The Special Economic Zone was designated in 2017, with the Limpopo provincial government identifying two sites to the north and south of Musina for development and industrialisation. The operating entity, the MMSEZ State-Owned Company, is wholly owned by the Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDA) – an agency of the same provincial government department responsible for overseeing environmental authorisations. The MMSEZ is projected to generate over one billion tons of CO2e over its lifetime, or more than 10% of South Africa’s annual carbon budget under its Paris Agreement Commitments. The scale of the development has the potential to radically alter the environmental, social and economic landscape of the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve region, and the risks demand considered decision-making around environmental authorisation.
Many organisations – including All Rise, Living Limpopo and CALS – have repeatedly raised concerns about the feasibility and impact of the MMSEZ on this sensitive region and its vulnerable rural communities. Efforts to engage meaningfully with the government agencies sponsoring the project through the public participation process have proved futile. The final Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report issued in February 2021 by Delta Built Environment Consultants did not recommend authorisation. In spite of this, the Limpopo provincial government proceeded to appoint another environmental assessment practitioner to issue a revised final EIA Report in September 2021, which paved the way to grant itself authorisation in February 2022.
CALS and All Rise, along with several other civil society organisations promoting environmental and social justice, brought internal appeals against the decision to grant environmental authorisation, all of which were dismissed in July last year.
Read more:
https://amabhungane.org/220203-mmsez-the-battle-to-stop-limpopos-climate-bomb/