Limpopo Sisal Industrialisation Project, The DTI / SEDA

1 +

community members employed
through the cooperative

R 1 M

disbursed through Ntiyiso across
the full project lifecycle

End-to-End

from concept and fundraising to
production and IDC handover

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The Story

Few engagements in Ntiyiso’s history better illustrate the full scope of the firm’s capabilities than the
Limpopo Sisal Industrialisation Project. Ntiyiso Consulting conceptualised, initiated, fundraised for, and
implemented an end-to-end industrial project that resuscitated abandoned sisal plantations, established a
beneficiation facility and spinning plant, created a functioning cooperative of over 100 community
members, and handed a living, operating business over to the IDC for further scale investment. A total of
R25 million was disbursed through Ntiyiso in the course of implementation, under an SLA with SEDA
appointed by the DTI.

The Challenge

The challenges were formidable at every stage. Initiating the project meant convincing a rural community
and the Department of Agriculture, simultaneously, of the concept, its viability, and the ownership model.
Fundraising took two years of persistence before the DTI committed. Implementation in a remote area of
Limpopo required sourcing engineering services from Polokwane 150km away, refurbishing machinery
from abandoned sisal facilities across the province, importing spinning equipment from Asia, and training
a workforce that in some cases had never been formally employed. Throughout, competing stakeholder
interests had to be carefully managed.

What We Did

Initiated the project through existing community structures, working with the tribal court to establish a cooperative and community trust with 100% collective ownership of the enterprise

Gained Department of Agriculture approval to cede the plantation to the community

Secured R25 million in DTI funding after a two-year advocacy proces

Set up a dedicated project management office and satellite office in Giyani, relocating to site once initial infrastructure was in place

Sourced and refurbished fibre-making machinery from abandoned plantations; procured new spinning machinery from Asia

Designed and delivered training across the full value chain: cutting, transportation, decortication, spinning, hand-made products, and cooperative management

Managed all disbursements, work plans, budgets, and reporting throughout the implementation period

Secured market linkages for sisal fibre and yarn before production commenced

Handed the operational project over to the IDC for further upscale investment

The Impact

From a community with almost no employment outside the public sector, over 100 jobs were created, each
with share ownership in the cooperative and community trust. All participants were skilled in one or more
parts of the value chain. The Limpopo Sisal project stands as one of Ntiyiso’s proudest achievements, not
just for its economic impact, but for the dignity it created in a community that transformed abandoned
apartheid-era land into a functioning, self-owned enterprise.