Justin Arenstein Mpumalanga Premier Ndaweni Mahlangu’s buffoonish and often petty behaviour is endangering Southern Africa’s largest public infrastructure project, the R25- billion Maputo Development Corridor (MDC), and is scaring away international investors, a new international study warns. The damning Lessons from the MDC Toll Road study, funded by the Canadian government and compiled by the development policy research unit at the universities of Stellenbosch and Cape Town, is scheduled for public release at an international development conference in Namibia in two weeks’ time. Political scientist Dr Ian Taylor warns in the detailed 32-page report that every official and business leader interviewed about the project in South Africa had expressed dismay about Mpumalanga’s current political leadership. Stressing that the concerns related directly to the ousting of former premier Mathews Phosa and his replacement by the “buffoonish” Mahlangu, Taylor said Phosa was widely seen as a major and active political power supporting the ambitious tri-nation development. Mahlangu, in contrast, he said is seen as an inept, dishonest and, at best, uninterested leader. “This is largely due to the buffoonish activities of Mahlangu: his infamous statement that it is sometimes acceptable for a politician to lie has poured scorn on a province which needs good governance to raise its image as one of Africa’s most desirable investment destinations,” said Taylor.
But, he adds, not only has Mahlangu projected a negative image of the province, he also appears to be trying to undermine the MDC as a means to attack Phosa’s legacy – “a decidedly petty activity”, Taylor says.
Interviewees, including economists, senior national and provincial officials and foreign development advisers, said Mahlangu is actively trying to derail the entire R25-billion initiative in an attempt to raise his own stature by eradicating Phosa’s most noteworthy visible contribution to Mpumalanga. “Mahlangu appears to have failed to grasp the importance of the MDC or understand its purpose. Competence and support for the MDC have declined massively post-Phosa and there is now a lack of interest and vision in regional [Southern African] integration,” said Taylor. The latest apparent symptoms include the dissolution of Mpumalanga’s MDC inter- departmental steering committee. “Even the Mozambicans are complaining about [Mahlangu’s] approach. It’s all very disturbing. In fact, Mpumalanga’s administration is so dire that it might actually be a good thing that they’re getting out of the way,” Taylor added this week.
Mahlangu is not, however, the only politician slammed for irresponsible behaviour.
Taylor’s study criticises local politicians for populist grandstanding and promising disgruntled communities amnesties from toll fees on the new highway, houses for displaced hawkers and a range of other unrealistic trade-offs. “Overall, the behaviour of a number of provincial politicians has not met acceptable standards of good governance,” said Taylor. He said the government appeared to have over-estimated the amount of direct foreign investment that would flow into South Africa
after the 1994 election and had unrealistic expectations about the speed and size with which development would occur on the MDC, said Taylor. He added that many of the big investments promised along the Mpumalanga section of the corridor were unlikely to materialise.
“Why build a multibillion-rand factory in Mpumalanga when it could be right next to Maputo port or in Gauteng? The real benefit to South Africa is the creation of prosperity in places like Mozambique and an integrated regional economy,” he said. “Also, government has bungled the proposed international airport in Nelspruit for five straight years now and has withdrawn from its active role in the corridor way too early.”
The government’s withdrawal contributed to often acrimonious haggling between South Africa and Mozambican parastatals, which effectively delayed the single most important corridor project – the R1,1- billion upgrading of the Maputo port. l The MDC is Africa’s largest spatial development initiative and is designed to re-establish trade and transport links between Gauteng and its nearest sea port in Maputo, while simultaneously cutting down on illegal immigration by boosting the economies of neighbouring countries as well as South Africa’s own rural hinterlands in Mpumalanga.