By Kevin Bloom• 25 May 2021
From left: Lehlogonolo Masoga, the recently appointed CEO of the MMSEZ operating company. (Photo: Gallo Images / City Press / Leon Sadiki) | An impression of the MMSEZ. (Image: Limpopo Economic Development Agency) | A baobab in Limpopo, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sunday Times / Marianne Schwankhart) | Limpopo River (Photo: Kevin Bloom | Limpopo River with elephant cows en route to Zimbabwe. (Photo: Wally Schultz) | South African currency. (Photo: Nadine Hutton / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
On 1 September 2020, the draft environmental impact assessment for the R145bn Musina-Makhado SEZ was released for public comment. What followed, given the absolute devastation that the project would visit on the Limpopo River basin, were delays and about-turns that often verged on the unlawful. But on 19 May 2021, the local implementing agents for the China-backed initiative may have crossed the point of no-return a high court review is almost certain,