KZN Invest 17

KZN M AY / J U N E 2 0 2 2

INVEST CONNECT COMMUNICATE COLLABORATE

ISSUE 17

Developers

Conscience

Indaba

Logistics

Removing red tape to fast track investments and create jobs

Locals rally to help Ukrainians

Tenacious tourism’s valiant fight

New warehousing complex promises to boost city logistics

Passionate People

MAKING DOING BUSINESS

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30 - 06 - - 09 - - 14 Guest column

Suntosh Pillay: KZN needs more than a physical rebuild

Developing our landscape KZN property developers – same vision, same challenges

KZN means business

Now is the time for government to take businesses seriously

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Surviving body blows Fixing a province that is citical to the economy

Irish food giant eyes Africa

Kerry Group’s R650-million investment in KZN

KZN auto prospects wobble

Durban Automotive Supplier Park

- 25 - - 26 - - 30 - - 32 - - 34 - - 36 Nappy firm flourishes

L’il Masters Diapers to build manufacturing plant in Dube TradeZone 2

Transforming or terrorising?

Delangokubona’s Thabani Mzulwini chats to us

Massive brickworks project underway

The Brickworks

Recovering & growing

Light at the end of the tunnel for SAB

The right thing to do Making a difference in the lives of the Ukrainians

What’s up coach?

Leadership and resilience coach Craig Stuart

Issue 17

KZN

W H AT ’ S I N S I D E

INVEST

Copyright: All material in this issue is subject to copyright and belongs to Famous Publishing unless otherwise indicated. No part of the material may be quoted, photocopied, reproduced or stored by an electronic system without prior written permission from Famous Publishing.

Disclaimer: While every effort is taken to ensure the accuracy of the contents of this publication, neither the authors nor the publisher will bear any responsibility for the consequences of any actions based on information contained herein. Neither do they endorse any products/services advertised herein. Material which appears under ‘Advertorial’ is paid for.

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Published by Famous Publishing www.famousdurban.co.za Printed by Novus

- 22 Dube Tradeport

A development blueprint?

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EDITOR Greg ArdŽ PRODUCTION EDITOR Lorna King DESIGNER Stephanie Osborne ADVERTISING Jenni McCallum 082 411 6401 GENERAL MANAGER Doody Adams CONTRIBUTORS Shirley le Guern Lyse Comins Anne Schauffer Katrine Anker-Nilssen Deepika Naidoo Matthew Hattingh Rogan Ward Brian Spurr Val Adamson

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In compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4, if you do not want to receive KZN Invest magazine for free, please email sarah.mackintosh@ famouspublishing.co.za For more information visit: www.famousdurban.co.za

- 37 - - 38 - - 40 - - 43 - - 46 - - 48 Recruitment

Through the eyes of recuiter Bridget Jones

Indaba’s African win Africa’s Travel Indaba 2022

KZN’s coffee cultivation

Mpenjati Coffee is brewing down the South Coast

Rocking the world

Local KZN celebs on the international stage

Information legacy

Local authors offer authentic reads

Embracing the past The Durban Jewish Club and The Durban Holocaust & Genocide Centre

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ED’S LETTER

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REBUILDING with heart “O ne chronicler of Eskimo life has observed, ‘the best place for an Eskimo to store his surplus is in someone else’s stomach’.” That is an excerpt from a book entitled Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny,

by Robert Wright.

It is a thought-provoking read about how sharing food today could lead to life-saving reciprocation tomorrow.

I started reading at the height of the floods, and how we will recover from this tragedy remains to be seen. If the heart-warming humanitarian rally is anything to go by, we will survive in spite of being sorely tested by the trifecta of misery – Covid, the 2021 riots and the floods that have smacked KZN. During the floods and in the weeks that followed I tried to process the jumble of images I saw every day. It

was a jagged collage, smoothed over by kindness that is helping soothe a broken province but won’t fix it. There were shell-shocked people huddling around where their homes once stood. There were the vast swathes of mud where water had turned roads into rivers.

There were chasms of earth gouged away by the deluge. Then there were people working feverishly to rescue others, feed them and rebuild roads, fix pipes and rig up powerlines.

Amid all of this, I met a homeless man named Ivan Bolt on the beachfront. He sat at Blue Lagoon eyeing the swollen but subsiding Umgeni River to his left.

To his right tree stumps and detritus littered the beach for as far as he could see. Snared in the wood thousands of tons of household items, mostly plastic, vomited into the sea. And two bodies.

“I saw them,” he said, looking thoughtfully at the ghoulish art

installation he had erected on the beachfront, an altar to the epic destruction. Scary dolls heads with vacant eyes were impaled on sticks and stared eerily at passers-by. Beneath them were bits of plastic collected by beachcombers. The ensemble was finished off with Hindu garlands of marigolds.

“Look at what has happened to creation,” Bolt said. “It feels like the world is coming to an end.” A profound comment considering the storms were of Biblical proportions and hit at a time of reverence for Muslims, Jews and Christians.

The floods and our response brought home critical issues: planning around climate change; infrastructure maintenance; vast wealth inequality and the incredible goodwill of people in the face of adversity.

I spoke to KZN Anglican Bishop

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Rubin Phillip who was one of about 100 provincial church leaders who came together after the floods. “I have not seen such a definitive response to a crisis. People are deeply affected.

Beyond the love, care and condolences, this has really mobilised people. This is a very emotional situation and people could just carry on once the dust has settled, but I don’t get that feeling, and I can be the number one cynic. There is something about the way people are responding, like they want action and commitment. They want it to be a sustained response, beyond this crisis.”

The visible effects of the floods will hopefully raise consciousness about the drastic inequality and failing service delivery in KZN. We need the sustained response the Bishop was talking about and not “mithering and marigolds” as one man sagely observed in a chat I had.

Later I attended a KZN Growth

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Moses Tembe.

Palesa Phili.

Ravi Pillay.

Rubin Phillip.

Sihle Zikalala.

Ivan Bolt.

Coalition gathering at the ICC. The coalition has been around for 20 years and though I have criticised it as the perfect place for fat cats to connive, at this year’s event I tried to keep my snide side in check. Being nasty when people are trying to rebuild feels about as useful as John Steenhuisen’s trip to Ukraine.

In a country beset by corruption, we all know most of the creeps who grease the political wheels, but they aren’t representative of everyone in a diverse economy that benefits from what Premier Sihle Zikalala toasted as vibrant public-private sector partnerships.

KZN is embattled but not broken. The coalition event had a lot of big names, but a lot of vacant seats too. I’m not sure if that’s a testament to cynicism or the fact that people are busy rebuilding.

Coalition co-chair Moses Tembe rightly read the room when he said people were tired of long speeches and anxious for action. Aspen’s Stavros Nicolaou toasted the co-operative spirit in KZN. Partnerships are critical. If the words and demeanour of Zikalala and his colleague, economic development MEC Ravi Pillay are anything to go by, there is a sincere appreciation for partnerships to allow us to “internalise and appreciate our competitive” strengths, as the latter said.

Zikalala praised Toyota’s commitment to Durban and I gather there is a lot of serious discussion around how to rebuild the auto giant’s flooded plant and to protect the critical South Durban basin.

Nigel Ward, Toyota boss and the

president of the Durban Chamber of Commerce, was the master of ceremonies at the event. Under his leadership and that of Chamber CEO Palesa Phili, the organisation has engaged robustly with government.

We might often shake our heads in despair at the state of service delivery and corruption, but this dialogue is happening. What we need to flow from this is a deeper conversation to harness what the Bishop spoke of. Partnerships are vital, but we need to go way beyond short-term backscratching to forge a way forward that holds those in power to account, demands trusted public spending and ethical business.

Back to the Eskimo that kicked off this column. A society without conscience is doomed. The floods drove home the point: our future is interdependent and entwined.

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gregarde@gmail.com

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G U E ST CO LU M N

reaching OUT KZN, scarred by Covid, riots and floods, will need more than a physical rebuild. It demands that we acknowledge one another with genuine empathy and respect, writes Suntosh Pillay

I

spoke to a group of psychology students at a graduation ceremony in Durban recently, and told them a story that might resonate with people in KZN at the moment considering what we’ve lived through in the last two years.

Please let me take you back to March 2008. The Mandela Rhodes Foundation had selected me as one of 23 young post-graduate students from across Africa to receive a scholarship to further my studies. As Mandela Rhodes scholars we had the honour of meeting the living patron of this controversially named organisation.

I travelled from my home in Pietermaritzburg to Johannesburg for the much-anticipated meeting in Madiba’s Houghton house.

The 23 of us waited in the small auditorium and the media was in full force.

Each of us students were to have a minute to sit and have a word with Madiba.

Thankfully, due to my surname, I was lower down the alphabetical list for a turn on the couch with the global icon. I rehearsed hundreds of possibilities of how I hoped this dialogue would go – but when my turn arrived, they all melted into the ether.

The moment morphed into a slightly dissociative and surreal space. After all, Madiba’s famed hype had turned him into the stuff of legends and, despite his protests, his socially-sanctioned saintliness certainly created the expectation that one would be in the presence of a supernatural force. Perhaps I’m overstating it, but I was a mere 22 and had only just begun my masters’ degree – so the privilege of this meeting felt like the ecstatic climax

of my young existence.

So far, he’d been quite casual to my peers. He asked jokingly whether Robert Mugabe was still president of Zimbabwe, and asked that his regards be passed on to Ugandan President Museveni, reinforcing the importance of education and studying hard (“Don’t stop at one PhD,” he said).

However, beyond my own encounter, it is that of Lindokuhle Nkosi, a scholar from the University of Zululand, that remains etched in my mind. Lindo was

BELOW: David Rosmarin.

BOTTOM: Iain Burns.

Clinical psychologist Suntosh Pillay. mesmerised by the moment, and asked Madiba to give her “a mission” that she would carry with her for her entire life, something she could make her life’s singular goal.

Wait. What?! Was she really going to take what Madiba said and make

it her raison d’etre? And what exactly would Madiba say – “Go build 1 000 new schools!” or “End poverty” or “Cure cancer” or “Raise a billion dollars for my charities”? And would we all feel obligated by association to help Lindo in this new mission thrust upon her? Did Madiba have a whole lot of missions just waiting for the asking and was he going to answer with razor precision? Did Lindo have the right to refuse or change the terms and conditions? Madiba paused thoughtfully and made us wait for his response.

I’ve shared this story many times at talks I’ve been invited to give, and have always asked the audience what they thought Madiba said. Before reading on, what do you think he said?

No one has ever given me the correct answer. I’ve used this as evidence that his emotional intelligence and generosity of spirit was indeed difficult to emulate.

Madiba gave the most morally honest answer one could imagine. He told Lindokuhle he did not know her well enough to answer the question.

We were horrified! Give us a mission, dammit!

We had all – in those few seconds he took to consider his response – become so emotionally invested in his reply that at the time it was wholly unsatisfying and a massive anti-climax. I remember thinking that he’d just passed up an opportunity to change the world – 23 times over if we all took up the challenge.

In hindsight, Mandela modelled one of the most valuable lessons I have learnt in leadership: humility and empathy will ensure you use your power maturely.

G U E ST CO LU M N

ensure you use your power maturely.

Sure, Madiba could have urged Lindokuhle to spend her life working for an NGO back home in rural KZN. He could have told her to do a myriad of things that, given the moment, would have unfairly burdened this young woman with someone else’s crown.

Instead, he displayed enormous humility by being honest: he neither knew her well enough nor was he egotistical enough to give her a life mission.

How could he? What were her values, her political beliefs, her intellectual pursuits, her family background, her own dreams, fantasies and desires? To answer such a question glibly would have been a gargantuan display of arrogance.

And that is where the rub of power lies – in the interpersonal. Power corrupts when we fail to consider our fellow human beings as human beings in the world, figuring out life, pursuing dreams rooted in intimate personal histories that no one can know fully unless they have empathically entered into that person’s world.

To have given an answer to

Lindokuhle would have been a denial of her own humanity, her own personhood, her sense of self and self-direction, her agency and ability to develop mastery over her own dreams.

