Capricorn District Municipality creates enabling environment
CDM Mayor Mamedupi Teffo pointed out that the municipality has some expectations from the business sector as its business partners.
POLOKWANE – The Capricorn District Municipality’s (CDM) role is to create an enabling environment for business, investment and growth.
This was the message delivered to members of the city’s business community by CDM Mayor Mamedupi Teffo during a business breakfast hosted at Fusion Boutique Hotel late last year.
“In doing so, the municipality has to provide clear leadership on matters of governance and local economic development (LED) and provide cost-effective bulk services such as water and sanitation, and also facilitate partnerships with other stakeholders in the implementation of LED initiatives,” she said and added that, the local authority should work with business to reduce the cost of doing business in the district.
The municipality, however, has some expectations from the business sector as its business partners, she pointed out.
“Business should do business in a profitable and responsible manner and should contribute to the upliftment of its communities by creating jobs and investing in skills and importantly, contribute to the expansion of the municipal tax base, thus enabling us as government to sustain service delivery and infrastructure.”
Teffo alluded to the municipality’s key LED projects and reported that the Matumo Trading Post is among those projects currently in process. A strategic partner will soon be appointed to operationalise the project, according to the mayor.
The SMME Exhibitions and Farmer Support Project is also active and aims to link farmers with markets for their agricultural products. It comprises mainly information sharing sessions where presenters from markets, financial and non-financial, will be invited to share information with farmers on how to access specific markets.
SMME exhibitions are arranged with local municipalities and include the World Travel Market, Marula Festival, Limpopo Holiday Fair and the Durban Tourism Indaba. These shows or exhibitions ranges from two to three days of the display of local tourism products to both buyers and viewers.
The incubation of SMMEs is also a priority and according to Teffo, the municipality has so far in partnership with Leda, incubated a total number of 90 SMMEs since 2017/18, with a new intake of 20 for the 2023/24 financial year.
There are other opportunities for business in the district too.
“Student accommodation is a need due to the number of tertiary institutions in the district, while facilities such as the Makgabeng Rock Art 15 kilometres of rock tour has the potential for further development. The Wolkberg Nature Reserve of 2 795 hectares is located in Lepelle-Nkumpi and provides a great spot for camping, hiking trails, fun runs and picnics. This offers great potential for accommodation investment,” Teffo said and added that the Zebediela Citrus Farm could also be revived.
“As CDM, we plan to host this type of engagements at least once a year, and we value your partnership. We pledge to note down the pertinent issues raised by business and provide feedback. We also encourage the business fraternity to participate in our LED and IDP Forums, so that we engage with you on a more regular and consistent basis,” were her closing words.
