A latter-day Iscor is being built in the far northern reaches of Limpopo on the weakest and most skewed of economic cost-benefit cases because the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and Department of Trade, Industry and Competition are still infatuated with coal and haven’t lost faith.
Controversial Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone gets green light mg.co.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mg.co.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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,
Musina Makhado: South Africa s budding carbon emitter chinadialogue.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chinadialogue.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Public participation is a farce in Musina-Makhado project
Information is not getting to the right people or places as voices of discontent are getting louder
After three public participation rounds in September and October 2020 and in January 2021 it is hard to imagine that the directive for more thorough public participation on the Environmental Impact Assessment Report for the proposed Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone could go wrong again. Yet, last week, the meetings exploded as people vented their frustration about inadequate information on the zone.
Ironically, South Africa’s legislation on inclusion is the best in the world, especially on issues of sustainable development and the environment. The National Environmental Management Act (Nema) is inspired by international best practice on participatory sustainable development.