Shale gas and the long-mooted Project Mthombo oil refinery are the game-changing projects that the Eastern Cape needs to give the economy a much needed boost and get money flowing into the province.
In the strongest indication yet that the two multi-billion rand projects were still on the provincial agenda, finance MEC Oscar Mabuyane said officials were lobbying hard – at a national level – to ensure the projects, along with the Mzimvubu Dam, became a reality.
This would not only bring jobs, but also see some of the Eastern Cape’s brightest minds returning to their home province instead of leading the development of economies elsewhere in the country, he said.
Speaking at a stakeholder engagement session hosted by his department in partnership with The Herald, Mabuyane spoke about the need to change the perception that the Eastern Cape was where people came to kill their careers.
In a frank assessment of what he described as a country “governed by loss” and a province run largely by lazy civil servants, Mabuyane spoke strongly about the need for a shift in the manner in which the government operated.
Billions had already been lost, he said, due to the outward migration by people from the Eastern Cape and a further R5.9bn was projected to be lost in the medium-term.
“We must bring back the infrastructure mega-projects that were planned for our province many years ago.
“The N2 Wild Coast is finally off the ground with those multibillion-rand bridges that have been awarded by Sanral, the biggest in the southern hemisphere.
“The Mzimvubu Dam will follow soon and we are now fighting for Project Mthombo.
“All of these projects combined can change the face of our province and create sustainable jobs for generations to come,” Mabuyane said.
“People who are not employed by the government look for greener pastures in other provinces.”
Speaking on shale-gas exploration, or fracking, Mabuyane said the cabinet had agreed on the process and much research was being done by the province in partnership with NMU.
Project Mthombo, PetroSA’s 300,000-barrels-a-day refinery, is mooted for the Coega Industrial Development Zone.
In response to businessman Mandla Madwara’s question regarding Mthombo and when the project would actually get off the ground, Mabuyane said much work was being done and whenever provincial officials attended national meetings, they greeted those present with “Hello Mthombo”.
“We know that there are international investors showing interest,” he said.
“We have been whispering as this province.
“Now is the time we have to be on top of the roof shouting to everyone. Greeting everyone with ‘Mthombo’.
“We have reached that point because we believe it will be a serious game-changer and that if we get it on our shore, we will be able to lock huge economic development potential into this space.
“We are optimistic and believe that we should get it at some point.”
Mabuyane said the provincial government needed to be creative enough to move away from its over-reliance on the automotive sector.
He said it wanted to raise more than R1.1bn to reshape the economic development trajectory as part of its stimulus package.
Mabuyane also emphasised the need to address the curriculum at tertiary level to produce fewer job seekers and more job creators.
“There is a situation in the Eastern Cape where you have got the government and a few from the private sector that can absorb many numbers.
“In government, if you get employed at 21 you leave at 65.
“So what is going to happen to the new ones that are coming in?”
Another attendee, Thabong Moleko, agreed with Mabuyane that creativity was needed to stop the loss of talent.
He said there was a misguided view that the government created jobs.
“The government will only provide the enabling environment for jobs to be created.
“One thing I learnt from being in the private sector is that they have access to development capital and a defined process,” Moleko said.
“Are we looking at the learnings from the private sector and implementing them?”
Brandon Redcliffe said he was one of the people who had returned to Port Elizabeth after spending 20 years in Johannesburg and he believed there was an urgent need to develop SMMEs in alignment with the fourth industrial revolution.
“We are falling way behind when it comes to technology.
“We have kids in other countries as young as five years old who are coding and developing their own apps.
“What are we doing as the Eastern Cape to train these skills and to be able to use these skills within the government sector?
“There is another challenge regarding our infrastructure – our broadband rollout. There are many issues there.”
Mabuyane agreed there were issues with broadband.
“When we started with broadband, it [cost] was estimated at about R6bn and it is now projected at R12bn.
“The province must resolve the issue of broadband as a matter of urgency,” he said.