The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga rejects the appointment of seven Board Members of the newly established Nkomazi Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Board. These seven newly appointed members appear to be nothing but deployed ANC cadres.
They are either former ANC Members of the Mpumalanga Legislature, or ANC Members of Parliament, and a construction business owner with ties to the ANC.
Having reviewed these appointments it is the DA’s opinion that not a single appointed board member has the knowledge, experience or expertise regarding the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) concept.
The DA does not support the SEZ concept, as a whole, because SEZs are largely ineffective, do not have the real incentives that business really needs to invest in them, and have become cash cows for cadres who use them to siphon off government funding.
The DA is deeply concerned that the Nkomazi SEZ will become another cash-cow, as these new ANC Cadres have every opportunity to swindle taxpayers’ money, just like they are currently doing with the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA).
According to the Act, the Board appointments by the MEC must be in line with these rules:
- Not more than 10 persons with diverse skills, knowledge, experience and expertise, relevant to the Special Economic Zones should be appointed, and
- The composition of the board must be broadly representative on the grounds of race, gender and geographical regional representation, experience and expertise.
The DA believes that the MEC did not comply with this part of the law.
The DA will submit parliamentary questions on MEC for Economic Development and Tourism, Makhosazane Masilela, asking her how the appointment of the seven board members took place and what criteria was used.