Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal government’s commitment to process environmental impact assessment (EIA) applications within a 30-day period has been warmly welcomed by organised business figures who believe that the move could help unlock investment opportunities worth millions of rand.
The commitment to fast-track the issuing of EIAs was made by Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Siboniso Duma during a presentation of his department’s budget at the KwaZulu-Natal legislature in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday.
He told MPLs that his department was intent on ensuring the revival of the KZN economy, which would lead to more investments and create jobs for locals.
Duma indicated that over the past months, the province had issued 159 EIAs for a number of catalytic projects that had resulted in the injection of R9 billion in investment and created 10 161 jobs.
EIAs and water use licences have been cited by businesses as a stumbling block, with many people complaining about how the delay in processing them has often frustrated entrepreneurs who were forced to look elsewhere for business opportunities.
“We have heard on numerous occasions how rules and regulations, administrative, management and procedural systems, and even social values that are no longer effective in achieving their intended objectives have hindered attracting meaningful investment in the province and the country as a whole,” said Duma, noting how the red tape made it difficult for businesses to succeed and grow.
He told MPLs that as part of the move, the department had entered into agreements with a number of municipalities including Mooi Mpofana, uMngeni and Emadlangeni.
“We are committed to the issuance of EIAs and water use licences to support the roll-out of catalytic projects,” said the MEC.
Duma said government was keen on addressing issues with red tape stalling projects.
“In 2023/24, the department commits to processing the environmental authorisation requests within 30 days of receiving the requests,” he said.
KwaZulu-Natal Growth Coalition Co-ordinator Andrzej Kiepiela said the MEC’s commitment was an encouraging gesture that would have great effect if carried through.
Kiepiela confirmed that he had interacted with the MEC recently and was encouraged by his desire to listen to concerns of organised business.
“We support this statement and hope the initiative will succeed because it will have a very positive impact for KZN. This is what we have been talking about in the past; that organised businesses want (the) red carpet to be rolled out instead of encountering red tape,” he said.
Kiepiela said in the past, such applications would drag on for several months and years, with some businesses eventually giving up and opting to invest their money in other provinces.
He said he was optimistic that fast- tracking the applications would also reduce possibilities of collusion between government officials and politicians.
“The EIAs have often been used as a tool to frustrate prospective business people by department officials that collude with politicians when applications are made to start projects. The move to process them within 30 days will be a very progressive step.”
According to Duma, the speedy processing of applications was one of a number of initiatives that the government was undertaking to stimulate an economic revival.
Other measures include workshops, interactive sessions and other forms of engagements with different role players across the economic spectrum, including tertiary institutions and other think tanks.
The department’s R3.4 billion budget would also go towards assisting emerging businesses, reviving the township economy and ensuring greater efficiency among the province’s industrial zones.
The MEC said they were encouraged by the recent figures released by South African Tourism which showed that KZN remained the country’s leading domestic tourism destination, with 7.6 million trips recorded last year, and resulting in R19.5bn in spending on the domestic market.