Deputy President Paul Mashatile: Launch of Wits Strategic Hydrogen Localisation Investment Facility

Programme Director;
Our Hosts, the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Wits University, Prof Zeblon Vilakazi, and his Senior Executive Team;
Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa;
Minister of Higher Education and Training, Mr Buti Manamela;
Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Cllr Dada Morero
Mr Nkululeko Magadla, CEO, Air Liquide South Africa
Mr. Nicolas Poirot, Air Liquide CEO for Africa, Middle East, India
Sasol Representatives present here today;
Mr. Irshaad Kathrada, CEO, Localisation Support Fund
Industry Leaders;
Former Wits Council Chairperson, Mr Isaac Shongwe;
Academics;
Good Morning,

It is an honour to join you this morning for the launch of the Wits–South Africa Hydrogen Localisation Investment Facility (Wits-SAHLI), an important milestone so clearly demonstrated during the sod-turning we have just witnessed.

This moment marks not only the beginning of a ground-breaking project, but also the start of a shared national endeavour: to build a new industrial capability that drives innovation, creates quality jobs, and contributes to a just, inclusive, and sustainable economy.

South Africa’s hydrogen journey began in 2007, when Cabinet approved the 15-year Hydrogen South Africa Research, Development, and Innovation Strategy, today implemented by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The purpose of this groundbreaking Strategy was to create knowledge, build skills, and support valuable business activities in hydrogen fuel cell technologies, using our plentiful platinum group metal resources.

Over the years, we have established world-class infrastructure and technical expertise within the three Hydrogen South Africa Centres of Competence.

These centres focus on catalysis, hydrogen production, storage, distribution, systems integration, and technology validation, forming the backbone of our national hydrogen innovation system and paving the way for a more integrated approach to securing our country’s energy future.

We are jubilant that the new Wits Localisation Investment Hydrogen Facility will stand proudly as a continuation of that vision. Equipped with a 110 kilowatt electrolyser, a 200 kilogram hydrogen storage capacity, and a 200-kilowatt clean power output system, it is not only a technical asset, but also a training ground for the current and next generation of engineers, scientists, technicians and entrepreneurs that will lead the charge in driving the change we want to see.

In this regard, I wish to acknowledge the important leadership of the Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. Through his stewardship, South Africa has strengthened policy certainty in the energy sector, accelerated the implementation of the Energy Action Plan, and advanced the integration of renewable energy into the national grid.

Minister Ramokgopa is playing an important role in positioning green hydrogen within South Africa’s broader energy transition. His Ministry’s strategies focus on stabilising electricity supply, modernising the grid, and promoting energy reforms, which are crucial for the hydrogen economy's success.

He emphasises that hydrogen development should not be isolated but part of the national energy strategy, involving grid expansion, renewable energy, industrial development, and regional energy collaboration. Ongoing partnerships with the Departments of Science, Technology and Innovation, as well as Higher Education, and industry stakeholders are essential for advancing hydrogen from pilot projects to commercial viability.

I must confess that the launch of this remarkable facility takes me back to my own school days. I am not entirely sure if Minister Manamela is old enough to relate, but I remember a time when resources were scarce and opportunities unevenly distributed. Our “science laboratory” was nothing more than an ordinary classroom with a cracked chalkboard and wobbly desks. There were no microscopes, no proper burners, and certainly no sophisticated equipment. What we had was imagination.

Our teachers were masters of improvisation. They crafted a spirit lamp from a small jar and a cotton wick to replace a Bunsen burner. Empty cooldrink bottles became our beakers. When it was time to test chemical reactions, the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda came straight from the teacher’s own kitchen. We would crowd around a single bowl as if awaiting a breakthrough worthy of the Nobel Prize. Those moments were humble, but they ignited curiosity in ways that only ingenuity can.

Today, when I walk into a modern school and see fully equipped laboratories, computers, smart boards, safety gear, and shelves lined with real scientific instruments, I cannot help but smile. Because our children are no longer learning science through improvisation alone; they are experiencing it first-hand, in a practical and applied manner.

That is why facilities like this one matter. They close the gap between potential and possibility, ensuring that the next generation does not inherit the limitations we once faced, but instead it inherits the tools to shape a far more innovative future.

In this context, Air Liquide’s R100 million investments, together with the partnership between Wits University and the Localisation Support Fund, represent far more than bricks and equipment. It establishes a crucial hub where students can bridge theoretical knowledge with practical industrial application, especially in the rapidly emerging green energy sector.

By 2028, when the facility becomes fully operational, we aim to have developed a vibrant ecosystem of locally manufactured hydrogen components, homegrown innovations, and strong enterprise development pathways for emerging companies.

