Honest assessment of project needed

For several years, this newspaper and many others have reported on the government’s plans to build what came to be known as Project Mthombo, a massive oil refinery at Coega that would expand SA’s fuel capacity and be the answer to the Eastern Cape job crisis. It never got off the ground. The reasons depended on who you spoke to. Politicians, at least in public, played it down as mere delays, while industry commentators and other critics believed that there was not enough interest from investors because the entity was simply unsustainable.

In October the project made a brief appearance in finance MEC Oscar Mabuyane’s mid-term budget speech and again on Tuesday at an event hosted by this newspaper.

Mabuyane insists that the project is on the cards, further suggesting that heightened political lobbying is what will ultimately deliver it to our shores.

“We know that there are international investors showing interest. We have been whispering as this province. Now is the time, we have to be on top of the roof shouting to everyone,” Mabuyane said on Tuesday. However, lobbying can only go so far.

There are several pertinent questions that need to be answered if the government’s word is to be viewed as anything but political speak.

Chief among these is why and where in the process has this project got stuck?

Equally important are questions about the funding of this project and whether potential investors, as claimed by Mabuyane, believe in the sustainability of its business model.

We can no longer afford to blindly accept that work is being done behind the scenes to bring about such a megaentity, especially in this economic climate and at a time when our public purse is under severe strain.

Any promise of delivering this project must be accompanied by an honest assessment of the realities that stand in its way.