uMkhanyakude pins R3bn-plus in projects on one investment dinner

Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Dr Nomalungelo Gina hosts businesses and potential investors at a corporate investment dinner in Empangeni on Thursday, carrying a portfolio of 11 catalytic projects for the uMkhanyakude District Municipality into one room.

The pitch, as the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation set it out in a statement, is a district development plan converted into “clearly defined and investable opportunities”. The dinner is aligned with the District Development Model and the district’s One Plan. Gina leads it as the DDM champion for the district, alongside Thembeni kaMadlopha-Mthethwa, the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development and the MEC DDM champion, and Executive Mayor Siphile Mdaka. The uMhlosinga Development Agency and the Zululand Chamber of Commerce and Industry are partners.

What is actually on the table is specific, and priced. The Mkhuze Airport Precinct Development needs an estimated R200 million for a fire station and supporting infrastructure, with the wider precinct opening opportunities in residential development, industrial and factory sites, business premises, offices, retail, logistics and hospitality. The Nkodibe Interchange Mixed-Use Development in Mtubatuba, also known as Mtuba Ridge, carries an estimated project value of R1.9 billion. The Hluhluwe Mixed-Use Development leans on the town’s tourism economy for commercial, property, retail and hospitality investment.

The agro-processing list is where the job numbers sit. A proposed cassava processing plant, estimated at R1.1 billion, is expected to create about 500 jobs through a tapioca-starch value chain that could support small-scale farmers. A pineapple processing plant at an estimated R15 million is expected to create about 40 direct jobs, producing canned products, juice and other processed goods. A chicken abattoir at an estimated R11 million is projected to create about 28 direct jobs and to improve market access for emerging farmers.

There is also the Kosi Bay Border Node Development, which seeks a formal trade node at the Mozambique border to ease cross-border commerce, and a call for investment into the Malabela sportsground in Hluhluwe through the Mbekezeli Mbokazi Foundation.

Gina put the test of the whole exercise on the municipality itself. Infrastructure capacity, project execution and institutional competence, she said, are critical indicators of a municipality’s ability to deliver services, attract investors and improve the lives of residents. “All of us must have a clear imagination of what uMkhanyakude can look like in a decade if all identified projects are successfully implemented in each local municipality. It is this spirit of building for the next generation that must ignite our collective commitment to deliver a better uMkhanyakude,” she said.

The department said the event will present the projects with their investment requirements and partnership models, including public-private partnerships, build-operate-transfer arrangements and private sector-led investment. The gathering will also position the district as a strategic gateway to Eswatini and Mozambique.

What the dinner cannot settle is the money. The figures are estimates attached to proposals, and the department’s statement does not name a single committed investor, a signed agreement or a construction date. The job numbers are projections. For residents of a district whose case for investment now rests on whether these projects move from a dinner in Empangeni into contracts, the answer will come after Thursday, not at it.

The statement is a government summary of the event and its portfolio rather than the investment record itself. It was published by SAnews, the South African Government News Agency, at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/gina-host-businesses-and-potential-investors-empangeni.