Zoutpansberger 27 August 2021

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outpansberger

27 August 2021

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Developers propose two massive dams to feed MMSEZ monster

There is no water! By Andries van Zyl The findings of a second research report dealing with the water requirements of the proposed Musina Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) was recently made available during a virtual media launch on 12 August. The report once again highlights the fact that the MMSEZ developers refuse to acknowledge that just not enough water is available in the area to support a project of this magnitude. The report, entitled Water Governance of the Northern Limpopo, was compiled by Dr Victor Munnik from the Society Work and Politics (SWOP) Institute from the University of the Witwatersrand. This is the second research report regarding the issue compiled by Munnik, the first being the Water risk of fossil fuel mega projects in Limpopo: the MCWAP and the MMSEZ report published in May 2020. Both reports were commissioned by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung’s SA office, a social democratic foundation that aims to strengthen the forces of democracy and strive for a just, sustainable, democratic economic system. Munnik was tasked to investigate the governance of water in die Limpopo River catchment area, both on the South African side in which the MMSEZ will fall, and the other riparian countries, namely Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique. The scope of the second research report was recently extended to include analysis of a pre-feasibility study that became available in April this year for the proposed ‘Musina Dam’ and ‘Sand River Dam’ to store Limpopo River floodwaters. The report looks at how feasible this dam and other dam options are and whether such a megaproject could be financed while the curtain is falling on coal development in light of climate change.

“What we are dealing with here is a late coalbased megaproject in a closed catchment,” says Munnik. This means that all available water is already allocated or, in some instances, over-allocated. This fact, Munnik says, the developers of the MMSEZ refuse to acknowledge. According to Munnik, the MMSEZ project is a late coal-based project, taking into account that the date set to do away with all coal-power industries globally is 2050 to try and reduce the disastrous impact of climate change. “So, it is basically Limpopo politicians and the superpower of China trying to slip in one last big coal megaproject,” says Munnik. He contends that this project defies climate change and the lack of water in the closed catchment area.

Water remains the biggest issue The issue of water availability for the project has been a contentious one from the start. One of the biggest objections to the project is the mystery as to where its water supply will come from. The proposed Musina and Sand River Dams are the latest proposal from proponents of the MMSEZ, seeking to supply more than 90% of the water needed for the minerals complex (to include a coal-fired power station and various steel and related industries). According to the pre-feasibility study, the first of the dams, the Musina Dam, will be built just downstream from Beitbridge and just before the site where the Sand River runs into the Limpopo River. The second dam, the Sand River Dam, will be built higher up in the Sand River itself (see accompanying map). The plan is to first construct a weir across the Limpopo River where the Sand River joins it, which is planned to take up to 60% of the Limpopo’s total flow, leaving 40% for ecological requirements downstream. (Contd on P3)

A weir across the Limpopo River and two new dams, the Musina Dam and Sand River Dam, are proposed to supply 90% of the water needed for the highly controversial MMSEZ. Image from Toni Olivier / Water Governance of the Northern Limpopo report.

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