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An artist's impression of one of the bridges to be constructed as part of the Musina ring-road project currently underway. Illustration supplied.

Musina/Makhado SEZ to become link to rest of Africa

Date: 02 August 2018 By: Andries van Zyl

Within years Musina, will be known for more than the quality of its mandarin oranges.

This is according to Mr Vusi Mona, general manager of communications for the South African National Roads Agency Limited. “A great deal of business will be conducted in Mandarin - once the special economic zone (SEZ) near this border town becomes operative. It will be managed by a Chinese company, South African Energy Metallurgical Base, which is a subsidiary of a Chinese conglomerate Shenzhen Hoi Mor Resources Holding Company,” says Mona in a press release.

Mona says the SEZ is bound to have a major effect on the whole of Limpopo, particularly the area between the Soutpansberg mountain and the border with Zimbabwe, which is just on the other side of Musina. “Connecting this future growth region with the rest of South Africa as well as Zimbabwe, is the N1. It begins way south in Cape Town and runs north right through the country. Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies has described the SEZ’s location near the N1 as strategically ‘close to the main land-based route between South Africa and the rest of the continent’,” says Mona.

The SEZ, says Mona, will lead to an increase in heavy traffic as the expected initial R40 billion in investments will lead to at least eight large-scale industrial projects, including a power station, a coking coal plant, ferrosilicon plant, a steel plant and a stainless-steel plant. “The agreement was signed in September last year, almost a year before the Brics Summit held in Johannesburg in July this year, which was preceded by the signing of a trade accord between South Africa and China to the tune of R14.7 billion,” says Mona.

The Musina/Makhado SEZ is said to be a clear sign of the deepening relationship between South Africa and China. It is one of eight special economic zones in the country, with two being in the Eastern Cape, two in KwaZulu-Natal, and one each in Gauteng, Western Cape, Free State and now one in Limpopo.

To accommodate the expected increase in traffic, a ring road will skirt Musina. “Currently, more than 1000 heavy vehicles use the road every day and have to pass through the CBD of Musina. It creates major congestion in town as well as conflict with local traffic and pedestrians. Damage to infrastructure is inevitable. As far back as 2006, SANRAL has identified the need to provide an alternative route for the N1 through-traffic by providing a ring road around the town. The previous provincial authority (old TPA) has even earlier provided for such a ring road by reserving the road reserve,” says Mona.

In October 2007, SANRAL received a resolution from the Musina Municipality in which they supported the ring-road concept and SANRAL then started with the environmental impact assessment, the detail design as well as land acquisition processes. The contract for the construction of the road was awarded to Basil Read in late 2015 and construction commenced in April 2016. It is expected to be completed in April 2019, with more than 50% of work done already. “The R625 million SANRAL project will result in major improvements in road safety, traffic flows and less damage to infrastructure in the town of Musina itself,” says Mona.

 One of the key support facilities for the SEZ is the Musina Intermodal Terminal (MIT), which was launched by Minister Davies in June last year. “It is three kilometres from Musina and 13km from the Beit Bridge border post - which is also being upgraded. The MIT is set to lower the cost of cross-border trade going along the N1 into and from Africa,” says Mona.

 
 
 

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Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

 
 

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