Instead, Madiba read the moment with emotional, intellectual and moral

Mandela modelled one of the most valuable lessons I have learnt in leadership: humility and empathy will ensure you use your power maturely honesty, and showed a singularly unique display of humility and empathy. He honoured Lindokuhle and he honoured us, 23 bright-eyed young people, on the cusp of our careers, by refusing to answer a question unfairly asked of him.

I have thought a lot about this

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recently in KZN as we’ve witnessed the disasters we’ve had. We live in a society of enormous wealth disparity and economic and social challenge.

This is compounded by a huge trust deficit. People don’t trust government and many don’t trust one another. And yet we are often able to transcend our paranoia and suspicion to reach out in enormously heart-warming displays of generosity in KZN. More than anything, the lesson I draw from Mandela during this time is the value of being emotionally intelligent during times of intense vulnerability. Hopefully we emerge stronger and that these times of crises will engender understanding and allow us to genuinely see one another with the type of honesty, empathy, humility and respect Madiba showed.

SUNTOSH PILLAY IS A CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST AND RESEARCHER IN DURBAN, AND CO-EDITOR OF THE NEWLY RELEASED BOOK, CHASING FREEDOM: HISTORIES, ANALYSES AND VOICES OF STUDENT ACTIVISM IN SOUTH AFRICA (CODESRIA PUBLISHERS).

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Picture: Val Adamson

DEVELOPING our landscape With a vision to turn KwaZulu-Natal into the number one province, property developers are all on the same page – but unfortunately all face the same obstacles hindering their progress

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CHARLES THOMPSON Devmco Group

Upbeat about the future of development in KZN, Thompson is particularly focused

BRUCE BREMNER

MD, True North Developments Strong, robust and relatively active.

MYLES WAKEFIELD CEO, Wakefields Real Estate

“I am a fourth generation Wakefield, part of a legacy brand with over 83 years of matching people to homes in KZN. Much has changed – but

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on the move to sustainable power and water solutions: “Innovation and solutions need to come from the private sector – self-run power plants, water filtration systems, sewer package plants and more. In my opinion, all longterm developers should be taking this approach.”

For Thompson, “New developments with new infrastructure inclusive of sustainable power and water solutions, will continue to grow and thrive.” He sees this as the future blueprint: “By 2030, I see increased privatisation of residential areas, and a stronger leaning towards more privately managed precincts with a focus on maintenance and service provision.”

He does, however, premise his positivity around growth on three

factors: the urgent need for high level intervention around the cumbersome approval processes, the destructive labour cartels, and the highly onerous rates on undeveloped land.

What drives him? “Opening up new areas on prime coastal land, and bringing upliftment to the economy by creating jobs, opportunities, and raising hope in the city.”

Those are the words Bremner uses to describe the KZN market. For him, “I find the collaboration and engagement with the industry professionals an absolute pleasure – they’re receptive, effective and efficient.”

Bremner considers the availability of developable land the biggest impediment to growth: “I believe that’s primarily due to the severe restriction of bulk services – electricity, water and sewer – as well as the extremely high costs levied by the local authorities to make these available.”

His vision for the future is quite clear: “KZN North Coast and related inland areas specifically, will be fighting Cape Town for second place as the economic hub of South Africa. The quality of

developments here – residential, industrial and commercial – is of an exceptionally high standard which, along with our ever-strengthening industry and positioning of our province as a superb leisure destination, will be the factors determining our rightful place in SA.”

what hasn’t is the value we place on home ownership. An exciting arm of our business is assisting developers to get their product to the right market. It’s gratifying for our sales team to support developers and developments such as Palm View Estate at Shakaskraal, and be part of the drive to facilitate home ownership for all South Africans.”

For The Bridge development in KwaMashu, Wakefield is excited by the combination of an innovative residential development with a supportive financial product offering: “This makes it far more accessible for first-time homeowners. We’re keen for partnerships which enable us to play our part in unlocking home ownership and wealth creation for ordinary South Africans.”

He acknowledges frustrations with municipal processes: “If we want to

move forward and thrive, we have to find easier, quicker ways to do things.

He’s positive about the future: “We have so much going for us, and so many assets: KZN’s natural beauty, proximity to Johannesburg, our infrastructure and port to name a few.

I think we’ve bottomed out. We have an innovative private sector which navigates well around the obstacles, and although progress is slower than we’d have liked, we’re going in the right direction.”

FOR MORE INFO charles@devmcogroup.co.za www.devmco.co.za

FOR MORE INFO bruce@tnd.co.za www.tnd.co.za

FOR MORE INFO myles@wakefields.co.za www.wakefields.co.za

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GAVIN PETER STRYDOM

CEO, Edstan Group of Companies, one of which is Beachwood Golf Course

ANDREW BARNES Barnes Properties

“Property development is a multifaceted business,” says Barnes. “It stretches from ordinary, grassroots

PRAKASEN GOVENDER CEO, PGA uMhlanga Rocks Investments

Prakasen – or Prak as he’s known – is a professional architect. His work in the development field began as one of

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For Strydom, one of the best things about his group’s role in KZN, is that by contributing to what he views as an under-developed landscape in KZN, it generates so much opportunity: “We are considered the poor second cousins to Cape Town and Johannesburg, and that’s not an accurate reflection of who we are. That perception is largely due to our under-developed landscape – we have fewer iconic developments – and as developers, it’s our job to correct that.”

Strydom is blunt about the obstacles to progress: “It begins and ends with the statutory applications via the municipality. It’s imperative we remove the red tape and delays in applications such as those for environmental,

SPLUMA rezoning and WULU. We need to assimilate all those statutory applications, and streamline them.”

Strydom firmly believes that by 2030, South Africa will have matured as a nation: “The world will be looking to us for opportunities. And because KZN is so under-developed, we’ll be a focal point.

KZN is, and will continue to be, a good place to live and invest.”

people creating work for bricklayers, artisans, gardeners and painters, all taking home money at the end of the day to feed basic needs, all the way through to educated, financially savvy, powerful decision-makers who shape the country.

Property development talks to families and their values, in building homes and shaping communities – it creates places of safety.”

Barnes believes that KZN needs everyone to pull together to get the wheels turning smoothly: “Our diverse KZN culture requires a ‘samewerking’ of people with the drive to make it work. No single person’s involvement is more important or greater than another’s – everyone has a part to play.” He considers his role in guiding those processes and people as both a responsibility and a privilege.

Like most, if not all, in the industry, Barnes sees room for improvement at local government level: “I do believe all parties are committed to helping us, but we need swifter authorisation processes to facilitate development.” He adds, “Access to capital, too, could always be improved.”

Looking to the future, he doesn’t see much changing: “2030 is only eight years away, so I foresee a continued swelling of our middle class, and a growing need for goods and services.”

the ways to create a continuum of work for their own offices. That, in turn, led to partnerships with other developers: “We get a buzz out of creating jobs – 500 per development which supports so many more families – but equally, we enjoy creating wealth for investors and generating rates for the city.

“For those who buy off-plan – long-term investors – it generates gearing wealth and improves net asset value of our buyers.”

But it’s not all smooth sailing. Despite government’s best efforts to placate the demands of the construction forums, they have recently resurged which is worrying in the tight economy we are currently in where time and quality lost results in massive financial losses to a project.

Digital submission of plans have improved the track, trace and resubmission procedures, however the legal requirements for final approvals –

especially on major projects – is another time and financial-related risk. These factors contribute to an escalated final product cost for the end user.

But having said that, Govender believes KZN has so much going for it: “Nowhere in the world do you have it all, but we certainly have a great deal. From our wonderful sunshine, to the ocean, a great hybrid culture and a good standard of living.” He adds, “I’m also a firm believer that it’s our civic duty to help build our country – if you can, you must. That approach by each of us, will speed up change and build a future.”

FOR MORE INFO gavin@edstan.com www.edstan.com

FOR MORE INFO admin@barnesprop.co.za www.barnesprop.co.za

FOR MORE INFO prak@pgaarchitects.co.za www.pgaarchitects.co.za

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MURRAY COLLINS

CEO, Collins Residential “Our magnificent coastline, the untamed natural landscape, and a rich natural heritage makes the KZN North Coast staggeringly beautiful to both the local and international market,” says Collins.

“We’re extremely fortunate with

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the canvas we have to work with.

Developing sensitively, responsibly and in a manner responsive to nature and people’s needs aren’t just concepts we throw around. We’re intentionally positioning the region from an environmental perspective, unlocking the natural assets, rehabilitating the landscape, and making way for future generations through sustainable development.

“The only impediment to growth is not being able to keep up with demand.

Having said that, progress is hamstrung by poor service delivery, bulk infrastructure and developer approvals.

Government must acknowledge the processes aren’t where they should be, and remedy this. It’s debilitating to Collins Residential as large scale, greenfield developers, and the industry as a whole. The whole value chain, right down to grassroots communities, suffer.”

The future? “By 2030, KZN will be

THE place to live. Picture this – you go to Cape Town for a holiday, Joburg to work, and Durban to LIVE. “By 2030, Collins will have completed a game-changing international hotel further up the North Coast, solidifying the province as a sought-after tourism destination.

“In ten years, we hope to have settled into being a peaceful, integrated community, aligned and working together to realise our massive potential.”

FOR MORE INFO melanie@hcollins.co.za www.collinsresidential.co.za

CUSTOMISED DESIGN

Int Tel: 031 705 2640

Cell: 082 570 1399

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F LO O D S

KZN means business Cynics will say it took a pandemic, a riot and then a flood to get the government to finally take KZN business seriously

S

unday May 15, 2022 won’t go down in world history, but for a few captains of industry, the day President Cyril Ramaphosa met them in Durban was a truly auspicious day.

It wasn’t the first time the president (with a clutch of cabinet ministers in tow) has met organised business. Those meetings happen with monotonous regularity and apart from a bit of banter and bonhomme don’t seem to elicit much.

The May meeting, though, which included Premier Sihle Zikalala and a host of mayors and parastatal chiefs, saw the state respond directly to complaints that are routinely aired.

The devastating floods have shone a merciless spotlight on infrastructural weaknesses, maintenance challenges and service delivery failures. The importance of the port and Toyota in the government’s response seems critical.

The flooding of container yards and the Toyota Prospecton plant followed repeated warnings from businesses

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located in the critical South Durban basin.

Ramaphosa’s praised the spirit of “hope and patriotism” displayed in KZN considering Covid, riots and floods in addition to the challenges of unemployment, inequality and poverty.

“It is heartening to hear you say that opportunities abound and far outweigh the challenges.”

The president said KZN represented 16% of SA’s GDP and 1 500 businesses in the province were affected by the floods.

Serious challenges arising from the floods have necessitated critical rail and road repairs.

The meeting heard that the port had accepted 100 ships since April 14.

Immediately after the floods there was a backlog of 8 000 containers. Access into the port via Bayhead Road had been restored and would be improved.

Piped fuel supplies to Johannesburg were being restored.

Contingency measures – especially in respect of logistics affecting the

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Picture: Rogan Ward

automotive and citrus sectors – were in place. Rail lines up and down the coast and inland had all been affected. On the South Coast – Sappi, which contributes R1-billion a year to the GDP of KZN – was spending R10-million a month ferrying product by road because train lines were damaged. This resulted in an additional 400 trucks on the road every week.

The Durban to Gauteng rail line has 11 major issues where embankments had collapsed and Transnet was trying to get some passage on the critical link between eThekwini and Cato Ridge.

Ramaphosa said “a great many lessons” about future proofing for climate change had been learnt. This

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F LO O D S

called for a “complete overhaul” of planning. It remains to be seen how this will be interpreted in the rebuild.

The cost estimates and timelines for this vary. At the May meeting it emerged the rail repairs could be between R2-billion and R6-billion. Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu said most municipalities lose 40% of water to leakages. The lack of skills and money to repair and maintain a system that was “beyond ageing” meant the government

Rail repairs could be between R2-billion and R6-billion needed help.

