Agriculture will boom if small-scale farmers innovate
The Point, the port and south Durban need to be reimagined
Durban’s dry port plans gain momentum as firms invest alongside N3
South Coast Cinderella is getting ready for the ball
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Making KZN a thriving place demands hard conversations about where we are going.
What does great look like in KZN? The man asking the question was sincere.
And he knew his question would be deemed silly and elicit sneers. I bet if you could reliably test confidence in the province, the gauge would flash red, sound an awful siren or shoot off a volley of expletives.
Great and KZN don’t feel like they belong in the same sentence right now. My job affords this lowly hack a wonderful vantage point. I get to engage with labourers, corporate captains, entrepreneurs, informal traders, civic leaders, government officials, academics and politicians. The whole smorgasbord: sinful, smart, surly, and sensational. It is deeply enriching work – and a bit depressing of late.
So as not to lose you, I’ll keep the grumbling to one paragraph that encapsulates the mood and then, mercifully, get on with the point of this column. The country is run by a largely criminal enterprise. The few honest, hard-working souls in the ruling party and government seem like the heroic soldiers in Alfred Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade – fighting through the jaws of death, back from the mouth of hell.
South Africans, and residents of KZN especially, feel swamped. The compound effects of rising fuel prices, the global economic slowdown, the impact of load shedding, Covid, unrest, floods, broken water pipes, and failing service delivery are felt profoundly.
But then, as someone pointed out, who doesn’t have troubles? Whose municipality isn’t corruptionembattled? Who isn’t fighting load shedding, dodging potholes, and worrying about whether the taps will run dry?
I spoke to a security operator and it was something of a revelation. A big, burly man, he is so busy because what few good cops we have are struggling in a battered justice system. He asked me if I’d ever watched the movie Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Matt Damon. I hadn’t, but I did, and I was bowled over. It’s brilliant. It is a story about rugby and Nelson Mandela and how he recited the poem Invictus in trying times.
The muscle-bound security man has overcome incredible odds to get to where he is today but refuses to bend the law or tolerate brutality,
racism or othering because he was inspired by the nation-builder that was our first democratically elected president.
The essence of the poem is perseverance and the notion that you are the “captain of your soul”. The afterglow of Madiba Magic has long since faded. We feel helpless in the face of corruption, rent seekers, extortionists and frankly, the thugs who are trying to rob us of our future.
How do we respond? Politicians are useless. Civil society leaders are rallying hard and business is under the cosh. At the time of going to print,
hanging in the balance is the future of tens of thousands of people affected by Tongaat's woes. The history of KZN is inextricably entwined with the sugar story and we can only hope the future is rosier than it looks now.
I was speaking to a corporate leader about that trite word oft trotted out: resilience. I was waxing lyrical about the success of urban improvement precincts in beating crime and grime. I marvelled at the work that the nonprofit sector does. True, he nodded, but these organisations are becoming “shadow” governments trying to do what the state ought to do. That’s not a
lasting solution, he said. And he’s right.
While these are short-term, vital responses to government failures, they have potentially complicated long-term pitfalls. That said, lasting solutions must be born of public-private partnerships.
In this issue, planner Mike Freedman reflects on some of the big problems around south Durban and what opportunity this represents. It talks about the idea of a wider, deeper conversation about where the province is going, what the priorities are, and how to get people to pull together around a simple plan we all feel invested in. I don’t mean to dumb down strategic planning, but we need to find a way to agree on some fundamentals, and some non-negotiables, and then communicate these accessibly to get buy-in.
But people are tired. Do we need yet more plans? It’s enough to make you want to head-butt someone.
In this letter there is a great drone photograph of the port taken by retired engineer Brian Downie. Seven years ago he wrote a story about the future of the port, the city’s economic heart. The International Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development described port cities as the frontline of globalisation. About 90% of external trade volumes are loaded
and unloaded in the world’s ports.
