Watch the debate on SABC

29 Jul

On 2 July 2026 on SABC News, the public got a front-row seat in the debate for and against the MMSEZ. Viewers heard two sharply different accounts of the Chinese industrial mega-project being built in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve.

Living Limpopo argues that the jobs promises are inflated, the domestic steel industry faces cannibalisation, the water demands cannot be met, and frontline communities have been denied their rights to free, prior and informed consent. The MMSEZ SOC CEO rejects these claims. Watch both interviews and make up your own mind.

Industrial development — or an industrial-scale disaster hiding behind a glossy brochure and a straight face?

▶️ Living Limpopo interview: Power Plant | Economic catastrophe and Environmental costs: Lauren Liebenberg

▶️MMSEZ SOC right of reply: Power Plant | Economic upside and Environmental benefits: Gundo Maswime

Leanne McCann

Watch the debate on SABC

The Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone is a coal-fueled Chinese-South African industrial mega-project that will drive the strip-mining of the Vhembe for coal - It will devastate the still wild but fragile Vhembe Biosphere Reserve area of the Limpopo Province - The future can still be changed.

The Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone is a coal-fueled Chinese-South African industrial mega-project that will drive the strip-mining of the Vhembe for coal - It will devastate the still wild but fragile Vhembe Biosphere Reserve area of the Limpopo Province - The future can still be changed.

Watch the debate on SABC

LIVING LIMPOPO AND ALLIES FILE URGENT OBJECTIONS TO CHINA-BACKED MEGA-POLLUTER PROPOSED FOR UNESCO BIOSPHERE RESERVE

The Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone is a coal-fueled Chinese-South African industrial mega-project that will drive the strip-mining of the Vhembe for coal - It will devastate the still wild but fragile Vhembe Biosphere Reserve area of the Limpopo Province - The future can still be changed.