Latest EIAs 'a push to get dirty projects approved'

Environmental groups did not mince their words this week in their reaction to the latest onslaught on the Soutpansberg’s coalfields. The onslaught comes in the form of applications for environmental impact assessments (EIAs) regarding the Musina Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) by the Kinetic Development Group (KDG). Also included are applications for an atmospheric emissions licence (AEL) and a water-use licence application (WULA).

The applications are for a ferrochrome and alloys smelter plant, a coal-wash plant, a coke plant, a heat-recovery electricity plant, a photovoltaic power station, and office and staff living facilities for a factory. This is according to a notice placed in the Limpopo Mirror on 13 September. KDG is jointly applying for the above EIA, AEL, and WULA with the South African Energy Metallurgical Base (Pty) Ltd (EMSEZ) company.

“The launch of this EIA process for the coking coal plant, the ferrochrome smelter, and other core industrial projects of the MMSEZ is further evidence of an aggressive push being mounted by the State to get its dirty pet project green-lighted,” said Ms Lauren Liebenberg from the Living Limpopo environmental group. Living Limpopo’s members and affiliates include BirdLife Africa, EarthLife Africa, the Endangered Wildlife Trust, All Rise Attorneys for Environmental and Social Justice, the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, SOLVE, the Herd Reserve, and several thousand individual community members.

The applications filed by KDG and EMSEZ follow the recent acquisition of a 51% stake in MC Mining’s local coal mining interests through a R16 billion investment deal. In a statement issued by MC Mining regarding the deal, the mining company said that the proposed investment by KDG would not only advance the mining company’s flagship Makhado steel-making and hard-coking coal project - just north of the Soutpansberg - into production, but it is also expected to accelerate the group’s broader strategy to develop their various tenements in the Vhembe region of Limpopo Province, including the Greater Soutpansberg Projects (GSP) and the Vele Aluwani Colliery (Vele).

“We are extremely frustrated at having to oppose multiple applications for environmental authorisation, water licences and other permits to pollute lodged by the MMSEZ SOC, Shenzhen Hoimor, and Kinetic Development Group – which is incestuously related to MC Mining and effectively owns its portfolio of coal-mining rights – while our High Court case against the initial Environmental Authorisation granted by LEDET is still pending, thanks largely to the State dragging its feet through the court process,” said Liebenberg.

The announcement has environmentalists worried as MC Mining is now essentially a Chinese coal-trading company, which holds the mining rights granted by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy on 107,000 hectares across 97 farms in the Vhembe region. Under South Africa’s Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, the holder of mining rights acquires surface rights to land they have not purchased, meaning they have the right to commence mining operations on someone else’s land.

The applications for an EIA, AEL, and WULA are for development on the farms Dreyer 526 MS, Van Der Bijl 528 MS, Steenbok 565 MS, and Antrobus 566 MS. To get the process started, a public meeting was held on a farm near the proposed site on the same day the notice for the above applications appeared in the Limpopo Mirror.

The meeting appeared to be attended almost exclusively by Mulambwane community members, who also “hosted” the meeting on the farm Lekkerlag. Feedback from the meeting indicated that everyone was promised jobs and were told they would be trained by the Chinese.

Only a hard copy of what the project entails was available at last week’s public meeting, and it provides a good overview of what is planned. The newspaper will delve deeper into this at a later stage. What was clear, however, is the government’s efforts to get the proposed MMSEZ project off the ground. Regarding this, attendees were apparently told that the “government is ready to push this thing” and that “the Premier is very excited about the project”. In reference to this, Limpopo Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba recently accompanied the South African delegation to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), a three-day global meeting in Beijing, China.

Regarding the onslaught on South Africa’s coalfields, Liebenberg said it was high time that South Africans demanded their right to participate in the fundamental decisions being made here.

“Should South Africa be developing a new coalfield and purposefully developing a coal-intensive industry – specifically in this instance, doubling South Africa’s steel-production capacity – at vast expense to the public coffers and natural resources, solely to support the exploitation of a marginally viable coalfield, especially when there are emerging sustainable, nature-based development alternatives that will deliver substantially greater socio-economic benefits and preserve the region’s abundant natural capital?” she asked.

Date:20 September 2024

By: Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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