Government in refinery acquisition talks with Sapref

The KwaZulu Natal government is in talks with national government and Sapref regarding the proposed purchase and takeover of the oil refinery, south of Durban, which is due to close indefinitely at the end of March 2022.
KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala said during his State of the Province Address on Thursday that it was important to retain refinery operations in the province. Shell and BP’s recent announcement that they intended to indefinitely halt operations at the refinery, came after Engen announced the closure of its refinery in the region last year.
“We are disappointed by the decision of Sapref to indefinitely suspend refinery operations in Durban by the end of March 2022. We are of the firm view that retaining refinery operations in the province is key for economic growth and job creation, rather than solely relying on importing refined oil,” said Zikalala.
“For that reason, we have called on national government to buy Sapref, not only to protect jobs, but to build the capacity of the state. It cannot be that the country will remain dependent on foreign-owned, private conglomerates who are only driven by the profit motive and owe no loyalty to our developmental agenda.”
He said the provincial government had already met with Sapref to discuss the proposed plan.
“We have started engaging with the Department of Minerals and Energy to work towards taking over the full operations of Sapref as a state-owned oil company.”
Zikalala highlighted several new developments in KZN, including the establishment of a new logistics hub in Durban North.
“Investec Property will be investing more than R6 billion to redevelop the old Corobrik site north of Durban into a logistics and distribution hub to tap into the growing demand for warehousing facilities in the province.” The new logistics hub has the potential to create 16 000 jobs
He said Trade Investment KwaZulu Natal had attracted investments to the value of R5.3bn with over 8 554 jobs created during 2021. These included:
 * Tetra Pak investment of R500m, adding 120 to the already existing 300jobs;
 * Webhelp Call Centre investment of R500m, which will initially create 500 jobs and then
    2  000 jobs in the next two years;
 * Capita BPO investment of R120m, creating 500 jobs;
 * Blythesdale Coastal Resort’s R800m investment, creating over 2 000 jobs;
 * Toyota South Africa’s R2.6bn investment for the production of Toyota Corolla Cross;
* Pepkor Group is investing R1,5 billion in the Hammarsdale precinct, with R1 billion of further expansion in the pipeline
* Aquelle Group is investing R300 million
He said KZN was forging ahead with the implementation of its Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan to speed up economic growth and social transformation. The plan prioritises agriculture, industrial development; health innovation and manufacturing; clothing and textiles; creative industries; informal sector; investment and trade; infrastructure development; tourism, fourth industrial revolution (4IR); ICT innovation and finance.