South Africa's Exxaro launches R36 million sheep shearing and hydroponics facility in Eastern Cape

en.Wedoany.com Reported - South Africa's major mining group Exxaro has launched a R36 million sheep shearing and nutrient film technique (NFT) hydroponics facility in Cofimvaba, Eastern Cape, as part of its Matla Mine Social and Labour Plan (SLP), benefiting the villages of EliXeni (where the facility is located), eThunzini, and Ezingxingweni.

The facility comprises both sheep shearing and hydroponics components. The sheep shearing aspect includes site development, civil and structural works, sheep dip infrastructure, a shearing shed, equipment procurement, and a packaging plant; the hydroponics component features a twin-tunnel enterprise equipped with the necessary infrastructure. During the shearing season, the facility can shear up to 500 sheep per day, with an estimated annual wool production of approximately 22,418 kg; the hydroponics facility is designed to produce around 90,000 heads of lettuce and spinach annually.

Exxaro Chief Executive Officer Ben Magara stated that for Exxaro, impact is measured not only by the resources extracted from underground, solar, and wind, but also by what the company helps communities build above ground for future generations. The facility combines traditional livestock farming with modern agricultural techniques, creating sustainable economic opportunities while demonstrating how SLPs can translate mining investment into tangible socio-economic development. Magara noted that although Cofimvaba is not a host community to the company's mining operations, it falls within the broader labour-sending area, and the company's responsibility extends to the communities from which its employees originate; by investing in productive infrastructure and sustainable livelihoods, the company is helping build stronger, more resilient communities and ensuring that the benefits of mining extend beyond the mine boundary.

Exxaro emphasised that effective community development projects require collaboration among multiple stakeholders, including government departments, and showcased the benefits of public-private partnerships, which combine private sector investment with the technical expertise, local knowledge, institutional support, and community engagement of public institutions, with such initiatives having the potential to ensure lasting value.

Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe, attending the handover ceremony on behalf of the government, said he was pleased to hand over the newly built shearing shed to local farmers in Cofimvaba and thanked Exxaro for contributing to the construction of this important facility through its Social and Labour Plan.

The facility is named after the late National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Deputy President Crosby Moni. Mantashe stated that the facility will support local farmers, create sustainable economic opportunities, and strengthen community agricultural development. He expressed his desire to see the transformation of the mining industry, so that mining is viewed not merely as an extractive industry but as a catalyst for socio-economic development and improved livelihoods, leaving a lasting, positive legacy in host communities and labour-sending areas.