The executive mayor of the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM), Dowelani Nenguda, and the executive mayor of the Beitbridge Rural District Council in Zimbabwe, Luka Ndou, both signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the Mapungubwe Heritage Site's Museum Hall on Friday, 14 April, wherein they promise to promote viable economic development. This important occasion was also attended by traditional leaders and councillors from both municipalities.
Nenguda warmly welcomed Ndou, Chief David Tshitaudze and the rest of the delegates from the Beitbridge Rural District Council and said that a programme of action from both municipalities would be created to start implementing work in areas such as exhibition, trading, and exchange programmes for students from the University of Venda (Univen) and the University of Zimbabwe.
"Today, we are here to witness a historic event in the recent history of our northern region - a twinning agreement between the Vhembe District and our Zimbabwean counterpart, the Beitbridge Rural District Council. This partnership/agreement is not only between the two local councils but goes beyond. It speaks to the international relations between our two countries: the Republic of South Africa and the Republic of Zimbabwe. This MOU is going to affect different areas of our economic sectors in our two regions, and I can say today that the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) is already in full swing. [The] SEZ is going to be the economic hub of our region, and this MOU will pave a way for the proper implementation of this megaproject, for the development of our economy," Nenguda said.
Ndou in turn said he was very excited to be visiting the Vhembe District and about signing the twinning agreement, adding that now the two countries would be able to trade things that were not produced in Zimbabwe but could be found in the Vhembe District, and vice versa.