The Soutpansberg has been earmarked for yet another major development, this time in the form of an eco-industrial park.

During a meeting on August 4 with a few landowners, plans were tabled for what is to be known as the Limpopo Eco-Industrial Park (LEIP), to be situated almost right next to Air Force Base Makhado outside Louis Trichardt.

The Zoutpansberger was able to obtain a copy of the presentation made during the meeting, bearing the Limpopo provincial government´s logo.

According to the presentation, ARUP was appointed by Eco-Industrial Solution (Pty) Ltd to develop a master plan for LEIP. Eco-Industrial Solution is a planning and engineering consulting group that specialises in green industrial development, with its head office in Vancouver, Canada. On the other hand, ARUP is a multi-disciplinary engineering and project management firm which has been operating in South Africa since 1964. Their work, among others, includes the independent certification of the Gautrain, project management of the Mauritius Commercial Bank and the central terminal building for the Oliver Thambo International Airport.

The park will consist of a coke plant and steam-power-generation facilities, a GTL plant (diesel, naphtha and LPG), a plasma waste gasification plant, a brick-making factory and water-treatment facilities.

The presentation states that the proposed development will be the world’s first zero-waste eco-industrial park, which will also recycle and re-use the Makhado Municipality’s waste water. The park will further minimise the negative impacts of industrial systems on surrounding systems and is to be integrated with the local landscape, while preserving sensitive land areas. It will make use of Clean Technology, while also acting as a training facility.

At face value, the proposed development sounds wonderful. The only problem is that it seems as if nobody knows about the development or is reluctant to talk about it. On the presentation, two names appear but without any contact details. The names are those of Dr Pieter du Toit, CEO of Eco-Industrial Solution and ARUP director, and Ms Deshika Kathawaroo, LEIP project development director. Over the past two weeks, the Zoutpansberger has also tried in vain to get any response from the provincial government with regard to the LEIP, while being referred from one department to the next. Coal of Africa’s (CoAL) name also appears in the presentation. Upon the newspaper´s media enquiry, they responded by saying that they were aware of the proposed development.

“Coal of Africa contributed seed funding to initiate the project, motivated by the fact that beneficiation of mineral products is a key element of the provincial government economic agenda. Further involvement would be dictated by potential upstream supply of coking and/or thermal coal,” was the reply received from CoAL’s investor relations manager, Sakhile Ndlovu.

CoAL’s response confirmed that plans are definitely on the table for the development of the industrial park, albeit that the process is not very transparent at this stage. No wonder that the chairman of the Soutpansberg District Agricultural Union (SDAU), Mr Stephen Hoffman, has expressed his concern about the process followed so far.

In a press release, Hoffman expresses the union´s unhappiness with the “unprofessional presentation” made during the meeting. “As no contact details were provided, it is impossible to express an opinion on the meeting or to object ... How is it possible that this huge development can start with total disregard of the rule of law?” Hoffman says.

As for CoAL’s involvement, Hoffman says this is a huge concern for them.

“... it means that Coal of Africa will continue with the Makhado and Vele mines, regardless of any legal process. Public participation in those mines will then be of no consequence and a waste of time and money for interested and affected parties,” Hoffman says.