Isithebe rents skyrocket – factories told ‘pay up or leave’

Thousands of jobs have been placed at risk as Ithala Development Finance Corporation has told about 60 businesses in the Isithebe industrial estate to pay up to three times higher rents, or get out.

Isithebe sources have told The North Coast Courier that Ithala has doubled and in some cases tripled tenants’ rentals, making staying open in the area no longer viable.

The businesses served with eviction notices are those whose rental agreements have fallen due, and have been trying to negotiate lesser increases with Ithala. In the meantime they have been paying their usual rentals. It is understood that attempts by business owners to contact Ithala and negotiate better rates have been stonewalled. Isithebe estate manager Keith Palmer refused to comment.

Desperate owners appealed to the Ilembe Chamber of Commerce and Industry to intervene, which has managed to set up a meeting between business owners and Ithala, scheduled for later this week.

Ithala describes itself as “one of KZN’s primary drivers of economic development and a strategic enabler of support for, in particular, the province’s historically disadvantaged communities”.

Isithebe industrial estate was founded to create jobs in the Ilembe district and today houses 150 businesses, mainly but not limited to furniture, textile and refrigerator factories, service providers like electricians and mechanics and an employment agency. The estate employs an estimated 20 000 people and is the only major industrial zone in the Ilembe district.

Isithebe has had a tumultuous year, filled with violence and destruction, costing businesses millions and delaying distribution of stock to prominent retail outlets in the rest of South Africa and Africa.

In March there were five days of violent protests, when nine factories and a number of trucks were petrol-bombed, businesses ransacked and roads blocked with burning tires and furniture, which brought the industrial estate to a standstill. At night, protesters shot at those who tried to stop them and public order police, a tactical response team and rapid intervention police were eventually deployed.

In June, businesses were held hostage once again for an entire week as protesters cut off the water supply from the Sundumbili water works that supplies water to Isithebe, Mandeni and Sundumbili.

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