The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga has written to MEC for Economic Development and Tourism, Makhosazane Masilela, pleading with her not to list the Nkomazi Special Economic Zone (SEZ) as a public entity because it will fall under the control of the mismanaged and useless Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA).
The department has obtained a legal opinion from the office of the state attorney who gave them the green light to establish the Nkomazi SEZ as a wholly subsidiary of MEGA. This move will be disastrous for the Nkomazi SEZ as since its inception in 2010, MEGA has performed dismally and their own records show that they don’t have the capacity to run their own finances, never mind to oversee the Nkomazi SEZ and its finances.
Initially, MEGA was created to drive economic growth which in turn creates decent employment and promotes sustainable development through partnerships. However, despite being envisaged to foster economic growth and in turn providing much needed services to the residents of Mpumalanga, it has become nothing more than a looting pot set up to line the pockets of the connected individuals whilst stealing away from much needed service delivery.
The DA believes that the Nkomazi SEZ should rather be listed as a public entity under the control of MEC Masilela and the department of Economic Development, so that the SEZ board of directors and CEO reports directly to the MEC, not MEGA.
MEGA has not been able to run its own finances effectively since inception, and just in the past five financial years, MEGA has reported a loss of R401 407 391.
The Auditor General has year in and year out expressed his opinion as whether MEGA is still a going concern.
MEC Masilela needs to stand firm and show political leadership with regard to the Nkomazi SEZ, otherwise she could be left with the legacy of this entity failing.