In Durban, the process is done badly. So badly that plans are being revived to create a container terminal in Richards Bay. What Brian wrote then still stands today. Not much has changed. There is great commitment around the dry port, but it needs a lot, including fixing rail – at least between the port and Cato Ridge where big firms keep popping up alongside the N3 as road improvements finally give us a glimpse of a smoother ride between Durban and Gauteng.
The port and back of port problems are in a way representative of the wider malaise. We aren’t able to get accountability from the powers-thatbe. A quote from Brian’s story: The authorities need to address the lack of truck stops and weight control – then they must police illegal operations which are overloading and unsafe operations.
We could just as easily say we have to get ANC-aligned thugs to stop invading construction sites or selling RDP houses or stitching up state tenders.
So what to do about it? Well, as farfetched as it sounds, we have to do what my first interlocutor asked: imagine what great looks like in KZN and then get the smartest, most capable people we can to drive a plan around that. I have no idea what it looks like, but I
know it has to tap into our daily realities. People can’t live in squalor, without lights and water and with no prospects. And, we need something that demands everyone take personal responsibility to do the right thing, a Madiba-Esque higher purpose where we can each be the captain of our soul and in doing so contribute to a thriving community.
Here's wishing us good luck with all of that. I hope you enjoy this edition of our illustrious rag.
gregarde@gmail.com
Shifting Durban airport from south of the city to north has made this coastline the most significant beneficiary of the 2010 World Cup, writes Mike Freedman
Apart from the stadiums that struggle to break even, Gauteng got the Gautrain, Cape Town got a biodiversity park, the Bafokeng received a road network, while Durban is birthing satellite cities and exclusive gated communities, now more than 60km north of the city centre.
While the scales tilt heavily north, south of Durban is in decline. The old airport is home to random businesses, mostly operating without formal leases, as well as being a massive new car park. SAPREF, the adjacent polluting oil refinery, has recently closed down, with no plans to reopen. Between the two, there are over 850-hectares of land barely used, just 20km from the port and Durban central. Next to these is the industrial area of Prospecton that relies heavily on Toyota and is becoming uninsurable following the floods; and Umlazi, with an official population of 400 000, in reality twice that or more, making this the largest township in KwaZulu-Natal.
While greenfields developments continue to flourish, will our brownfields remain urban blots on the landscape, like derelict buildings littering city centres? Or can collective wisdom turn a massive sinkhole into a hub of new opportunity?
Place visioning inevitably fails when it becomes the province of an elite few. Urban planners are necessary participants, as are local residents, businesses, government, educational institutions and potential investors. Because the best way to foretell the future is to co-create it.
People-centred placemaking has three lenses. By putting Desirable first, the best ideas, regardless of the authors, honour people’s dreams and wishes.
The first lens is Desirable. What do your stakeholders want? Do these wants work together systemically, creating a whole greater than the sum of its parts?
The second lens is Anti-fragile. What of the Desirable options can not only endure tough times and uncertainty, but thrive and grow because of them.
The third lens is Catalytic. What of the Desirable and Anti-fragile options will spark others to life? Here we look at chain reactions.
First, some homework needs to be done. Is SAPREF uninhabitable because of pollution? How long will it take to rehabilitate and who is responsible? Does Transnet still have defined plans for the site and is the legal spat with Seaworld Aviation a running sore? Knowing the lay of the land, we can unlock collective imagination.
Why bother? Because the purpose of a city is to offer the best and easiest access to opportunities. These 850-hectares would provide thousands of work opportunities, together with improvements in housing, health, education and civic facilities. They could lift Durban South from its slide into a more precipitous economic decline.
A visioning process starts with a representative sample of stakeholders – groups of residents, students, entrepreneurs, non-profits and councillors; in-depths with political, business, academic and civic leaders; developers and bankers; specialists in urban planning, business parks and environment; supplemented
by radio phone-ins, local and social media, inviting ideas from the public. Discussion guides are developed that include provocations to stir debate. For instance:
• What if the land is on long lease, like Waterfall or Dube TradePort? Would that make the investment more attractive?
