job creation but it will further continue to position the Western Cape as the tech hub of Africa. The World Bank Country Climate and Development Reports, published in November 2022, estimates that promoting green hydrogen exports could add another 6% to the South African GDP by 2050.

Going forward the Standing Committee on Finance, Economic Opportunities and Tourism has resolved that it will visit the Freeport Saldanha IDZ to see first-hand the developments underway.

Issued by Cayla Murray, MPP - DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Finance, Economic Opportunities and Tourism