{"id":1191,"date":"2026-05-08T13:42:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T13:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/?p=1191"},"modified":"2026-05-08T13:42:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T13:42:00","slug":"ramaphosa-salutes-south32-at-30-year-hillside-milestone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/ramaphosa-salutes-south32-at-30-year-hillside-milestone\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramaphosa Salutes South32 at 30 Year Hillside Milestone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

President Cyril Ramaphosa praises South32 for its Hillside Aluminium smelter. Pic ThePresidency<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thokozile Mnguni<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Cyril Ramaphosa has praised mining and metals company South32 for its continued investment in South Africa as its Hillside Aluminium smelter in Richards Bay marked 30 years of operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the anniversary event in Richards Bay, Ramaphosa said the smelter has played a major role in strengthening South Africa\u2019s industrial capacity since opening in 1996.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, we can say that Hillside Aluminium has delivered,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the president, Hillside currently supports 3,650 direct and indirect jobs and contributes to an estimated 29,000 jobs across the broader economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramaphosa said the operation continues to support South Africa\u2019s downstream manufacturing sector while also helping develop critical skills through apprenticeships, bursaries and learnership programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHillside Aluminium is not only a smelter; it is a producer of skills,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also highlighted South32\u2019s investment in surrounding communities, including support for health services at Ngwelezana Hospital through a dedicated paediatric burns unit, water infrastructure projects in the King Cetshwayo District that have connected more than 1,200 households to clean water, and refurbishment work at Aquadene Secondary School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramaphosa said South32 also demonstrated confidence in the local economy by pledging R3.9 billion at this year\u2019s South Africa Investment Conference for rail infrastructure upgrades in KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He welcomed ongoing discussions between Eskom and South32 on a long-term electricity solution for Hillside ahead of the expiry of its current power contract in 2031.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramaphosa also said reforms at Transnet and continued infrastructure investment were helping create a stronger environment for industrial growth, exports and job creation in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Cyril Ramaphosa praises South32 for its Hillside Aluminium smelter. Pic ThePresidency Thokozile Mnguni President Cyril Ramaphosa has praised mining and metals company South32 for its continued investment in South Africa as its Hillside Aluminium smelter in Richards Bay marked 30 years of operation. Speaking at the anniversary event in Richards Bay, Ramaphosa said the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[17],"class_list":["post-1191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225.jpg",1080,709,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225-300x197.jpg",300,197,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225-768x504.jpg",768,504,true],"large":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225-1024x672.jpg",1024,672,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225.jpg",1080,709,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225.jpg",1080,709,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"The News Desk","author_link":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/author\/thenewsdesk\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"President Cyril Ramaphosa praises South32 for its Hillside Aluminium smelter. Pic ThePresidency Thokozile Mnguni President Cyril Ramaphosa has praised mining and metals company South32 for its continued investment in South Africa as its Hillside Aluminium smelter in Richards Bay marked 30 years of operation. Speaking at the anniversary event in Richards Bay, Ramaphosa said the…","authors":[{"term_id":17,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"thenewsdesk","display_name":"The News Desk","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0a1757267ef3fae62f6626542dd4ac132e4785e419933d0c132458b23e141761?s=96&d=mm&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225.jpg",1080,709,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225.jpg",1080,709,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225.jpg",1080,709,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225-300x197.jpg",300,197,true],"large":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225-1024x672.jpg",1024,672,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225.jpg",1080,709,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1001035225.jpg",1080,709,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"The News Desk","author_link":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/author\/thenewsdesk\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Politics<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"President Cyril Ramaphosa praises South32 for its Hillside Aluminium smelter. Pic ThePresidency Thokozile Mnguni President Cyril Ramaphosa has praised mining and metals company South32 for its continued investment in South Africa as its Hillside Aluminium smelter in Richards Bay marked 30 years of operation. Speaking at the anniversary event in Richards Bay, Ramaphosa said the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1191"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1194,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1191\/revisions\/1194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1191"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsdesk.co.za\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}