for the zone was raised obliquely by Masoga, who campaigned hard for investment in the “huge” Musina dam, on which Leda has conducted a pre-feasibility study. The feasibility of the dam remains questionable, as does the inter-basin water transfer from Zhove Dam in Zimbabwe.
Despite the questions of MMSEZ start-up functionality, it is unconscionable in terms of climate change that the zone is going ahead with a coal plant at its epicentre. Interested and affected parties involved in opposing the zone, including many residents in and around the MMSEZ, are strongly opposed to the effects on livelihoods of, as well as the effects of the coal plant on the drought-prone Vhembe district.
At the Dubai expo, the mineral resources and energy department’s senior specialist, Jaap van der Merwe, stated that there is also scope for carbon tax trading between the MMSEZ and its fellow Limpopo SEZ, Fetakgomo Tubatse, a so-called “green” special economic zone located some 300km from Mozambique and designated for light industry and manufacturing. Carbon tax trading is viewed as a, but it seems that the government is prepared to sell the MMSEZ coal plant at all costs.
The history of Chinese-led infrastructure and industrial projects in Africa is well known, despite propaganda to the contrary. Fortunately, the MMSEZ requires further environmental authorisations for each component of the metallurgical cluster, including the coal plant. The evolution of the zone will be a contested one, with interested and affected parties representing the Vhembe biosphere and commercial farmers preparing to appeal the environmental authorisation.