Moses Tembe for the KZN Growth Coalition said issues of security, transparent state spending and the challenges of factional politics compounded growth challenges; while

 Darrin Green, MD Africa at AECOM.  Minister Senzo Mchunu.  Architect Sikhumbuzo Mtembu.

Zikalala said trust ought to be built around a common plan with timeous implementation and accountability.

Engineering and infrastructure experts who spoke to KZN INVEST said the floods were a “wake-up call” for integrated planning.

“There is a long road ahead to fix this,” says Darrin Green, MD Africa at global trusted infrastructure consulting firm AECOM. His colleague, Timothy Hotchkiss, an engineer at AECOM’s Durban office who specialises in flood management and the design of water-related infrastructure said, “We will be involved with a lot of the repair and rebuild work, especially in terms of bulk infrastructure such as roads and water networks.”

It was clear from the damage that properly planned areas, and areas with well-maintained indigenous vegetation, fared much better than areas where there is a lot of uncontrolled development.

A lack of integrated planning in terms of electricity, water, transportation networks and stormwater drainage meant the

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impact of any extreme weather event was high.

Green said KZN had paid the price for years of under-planning and a lack of investment in maintenance and infrastructure.

Immediately after the floods Jeff Smithers, director of the Centre for Water Resources Research at the University of KwaZulu-Natal told Associated Press that poor maintenance of Durban’s drainage systems worsened flooding in the city.

Drainage systems were blocked by trash, he said.

KZN Institute of Architecture chairman Sikhumbuzo Mtembu said climate change made it difficult to predict the severity and frequency of natural disasters. But, the floods illustrated the need for the city to urgently engage with built industry professionals rather than exclude them from planning.

Two weeks after the floods the Human Settlements department publicly called on retired engineers, project managers and building inspectors to apply for six-month contracts to help with the rebuild.

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F LO O D S

SURVIVING body blows KZN business is out in force to fix a province critical to the national economy, but the challenge is enormous

A

recent Moneyweb article summed up in a few lines how important KZN is to the national economy.

Referencing a 2019 Stats SA report it said KZN was responsible for R16 of every R100 generated by the national economy. And, the Durban harbour handles 60% of imports into the country.

Zutari, a global firm of engineering consultants, was among many companies that assembled teams of experts to respond to the disaster. The response of just this one team was illustrative of the role played by private sector in helping devise cost-effective and resilient solutions in the rebuild.

Zutari technical director Tashna Margo said, “We effectively pulled together significant resources as quickly

Picture: Rogan Ward

as possible to assist.” The Zutari team alone included dams boffin Frank Denys, water resources engineer Martin Kleynhans, geotech specialist Gabi Wojtowitz, and sustainability maesto James Cullis.

The economic impact of the floods in KZN will be felt for a while to come, and although for some the outlook is bleak, for others there are prospects. For example, Malusi Mthuli, KZN Provincial Head at FNB Commercial Property Finance said the floods meant increased demand for space in an economy weighted to warehousing and logistics.

In the first few weeks following the floods, SA Canegrowers said industry losses – as calculated by a survey amongst 300 canegrowers in rural areas – totalled R222-million.

At the same time, insurer Old Mutual

said it had received more than 720 claims, estimated at R245-million.

Wynand van Vuuren from King Price Insurance told KZN INVEST the floods payouts would dwarf that of the R7-billion Knysna fires. He said flood damage costs were upwards of R17-billion. “The cost of premiums after disasters like this will be more expensive. We’ve also seen that reinsurers limit their exposure by excluding certain risks. For example, where they previously covered areas built under the 100-year flood line, this would now be reduced to a 10-year flood line.”

Economist Glen Robbins said eThekwini faced an uphill battle. It had been damaged by decades of poor national economic underperformance, dismal employment statistics,

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all sectors from manufacturing to tourism. “There will be serious impact – assessments are still ongoing, realistically it will take weeks before some businesses are operational,” continued Phili.

Is business satisfied that government is aware of the scope of the task?

Phili said internal government communication wasn’t effective.

If it were effective, then outdated infrastructure in South Durban would have been replaced. Storm water systems are non-existent in some places, she said.

Phili said the success of KZN’s publicprivate partnerships could help address key vulnerabilities that business had warned about. A priority in the rebuild meant a deep look at infrastructure. In the case of water systems, this meant checking all the way back to dams.

“The feedback we're getting is that the dams aren’t being maintained – which we need to address to avoid another catastrophic situation.”

The city’s stormwater system needs urgent attention. “We've got ageing infrastructure. We've got a whole list of developers that have been waiting for years to get on with the infrastructure upgrade. These could create much needed jobs – but we also need an environment secure from criminals out to destroy these investments,” said Phili.

Has KZN forged a stronger sense of purpose from the floods? “Absolutely.

We're very resilient. Businesses are willing to rebuild to make sure this province works.”

But, Phili added: “At the same time we need government to help us to make sure that our investment is safe, that it's not going to be compromised in any way. There are laws and a criminal justice system that ensures that those who do wrong spend a very long time in jail.”

Picture: Rogan Ward

squandering of public funds and governance, and technical challenges.

After the floods the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry and KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala asked President Cyril Ramaphosa for an urgent meeting to discuss a joint approach to the rebuild after the initial response to the humanitarian crisis.

Chamber CEO Palesa Phili said it was vital to categorically outline challenges. There is an urgent need to fix infrastructure, particularly in the critical South Durban area which is home to back-of-port logistics businesses and massive manufacturing plants like Toyota, Mondi and South African Breweries.

Other key issues are infrastructural maintenance and the safety and security of companies in an era where business forums are on the rise. “It was very important to have a discussion with the President to make sure different spheres of government speak one language. This requires all hands on deck. We aren’t just looking at government to fix issues. We need to

MAY/JUNE 2022

work together.”

Phili said many people didn’t understand the significance of South Durban with such significant investments in manufacturing and logistics. The manufacturing sector in Durban alone employs more than 34 000 people, many of whom are still unable to work because of the

The manufacturing sector in Durban alone employs more than 34 000 people, many of whom are still unable to work because of the flood damage flood damage.

The devastating impact of the floods after Covid and the July 2021 unrest presented unique challenges that demanded a collective response.

The dire challenge extended across

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 Palesa Phili.  Malusi Mthuli.  Tashna Margo.

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Issue 17

FOOD

MAY/JUNE 2022

IRISH food giant eyes Africa The new R650-million Kerry plant in Hammarsdale is a boost to the province’s economy, writes Matthew Hattingh

C

hickens, the experts tell us, have a mere 30 taste buds.

Like most birds, theirs is a limited palate, which might explain why they rise with the larks to eat worms.

Cats make do with 500 and have little sense of sweetness. Dogs are blessed with some 1 700 taste buds – but are hardly nature’s most discerning eaters (although my late aunt insisted on roasting stuffed chicken with all the trimmings for her dachshund, Frankie).

Which brings us to you and me.

Common with other omnivores (but way behind herbivores) we have a lot of taste buds – 10 000 or so. These developed, evolutionary biologists tell us, to help us detect toxins and nutrients. Whatever the reasons, it’s clear: people have a big appetite for tastes.

Witness, too, the global food flavours market, worth an estimated

$14,5-billion (R233-billion) and growing daily. It’s a lip-smacking sum and happily KwaZulu-Natal is very much in on the business action.

In May, international flavours and food manufacturer, the Kerry Group, opened a R650-million manufacturing facility in Hammarsdale. The move underscores the Hammarsdale-Cato Ridge region’s growing importance as a logistics centre.

Kerry’s 10 000m² facility, employing 232 staff, is said to be the “largest and most advanced” of its kind in Africa.

It has a capacity of 40 000 tons a year, with plans to expand this to 50 000 tons.

Equipment at the plant spans dry blending, liquid flavour blending, spray drying and reaction flavours.

Kerry declined to name clients, but the products it ships are used by the food and beverage industries – everything from flour improvers that keep baked goods fresher longer and cut waste, to

seasonings and flavours. “If you are at a braai and drinking a flavoured beer, it’s probably using our taste technology,” a Kerry representative told KZN INVEST. The company has taken pains to ensure manufacturing at the facility is environmentally-friendly and energy frugal. Solar power helps cut consumption from the grid and the company also makes mention of “waste heat capture and efficient water capture, reuse and reduction”.

The facility is included in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s special project to gee up business with a target of R1,2-trillion in investment within five years.

On that score, Kerry said Hammarsdale would help it lift the output of its South African operations by 40%. This would better position the country as a production, systems and technology hub.

Paul Hewitt, Kerry’s vice president for sub-Saharan Africa, said: “South

FOOD

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offered “significant” cost savings and efficiencies, the company said.

It said the move to the Outer West would support its growth plans and let it capitalise on:

Kerry predicted the plant would have an “immediate and ongoing” positive impact on the economy of KwaZuluNatal and South Africa

Africa is in a unique position to service East, Central as well as West Africa and we look forward to working with food and beverage companies to create products that will be enjoyed across the continent.”

Kerry has three African manufacturing sites: South Africa, Uganda and Kenya.

The Ireland-headquartered group, with 2021 revenues of €7,4-billion (R124,5-billion) from customers in more than 140 countries, said the Hammarsdale facility was part of its larger focus on emerging markets.

Closer to home, Kerry predicted the plant would have an “immediate and ongoing” positive impact on the economy of KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa, contributing to growth, skills development and tax revenue.

The group’s entrée to the region came in 2011 when it bought privately-held FlavourCraft with its 4 000m² New

Germany factory for an undisclosed sum. This was complemented by expansion and other acquisitions, including Orley Foods, in Cape Town, in 2013.

Kerry will quit the New Germany factory, which it leased, by June.

Staying would have required extensive investment to meet customer standards and other requirements, while the Hammarsdale plant

• Infrastructure upgrade around Hammarsdale area and the N3; • Proximity to the N3 distribution route and Durban port; • Proximity to Kerry’s sub-Saharan Africa head office, in Hillcrest.

• Management of the Keystone Industrial Park, which suited Kerry’s requirements.

• Value for money of land versus other industrial areas; and • Significant pool of workers in the area if required.

John White of the Hammarsdale Cato Ridge Development Association, welcomed the opening of the Kerry Ingredients’ facility. “With its worldclass manufacturing plant and strong R&D focus there will be strong positive spill-overs from Kerry Ingredients’ to the local food industry. By our count there are nearly 20 food sector firms here now including RCL Foods and Frey’s Food Brands who are massive employers.” He said that while the region was viewed as a logistics hub it remained attractive to manufacturers too given proximity to large markets, Eskom power and competitive land prices.

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A U TO I N D U ST R Y

KZN auto prospects wobble Despite the rah-rah comments made by headline hungry politicians, the first phase of the eagerly awaited multi-billion Durban Automotive Supplier Park (DASP) appears to be in need of a push start, writes Shirley le Guern

T

he floods have literally muddied the waters and have seriously challenged Toyota South Africa, the heart of the province’s auto sector.

Before the floods, there was pressure on provincial and municipal authorities to press ahead with the DASP to keep pace with the production of Toyota’s new hybrid model, but with massive damage at Toyota’s flooded Prospecton plant, there is no clarity on when the giant manufacturer will be up and running at capacity again.

At the time of going to press, the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs was unable to provide either timelines for the DASP or any idea of the delay in the start of the R3-billion first phase, which reports have said is expected to be operational by 2023.

The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) has also skirted the issue, saying the local automotive industry could expect a stop-start

recovery in 2022 because of flooding, the impact of Covid and the Russia/ Ukraine war which had upset global supply chains.

To recap, the DASP is estimated to be a R11-billion automotive hub that will be home to component manufacturing and car assembly firms, and was to be located on a 100-hectare site in Illovo, south of Durban, close to the existing Toyota factory. It was expected to create around 6 000 jobs during construction and 2 800 employment opportunities once up and running.

Hamish Erskine, CEO of Dube TradePort, said in terms of a 2016 agreement, DTP was both developer and operator of the DASP. The DTP had a successful record operating a similar facility to the north of the city which is home to the company that assembles Mahinda trucks.

