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After our recent oversight visit to the site of the proposed development of the Boegoebay Harbour in Richtersveld, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape is more concerned about the project than before.

The oversight, undertaken at the insistence of the DA, reveals that the project is being pushed ahead without proper planning and without sufficient municipal services in place. We saw in neighboring North-West that investors withdraw from municipalities that cannot secure reliable water or electricity supply.

The state of bulk infrastructure in the Richtersveld Local Municipality, which is to host the development, creates the fear that this might happen here too. The infrastructure is insufficient for the needs of residents as it is, so how can it support the proposed expansion of the port?

In addition to inadequate infrastructure, the project is based on very tenous land ownership. The implementing agents indicated that they are yet to sign a rental agreement with the Communal Property Association (CPA) that owns portions of the land. It is worrying to think that government is planning a development of this size on land it does not own and does not plan to buy.

Similar concerns about municipal services and land ownership led to the rejection of an application for the designation of a special economic zone in Upington. One would think that the ANC-led provincial government has learned from this expensive exercise!

Compare this with the DA-led Western Cape, that has managed to develop a special economic zone in Atlantis to the benefit of residents. With one in five jobs in the Northern Cape at risk, the ANC-led provincial government can learn from the DA-led Western Cape on how to create an environment conducive for the sustainable creation of sustainable jobs.

Issued by The DA