The saying that true life is stranger than fiction is borne out by the events leading to the endorsement of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) as the epitome of sustainable development by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in early July. The endorsement follows the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the MMSEZ state-owned company and the UNDP after the zone’s environmental approval on 23 February.
The UNDP memorandum of agreement was signed on 17 March, signalling negotiations on cooperation were underway prior to the release of the environmental approval. In February, the proposed mega-project SEZ was promoted at the Dubai Expo by a coterie of top brass from the department of trade and industry and other officials with its somewhat smaller (1320 megawatt as opposed to 3 300MW) but still mega-dirty carbon coal-fired power plant at its centre.
By July, with the help of some sleight of hand public statements by MMSEZ chief executive Lehlogonolo Masoga, the zone has been rebranded as the sustainable development mega-project to stimulate regional development supported by the UNDP. Not only that, but those civil society organisations and environmental groupings who have criticised the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process, the many sustainability issues associated with the zone and the UNDP endorsement, have been tarred and feathered with the same brush.
Masoga said in a recent statement: “Some individuals and organisations elected to become the champions and advocates for the perpetuation of poverty and unemployment among the voiceless poor people of Vhembe district and Limpopo in general. They did this by unnecessarily delaying this project which carries the hopes of many to liberate themselves from the shackles of the twin-devils of poverty and unemployment. They chose their egos over our people.”
Masoga’s triumphalist tone followed the rejection of an appeal to approve the EIA by the Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDET). The rejection of the appeal, collated by a loose coalition of social movements and interested and affected parties, including those involved with activist research and support to people in Limpopo, has been met with the coalition’s deep disillusionment as to the agency’s endorsement of the flawed EIA process.