DTP is seen by many as a logical choice for driving a project regarded as vital to the provincial economy and a realisation of the Department of Trade and Industry’s South African Automotive Industry Masterplan which

aims to boost local content to 60% by 2035.

It currently sits at just 40% with the remainder of components imported. An increase of 20% means fast tracking the development of local component suppliers in conjunction with global investors.

These manufacturers would be the envisaged tenants of the DASP. “In order to achieve local content (goals), automotive suppliers have to be clustered and brought into the country from elsewhere and expanded and grown. Toyota always had the intention of achieving this and wanted to partner with government on it,” Erskine said.

DTP’s experience in building specialised economic zones meant it had the capacity and resources to run the DASP. It was an extension of what DTP already does.

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Picture: Brian Spurr

“The only difference is that this serves a different sector – the automotive industry – whereas up here we do mainly pharmaceutical, healthcare, electronics and general manufacturing.

It’s got similar nuances, but slightly different planning components. But that’s something we can address reasonably easily.”

The 1 000-hectare site alongside the Illovo River was purchased in 2016 for an undisclosed sum. Of this, 100 hectares was set aside for phase 1 with an expected operational date of 2022 at the time of the original announcement.

But, environmental delays linked to the development of that site pushed out the start of the project beyond Toyota’s envisaged timelines, so DTP negotiated with Transnet to begin construction of the first phase of DASP on the old Durban airport site.

Exactly how much of this site is due

for development and timelines on the project remain uncertain. However, given the original six-year development

The Durban Automotive Supplier Park is estimated to be a R11-billion automotive hub that will be home to component manufacturing and car assembly firms estimates, an immediate but improbable start would only see phase 1 ready by 2028.

The old airport terminal building, runways and adjacent fields were

bought by Transnet for R2-billion after the airport moved to King Shaka. It was earmarked for the now mothballed Durban Dig-out Port.

Subsequently, a private company, Seaworld, proposed development of the old site as a hub for small airlines.

But a 10-year lease signed in 2017 has been the subject of a court case because of the controversial occupation of the site by a host of tenants including a tile manufacturer, scrapyard and logistics company. Toyota also stores vehicles on the property.

The old airport site, while ideally situated within a few kilometres of Toyota’s Prospecton plant, bore the brunt of the recent flooding. KZN INVEST tried to establish how many tenants had been signed up for the DASP at the old airport, but was unsuccessful by the time of going to print.

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D U B E T R A D E P O RT

DUBE TRADEPORT: a development blueprint?

The Dube TradePort (DTP) which sits alongside the King Shaka International Airport, was created to help stimulate the KZN economy. But are taxpayers getting bang for their buck, asks Shirley le Guern?

T

otal investment in the Dube TradePort (DTP), post construction of King Shaka International Airport, stands at R3,143-billion. Of this, R1,138-billion's worth of infrastructure development has come out of taxpayers’ pockets, with the remainder – R2,005billion – from private sector investors.

A further target of R5-billion in private sector investment in the rapidly evolving second phase of development will propel private sector spend over the R7-billion mark and, according to CEO of DTP, Hamish Erskine, there are not only green shoots post Covid-19 but a sound development pipeline.

For Erskine, the greatest achievement has been commercialising and operationalising infrastructure built between 2007 and 2010 and creating an investment and business hub.

Currently, the DTP itself is developing the last site in TradeZone 1 which is a 10 000m² facility for a new food processing plant to be operated under the combined umbrella of a multinational and large locally-owned company.

This follows the development of a thin strip of land into spaces for smaller companies wanting to be in a SEZ either

as start-ups or as service providers to bigger manufacturers.

“We built 18 mini factories which are already 60% occupied. Now, we can have big multinationals, large local companies and SMMEs all operating within one precinct. That has lowered the barrier to entry and allowed us to really target a much wider market,” says Erskine.

Dube TradePort’s first phase of its light industrial zone includes the Dube Cargo Terminal facility, which processes airfreight. This together with the minifactory development and the Dube Trade House encompasses all of DTP’s developments in Zone 1. Moving into Zone 2, Erskine says DTP plans to own and develop more buildings.

Two investments have been confirmed for Zone 2 and construction is about to begin on a second factory for healthcare product manufacturer, LM Diapers, and a facility for industrial chemical manufacturer, Synergy Blenders.

Negotiations for the establishment of a pharmaceutical plant with new product lines and technologies for an existing manufacturer are at an advanced stage, says Erskine. Additional investments in Zone 2 should include more cold storage

D U B E T R A D E P O RT

and another electronics company.

“We allow in strong investments that are sustainable, offer good quality jobs and are technology orientated.

We do quite rigorous assessments and look at them from a due diligence, a sustainability and a technology perspective,” he says.

Although the collapse of Mara Phones’ manufacturing plant remains an elephant in the room (at least R238million of the overall R492-million investment was IDC funded), the remainder of companies operating at the DTP – including Samsung, Conlog, Yangtze Optics Africa, industrial textile manufacturer Tuff Bag, iDube Cold Storage and AIH which assembles Mahindra pickups – are performing well.

Erskine says that, during the current financial year, the DTP expects to have signed leases for half of Zone 2 with the balance to be concluded during the next financial year. Actual development and construction will take three to four years. This will immediately trigger movement on to the DTP’s Zone 3, known as uShukela.

“We’ve built a major road down to

link up with Watson Highway. It’s a very attractive and strategic site because of its proximity to the N2 and N3. It is of a similar size to Trade Zone 2 but its platforms are slightly smaller, so we’ve looked at some interesting mixed use opportunities with a strong focus on pharmaceuticals.”

In total, DTP has four zones.

“We’ve managed to acquire a significant amount of additional land to the south and the west, so our total

Between 2012 and the end of March 2022, the DTP created 10 615 jobs land holdings are now much larger than when we started. That was very intentional for two reasons – one, because we are in an environmentally sensitive area we have acquired land for rehabilitation and offset, and, two, because we have created so much momentum that needs to be sustained over the long-term. The additional land parcels are all continuous and fall

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within our boundaries and the greater aerotropolis area,” he says.

Already, Erskine believes the investment in both the new airport and DTP is showing results.

“If you are going to spend that amount of taxpayers' money to do a relocation, you have to make sure it impacts on the maximum number of areas of the economy to optimise the investment.

That was always the plan,” he says.

From the outset, Durban had what many major cities didn’t – a 2 000-hectare greenfield site that allowed for considered spatial planning.

“The airport itself is an amazing engine for growth. Airports and air services make up a key component of the overall logistics, manufacturing, trade and property development component of an economy as part of what’s known as multi-modalism – which is sea, air, road and rail.

“This was the first time that an airport was going to be built in close proximity to a major hub port in a very deliberate fashion. Another advantage was that Durban was the country’s second largest BELOW: Hamish Erskine.

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MAY/JUNE 2022

manufacturing and the largest trade centre in South Africa. That component was critical to the masterplan. For the first time, we were going to take a very unique and specific focus on air cargo and provide the highest quality environment for managing and developing it.”

But, right now, is the DTP on track and covering its costs?

Erskine says DTP has mapped out a self-sustainability model towards which it has been continually making strides. It has been increasing revenues generated by property leasing and rentals, cargo operations and processing as well as commercial ICT services in order to ensure long-term sustainability.

“However, as a section 3C public entity, our mandate is to drive economic development through the provision of infrastructure and facilities that support the re-industrialisation of the economy, with a primary objective of job creation.

This always needs to be balanced with the long-term goal of self-sustainability,” says Erskine.

He is, nevertheless, confident the

D U B E T R A D E P O RT

DTP will achieve its long-term selfsustainability goal within the previously set timeline of the next 10 years.

Meanwhile, it is already making inroads into easing unemployment.

Between 2012 and the end of March 2022, the DTP created 10 615 jobs.

During 2020, at the height of Covid,

“We do quite rigorous assessments and look at them from a due diligence, a sustainability and a technology perspective” – Hamish Erskine 606 new jobs were added and, during 2021, 693. DTP exceeded its target of 270 permanent jobs in 2020/21. While 400 new jobs emerged, temporary employment was below target due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Projected jobs for the next three

financial years (up until 2024/25) are 2 300 permanent jobs, plus 3 171 construction jobs, reaching a total of 5 471.

Cargo volumes, too, are quickly moving back towards pre-Covid levels, Erskine says.

“Although investment activity by the private sector has been constrained, we were able to achieve R77-million in 2020/21 and a further R170-million in 2021/22. This ensured that during the first two years of Covid-19, we achieved R247-million in investment, which has allowed us to build momentum,” he notes.

“The numbers are saying that, absolutely, we are doing what we set out to do – every layer is built on another layer. But you have to do it off a solid base. Sometimes, our statistics don’t appear to be completely shooting the lights out when compared to other projects. But we prefer to remain conservative and not over state numbers. That way, we can exceed our targets and expectations,” Erskine says.

D U B E T R A D E P O RT

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MAY/JUNE 2022

25

nappy firm FLOURISHES Nilesh Hargovan, CEO of L’il Masters Diapers, talks to KZN INVEST about construction of their new plant in Dube TradeZone 2

D

iaper manufacturer L’il Masters Diapers is one of the first two investors to put down roots in Dube TradeZone 2.

Construction of its new manufacturing plant is about to commence and expected to be completed by the end of the year. This will increase production by 10 million diapers a month in Durban and increase the company’s local staff from 30 to 100.

Speaking after receiving the DTP’s CEO Award in February this year, L’il Masters Diapers Business Development Manager and CEO, Nilesh Hargovan, said the company was producing diapers at its existing three factories in Johannesburg, Vereeniging and the Dube TradeZone 1.

The latter was commissioned in 2019.

This 3 000m² factory which runs one diaper line has enabled the Gauteng based manufacturer to not only penetrate the KZN market but grow production for export at more than 15% year on year. The new facility will more than double its current footprint to 7 000m² and add two more lines.

Over the past three years, L’il Masters Diapers has captured more than 30% of the South African diaper market. It has not only carved a niche in the local chain store market with its own brand, but also captured a significant portion of the private label market.

The decision to expand the Durban

operation comes on the back of the success of its first factory which recorded year-on-year export growth of more than 15%.

L’il Masters Diapers anticipates further annual growth of 15% in South Africa and in Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Lesotho and Madagascar with plans to expand into Nigeria and Malawi.

The company recently acquired Infinity Care, a manufacturer of adult nappies, expanding its product range to seven baby diaper lines, one adult diaper line, one baby pants line, one sanitary pads line and three wet wipes lines.

Hargovan said DTP was chosen over other Durban locations because of convenient positioning close to

ABOVE: L'il Masters Diapers Business Development Manager and CEO, Nilesh Hargovan, with the company's own name brand diapers which are manufactured in Durban at the DTP. the Durban harbour and good road transport thus shortening the importexport supply chain.

The Gauteng business started in 2002 as a baby accessories manufacturer. An opportunity to produce an affordable alternative to premier diaper brands saw the company fill a growing gap in the market.

While the majority of the components are imported, Hargovan said the company was open to localisation if the supplier matched the input quality at a better cost.

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BUSINESS FORUMS

MAY/JUNE 2022

transforming or

TERRORISING For some, Radical Economic Transformation is a synonym for daylight robbery. For others, it is a moral imperative. Delangokubona is the pioneer of RET as championed by the ANC under former President Jacob Zuma. We spoke to the organisation’s national chairperson, Thabani Mzulwini

Q A

What is Delangokubona – what does its name mean and when and why was it formed?

The word means “satisfied by sight” or “seeing is believing”. We stop projects legally. We are not only business people, we are community members oppressed by the systems of the country, and have learnt of legal ways to deal with such.

Q A

What are the aims of the organisation?

To promote and facilitate economic restructuring to make it inclusive and user friendly to previously disadvantaged communities as per Section 217 of the country’s Constitution. We aim to create wealth and black business participation in the mainstream economy; support government initiatives aimed at economic redress and the creation of an enabling environment for SMME development. We aim to facilitate the provision of training and skills development of our members to provide quality in their service delivery to clients. We aim to fight against unjust laws.

