The Eastern Transvaal wants to form a regional economic=20 bloc with Swaziland and southern Mozambique, reports Justin=20
The Eastern Transvaal has announced it intends spearheading=20 the creation of a unified regional economic bloc, which=20 will include Swaziland and the southern provinces of=20
Formally announcing the initiative during the opening of=20 the first ordinary sitting of the Eastern Transvaal=20 provincial legislature this week, Premier Mathews Phosa=20 stressed that the province couldn’t hope to develop in=20 isolation to its neighbours.
“We cannot ignore the fact that our development problems=20 are the same, that our opportunities are similar and that=20 we share infrastructure and rivers,” he explained.
He adds: “International boundaries are soft in terms of=20 economic development and institutions should work across=20 borders to get maximum profits … we therefore view the=20 economies of Swaziland, the Eastern Transvaal and the=20 Mozambican provinces of Maputo and Gaza as interdependent=20 economic and social units.”
Phosa’s administration has already met with the Swazi king=20 and prime minister, as well as with the governors of the=20 Mozambican provinces of Maputo and Gaza, and has laid the=20 framework for co-operative agreements.
The proposed agreements are aimed at creating joint=20 development and infrastructure strategies and joint=20 financing for mutually beneficial projects.
To strengthen the proposals, Phosa also announced that his=20 province’s capital projects for the up-coming budgetary=20 year included the construction of a highway between Gauteng=20 and the Mozambique port of Maputo.
The highway will be funded by foreign investors, says=20 Phosa, and will operate as a toll road. He believes that=20 the improved transport links with Maputo harbour will=20 encourage industrial development in the province and will=20 offer Gauteng businesses a competitive alternative to=20 shipping through Durban’s harbour.
Port Natal authorities are concerned enough about the=20 project to have sent a delegation, headed by Phosa’s=20 brother, to try and convince Premier Phosa not to develop=20 the highway.
“They tried to sell us on EPZs instead, but we weren’t=20 interested. Port Natal has big clients here, such as Sappi=20 and the mines, which they’d lose if Maputo opened for=20 business,” explains Phosa.
Gauteng premier, Tokyo Sexwale, has also given his tacit=20 support to the project, pointing out that Maputo is closer=20 to Johannesburg than Durban.
To further cement ties with his neighbours, Phosa’s=20 administration has produced a discussion document on=20 regional development in association with the Development=20 Bank of South Africa.
“We need to seriously start thinking about setting up a=20 Southern African Economic Community, whether it be a single=20 bloc or on the basis of different economic communities=20 throughout Africa that co-operate with common interests and=20 agendas,” insists Phosa.
“South Africa should play the role of launching pad and=20 should be guided by its own regional and economic=20 interests,” says Phosa.
Phosa added that he is communicating with Afrikaner leader,=20 General Constand Viljoen, to ensure that their separate=20 initiatives are complimentary.
The envisioned economic bloc will receive impetus when=20 Phosa signs co-operative development agreements with his=20 counterparts, Gaza governor Eduardo Numaio and Maputo=20 Governor Raymundo Bila, in Maputo later this month. –=20 African Eye News