Zimbabwean tycoon Simon Rudland opens $25 million citrus plant at the South African border

Simon Rudland has commissioned a $25 million citrus processing plant at Beitbridge, the Zimbabwean border town on the crossing into South Africa, in one of the largest private industrial investments the area has seen.

The plant, operated by a company called Orangeville, will supply citrus juice to Zimbabwean beverage manufacturers including Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited, and is targeting export markets across the region. It has been certified to supply Schweppes, which the company describes as a milestone in local value addition.

Orangeville was established in Beitbridge in 2024 with an initial investment of $20 million. A further $5 million has since been committed, taking the total to $25 million.

It employs about 350 people, roughly 60% of them seasonal because citrus harvesting runs to a fixed calendar. Management expects that to reach at least 1,500 within five years as a planned 5,000-hectare citrus plantation comes into production, which would also secure the plant's own fruit supply.

That last point matters more than it sounds. Company officials said inconsistent supplies from nearby growers, many of whom sell to buyers offering more, and high transport costs remain the main operational problems. A processor without its own orchards is at the mercy of whoever bids highest for the fruit.

Water is the other constraint. The plant draws about 40% of its supply from Zhove Dam, an arrangement intended to give it resilience in a country facing another forecast dry season.

The operation extracts more than juice. Processing lines produce orange essential oil for the cosmetics industry and convert citrus residue into livestock feed supplements and pellets, which turns waste into a second revenue stream.

Albert Nguluvhe, the Matabeleland South minister of state for provincial affairs and devolution, toured the facility on Tuesday and said the government stood ready to facilitate further investment in the province. He encouraged the company to diversify into fodder production to support livestock farmers during dry spells, and said future investment should include a workers' clinic and a preschool.

Beitbridge has historically been a transit town rather than a manufacturing one, handling the flow of goods and people across the Limpopo River into South Africa. A processing plant of this size gives it an industrial base of its own.

The citrus investment follows a much larger one. Rudland commissioned the Cut Rag Processors tobacco facility in Harare's Aspindale industrial area last November, a plant reported at $102 million and fitted with German and Italian machinery, designed to turn Zimbabwe's raw tobacco leaf into a processed product rather than exporting it unprocessed. President Emmerson Mnangagwa presided over the opening.

Rudland was born in Harare in 1971 and is among Zimbabwe's wealthiest businessmen, with a portfolio reported at more than $1 billion. He co-founded Gold Leaf Tobacco Corporation with his business partner Yakub Mahomed, building it into one of southern Africa's largest cigarette manufacturers and distributors under the Rudland and George brand.

His interests now span manufacturing, agriculture, finance, logistics, mining and banking across Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo, employing more than 10,000 people. He and his brother have been active investors on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, holding positions in the insurer Zimre through their vehicle Day River Corporation and in the agricultural group CFI Holdings.

He has also been the subject of civil proceedings in South Africa. The South African Revenue Service obtained a preservation order in August 2022 freezing assets belonging to Gold Leaf Tobacco and its directors, including Rudland, over alleged tax evasion, and in December 2023 filed a damages claim against Sasfin Bank alleging it had facilitated the laundering of untaxed funds linked to his operations. Those matters are civil rather than criminal, and no convictions have been reported.

Orangeville said production and export figures for the current harvest will be released once harvesting is complete.