Q

You are regarded as thugs and outlaws by many. Your members have stormed on to the sites of legal businesses and shut them down, until they get a stake in the business. How do you respond?

When we ask for economic relief we ask for it now – and we need to

A

see it happening otherwise we legally stop or interdict such activities or projects. Transparency is what we want and now we are somehow there … but not 100%. The model of Delangokubona has been adopted by many people in the country and there are business forums in every corner of this country. It is only because of Delangokubona that we have opened the eyes of so many people. We need to educate these forums on the legal means of stopping these projects because there are legal means available.

We are not only business people, we are community members oppressed by the systems of the country, and have learnt of legal ways to deal with such

Q A

Business and government claim forums are threatening the economy.

What do you say?

Corruption has disrupted this country. Look at unemployment and the shortage of skills.

Q

You say Delangokubona members stopped work on municipal projects demanding work opportunities. At first, the municipality did not heed your calls but now you seem to have their attention. Tell us about yourself and

Delangokubona’s structure?

I have an undergraduate degree in tax and am completing my master’s in business leadership. I became involved in Delangokubona through a brother whom I was assisting with his tax returns. My brother is a friend of our president and founder, Nathi Bhamuza Mnyandu. I offered to help members register their businesses and become legally compliant so they could benefit from government and other initiatives available from the government like training and so forth. I also negotiated with the eThekwini Municipality to help Delangokubona members get their companies on to the city database.

Delangokubona has representatives in 41 municipal areas in KZN and in most provinces. We have seven executive members and our offices are in Durban.

We have 8 800 members nationally, each who have paid a joining fee of R1 000. Our constitution is in line with the Constitution of the country.

A

Q A

RET forces are regarded as extortionists. What is your response?

I have never been a thug or mafia in my life, nor do I know any member who is. That is how some politicians describe us. We make sure the government does things properly.

Things would be worse without us.

Politicians are trying to control business projects, but we are not a political party.

Forums are involved in about 60% of projects on the go in KZN at any given time.

BUSINESS FORUMS

Q

There is no formal structure for RET so who can legitimately claim to represent locals? Sometimes more than two groups arrive on site to claim a 30% stake in the project.

There is mutual respect among forums. All business forums report under one umbrella body, the BBF (Black Business Federation) led by its president, Malusi Zondi. I am also part of the BBF national leadership. The 30% gets distributed to all forums equally – but as you may know, people are not always satisfied.

A

Q

There have been numerous interdicts successfully served on business forums by law firms. Doesn’t that talk to the illegitimacy of forums?

We sign attendance registers for meetings with business and the next day legal papers are served on us.

They accuse us of putting guns or bullets on the table during talks which to me is very crazy. How can you negotiate with someone in that situation? It is bizarre.

It isn’t true. Delangokubona members have never been convicted of assault.

Show me one case of this and I will agree that we intimidate.

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Q A

What would you consider examples of your successes?

We have so many successes.

The fact that every corner of the country has a business forum (even if they don’t call themselves Delangokubona) is an indication.

Government institutions and state-owned agencies now have formal engagements with business stakeholders.

Q A

How are politicians getting involved in RET? Politicians are part of the community and they must benefit from any activities in the community.

However, it is unfair for them to be a referee and a player. I think politicians must decide if they want to be in politics or in business. They can’t do both. If they do, we will see constant stoppages of projects, not only by Delangokubona (using legal means) but by other forms. I say legal means deliberately because Delangokubona is no longer physically stopping projects – we file legal papers if the project is not in line with the provisions of the Constitution.

ABOVE: Thabani Mzulwini: Delangokubona’s national chairperson.

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Issue 17

K

MAY/JUNE 2022

erry, the world’s leading taste and nutrition company, officially opened the largest and most advanced taste manufacturing facility on the African continent in May 2022. The new R650-million (€38-m) facility is located in Durban, South Africa, and will produce sustainable nutrition solutions that will be consumed across the African continent.

The official opening was attended by Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), Nomalungelo Gina; KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC, Ravi Pillay; and Ambassador of Ireland to the Republic of South Africa, Her Excellency Fionnuala Gilsenan; plus eThekwini Municipality’s Executive Committee Member and Chairperson of the Governance Committee, Councillor Nkosenhle Madlala.

Located in Hammarsdale, Durban, the new 10 000m² facility is one of the company’s most environmentally efficient manufacturing sites with numerous sustainability features including low energy usage equipment, solar power generation to reduce consumption from the local grid, waste heat capture, and efficient water capture, reuse and reduction.

Commenting on the opening, Edmond Scanlon, CEO Kerry Group, said: “The

A D V E RTO R I A L

ABOVE: Deputy Minister Nomalungelo Gina (centre) and MEC Mr Pillay (extreme right) join the Irish Ambassador together with Kerry Foods Executives at the official opening of the Kerry Foods plant in Hammarsdale KZN.

KERRY lands in KZN

Kerry, a multi-million rand nutrition company, has invested in a manufacturing facility in Hammarsdale with plans to produce sustainable nutrition solutions for consumers across Africa opening of the facility in Hammarsdale is a significant step forward in helping to realise our vision of creating a world of sustainable nutrition. For 50 years, Kerry has focused on meeting local consumer needs grounded in great taste

– one of the most important criteria in any food or beverage. Our suite of world-leading technologies combined with our expertise and now this state-of-the-art manufacturing facility ensures we can continue to work with

A D V E RTO R I A L

our customers to produce great tasting, nutritious products that are respectful of our planet.”

The project is recognised as a key strategic investment in the region of Durban, and within South Africa’s food manufacturing industry. It has been included as part of the South African Presidential investment drive to stimulate sustainable, equitable and inclusive growth as the foundation for socio-economic transformation in the country.

“As the DTIC, we are excited about this investment because it aligns very well with our re-imagined industrial strategy. As a department, we undertook to support improved industrial

performance, through localisation, dynamism and competitiveness of local companies,” said Gina. “Our economic vision is to lift the rate of inclusive economic growth, and investments such as this will assist us to achieve these objectives.”

Invest Durban, together with other spheres of government and organised business bodies, played key roles in positioning the region as an attractive Metro destination for high-valueadd, export-oriented production. The eThekwini Municipality is extremely pleased with these efforts for and by a global firm like Kerry Foods, and Invest Durban have been intimately involved with the group in all aspects of building

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construction, local supplier engagement, local finance arrangements, tax and customs support, through to final factory launch. Invest Durban will continue to work with Kerry Foods as part of the City’s Key Investor Aftercare Programme.

Kerry is also expanding its Development and Application Centre in Nairobi, Kenya to further support customers in East Africa and the development of sustainable food processing for the continent. Paul Hewitt, Vice President, sub-Saharan Africa Kerry Group said: “Kerry has had a presence in South Africa since 2011 and our success has been based on our ability to deliver truly authentic African taste by identifying traditional food and flavours and re-imagining it into today’s modern context. More than understanding consumer taste, we are

For 50 years, Kerry has focused on meeting local consumer needs grounded in great taste – one of the most important criteria in any food or beverage committed to predicting global and regional trends and innovating with our customers to lead the industry towards the next generation of sustainable African food and nutrition.

“South Africa is in a unique position to service East, Central as well as West Africa and we look forward to working with food and beverage companies to create products that will be enjoyed across the continent.”

With Kerry’s innovation expertise, solutions portfolio and sustainability commitments, Kerry ultimately aims to decrease the environmental and social impacts of the food industry value chain so that consumers everywhere can make better, healthier choices and leave a better world for future generations.

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LO G I ST I CS

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massive brickworks project UNDERWAY

BELOW: David Rosmarin.

BOTTOM: Iain Burns.

The Brickworks – a R6-billion warehousing precinct near the KwaMashu Interchange – promises to improve logistics in eThekwini

T

he first phase of The Brickworks, a R6-billion business and logistics park developed by Investec Properties, is underway and will begin construction of its top structures in June.

Last year, 1,7-million cubic metres of earth was shifted from Durban’s former

Corobrik factory. One of KwaZuluNatal’s largest-ever earthmoving contracts, this is part of a new development called The Brickworks, a greenfields project that is expected to go a long way towards addressing the historic shortage of prime logistics space in the country’s busiest port city.

The 157-hectare site – which was

LO G I ST I CS

previously zoned for extractive industry – is one of the last remaining infill portions of land along Durban’s rapidly expanding northern corridor. The total development is expected to take shape in three phases over 10 years.

The first phase of construction will see the development of about 150 000m² of gross lettable area worth close to R2-billion.

The bulk infrastructure was completed in May 2022, while construction of top structures will begin in June this year for occupation in mid-2023.

“Investec Properties, a subsidiary of Investec Bank, is proud to be spearheading this iconic industrial development. The Corobrik factory originally opened in 1898 and, for more than 100 years, provided bricks for a range of construction and property development,” says Investec Properties joint CEO, David Rosmarin.

The Brickworks development forms part of Durban’s Economic Development Incentive Policy and has been earmarked as a catalytic project that will create a significant number of construction and permanent jobs.

International logistics consultants, cited by Investec’s Brickworks Development manager Iain Burns, estimate that, during the first phase, The Brickworks will create a total of 5 437 on-site and off-site construction jobs.

Post-construction, The Brickworks will create a total of 4 100 permanent jobs.

The combination of all three phases will

potentially result in 16 473 permanent jobs.

“This project would not have come about without the city’s one-stop catalytic project unit and the rates rebate policy. In our experience, this is unique and, without this, this development would not have been possible,” says Burns.

Burns said Investec was committed to prioritising the use of local labour and resources. The Brickworks is close to the Duffs Road station and offers good proximity to a strong labour pool. The development is also expected to kick-start many necessary road infrastructure upgrades, that could lead to further job creation.

The combination of all three phases will potentially result in 16 473 permanent jobs The development fronts on to the N2 with access off the KwaMashu interchange and the Old North Coast Road and offers a multitude of alternative routes to the nearby Dube TradePort and future metropolis, the port of Durban and major freeways.

“Accessibility is key. We have alternative routes to King Shaka International Airport and the Durban port, as well as the new M577 which takes you through to Pinetown and New Germany. That gives us a multitude

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of options which de-risks our site for logistics operators when it comes to major road upgrades or congestion,” Burns says.

In addition, the facility will contain large, scalable platforms that can house logistics boxes ranging from 10 000m² in phase 1 to 100 000m² under the roof in the second phase.

“We can provide flexible solutions, allowing end-users to grow over a period of time,” says Burns.

The Brickworks will be an independently-run precinct with a central four-lane boulevard providing efficient truck circulation space for on and off-loading as well as parking.

Green building features will be encouraged and development approvals also stipulate the rehabilitation of a neglected wetland on the property.

Burns says security is a priority.

“We have low risk boundaries – to the north is secure, privately owned land, on the eastern boundary we have the N2 and the four-lane national road as a barrier. On the south, we have the M25 provincial road, and to the west we have the four-lane R102 and established formal residential housing.”

A layered security approach will also feature controlled access and 24-hour monitoring, CCTV cameras, perimeter fencing, on-ground manpower and a strong reactive force.

“Interest in our site has been exceptional. We are in negotiations with some large national and international clients,” says Burns.

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I N V E ST M E N T

BREWING is believing SAB’s big-ticket expansion in KZN comes as welcome news after a torrid time for the brewer, reports Matthew Hattingh

T

he booze business in KwaZulu-Natal these past few years has been about as appealing as one of those quarts you find near the braai come clean-up time on Saturday morning. You know the sort: two-thirds drained, with a cigarette butt floating somewhere near the bottom.

First, Covid with its ban on alcohol sales and later restrictions on restaurant and tavern trading times kicked profits into touch. Next, in July last year, looters gave liquor retailers and distributors a multi-million rand kicking. Then, in April this year, more misery flowed as flooding mauled infrastructure.

South African Breweries, the industry’s biggest player and maker of popular beer brands Carling Black Label and Castle, and flavoured alcohol beverages like Brutal Fruit, has had a tough time of it.

