MMSEZ pushes for township development

Date: 12 July 2024 By: Andries van Zyl

Five-hundred apartment blocks, 3,204 medium-sized erven, and 801 large-sized erven are among what is envisaged as part of the Musina Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) planned township development on their southern site (Mopane). This is according to their notice of application for township development as advertised in both the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror over the past month.

In addition to the above, the township development also makes provision for six office buildings, five commercial buildings listed as shopping malls, a supermarket, a farmers' market, six congress centres (worship etc.), four schools, two gymnasiums, one hospital, one government office, one 5-star hotel, one 3-star hotel, and one “Smart Building”.

The site of the proposed township development is positioned across the shared administrative border of the Musina and Makhado Local Municipalities and consists of eight farms, totalling 8,048 hectares. The farms affected include Farm Somme 611 MS, the remaining extent of Farm Lekkerlag 580 MS, a portion of Farm Groot Endaba 581 MS, and Portion 1 of Farm Joffre 584 MS.

Also included in the scope of work in their application for township development are external bulk infrastructure requirements such as upgrading existing roads to the MMSEZ, building a new interchange from the N1, and upgrading and installing new railway lines. This includes upgrading and expanding the existing Mopane railway station. Water and electricity supply remain a problem, with the notice documentation available to the public merely stating that bulk water and electricity will be provided up to the site boundary. (For more on this, see accompanying articles in this week’s edition). At this stage, the MMSEZ water-use licence application is still at the public-participation phase for the southern site. According to the latest information received from the MMSEZ, the plan is to supply 80 Mm³ (million cubic metres) per year to the site. Provision is also made for telecommunications and/or data facilities.

Regarding roads, the R525 (including the interchange at the N1) will be upgraded to make provision for two new entries as part of the inbound traffic to the northern side of the MMSEZ site. One is for truck access with weighbridges, parking, and security gates, and parking for buses, taxis, and cars.

As for electricity, the MMSEZ planners have, according to MMSEZ CEO Mr Lehlogonolo Masoga, scrapped their coal-fired power station plans and are looking at renewable electricity options such as solar power. The master plan is based on an investor developing a power plant with the MMSEZ and providing power to the SEZ. The plan is based on two phases: (1) Eskom supplying electricity during construction and (2) as soon as the internal power plant is constructed, it will continue supplying the internal demand.

The MMSEZ’s notice of application for township development was first published by DBI Consulting (Pty) Ltd on 28 June and again on 5 July. The advert states that particulars of the application are open for inspection for a period of 28 days after first publication.

In reaction to the notices in the newspaper, environmental groups were once again quick to point out “shortcomings” regarding the legal requirements of the placed advertisements.

In a letter addressed to DBI Consulting, Living Limpopo’s Lauren Liebenberg highlights these shortcomings. Living Limpopo’s members and affiliates include BirdLife Africa, EarthLife Africa, the Endangered Wildlife Trust, All Rise Attorneys for Environmental and Social Justice, the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, SOLVE, the Herd Reserve, and several thousand individual community members.

Liebenberg stated that the notice appeared defective and might be legally non-compliant in several respects. Among the issues she raised was that the notices did not contain sufficient information about the proposed administrative action to enable members of the public to submit meaningful comments. Access to information is also restricted to a hard copy available only at the Musina and Makhado Local Municipalities. “However, meaningful public participation and the principle of ease of access to information are compromised if access to information is so restricted. In the absence of digital copies of all documents and information being made available for download from a publicly accessible website or shared drive, the public’s right to procedural fairness under PAJA and of access to information guaranteed in terms of section 32 of the Constitution and the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) has not been properly upheld,” said Liebenberg.

Liebenberg also said that the notices did not provide the name and official title of the person to whom comments must be submitted as required by law, and they also did not indicate that any public meeting would be held. She added that the land on which the proposed Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone township would be established was owned by the Mulambwane Community and was surrounded by other poor, rural communities who generally lacked transport as well as technical and legal literacy in English. “These communities will unavoidably be severely impacted adversely by the development of highly polluting and water-intensive coal-based industries on the scale planned in the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone as disclosed in the application documents made available at the Makhado Civic Centre, the impact of which will extend far beyond the site of the noxious industrial zone, and that conflict and disputes arising from the proposed Special Economic Zone and related expansion of coal mining and the right to free, prior and informed consent have been extensively reported on in the media.”

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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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