The City of Johannesburg’s executive mayor, Clr Parks Tau, announced on Tuesday last week that a new container mall is coming to Ivory Park soon.
About 61 identified beneficiaries were handed their 30-year lease agreements by Clr Tau, who was assisted by the outgoing councillor Petros Zitha.
“We set up these shops for the business community to benefit, to have access to land, to instil some form of ownership and to ensure the operators have management responsibilities,” said Clr Tau.
“We plan to roll-out this project to other regions. Ivory Park is the pioneer.
“I’m told there are about 250 people who are running a food gardening project in Ivory Park. This business model would maximise the benefit of possible entrepreneurship and will help in growing their businesses,” he said.
Clr Tau explained that this SMME hub will also offer business support services to emerging entrepreneurs.
“These container malls do not require town planning or rezoning but are legally recognised, unlike the bricks and mortar that require planning regulations,” said Clr Tau.
The electricity supply to the site will use solar energy.
