Projects worth billions under way in Musina

With many billions in projects
under way or on the planning
board, and a massive financial
commitment from government
for one of them, “Musina is
buzzing”, according to Brian
Kalshoven of Beitbridge
Border Clearing Agency.
And one that is already
under construction, he told
FTW, is the Musina by-pass
road.
At present, the N1 – which
is the link between Zimbabwe
and the economic hub of
Gauteng – is not continuous
and truckers and motorists
have to drive through Musina.
And the traffic volumes
have been growing at such a
pace that hauling through the
crowded town centre creates
severe congestion, pavement
damage by heavies, noise and
air pollution. So these and
traffic and pedestrian safety
have become major concerns.
But, Kalshoven added, the
new western by-pass will link
the current N1 Section 29
from south of Musina, just
before the intersection to the
military base, to the existing
carriageway of the N1-29 to
the north of Musina.
“This development will give
truckers a clear run to and
from the Beitbridge border
post instead of having to haul
on the old road,” he said.
This ring road and the
Transnet Freight Rail (TFR)
rail line working together will
create a more logistical setup,
according to Joe Lukhele,
chairman of the Musina
Business Chamber. “With
this,” he added, “we want to
create a dry port in Musina for
goods from Durban.”
A second development is the
government-authorised special
economic zone (SEZ). “This,”
Kalshoven said, “is quite well
advanced, situated as it is
on an old military base with
its existing and appropriate
infrastructure.”
According to Lukhele,
Musina was one of these sites
identified as a pivotal trading
point along the North-South
Corridor, making it a gateway
to the Southern Africa
Development Community
(SADC) and southern Africa.
He pointed out that key
opportunities identified in the
pre-feasibility study included
industrial ventures in the
petrochemical, agri-processing
and logistics support sectors.
“The SEZ decision was
also based on large-scale
logistics and linked to the
agricultural activities based in
and around the town and the
border post,” he said. “For the
tomatoes grown in quantity
in this region, we want to see
if we can develop a processing
plant. We also have a lot of
farms producing different
types of fruit, and we’re again
looking at end-to-end, from
production to processing.”
Limpopo Province is known
as the fruit basket of SA and
contributes approximately
7.4% to the SA agricultural
production. Its agriculture
sector is estimated to produce
more than 50% of SA’s
mangos, paw-paws, avocados,
tomatoes and potatoes and
significant percentages (35%-
50%) of the country’s tea,
citrus production (oranges, soft
citrus and lemons), bananas
and litchis.
One industrial venture that
has been identified as feasible
is auto parts – brake pads and
the like.
But the major project, said
Lukhele, is the proposed multibillion
petro-chemical venture
identified in the private sectorbased
Limpopo Eco-Industrial
Park (LEIP) business plan.
This untapped opportunity
in the petro-chemical sector,
he added, could be grown if
included in the SEZ.
The coal-tohydrocarbons
(CTHC) plant
in the LEIP would make
use of the coal reserves
present in the Musina area.
And it was also noted that
the planned transport
infrastructure would
enable the products to be
distributed throughout SA,
the SADC countries and
international markets.