Money talks

Job creation and substantial investment in the North Coast were priorities for the KZN provincial government, according to economic affairs, investment and tourism MEC Michael Mabuyakhulu.

Addressing business owners and members of local and provincial government at the eBandla Hotel last week, Mabuyakhulu announced planned spending of R4,45bn between Durban and Richards Bay over the next four years.

This is planned to create a total of 4 564 new jobs in the industrial and commercial sectors, placing Ballito right at the heart of this rapid growth, as these investments aim to expand the North Coast’s already booming tourism trade.

The effect of the Dube Tradeport would be to increase tourist traffic in both Umhlanga and Ballito by concentrating the region’s domestic and international trade within the country’s first purpose-built airport city and growing the volume of industrial and agricultural exports. He said R353m had been invested by Dube Tradeport this year, taking the total value of the development past the R1bn mark.

“KwaZulu-Natal is actively being positioned to become the gateway to Africa and the world by 2030,” said the Tradeport’s developers.

However, during a question and answer session, business owners voiced concerns about the government’s ability to deliver on these investment promises and wanted to know how the budget is going to be regulated and facilitated.

The Tradeport’s agrizones have already had R400m poured into them, but only one greenhouse is currently operational. Hailed by its investors to be “the continent’s largest climate controlled growing area”, business owners were interested in knowing when the Dutch designed greenhouses will be fully functional.

Furthermore, since its construction officially began a decade ago in 2005, the Tradeport’s 29° South HQ building is still a silent feature within the development, with unanswered questions as to why.

One stakeholder from the floor also identified a lack of investor confidence in the province as a result of the recent xenophobic attacks.

“We are not that terrible – we must remember to focus on the good,” said Mabuyakhulu in reply.

The government’s plan is to transform KwaZulu-Natal into an international investment destination as a way of reducing the province’s high 20% unemployment figure.

Another concern, however, is the matter of environmental management. Asked what environmental management strategies the government plan to implement alongside the rapid rate of growth witnessed in the region, Mabuyakhulu said: “We recognise our environmental responsibility and will enforce it without fear or favour.”

Mabuyakhulu also promised to work closely with environmental and conservation bodies to identify at-risk areas unsuitable for development, but did not spell out how this would all be conducted.