Musina Makhado SEZ in motion

The government is obviously wasting no time in getting the ball rolling for the establishment of the Musina Makhado SEZ. Farm owners bordering the proposed development site received notice this week of an application for an environmental authorisation (EA) and a change of land use.

Spearheading the project is the Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDA), who has appointed Delta Built Environment Consultants (Delta BEC) to undertake the EA and the change of land use.

The SEZ will be located on an 8 000ha piece of restituted land near Mopane. The area stretches from the railway line in the west to the N1 in the east, between the Huntleigh turn-off in the south and the Mopane turn-off in the north.

According to the notice to farmers, the main strategic objective of the LEDA is to accelerate industrial diversification through strategic economic development interventions. The notice states that the metallurgical cluster zone of the SEZ’s primary focus will be the beneficiation of minerals endowed in the Vhembe District and its neighbouring areas. “Coking coal and other minerals, which are key inputs into the steel and iron production process, will be part of the upstream and downstream value-adding process, in line with the country’s national industrialisation objectives and mineral beneficiation strategy.  Other land uses envisaged to complement the energy and metallurgical complex will comprise bulk infrastructure, light industries, intermodal facilities, housing, retail centres, business uses, community facilities and telecommunication services. The zone will generate job opportunities for the unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled labour market,” states the notice.

Over the last couple of weeks, much has been said in the media about the planned Musina Makhado SEZ and the lucrative deal the South African Government struck with the Chinese regarding the development of the SEZ. Part of the development also includes the building of a 4600MW coal-fired power plant, with MC Mining standing in line to start delivering coal to the plant.

The process has, however, not been without controversy. One such controversy is a local farmer’s refusal to allow MC Mining access to the rich coal reserves on two of his farms, the farms Lukin 643 MS and Salaita 188MT. The farmer is Mr Johan Steenkamp of Akkerland Boerderye. He made international news headlines a couple of weeks ago when the government announced that they were going to expropriate the farms Lukin and Salaita as part of a test case. The reason given was that all negotiations had apparently broken down between Akkerland Boerderye and the government regarding the selling of the farms as part of a land claim by the Musekwa community. Speculation is rife, however, that the real reason for the government’s wanting to expropriate the farms is because of the billions of rands of coal deposits on the two farms - coal that will be needed to power the proposed SEZ power plant.

The Minister of Rural Development and Land reform was dealt a severe blow last week when the Land Claims Court of South Africa ruled that the government had not followed procedure when they gave notice to expropriate the farms Lukin and Salaita. The court ruled on 12 September that the minister should withdraw his Notice of Expropriation, dated 19 March 2018, with immediate effect. The court also ruled that it be declared that ownership of the farms Lukin and Salaita revert to Akkerland Boerderye with immediate effect. The Minister and the regional land claims commissioner of Limpopo were also slapped with a cost order against them for the costs incurred by Akkerland Boerderye as first applicant to fight the expropriation. The second applicant was the Kuvule community, who are contesting the Musekwa community’s land claim on the farms.

Steenkamp said earlier this week that they welcomed the judgement but added that, although they had won this battle, the war was far from over. He was referring to the persistent attempts by different communities to claim his farms. Steenkamp said that their next course of action would be to file court documents against the Kuvules’ land claim. “We also received a letter from MC Mining about two weeks ago that they want to come in and start mining. Last Friday, however, we submitted court papers opposing their mineral and water license. The case is against, among others, the Minister of Minerals and Energy and MC Mining,” said Steenkamp.

 So, while all of this is unfolding in the background, Delta BEC has a job to do. In their notice to farmers, they outline the whole EA process. This includes the fact that farmers must register as affected parties or stakeholders.

The Musina-Makhado SEZ will comprise an offering of mixed land uses and infrastructure provision to ensure optimal manufacturing operations in the SEZ. The energy and metallurgical complex will comprise a 300ha power plant, a 500ha coking plant, a 500ha ferrochromium plant, a 100ha ferromanganese plant, a 600ha pig iron plant, a 200ha carbon steel plant, a 500ha stainless steel plant, a 500ha lime plant, a 100ha silicon-manganese plant, a 50ha metal silicon plant, a 50ha calcium carbide plant and 2 600ha of infrastructure. In total, the development will span 6 000ha.

Persons wishing to register as affected or interested parties were urged to do so within 30 days of receiving the EA notice. Residents are also invited to write to [email protected] for more information on how to register. Delta BEC can also be contacted at tel. 012 368 1850.

News - Date: 24 September 2018

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.

Email: [email protected]