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Dignitaries pose for a photograph during the event. Second from left stands King Toni Mphephu Ramabulana and on the far right is Mr Ben Mphahlele, manager of LIEDA, along with officers from LIEDA.

21 000 New jobs in special economic zone

Date: 22 April 2016 By: Kaizer Nengovhela

More than 21 000 direct employment opportunities are expected to be created when the newly launched special economic zone (SEZ) in the Vhembe area gets off the ground. Government and subsidiaries are pushing R49 billion into the project and infrastructure development is expected to start in 15 months’ time.

The project was officially launched at the Mphephu Royal Kraal last Thursday. During the ceremony, the manager of the Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LIEDA), Mr Ben Mphahlele, said that the project would start in Actonville in Musina, Bokmakierie, and in Makhado.

The SEZ about to be set up in the Vhembe area also came up for discussion in Parliament on Tuesday. In an article that appeared in Business Day Online on Wednesday, it is reported that the Department of Trade and Industry’s director-general, Lionel October, and chief director Alfred Tau spoke about this to Parliament’s trade and industry portfolio committee. Musina is expected to become the biggest zone, as it will be a springboard for exports into the rest of Africa.

The attractiveness of the SEZs will probably lie in lower corporate tax (15%), incentives, infrastructure and freedom from customs duty and VAT. “The new special economic zone policy and incentives package have significantly improved the attractiveness of special economic zones,” Mr October told the portfolio committee.

It was reported that the zones were not selected by the Department of Trade and Industry, but by provincial governments. National government provided the overall policy framework and paid for the infrastructure, while provincial governments carried operational costs and municipalities often owned the land. Mr October stressed the importance of close collaboration between the three spheres of government if the zones were to succeed.

During Thursday’s ceremony at Mphephu’s Royal Kraal, Mphahlele also emphasized that this is a project with long-term goals. “We have to first do the environmental impact assessments and approvals,” he said. He was also very optimistic about the job-creation potential of the SEZs. “Remember, this is just a project which, if it succeeds, will spread countrywide and will help create much-needed jobs in the rural communities,” he said.

His words echoed those of Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies, who said a new programme was needed to achieve diversification and decentralisation of industry away from the country’s heavily concentrated economic zones.

Mphahlele said that SEZs were high-impact economic catalytic projects and as such were expected to create indirect job opportunities because of the concentrated commercial activity in the areas within and around the SEZ footprint. He said that capital projects of this nature required an intricate set of academic qualifications, work experience, compliance, regulatory and accreditation considerations. “There should, however, be room for skills training and a social pact between the business and local communities in terms of employment and empowerment of resident enterprises. The approach is, therefore, multifaceted,” he said.

King Toni Mphephu Ramabulana described the project as a good agreement and preparation for future generations. “All the headmen in this area must encourage their people to get involved. This is a historic project for the people of Vhembe, so I want all the people to benefit from it,” he said.

 
 
 

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Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

 
 

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