SAB said the floods “severely damaged” its Prospecton brewery, in low-lying South Durban, and it was still tallying up the cost. It confirmed too that the July looting at its operations across the province left a trail of theft and destruction totalling about R80-million.

So, the recent announcement that the brewer intended spending R650-million expanding its operations at Prospecton comes as cheering news indeed. The expansion plan (made public before the floods) included an upgraded brewhouse and raw material silos and a new flavoured alcohol beverage blending plant.

Work at the brewery – originally

With around 4 860 retailers and 400 suppliers across KZN, the brewer believed the investment held “enormous potential” for the business as well as for the province

established in 1973 – would take two years to complete and was expected to increase output to 7,5-million hectolitres a year. To put things in perspective, that’s the equivalent of 300 Olympic-size swimming pools of liquor. Prospecton accounts for one-fifth of SAB’s South African production by volume.

The company said the expansion would create direct full-time employment for 56 people. It would also mean training drives to improve the skills of workers on new processes. This was in addition to the more than 300

I N V E ST M E N T

full-time workers the company already employed in KZN and the 57 beer truck owner-drivers operating with a collective crew of 151 employees.

With around 4 860 retailers and 400 suppliers across KZN, the brewer believed the investment held “enormous potential” for the business as well as for the province.

“We anticipate this expansion to further increase demand for raw materials, labour, utilities and equipment within the brewery, thus stimulating economic activity in our country, and in the province,” said Peter Thembane, SAB’s regional corporate affairs manager.

It would provide R3,1-billion in additional tax revenue and generate 24 000 jobs through the full value chain, SAB said. “Additionally, the investment would generate R4,4-billion in additional gross domestic product for the KwaZuluNatal economy.”

On top of this, R270-million had been committed to upgrading the company’s Ibhayi Brewery in Port Elizabeth (renamed Gqeberha last year).

“These investments will give us the capacity to not only contribute to the economy but to be able to contribute to tax, excise and procurement spend.

From province to province, we are committed to playing a pivotal role in working with government and social partners to continue helping South Africa grow,” said Thembane.

The Prospecton and Ibhayi

investments, totalling R920-million, were announced at the fourth SA Investment Conference in March, when SAB chief executive Richard RivettCarnac spoke about the economic impact of the Covid-19 lockdowns.

He said it was SAB’s intention to assist with economic recovery. “The budget delivered by the Minister of Finance in February ensured that economic recovery was prioritised by keeping the beer excise adjustment closer to inflation. This has provided us with the financial space to grow the beer category responsibly and aid our government in our collective mission towards economic recovery and

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growth,” he said.

This new investment pledge followed SAB’s commitment to invest R2-billion into capital expenditure projects during its 2021 financial year.

As one of the country’s largest businesses – wholly owned by the JSE-listed global alcohol giant AnheuserBusch InBev SA/NV – Rivett-Carnac said SAB played a significant role in igniting economic growth and recovery.

“Our position as an economic-driving, multinational corporation in South Africa means we are keen to play a role in working with our government and social partners to help South Africa recover and grow.”

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A

MAY/JUNE 2022

s Russian invaders bomb Ukraine to smithereens and the ANC-led government bows obsequiously towards comrade Vladimir Putin, most South Africans bristle at their government’s moral failure.

Though outraged, they feel powerless as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky gives daily accounts of the bloody terror unleashed on his country.

Before KwaZulu-Natal residents rallied to help one another during the floods, one Durban businessman hammered together a local plan of action to help Ukrainian war victims.

Durban entrepreneur Arthur Limbouris watched the horrors of the war on television aghast. But then the outspoken Durban businessman directed his fury towards Putin as meaningfully as he could.

Limbouris, who owns Durban headquartered clothing company FlyersUnion, manufactured 2 000 T-shirts emblazoned with the words “F*ck Putin”. He sold them online and on consignment in stores and coffee shops.

“You either sit on the sidelines and abstain or you do something,” said Limbouris, who

S O C I A L CO N S C I E N C E

the RIGHT thing to do Durban entrepreneur Arthur Limbouris might be nearly 9 000km from Ukraine, but this has not stopped him from taking a stand in an effort to make a difference in the lives of thousands of Ukrainians in the war against Russia

S O C I A L CO N S C I E N C E

ABOVE: Staff at RRIB Insurance Brokers.

LEFT: Amanda Kweyama, Theresa Morck,

Arthur Limbouris and Evan Katzer.

since March has raised over R400 000 for Ukrainians, which he gave to Gift of the Givers, an organisation active in that country rendering aid.

Limbouris boasts a lifetime in the clothing industry. He has a reputation for speaking his mind and created the FlyersUnion brand in 2020. “My experiences have strengthened my resolve. I have strong beliefs. You need to stand up and be counted.”

In 2015 Limbouris successfully sued the eThekwini Municipality for its failure to clean the pavements outside his Stamford Hill offices. Later he protested state capture by hanging a monstrous banner from the building.

He said he was moved to help citizens of Ukraine because: “Putin is evil. I can’t sit by while this war unfolds. Families are being torn apart and people are fleeing their homes.”

Limbouris said he had been overwhelmed by the support of local businesspeople. A local businesman called Limbouris the day his T-shirts went live, donating R20 000, one of the first of many offerings.

Limbouris commented that Dr Imtiaz Sooliman and the Gift of the Givers had “huge credibility and are doing amazing work”.

He said the T-shirt effort was supported by friends and associates equally outraged by the war.

“Craig Knot from Liquid Ink offered to do the printing of the T-shirts for free. So many people have contributed to this. Like our response to the riots and the floods, we can achieve great things collectively. We often just need

“I run my business on principle. It means taking a stand.

If everyone does something we can make a difference” a mechanism for action, to do what we can.

“I run my business on principle. It means taking a stand. If everyone does something we can make a difference.

“People rallied against apartheid because it was the right thing to do.

We rally against corruption, poverty and service delivery failure because

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it is the right thing to do. People from across the racial, political, religious divide rallied against Covid and the unrest because it was the right thing to do.

“Helping the people of Ukraine is the right thing to do.”

Among those who have supported the F*ck Putin T-shirt initiative is businessman Michael Grossi’s firm, RRIB Insurance Brokers which bought 50 shirts for staff.

“We wanted to raise as much money as we could for the Ukrainians. We felt it was our civic duty. I am embarrassed by our government’s response to the crisis. Russia is the aggressor and has invaded and bombed Ukraine. That is plain to see for everyone except the South African Government which is increasingly unreliable and doesn’t represent its people, locally and in international affairs. Arthur has shown us we are not powerless. We can act for good.”

*

FOR MORE INFO If you are in Durban and want to buy a T-shirt, visit Lucky Break or Soho stores at Cornubia, the Pearls or in Mathews Meyiwa/Stamford Hill Road.

To buy the T-shirts online go to https://flyersunion.co.za/ or www.luckybreak.co.za

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RECRUITMENT

I

’m often asked what I do, and my response is that I’m a leadership and resilience coach, to which people reply, “What is that?”.

I help give people a different perspective of their current reality by encouraging them to see their problems from a new viewpoint. Einstein said that problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.

These words are important for those who currently feel stuck and need a change in perspective, more purpose.

Perhaps they are going through a transition or not getting the results they want.

Like many of us, I have emerged from the past two years where anxiety and the reality of our external environment has often left me feeling paralysed and uncertain. The world has changed so dramatically that we have constantly been required to find a new way.

Coaching is not a silver bullet, but Goldsmith and Lyons in their book Coaching for Leadership describe it like this: Coaching establishes and develops healthy relationships, habits

ABOVE: Craig Stuart: Leadership and resilience coach.

what’s up COACH? and rhythms by surfacing and addressing issues, solving problems, and following through on plans. Coaching offers a process in which people can develop high levels of self-awareness and ultimately shift towards the person they want to become.

My journey as a coach began in 2016 and I decided that being an HR/Culture generalist needed to evolve. I wanted to become a specialist in the field of leadership coaching, which I regard as a calling. I studied coaching and was accredited through a professional body.

I now service individual and corporate clients around the world. I coach both old and young, CEO’s and those just

beginning their careers.

I have learnt that the power of coaching is really the practice that my “coachees” do between our sessions.

The Institute of Coaching says that over 70% of people who receive coaching benefit from improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills; while 86% of companies feel they recouped the investment. Studies also show that coaching is effective at reducing procrastination and facilitating goal attainment.

The feedback I have had from some of the people I have coached is deeply rewarding.

Coaching has tremendous traction in today’s business world.

To say you have your own coach is standard, but why has coaching become so popular, asks Durban-based coach Craig Stuart?

One said: “Having someone independent from your work and personal life to download all that’s going through your head has been an invaluable discovery for me. It helped put into perspective and practice meaningful ways of navigating work and life.”

Another said I had managed to get people to take responsibility for themselves, take them into a good emotional space and equip them to take the next step.

If you’re a leader or in an organisation and you are looking for development, coaching may be an intervention worth considering.

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RECRUITMENT - through the eyes of a recruiter

F

ew people can deny having felt a great sense of panic when the lockdown was announced just over two years ago. I quickly looked at my diverse clientele and tried to anticipate how they would react. The first cost-saving exercise of many big firms was a national freeze on all external employment. I panicked – and saw absolutely no future for our business. It did not make sense that clients would need to recruit and boost their personnel for quite some time.

To my complete surprise, the last 24

MD of a recruitment company, Bridget Jones unpacks the outcome of the last two years

months in recruitment has not only been exciting, but my team has been inundated with work. While this period has felt chaotic, it has been by far the most fascinating time in my 30 years in the recruitment industry.

Based on our order intake, placements made together with information drawn from candidates and client companies, I have noticed a few new trends.

1. There appears to be limited positions available for administrators who fall in the R10 000 to R15 000 a month salary bracket. It is my opinion that this group has experienced the greatest number of retrenchments, which, I believe, has transpired due to companies adopting additional technology during Covid. Other administrative functions have been absorbed by retained staff as companies seek leaner administrative processes.

2. There has been interest in employing contract workers with capacity (i.e. business analysts, marketing experts, system managers and the like) to see a company through a short-term project.

3. The demand for personnel with a solid skill set who can hit the ground running, adding value from

the get-go, has increased exponentially.

4. Covid has forced internal restructure and sadly this has seen companies retiring long-term senior personnel in their early 60s. Companies are either choosing not to replace these personnel or hiring individuals with slightly less experience at a lower cost.

We have worked on more CEO positions in the last 12 months than in the last five years.

5. Companies with head offices outside of South Africa have been increasing their headcount in our regions. Most of these are specialist positions that pay handsomely and allow remote work.

I am not ashamed of not being able to see a light on the horizon in March 2020. That initial fear has kept me alert.

While some industries have been sorely impacted by the happenings, there are those that have done exceptionally well. Having established ourselves in the market as generalist recruiters has saved us.

Regardless, business in SA remains challenging. Apart from our well-known internal issues, the significant increase of raw materials has put extreme pressure on working capital and there remains uncertainty surrounding the impact of the Russian-Ukraine war.

What I do know is that many business leaders know how to deal with trying circumstances. Their resilience and vision is inspirational and ultimately creates livelihoods.

*

LEFT: Bridget Jones is the managing director of Pronel Recruitment.

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TRAVEL INDABA 2022

T

ourism South Africa lauded the event as a resounding success that attracted a total of 3 700 delegates, 655 exhibitors and 955 buyers who took part in 14 000 meetings during the week.

South African Tourism chief convention bureau officer, Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, said the size of the event, although smaller than in 2019, had displayed the “resilience” of the sector’s people.

“Although the numbers were lower than pre-Covid-19 times, each buyer still had 10 meetings a day on average.

Africa’s Travel Indaba exceeded the organisation’s expectations. Tourists can see that the province can do big conferences in a time of challenges,” Kotze-Nhlapo said.

EThekwini Municipality deputy head of tourism, Winile Mntungwa, said the city’s hotel occupancy rate hit more than 85% and the city had netted R29-million in direct spending with an estimated contribution of R72,5-million to its GDP. Mntungwa added that 145 short-term jobs were created during the period.

