The Highveld Industrial Park, near eMalahleni, in Mpumalanga, has been successfully revived and repurposed into a fully integrated, large-scale industrial ecosystem.

Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, the park has positioned itself as a model for industrial regeneration, demonstrating how dormant industrial assets can be repurposed to support economic activity, job creation and South Africa’s broader reindustrialisation ambitions.

Highveld Industrial Park CEO Andrea de Souza says that, despite a slow start, interest in the park gained momentum as the need for comprehensive support for both heavy industry and smaller companies became increasingly evident.

Following the closure of Highveld Steel, the park restarted operations in 2016 with three tenants already on site. Its first independent tenant was signed in November that year, and growth accelerated thereafter. By 2017, the number of tenants had reached 19, increasing to 51 by 2019. Currently, about 101 businesses operate within the precinct.

With significant investment by tenants to date and a pipeline of projects expected to break ground within the next 12 months, the Highveld Industrial Park continues to build a future-ready ecosystem for resilient, responsible and revolutionary businesses.

Its tenants span manufacturing, engineering, mining services, logistics and energy, as well as other industrial sectors.

The expansion reflects continued demand for industrial facilities and services, particularly those that enable businesses to establish operations without incurring the substantial capital expenditure associated with developing a new site.

Spanning a large portion of property zoned for industrial use and 55 000 m2 of under-roof space, including existing warehouses, workshops, buildings and office space, the park has access to key transport corridors, including the N4 and N12 highways, as well as rail links to major ports such as Richards Bay and Durban, both in KwaZulu-Natal, and Maputo, in Mozambique.

“The provision of reliable gas, water and electricity utilities is one of our main draws, with an engineering team that focuses on utilities 24/7,” De Souza points out.

In addition to gas supply, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon and methane-rich natural gas, the park has two onsite renewable energy projects, water purification and distribution systems, an internal road network designed to accommodate heavy vehicles, dedicated railway sidings for freight operations and five weighbridges.

While the park offers ready-to-use infrastructure, utilities and facilities that enable businesses to start operations immediately, eliminating startup delays, there is also potential for greenfield development.

The Highveld Industrial Park also boasts several green initiatives, including a partnership with the National Cleaner Production Centre, a national support programme through the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research that promotes the implementation of resource efficiency and cleaner production methodologies to help industry lower costs through reduced energy, water and materials use, as well as improved waste management.

This enables the development of greener, low-carbon industrial spaces across South Africa and supports industrial parks and zones’ efforts to become more sustainable.

De Souza believes that there are opportunities to improve environmental sustainability, while supporting the growth of heavy industry, which can play an important role in South Africa’s reindustrialisation.

Jobs Renewal

One of the most significant outcomes of the park’s revival has been the return of employment to the surrounding community, De Souza highlights.

The revival has also created opportunities to retain and strengthen the skills base, with the Highveld Industrial Park hosting an accredited skills training centre and recently partnering with a new, fully accredited training services provider that also operates from the site.

The aim is to broaden access to practical skills development to support the industrial activities taking place at the industrial park.

The park also hosts a smart skills centre focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics training, which was constructed in partnership with CHIETA.

By combining industrial activity with skills development, the park aims to contribute to a pipeline of workers equipped to participate in the next phase of regional industrial growth.

Diversification

A further benefit has been the diversification of industries operating within the park, reducing dependence on a single industry or major employer.

Reindustrialisation cannot be done by one company, De Souza argues, adding that there is a need to work in ecosystems with industries supporting one another.

The park is also considering wider opportunities in lighter industrial development, including logistics and warehousing, which could help Mpumalanga participate more meaningfully in sectors such as e-commerce, while building on its established industrial and transport infrastructure.

Several tenants on the site support local mining, transportation and heavy industries, including steel and ironmaking, engineering and manufacturing.

The park’s diversification is reflected in the projects being developed by individual tenants, including initiatives focused on mineral beneficiation, resource recovery and industrial energy supply.

Already onsite is Nafasi Technologies, which constructed a facility within the park to create chemicals for the fertiliser industry using waste material from water treatment plants in the region.

Construction started in August 2025, and the company has recently produced its first batches of product.

The initial plant is intended to establish the viability of the process. If successful, the company plans to consider building several additional facilities of a similar size.

The total investment is still to be confirmed, and will depend on the outcomes of the first plant. However, the broader investment is expected to range from R200-million to R500-million, says Nafasi GM for technologies Ashton Drummond.

Another business onsite is mining engineering and maintenance company VR Maintenance, which started operations at Highveld Industrial Park in February 2018.

“Our workshop is a key operational base from which we support mining customers across Mpumalanga and the broader mining sector,” explains VR Maintenance MD Rubin Axsel, noting that the location places it within reach of major mining operations and key transport routes, supporting efficient equipment movement and responsive customer service.

“Combined with our workshop capabilities and field-service teams, this enables us to deliver integrated maintenance solutions aligned with the demanding operational requirements of the mining industry. The workshop benefits from established industrial infrastructure, accessibility for transporting heavy equipment and proximity to our customer base.”

NOVO Energy, a National Energy Regulator of South Africa- (Nersa-) licensed gas trader that develops, owns and operates its own gas infrastructure, storage and logistics, also operates a compression hub at Highveld Industrial Park, where it holds a Nersa gas storage licence as well as an environmental authorisation for an inland liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal.

The group’s Highveld hub has been operating since 2020. The LNG terminal received its environmental authorisation in April 2022, after a full scoping and environmental impact assessment, says NOVO Energy COO Chris Sturdy.

The terminal is designed to handle up to 25 petajoules a year, addressing one of the longest lead-time items for projects that need inland LNG storage.

“As pipeline supply from Mozambique declines, inland industry and power generation will depend more on imported LNG and new regional gas sources. That gas will be landed at the coast or produced across the border, hundreds of kilometres from where it is used. When LNG arrives by road in batches but is consumed continuously, there has to be buffer storage between the two. Without it, a delay at the port, the border or on the road reaches the customer straight away.”

An inland terminal provides that buffer. It can also take LNG from more than one source, so that customers do not rely on a single supply chain.

“Customers connected to the pipeline network receive gas directly. Customers beyond the network receive compressed natural gas in road trailers from three compression hubs: Lincoln and Kew in Gauteng and Highveld in Mpumalanga.

The Highveld Industrial Park’s revitalisation has demonstrated the potential to revive historic industrial hubs.

As the park enters its second decade, the return of more intensive industrial activity, including smelters and steelmaking, remains an important ambition that could benefit both the surrounding region and the country more broadly.