• What if this area became a research and manufacturing hub for renewable energy – from solar panels and wind turbine manufacture, to wave and current research?
• How might Mangosuthu University of Technology aid in and benefit from the process?
• Could the area become a Special Economic Zone?
• Toyota is going to significantly invest in electric cars. Can this be the manufacturing hub of the south?
These dialogues are planned to happen in a condensed time frame, to build expectation. The output is analysed to form a vision that cascades into goals, strategies, early victories and game-changers. These need to be assessed through the lens of antifragility. Is the desirable financially feasible, practical, able to succeed in adversity? Some dreams fall at this hurdle. What remains is presented publicly for more comment. Usually there is a positive reaction as concepts that emerged through dialogue have been polished. A vision, to have credibility, is a story people tell themselves. Then what are the catalysts that trigger more investment?
The process needs a holding vessel, ideally, an organisation that balances citizen, government, business and investor interests. Visioning practitioners are appointed and are
answerable to this organisation. In the work we have done over the last 27 years, these organisations range from improvement districts to the World Bank.
Once the vision has been publicly presented and generally accepted, a special purpose vehicle is formed to develop the area. Ideally, the board would be a partnership of interests, while a small team of professionals would execute. Bilbao Ría 2000 is a highly successful example, paying for itself via the increase in land value the NPO generated.
Eight hundred hectares is bigger than the Durban city centre. We can transform the south, claim “green leadership”, create employment on a massive scale and significantly impact the GDP of KwaZulu-Natal. This huge urban blot could become a shining light.
Another opportunity is Durban Port itself and the adjacent Point that is a joint venture mainly between eThekwini Municipality and UEM Sunrise. The claimed R35-billion investment, according to www. durbanpoint.co.za “is all about creating opulent living within magnificent surrounds. Luxury lifestyle living that has never been experienced on this scale before”. While the municipality
has been doing its part since 2017 with infrastructure and eradicating old, dilapidated buildings, the developer remains inactive. Perhaps all the opulence and luxury a stone’s throw away from a decaying downtown and dysfunctional port is too much of a disconnect. And perhaps a total revamp of the port that should dramatically increase productivity, while decreasing cost and mass, would be catalytic for the whole of Durban, while releasing more land for development. *
Mike Freedman designs, organises and analyses visioning processes for cities, towns and precincts across Southern Africa, the latest being for Victoria Falls. He is now resident in Durban.
Bilbao, the major city in the Basque Region of Spain, was a thriving industrial port, known for shipbuilding and steelmaking. In the 1980s, a toxic blend of industrial crises, terrorism and devastating floods brought the city to its knees. Bilbao needed to reinvent itself. Necessity turned into opportunity when a visioning exercise produced a comprehensive strategy for change.
• Within that strategy, an urban regeneration instrument was created, Bilbao Ría 2000 – a public-public partnership, in which infrastructure companies (port, railway authorities) and public administrations, at all levels, joined forces. Registered as a limited liability company, BR2000 was run by a small team of experienced professionals in the planning and execution of urban and infrastructure projects. Under the supervision of the stakeholders, but at arm’s length from day-today politics, the team developed complex projects that often took more than a decade to complete, and like the iconic Guggenheim Museum, have become outstanding examples of urban transformation.
• Bilbao Ría 2000 was funded without budgetary contributions from public administrations. Instead, shareholders provided the land, typically disused industrial or infrastructure sites. Bilbao Ría 2000 did the planning, and the municipality changed the land use. Bilbao Ría 2000 then cleaned up, built infrastructure and sold individual plots to private sector at market value to fund all the investment and some social infrastructure.
• In about 20 years Bilbao Ría 2000 regenerated 100-hectares of inner city with €1,3-billion raised by capturing land value increases.
The outcome is a shining and chic urban destination, with a waning industrialised economy transformed to the thriving service capital of northern Spain.
