By John Young
The Bojanala Special Economic Zone is set for an official launch in the 2026/27 Financial Year. Conceived as a beneficiation hub for the processing of platinum group metals (PGMs) and located at Mogwase, north of Rustenburg, the SEZ is said to have attracted investment commitments of R12-billion, and the intention is that it will have a multiplier effect on several sectors.
Infrastructure remains a provincial priority, both in terms of building new facilities and maintaining existing infrastructure. Several new solar farms have been commissioned in the province, a sign of a shift in the energy landscape.
In April 2025, the naming ceremony of a new medical school was held. The NWU Desmond Tutu School of Medicine has become South Africa’s 11th such facility and the first students are expected to enrol in 2028. The North West Provincial Government (NWPG) has committed to the establishment of a Chemotherapy Unit in the Mahikeng Provincial Hospital.
Geography
The North West is bordered on the west by the Republic of Botswana and on the east by Gauteng. Grasslands cover much of the province. The Magaliesberg mountain range in the north-east extends about 130km from Pretoria to Rustenburg along the same line as the N4 highway. The Pilanesberg is an ancient volcanic structure that contains the Pilanesberg National Park and the Sun City Resort with several platinum mines around its edges. The Vaal River flows along the eastern boundary of the province, separating it from Gauteng and the Free State.
Economy
Mining contributes 24.4% and is built on enormous reserves of a variety of minerals,
chief among which is platinum group metals (PGMs). Rustenburg and Brits combine to produce 94% of the country’s platinum. Mining beneficiation takes place at many places, but Rustenburg in particular. There are significant deposits of gold, uranium, diamonds, copper, vanadium, fluorspar and nickel. Stone and limestone are also found in large quantities.
Manufacturing is diverse with centres of specialisation spread around the province. Automotive components firms are clustered in Brits, which is close to the automotive manufacturing hub of Rosslyn (Pretoria) in Gauteng. Towns like Klerksdorp (agro-
processing and engineering) and Potchefstroom (food and beverages) have significant manufacturing capacity with several firms geared to servicing the mining industry.
Agriculture accounts for 3.5% of GDP but it plays a major role in supplying produce for South Africa, supplying more than 30% of the country’s sunflower seeds, for example. About 20% of South Africa’s maize comes from the province, as does 15% of its wheat. The dry western part of the province is home to beef cattle, game ranching and hunting. The normally well-watered eastern and north-eastern regions carry varied crops, many of which are sold in Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The agricultural sector also generates large scale storage and logistics operations, particularly in Klerksdorp, Vryburg and Brits, together with a number of agro-processing plants. Senwes and NWK are large and complex companies with extensive infrastructure.
Tourism is already well developed but is probably the sector with the most potential to grow. The NWPG wants to extend the province’s Protected Areas Network through public-
private partnerships (PPPs). Mining house Glencore will assist in the creation of a nationally recognised botanical garden within an upgraded Kgaswane Mountain Reserve.
The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), which manages South Africa’s 10 national botanical gardens, intends for every province to have such a park by 2030. The province’s superb tourism assets range from the sprawling Sun City Resort to the internationally recognised Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre at Hartbeespoort, from the luxury game lodges within the Madikwe Game Reserve to the traditional horse racing that has been revived in Vryburg.
Infrastructure
The North West has 38 infrastructure projects within the Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) pipeline.
- Pilanesberg Airport: In 2026 ISA and the NWPG signed an MoU to rebuild and upgrade the facility, which burnt down in 2023. Sun International, whose Sun City Resort is less than 15 minutes’ drive from the airport, is supporting the project.
- Dick George Montshioa Airport, Mahikeng: The North West Department of Community Safety and Transport Management told a national parliamentary select committee of proposals to repurpose the facility into a cargo-focused airport, an aviation-training school or an aircraft-maintenance hub. The cost to refurbish and upgrade is estimated at R1-billion, and it is hoped that ISA will assist with the commercialisation project. The airport has not received commercial flights since 2014.
- Taung Irrigation Scheme covers 3 570ha, part of the Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme.
- Hartbeespoort Dam.
- Royal Bafokeng Stadium, built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
- Olympia Park Stadium, home to the Orbit College team playing in the Premier Soccer League until the floodlights were deemed not to meet standards.
- Mmabatho Stadium in Mahikeng has a 59 000 capacity.
- Sun City Resort has several hotels and two golf courses. The Gary Player Country Club hosts the annual Nedbank Golf Challenge, which forms part of the DP World Tour.
- North-West University has campuses in Mahikeng and Potchefstroom (headquarters) and a further campus in Gauteng Province at Vanderbijlpark.
- Three Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, each with several campuses.
- The Taung skull fossil site, which forms part of the Cradle of Humankind, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Pilanesberg National Park.
- Madikwe Game Reserve.
- Mafikeng Game Reserve.
Cities and towns
1 Mahikeng: The siege of the British-controlled town then known as Mafikeng during the Anglo-Boer lasted 217 days between October 1899 and May 1900. Such was the celebration in England when the siege was lifted that a verb to describe the wild scenes was added to the English language, “to maffick”. Located on the banks of the Molopo River and close to the border with Botswana, the town has its own game reserve. As the provincial capital, Mahikeng is the seat of the provincial legislature.
2 Rustenburg: The most populous city in the province is strongly tied to the platinum-mining industry with several smelters and refineries and it is a commercial and educational hub. At the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain range and about 50km from Sun City Resort, Rustenburg is on the N4, which continues west to the Marico and Botswana and east to Pretoria. The road north leads to yet more platinum mines and Limpopo Province.
3 Klerksdorp: The birthplace of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu has a long history of gold mining which continues to this day (with uranium) and supports ancillary sectors such as engineering. The town is an educational centre and several large companies are headquartered in the city, not least the agricultural group Senwes. The N12 connects the city to Kimberley to the south and eastwards to Potchefstroom and Johannesburg.
4 Vryburg: The centre of a cattle-farming district, with Bonsmara cattle predominating, Vryburg also hosts a large annual agricultural show and has links to a pioneering veterinarian, Sir Arnold Theiler. The Theiler Agricultural Museum and Cattle Research Centre is on the farm Armoedsvlakte, a short distance west of the town.
North West Province
- Capital city: Mahikeng
- Population: 4.1-million
- Area: 104 882km²
- GDP: R459.8-billion
- District municipalities: Four district municipalities: Bojanala Platinum (Rustenburg is the administrative centre, with five local municipalities); Dr Kenneth Kaunda (Klerksdorp, three); Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati (Vryburg, five); Ngaka Modiri Molema (Mahikeng, five)
- Website: www.nwpg.gov.za
