Municipal bosses in a controversy-plagued Eastern Cape local municipality — recently identified as being in serious financial distress — have come up with an audacious plan to build a regional airport which could cost billions of rand.
The Enoch Mgijima local municipality has twice been placed under administration for service delivery failures, and is among 16 councils “in serious financial distress”.
Earlier in 2025, the municipality was mired in another controversy when public protector Kholeka Gcaleka released a report which found evidence of mismanagement in the construction of the Lesseyton sports field in Komani.
The facility, unveiled in 2021 amid a public outcry due to poor workmanship, cost more than R22m to build.
The troubled council is now discussing building a regional airport in Komani, to be dubbed the Queen Nonesi Airport.
If the idea materialises, Komani’s airport would have a runway that is the second-longest in the country.
Only OR Tambo International Airport has a longer runway than the one proposed by the municipality.
However, the idea has been heavily criticised by some residents and businesspeople.
According to the municipality’s draft Spatial Development Framework (SDF) plan, the proposal, which includes the possibility of extending an existing 1.1km airstrip in Komani to a 3.6km runway to accommodate larger aircraft, was still being sold to the broader community.
Should it pass, it could possibly position Komani as a transport and logistics hub across the Chris Hani district.
Enoch Mgijima municipal spokesperson Lonwabo Kowa insisted this week that the proposal was still in the draft stages.
“After all comments and advice have been gathered and all due processes are finalised, it will become a complete planning document,” he said.
“The airport and other amenities are part of future plans. The municipality is currently conducting an outreach programme on the Spatial Development Framework.
“Comments will be incorporated into the final document which will be used as a municipal spatial planning document.”
In recent years, the Komani-based council has also been rocked by service delivery protests.
In 2023, angry residents brought the town to a standstill over a lack of service delivery.
They said they were fed up with intermittent electricity, constant water outages, vandalised infrastructure and the town’s general decay.
Recently, the municipality was one of 19 Eastern Cape municipalities grilled by MPs over various problems including poor audit outcomes, the dismal state of infrastructure, lack of consequence management, crippling water losses and poor revenue management.
It was also reported that it was among 11 municipalities which stood to lose millions of rand for failure to deal with ballooning unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
In 2025, several parts of Komani experienced severe water shortages, prompting Gift of the Givers to step in to donate water tanks and assist with drilling boreholes to augment the town’s water supply.
Businessman Ken Clark, who owns and runs Crickley Dairy, was asked for his views on a regional airport.
He said water, lights, roads and sewage infrastructure in Komani had reached a state of decay.
“We have lost businesses in town. Big businesses are leaving.
“Don’t we need to make sure that we concentrate on fixing those things first?
“Sewage is flowing down the streets. Why are we not talking about giving people the services they need?”
He said there was still not enough information regarding the airport proposal.
“For me, you must spend on water, electricity, roads and sewerage.
“We can’t put the cart before the horse. We have to get realistic, let us start at the right place.”
Clark said a lack of maintenance, budget issues and (the wrong) people being appointed in key positions in the municipality had contributed in destroying the town’s infrastructure.
Fellow resident and businessman Sabelo Jayiya said it was a struggle at the moment for people in the northern part of the province, including his hometown, to travel outside the Eastern Cape.
People had to drive more than 215km from Komani to East London, leave their cars in town and hitch rides to the King Phalo Airport, an extra cost on its own.
Others chose to drive to Gqeberha to catch flights to other provinces.
“Our business sector here is skewed. For some [the airport] might present an opportunity for the development of the economy of the area.
“Many might feel we need it and Komani is centrally placed, which means even if someone comes from Bloemfontein or Graaff-Reinet, it would make more sense to fly from there to here instead of East London or Gqeberha.
“It would definitely make travelling easier.”
He said an airport could also help attract “a lot of investments” from outside the area.
But another businessman, who did not want to be named due to his close working relationship with the municipality, said: “The proposal is madness.
“The community is collapsing under infrastructure problems and they want to worry about an airport. It is absolute madness.”
Daily Dispatch
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