South African Tourism acting CEO Themba Khumalo, said of the 655 exhibitors, 126 showcased African products, representing 19 countries.

“We are a continent full of people with initiative. We have the energy and passion to revive an entire industry, such as tourism, with our own hands.

Our story says to the world that we are ready to welcome them and we are open for business.

Minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu described the indaba as a “springboard

ABOVE: Gugu Bhengu founded Gugu Mobile Boutique in Durban 10 years ago and was among the 20 small businesses and crafters that exhibited at the 2022 Africa’s Travel Indaba.

for the continent to achieve even greater levels of recovery”, and called for greater country collaboration to advance domestic and regional travel.

“We must remember that our continent is also our own market.

Intra-continental tourism from Africa’s rapidly growing economies is an opportunity begging to be explored. We need improved collaborative efforts to achieve this,” she said.

According to UN World Trade Organisation data, some 18,5-million foreign travellers visited Africa in 2021, up from 16,2-million in 2020. Of that figure, 6,1-million made their way to North Africa and 12,3-million travelled to sub-Saharan Africa. There was also a 51% improvement in international tourist arrivals compared to the year before. However, Sisulu said the continent continued to struggle with barriers to tourism growth, including poor road infrastructure between

INDABA’S African win

major cities, limited airlift and stringent immigration regulations.

She said there were positive developments around the roll-out of the e-visa regime for some key source markets.

African tourism businesses should market the continent jointly and countries need to address internal security, improve domestic tourism and air connectivity. Khumalo said the industry also needed to create innovative products.

“We have to design products for us – let the products designed for international tourists remain designed for international markets. We need to look at how we serve a domestic and African traveller.

“Africa is one brand – the world looks at Africa as individual countries, they look at Africa as one country, one brand. Let those coming from outside the continent come and then let us collaborate and compete once the business is on the continent and not before then,” Khumalo said.

Tourism Business Council CEO Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa said entrepreneurs would seize opportunities if governments created a conducive environment. “We need to make sure that the good policies we have, are put in place. For example, we have policies in SADC, East Africa and North Africa that we have put down on paper and they make sense – but no one has implemented these things. We have been talking for the past 20 years about making cross border travel easier and about getting the airlines to fly there, but it is only now when the Germans and Gulf airlines and others are coming in that we are starting to do it,” Tshivhengwa said.

Africa’s Travel Indaba 2022 drew hundreds of buyers and exhibitors to Durban’s International Convention Centre injecting an estimated R72,5-million into KwaZulu-Natal’s economy during the three-day trade show in May, writes Lyse Comins

A D V E RTO R I A L

T

he late business magnate, Steve Jobs, said: It’s not the tools you have faith in. Tools are just tools … they work or they don’t work. It’s the people you have faith in or not.

After several years of upskilling small businesses through its Enterprise Development programme, The Domino Foundation realised it had a powerful tool to meet critical needs exposed by the civil unrest of last July. Small and micro enterprises (SMEs) were unable to operate and desperately needed assistance to resume trading. Domino partnered with its sustainability arm, Domino Business Development, to adapt its programme in line with the latter’s Khulisa Business Development programme for SME development to meet the contingency.

Domino’s CEO, Shaun Tait, spoke of working with the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, VumaFM and Tencent Africa to support SMEs impacted by the looting. “Domino Business built the business-recovery model. Through assessments, site visits, mentor-coaching sessions and financial grants, our goal was to get businesses trading as quickly as possible.”

The adapted Khulisa SME Relief programme worked through leads from the community and other NPOs working in affected communities. Ten businesses ranging from spazas to an IT training and internet cafe were identified as potential recipients of grants of between R20 000 and R50 000.

A referral process arranged pre and on-site assessment. Domino Business’ Mickey Wilkins explained the businesses were validated as legitimate enterprises, and the damage done and what was needed to get them trading again as soon as possible, were assessed.

The owners signed validations of the findings, timeline confirmations and what the grant would be spent on. All required documentation was collected.

Funds were released in two tranches. The first, the larger of the two, permitted the business to start re-establishing itself. With invoices paid, stock ordered and security put in place, the second tranche was released.

Follow-up site visits confirmed agreedupon repairs had been completed.

Mentoring sessions and three-month and six-month surveys were done to ensure ongoing trading and development.

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rescue, relief & REBUILD The Domino Foundation – empowering small and micro enterprises in a time of crisis

ABOVE: Gavin Simpkins, Theo Brown and Mickey Wilkins – the team facilitating Domino Business Development’s SME recovery programme.

Conversations revealed recurring key themes and gaps and that ongoing mentorship and a development programme would help businesses to thrive. Some asset-rich businesses were located in high-risk areas, often meaning they were uninsurable, while some owners had little understanding of how insurance works. Domino’s business-training workshops provided relevant information, network-support bases and contacts.

The SME programme was expanded into 10-weeks of coaching/mentoring with specifically developed videos and specialised think-tank input sessions with professionals. At a review session, steps to be taken were drawn up, emphasising grant-income-generation and investment. After a final mentoring session, the entrepreneur had a clear plan for building their business going forward. A series of workbooks, The Entrepreneur’s Journey, were developed for the entrepreneurs to reflect and update on the changes to their

businesses to enable them to recover from the damage.

Many of Steve Jobs’ “tools” had been supplied and the immediate needs of the businesses met. Domino was aware the violence had severely traumatised entrepreneurs. Healthy business practices needed to be bolstered with healthy states of mind. Old Mutual added trauma-assessment to the process and owners attended workshops run by the Centre for Mental Wellness.

Before payment of the second tranche of the grants, the Centre ran a three-day trauma-processing workshop dealing with trauma’s personal and business impact on entrepreneurs. The Domino Foundation and Domino Business are keen to link with other partners to extend the project so more SMEs can reestablish themselves and come back far better-equipped to face the future.

FOR MORE INFO Karen Brokensha: marketing@domino.org.za Rowan Phillips: comms@domino.org.za

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KZN’S coffee cultivation For lovers of a good coffee, something new is brewing on the South Coast, writes Shirley le Guern

W

ith just 700 hectares under coffee, South Africa is not officially a coffee growing country but, with the success of at least three speciality coffee farms in KZN, a new niche is evolving for those who appreciate a quality brew. One is Mpenjati near Munster on the South Coast, which harvested its first beans under the watchful eye of founder, Des Wichmann, in 2019.

Since that first harvest of around 300kg – enough to supply a single cafe for just a year – Wichmann has planted 55 hectares with different coffee varietals from as far afield as Colombia, Costa Rica and Kenya.

He expects around four tons this harvest.

To make his already proudly South African coffee even more local, he recently sourced Racemosa trees. Seen as a “wild” coffee, they originate from Hluhluwe. The small, black beans are high in sugars which improves the quality of the final product.

Wichmann says Mpenjati Coffee started with a dream. He grew up in the region and farmed everything from livestock to sugar and bananas before travelling overseas. On his return, he realised that the low sugar price no longer made farming this iconic KZN crop viable.

“I diversified into vegetables and mushrooms and even peppadews, trying to find a niche market. Eventually I settled on coffee which you can sell and market on your own.”

RIGHT: Des Wichmann, founder of Mpenjati Coffee stands amongst his coffee trees.

A G R I C U LT U R E

The KZN South Coast is ideally suited to growing coffee. Although it does not have the high altitudes enjoyed by other African coffee growers such as Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia, it does have the rich, slightly acidic soil, high humidity, good drainage and ideal coastal winds.

“I have sent coffee to some companies who have cupped it and scored it, and we immediately went into the speciality coffee category.”

The beauty of coffee, says Wichmann, is that it doesn’t take long to see results.

“Within 12 months, we had flowering trees. Eighteen months later, we were picking and, by year two, the trees had doubled in size and were flowering nicely.”

But it hasn’t been easy. Mpenjati

RIGHT & ABOVE: CROWHURST IN KLOOF IS THE HOME TO TWIMS, A MANUFACTURING INSTITUTE FOR GRADUATES THAT IS SET IN A HISTORIC MANOR HOUSE BUILT AT THE TURN OF THE LAST CENTURY AND ENHANCED

BY VARIOUS OWNERS.

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grew from its initial harvest of 300kg of green beans to 1,7 tons in 2020. But, in 2021, a leaf miner attack led to the loss of many trees and the harvest shrunk to just 500kg. But Mpenjati quickly recovered.

Coffee is highly labour intensive.

The cherries must be handpicked at exactly the right time. As all do not ripen simultaneously, they have to be carefully selected with the greener ones left to develop. This has meant training harvesters and adding staff over the years.

Mpenjati has also become a family business with his wife Leigh managing the cafe and coffee shop, plus coffee tours and tastings.

This agri-tourism venture enables visitors to explore the countryside, tasting the raw red beans that cluster on the stems of the coffee trees, and then following the coffee process from washing, drying and fermenting the beans on sun beds, to sorting and roasting them and, finally, enjoying a cappuccino.

Although Mpenjati is one of South Africa’s larger coffee farms, Wichmann is focused on speciality coffees.

“We understand the terroir to produce outstanding premium single origin coffee. For generations we’ve been farming in KZN, but I’ve still had to do things the hard way. So, I’m looking and learning all the time – that’s school fees, I guess,” he shrugs.

Half of Mpenjati’s coffee goes to its home branded coffees and coffee shop and the remainder is sold to independent coffee shops and roasteries.

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C E L E B E X P O RTS

KZN exports rock the world

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



Nearly 40 years after Ladysmith Black Mambazo hit the world stage, scores of KZN cultural exports continue to keep a steady spotlight on the province, writes Deepika Naidoo

S

outh Africa has been putting its best foot forward representing the continent. Whether it's our innovation of house music or our thespians who bring magic to drama, our exported talents, particularly from KZN, have been blossoming.

Much of the talent cultivated in KZN has made its way to all corners of the world. From Ibiza to California, KZN stars are shining in the 2000s.

Grammy award winning Black Coffee – real name Nkosinathi Innocent Sizwe Maphumulo – has joined the ranks of the world's most honourable DJs with his residence in the party capital of the world, Ibiza.

Born in Umlazi, Maphumulo’s solo career popped because of his love for South African music discovered at a young age through the cherished pasttime of listening to the radio with his grandma. His 2015 hit Pieces of Me had global house fans queuing up to hear

 his music, paying ode to his unique KZN sound that many of our talented musicians have mastered over the years.

After living abroad in Los Angeles for two years and making her smashing Hollywood debut alongside movie stars Eddie Murphy and Wesley Snipes, rising star Nomzamo Mbatha has made a pit stop to her ’hood, KwaMashu, while on tour of her home country.

Documenting her journey back home, Mbatha posted a heart-warming video of her cruising down memory lane.

In the clip she comes across a bunch of kids playing in the street with what seems to be an upside-down shopping trolley. For the 31-year-old Mbatha, this was an ode to her cultural and creative roots in KZN. Mbatha hails from the same postal code as legendary actress Leleti Khumalo, actor Henry Cele, and UKbased comedian Thenjiwe Moseley.

Mbatha went to Bechet High School in

 Black Coffee.  Nomzamo Mbatha.  Thuso Mbedu.

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Durban and often speaks about her trials and tribulations.

"I made the most of the opportunities given to me,” she said in one of her many Instagram videos promoting her charitable work. While education is close to her heart, her upbringing would not have been the same if it had not been for her dedicated mother, an educator to many children in this province.

"My mommy is a teacher and has always been strategic in choosing to take her skills to underprivileged schools and building the learning environment. She is so passionate to the point that even when she's home she’s in teacher mode."

Another actress who has made waves in Hollywood is the young yet already legendary Thuso Mbedu.

After securing the bag on Amazon's The Underground Railroad, the Pietermaritzburg Girls' High alumni took it upon herself to nail the role of an African-American woman fleeing from a Georgia plantation.