What is particularly impressive about this initiative is that it represents a concrete step towards decarbonisation and sustainability, directly aligning with national and global commitments to build a low-carbon and sustainable society.

Around the world, clean hydrogen is emerging as a strategic solution to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors, strengthen energy security, and open new export opportunities. For South Africa, this transition offers a compelling opportunity to leverage our research excellence, catalytic minerals, engineering capabilities, and industrial base to develop competitive, localised hydrogen value chains.

Green hydrogen will be central in decarbonising heavy-duty transport, steel, cement, mining, chemicals, refineries, agriculture, and plastics. Our country has recognised the transformative potential of this industry, not only to drive progress toward net-zero emissions, but also to tackle poverty, unemployment and inequality by unlocking new economic frontiers.

The envisaged Wits-SAHLI facility speaks directly to this ambition. It represents localisation in its fullest and most transformative sense, ensuring that the design, manufacturing, assembly, and maintenance of components within the green hydrogen value chain take place here at home.

It is about creating supplier ecosystems that draw in SMMEs, broaden industrial participation, and deepen domestic capabilities. It is about establishing the standards, testing facilities, and certification systems that give industry and investors’ confidence to procure locally.

This positions South Africa not only as a producer of green hydrogen but also as a developer and exporter of the technologies, skills, and industrial capacity that will shape the global green economy.

It is also about knowledge localisation — ensuring that the intellectual property, the skills, and the technical leadership reside within South Africa’s research system and industry so that value does not simply pass through our borders but is created and retained here.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Localisation is crucial for building a resilient South African economy by fostering local capabilities rather than relying on imported technologies. Localisation generates jobs, enhances skill sets, and supports small businesses. By reducing dependency on external supply chains, localisation empowers local researchers and industries to innovate. Ultimately, it ensures that emerging sectors, such as the green hydrogen economy, benefit the local community, contributing to an inclusive and competitive South Africa that will be able to stay ahead of the curve.

Through the Localisation Support Fund, also a partner in the Wits-SAHLI project, Government is removing barriers to competitiveness, supporting feasibility studies, strengthening manufacturing capabilities, and translating industrial policy into real business activity.

However, we must also confront the reality of industrial decline and its heavy impact on our youth and communities. Manufacturing once contributed more than 22 percent of GDP in the early 1990s. Today it is around 12 to 13 percent. Employment in manufacturing has fallen from more than 2.1 million jobs in 2008 to roughly 1.6 to 1.7 million today. Behind every percentage point lost are thousands of vanished opportunities.

This is why we must commit to a new era of reindustrialisation, one that embraces advanced manufacturing, builds domestic capabilities, deepens local value chains, and positions South Africa as a competitive player in the industries of the future.

Initiatives such as the Wits-SAHLI projects are central to our reindustrialisation agenda. Our country cannot prosper through import dependency. We must build what we use, and we must innovate what we export. The modular design of this plant is a deliberate strategy, allowing locally produced components to be developed, tested, improved, and eventually standardised. This creates opportunities for South African firms not only to participate but to lead.

To the Department of Higher Education and Training, this facility represents precisely the kind of collaborative, future-focused academic infrastructure envisioned for our National System of Innovation. Wits University, already a continental leader in research output, will now become a central node in hydrogen research, skills development and technology scaling.

This is how nations build future industries: through coherent, collaborative ecosystems that brings academia, government, and the private sector together.

As we grow our hydrogen economy, we must also acknowledge the challenges, including shortages of skilled workers and limited local manufacturing capacity. To move from pilot projects to commercial scale, we need a stronger skills pipeline and greater uptake of locally developed technologies.

The launch of the Wits-SAHLI project demonstrates that our institutions of higher learning are positioned to play a critical role in advancing green hydrogen skills and technologies.

Through the Hydrogen Society Roadmap, we are aligning multiple stakeholders around a common vision for deploying hydrogen technologies to support economic development and our green transition.

To our universities and research facilities, you must know that you are the backbone of this initiative. The hydrogen economy will require new thinkers, new problem solvers, new technicians, new researchers and new entrepreneurs.

We therefore urge you and all of us here to seize the opportunity presented by the Wits SAHLI facility and similar initiatives to be rolled out in future through our partnership model. We are therefore duty-bound, to support our global energy revolution.

In closing, let me express our appreciation to Air Liquide for their substantial investment, to Wits University for its leadership in research and innovation, to the Localisation Support Fund for championing South African industrial capacity, and to Minister Ramokgopa for his unwavering commitment to building a stable, modern and future-ready energy system that enables initiatives such as this to succeed.

Together, we are laying the foundation for a new chapter in South Africa’s industrial and energy landscape, one powered by innovation, driven by localisation, and sustained by the brilliance of our people.

I thank you.

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