PRETORIA: More than R40 billion will be injected into the proposed Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (SEZ). In a statement on Thursday, the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) said the investment will go towards the establishment of an energy and metallurgical industrial park.
Last week, Cabinet approved Minister Rob Davies’ decision to designate the SEZ. This means that Minister Davies has been given the green light to designate the zone and issue a SEZ operator permit to the Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism in Limpopo.
The industrial park will include power, coking, ferrochrome, ferromanganese, ferrosilicon, pig iron metallurgy, lime, steel and stainless steel plants. These projects will be implemented over a period of five years and are expected to create almost 21 000 jobs in the region. A consortium of Chinese investors, led by Hong Kong Mining Exchange (Hoi Mor), will be investing more than R40 billion into the park, which they will also develop and manage.
The park will be operating within the SEZ, which will focus on the beneficiation of minerals and agricultural endowments. Some preliminary work, such as the identification of the land and environmental impact assessment, has already started in order to ensure that the proposed SEZ becomes a reality.