Her Hollywood debut led to her winning the hearts of millions around the globe with her world-class acting and sweetheart personality. From Trevor Noah to Ellen DeGeneres, big names want a chance to chat with our KZN star. She also topped the trending list, getting millions of South Africans on Twitter gushing about her success and her winning personality.

In an interview with media mogul Oprah, Mbedu revealed that she was awestruck when she finally landed in

C E L E B E X P O RTS

LA and saw her face on a larger-thanlife billboard. "It's actually very surreal – and doesn’t fully register. I went to a billboard on Sunset Boulevard with my friends, and I kept telling them, 'It's me … It's me … It's me'."

Even Benoni's very own Oscar award winner Charlize Theron chatted to Mbedu in a Vogue magazine article about SA's cultural exports. "There's this emerging South African talent coming forth right now, and I'm just really proud and really impressed. You guys are stepping in and setting that bar," she said to the Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School alumni.

Mbedu’s success story is far from over. In her latest money move, Mbedu announced she would be

ABOVE: Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

acting alongside How To Get Away With Murder star Viola Davis in the upcoming film The Woman King, a female-centric historical epic reflecting more of what we would like to see in our fantasy worlds.

Few forget the legends from the little town that etched its name in the history books when Ladysmith Black Mambazo won Best Traditional Folk Recording for their iconic hit Shaka Zulu at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards in the 1980s. Since then, KZN’s successes have mushroomed, proving that our talent has got what it takes to compete on the international stage.

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A D V E RTO R I A L

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HOPE for flood victims

KFC Add Hope supports KZN flood victims and launch call-to-action to drive further support

I

n the wake of the devastating floods that wreaked havoc in KZN, KFC and their customers, through their R2-donations, have again partnered through Add Hope to mobilise more than 1,2-million meals to the affected areas in Durban city and the eastern KZN, with more on its way.

These food parcels are being distributed by beneficiary organisation partners on the ground across all the affected areas to identified families and schools in need. The outreach is being led by HOPE worldwide SA and the DO MORE Foundation, a new KFC Add Hope partner, collaborating closely with the Gift of the Givers, Food Forward, Kolisi Foundation and SA Harvest.

“We are grateful for the partners we have on the ground as they are able to give us first-hand feedback on the reality of the situation and allow us to mobilise what is needed, when and where,” says Andra Nel, Brand Purpose and Reputation Manager at KFC. “As it stands, we are still working on increasing the number of food parcels being delivered to ensure we reach as many families as possible and are able to provide meals to the children at Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres who have been impacted – the centres being either completely destroyed or inaccessible due to the damaged roads – as many of these centres rely on feeding schemes.”

To date, relief has been provided in Amanzimtoti, Ballito, Cato Manor, Cato Ridge, Chatsworth, Chesterville, Cornubia, eThekwini, Hammansdale, Harry Gwala, iLembe, Inanda, King Cetswayo, Mariannhill, Mbumbulu, Northern Berg, Ntuzuma, Phoenix, Pietermaritzburg, Pinetown, Port Shepstone, Tongaat, uMgungundlovu, Umkhanyakude, Umlazi, Waterloo, Zululand and other surrounding areas.

“Our partnership with KFC Add Hope couldn’t have come at a better time,” adds Warren Farrer, from DO MORE Foundation. “Mobilising efforts of this

magnitude to provide relief needed means coming together and integrating and collaborating with other networks to extend reach and relief.”

“As we continue to be faced by the many challenging circumstances affecting our communities, it becomes critical that we mobilise relief as quickly and effectively as possible in order to minimise some of the most urgent challenges facing those impacted –

More than 1,2-million meals mobilised in the region and counting especially hunger, and particularly for vulnerable families with small children.

It may seem a small act to provide a meal, but in the midst of this crisis, we do not want families to have to worry about where their next meal will come from or what their children will eat, but rather focus on how they can rebuild their lives without going hungry,” says Dr Marc Aguirre from HOPE worldwide SA. The teams are also working closely with the provincial disaster management authorities and our network beneficiary

organisations on the ground to focus efforts on some of the most hard-hit areas.

“We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the many corporates, NGOs and citizens that have come to not only provide the necessary relief now, but to help rebuild and the R2 we receive from each of our customers, added to KFC’s own contribution, plays a critical role in the impact we are able to make in our efforts to add hope to those in need,” continues Nel. “We call on consumers to nominate communities in KZN that may be in need of food support, so that we can further mobilise our efforts and drive even more support to the people who need it most,” concludes Nel. FOR MORE INFO To get involved in supporting the Add Hope feeding programme scan the QR code.

To nominate a community in need of food relief and support email: za-addhope@yum.com

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INFORMATION legacy Booksellers and publishers say more readers are turning to local authors as they increasingly seek authentic, relevant stories

L

ocal book publisher, Anivesh Singh, started Made in Chatsworth in February 2020. A year later it had morphed into Made in Durban. In that time Singh and his friend, academic Kiru Naidoo, have activated an almost cult following of consumers eager for local literature. Singh has published 30 Durban authors and promoted scores more.

“It has been phenomenal,” says Singh. “You would have thought that social media and the internet would have killed books, but it has been the opposite. We changed the name to

How Does She Do It? Sensational Cindy Norcott did it again late last year. She wrote another book, this one entitled How Does She Do It? Norcott is an entrepreneur and one-woman tsunami who launched a recruitment company 27 years ago and has since become a soughtafter motivational speaker, business trainer, coach and mentor. And in between all of that she started a nonprofit organisation, The Robin Hood Foundation, which runs more than 120 charitable outreach projects.

If you haven’t met Norcott, who previously wrote How To Be Unstoppable, you might imagine her as an A-type achiever who talks it up and blathers on. Gratefully, she’s far from that and her latest book (in spite of the pluggy title) is testament to Norcott’s humility and down to earth appeal. She is a mensch who writes revealingly about criticism, notions of success, mindfulness and lazy parenting. How Does She Do It? is a fun, hearty and accessible guide to life and business.

reflect more variety because there is such an authentic and attractive offering and people are yearning for that.

“There is huge sentimentality about local politics, history, people and places. People see themselves in these stories and relate to them.

Reading is definitely not a dying culture. I see people building their own libraries. When I ask them why, they say ‘it’s just for me and my children’. Books offer something that Google never can, a legacy of ‘curated’, thoughtfully selected information that passes from one generation to the next.”

BOOKS

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Tapping Into The Times Author Nathi Olifant is a gifted storyteller with the common touch and an exceptional capacity for rich detail. He recently released The Fugitives, a sequel to his popular debut novel Blood, Blades And Bullets – Anatomy Of A Glebelands Hitman. The books are pacy thrillers that Olifant wrote by drawing on a wealth of experience as a journalist, including interviewing a hitman serving a life sentence.

Enterprising Olifant is a husband and father who started out at The Witness newspaper and ended his journalism career at the Sunday Times before becoming a government communicator. In between, he started a transport firm and then Inkabi Publishing.

His crime fiction delves into the underworld of taxi hitmen, rogue cops and ruthless women. His sequel, the second of a planned trilogy, goes into issues of crime intelligence and political duplicity, strong themes in contemporary South Africa.

Q A

Blood, Blades And Bullets took 20 months to write. Did you have the plot down before you set out?

While I had a clear picture of what I needed to do, the twists

and turns and new research meant that the trajectory changed when I had written about 30%.

magazine around 1999 before I abandoned fiction for a career in journalism.

Q

Q

What was the step change like between journalism and fiction?

Your books are a hit. Your published teasers on FB shot off the charts. How many books have you sold?

It took me by surprise. The teasers helped a lot and being self-published gives me that freedom.

While by world standards 5 000 books sold as just “vapour”, in 13 months it is a big deal for a South African crime fiction first timer.

A

Q

Your foreword was written by Dudu Busani-Dube whose selfpublished books have been turned into a Showmax series. What vein of gold have you and Dube tapped into?

No one had tapped into the taxi mafia and how they hold the country to ransom. The taxi industry has created a lot of downstream economy, but also an industry of hitmen. You have crime bosses whose mission is to always recruit new blood, groom them and turn them into monsters. There’s a lot of relevance locally and if you can properly research it, you can hit that sweet spot called authenticity.

A

A

Luckily for me I took a creative writing course in 1998 which included journalism. First, I was a short story writer for Drum magazine and the defunct Pace

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Call 031 569 6808 or visit www.swe.co.za

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H E R I TA G E

EMBRACING the past The Durban Jewish Club and The Durban Holocaust & Genocide Centre – a haven of history, culture and education, writes Katrine Anker-Nilssen

T

he DHGC, brainchild of director Mary Kluk, opened in March 2008 in response to the inclusion of the study of the Holocaust into the National High School Curriculum in 2007. “Within three years the centre had become an educational and cultural landmark in our city, and an important member of the SA Museums Association in KwaZulu-Natal,” says communications & marketing manager Tanya Altshuler.

Over 14 years the facility has established a reputation as a centre of education with a focus on human rights, racism and xenophobia.

“We were incredibly fortunate to have the expertise of two outstanding creators. Mike Jackson, who at the time had recently retired from manufacturing theatre props, immersed himself in the production of the centre’s permanent exhibition. Linda Bester, a creative genius who also designed the Cape Town Holocaust Centre, travelled to Durban to personally oversee the design and construction,” says Altshuler.

The result was a world-class facility with a permanent exhibition that was recently upgraded to include precious artefacts, many of which were looted by the Nazis during Kristallnacht. It also features stories on Holocaust survivors who landed up settling in Durban.

History is about so much more than memorising facts. The centre makes sure learners hear the stories behind the facts by guiding them through the museum as part of a formal education programme. There is a focus on the story of Anne Frank, the Holocaust, and the 1994 genocide targeting the Tutsi in Rwanda. Each year about 5 000 learners visit the centre.

Kluk said the Holocaust happened to

Jews, “but it is not only a Jewish story.

It’s a story about man’s inhumanity to man, and how we can change that reality for future generations.”

The beautiful centre also houses the Circle Café set in the tranquillity of a remembrance garden. The cafe offers delicious food and is reputed to have the best cheesecake in town.

In the same complex as the centre is the Durban Jewish Club, which is separately managed.

“It’s a story about man’s inhumanity to man, and how we can change that reality for future generations” – Mary Kluk The only institution of its kind, the DJC was founded in 1931. It boasts a strong community foundation which all began with a dance in 1919, says Hayley Lieberthal, media liaison at the South African Jewish Board of Deputies KwaZulu-Natal Council.

In 1919, returning World War I servicemen saw a gap between the older and younger generations of the Jewish community. To show gratitude for the warm welcome from the older generation, these young men banded together again and invited the entire Jewish community to a dance. The success of the event led to the formation of a literary and music club called The Circle.

In 1928 a three-acre site, situated in Old Fort Road was secured. The dream became a reality a few years later with the construction of a single-storey structure that still stands today.

The Club was placed at the disposal

of His Majesty’s and allied forces as a canteen in World War II and in that time two million members of the services – of all faiths and nationalities – made use of the premises. A canteen, hot and cold showers, billiards, tennis, squash, and reading and writing rooms were available.

The Club also had its share in the struggle against apartheid. One such event was when iNkosi Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi addressed the Durban Jewish community in 1968.

Today this space is still a hub of activity, offering a venue for hire and catering to a multitude of various functions such as launches, ceremonies, team building, bridge clubs, and more.

“The Club is the heart and home of all of our Jewish affiliated outreach. From soups and sandwiches to wheelchairs.

The Club will always be a centre where good stems from, a centre from where chesed (kindness) and tzedeka (charity) reach out to the greater community,” said DJC President Jeremy Droyman.

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It’s because of our commitment to walking every step with our clients, that we know how to help them realise their vision and turn their dreams into reality.

At the end of the day, what sets TUHF apart is our ability to See What Others Don’t.

Our KZN Areas of Finance • Lower Durban North – Avoca – Briardene – Greenwood park

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– Umbilo – Sydenham – Sherwood

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086 000 TUHF (8843) • Durban Branch Tel: 031 306 5036 Durban address: Office 302, The Box Office, 199 Peter Mokaba Road, Morningside, Durban, 4001

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