A six-year battle to secure licensing for the long-awaited Bojanala Special Economic Zone (SEZ) has entered a decisive phase, with North West Premier Lazarus Mokgosi now leading a renewed political push to break a regulatory deadlock that has stalled the project since 2019.
Government and ANC insiders say Mokgosi has been driving fresh agitation for the project’s designation and was expected to lobby senior party leaders at the recent ANC national executive committee lekgotla, as pressure mounts to unlock what is being billed as a multi-billion-rand industrialisation anchor for the platinum belt.
Political pressure to fast-track the project has intensified amid mounting economic expectations. By early 2025, the proposed SEZ had already attracted 14 prospective investment projects with pledges totalling about R15.3-billion, according to provincial officials.
The development is projected to create around 20 000 jobs once fully operational – a figure repeatedly invoked by provincial leaders as justification for urgent approval.
The renewed push comes as official documents reveal that the SEZ’s approval has been repeatedly delayed by governance failures, funding uncertainties and compliance gaps within the North West provincial government, leaving a project first tabled before cabinet in 2019 still without final designation.
According to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), under minister Parks Tau, the formal application for the Bojanala SEZ was submitted by the North West department of economic development, environment, conservation and tourism, and presented to cabinet on August 21, 2019.
“The cabinet noted the application and recommended that the application be strengthened.”
That decision triggered the first major delay in the project’s timeline. Instead of moving directly to designation, the application was sent back for revision – a process that would take nearly five years.
The province only resubmitted a revised application on May 22, 2024, effectively resetting the approval process and exposing the extent of internal capacity and planning constraints.
Even after resubmission, national officials found that the updated proposal still contained serious deficiencies.
The DTIC confirmed that the application “still presented significant gaps” following its review and could not proceed to designation.
The initial proposal had already been served to the SEZ advisory board prior to its presentation to the cabinet in 2019, meaning the project has effectively been trapped in a cycle of review and revision without reaching final approval.
Unresolved governance and funding issues, according to national authorities, cause delays before the SEZ can receive a licence. “Currently the Bojanala SEZ has not been designated due to the outstanding matters the North West department has to comply with,” the DTIC said.
Among the most serious gaps identified in the latest application are unclear roles between provincial and municipal authorities, particularly around responsibility for bulk infrastructure funding – a key requirement for SEZ viability.
The DTIC also flagged the absence of a fully appointed management structure and weak governance arrangements.
“The SEZ has not yet appointed a full management team,” the department noted, adding that there is “no functional board of directors with appropriate diversity and governance representation”.
Another stumbling block is the failure to integrate the revitalisation of the defunct Bodirelo–Mogwase Industrial Park into the broader SEZ implementation plan, a linkage seen as critical to the zone’s operational viability.
Officials say these shortcomings have been repeatedly communicated to the province but remain unresolved.
“The gaps were communicated to the North West Province on several platforms, and unless the province can address these critical areas, the designation of the SEZ cannot proceed,” the DTIC warned.
The planned zone, located in Mogwase near Rustenburg, is intended to anchor industrial development across mineral beneficiation, agro-processing and renewable energy manufacturing, leveraging the region’s proximity to major platinum group metals reserves and existing mining operations.
But until the outstanding compliance issues are resolved, the project remains stuck in a regulatory holding pattern.
The DTIC said designation can only proceed once it is satisfied that all cabinet recommendations have been implemented and that the provincial government can support both operational and bulk infrastructure costs. After cabinet approval, the minister must formally publish the designation in the Government Gazette before issuing a licence to the applicant.
The DTIC initially proposed finalising designation within the 2025/2026 financial year, but ongoing compliance failures have forced officials to consider pushing the decision back further.
“The DTIC has proposed to finalise the designation of Bojanala SEZ within the 2025/2026 financial year,” the department said. “However, due to the delays in waiting for the North West Province to comply with the gaps identified, [this] could lead to the SEZ being designated in the 2026/2027 financial year.”
If that timeline holds, the project may only receive final designation in 2027 – eight years after its initial submission.