Written by Juan A Alayo, Development Planning Director of Bilbao Ría 2000 from 2005 to 2013, now advising cities and metropolitan areas on strategic development and transformation.
Iam a KZN born and bred business consultant specialising in the transformation of small, medium and large companies, a journey that started more than 16 years ago
As an entrepreneur in the training, facilitation, mentorship and coaching space, I feel that KZN – and eThekwini in particular – is not a conducive environment for an entrepreneur to grow significantly, unless they get into a mentorship programme. However, KZN is a good place to invest in business, purely because of our two very strategic and important ports that feed the country with cargo from overseas.
It is difficult for an entrepreneur to navigate through KZN’s red tape and hindrances to doing
business. Worse are the new business forums popping up everywhere, making it even more difficult for black businesses to thrive in KZN. And don’t get me started on funding institutions that are meant to assist small businesses. A story for another day.
When I started in business, I made a deliberate decision to enter every business competition I came across. This was strategic. I knew that if I entered these competitions, I would stand more chances of getting free profiles and publicity. I have won dozens of competitions, which has helped introduce me to the world of media. I got to understand how this industry works and then formed solid relationships that I still leverage 16 years later.
I have been featured in almost every newspaper,
interviewed by almost every radio and TV station in the country. This helped build my company name –Mzansi Mobile Units – and establish my brand as an entrepreneur. I realised the power of being part of an enterprise development programme, which has worked well in building both my personal and business brand.
I am but one of the few lucky ones who managed to get into these enterprise development programmes and also understood how they function. I feel not enough is being done to create more of these enterprise development entities to assist small businesses. As a country we seem to throw funding at SMMEs without really equipping them with the entrepreneurial knowledge of how to handle business –which is why so many small businesses fail from the onset.
We need to re-engineer the mindset of SMMEs. They too seem to think that only funding will help them run successful businesses. The truth of the matter is that entrepreneurs need to be thoroughly trained in entrepreneurship. They need to understand what skills an entrepreneur needs to become successful and what entrepreneurship entails.
We have the wrong perception of what entrepreneurship is all about, which is why a lot of young aspiring business people fail along the way. Often they do not have a passion for their business. Many of them get into business because of the circumstances they find themselves in, and not out of passion.
Entrepreneurship needs someone who will be passionate about the journey, someone willing to learn, someone teachable and someone who is resilient. This means walking a journey. That is why I promote enterprise development programmes as conduits to uplift our upcoming entrepreneurs, so that they eventually grow and garner all the skills to win.
Jabu Gwala and Desiree Ngema are two entrepreneurs I have mentored. Here are their stories.
Siko Republik was founded in 2017 after Jabu Gwala lost her job. Coping with the trauma that came from
losing her job, she started going to the gym every day.
“Shopping for gym gear I realised there was nothing with African aesthetics in the shops – nothing celebrating African heritage. I researched the activewear industry and found it was worth trillions of dollars globally, and growing fast.
DesBaked is a female-owned bakery and coffee shop based in Durban, known for its decadent, bespoke cakes and treats.
A team of five is led by the founder and owner Desiree “Des” Ngema, who qualified as a pastry chef in 2016, and also has a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree. The team consists of a baker, two cake decorators and a team member who doubles as front of house customer liaison and barrister.
Ngema has always loved being in the kitchen, and
I knew this was a massive opportunity which was aligned with my passion and purpose – living an active life that is inclusive.”
The brand was officially launched in November 2018 and now has big stars like Thuso Mbedu, Unathi Nkayi, and Amanda Black supporting the brand.
Siko Republik has launched its own fitness events through Body Beat parties in Johannesburg and Durban, and has been invited to showcase in Ghana and Switzerland at the African Diaspora Festival. It has also been invited to the Pure London trade show which attracts over 11 000 buyers worldwide.
Gwala says the company struggled to find finances for the business and she used savings to kick-start the brand and reinvested profits to drive further growth.
“We have truly put the business first and haven’t taken profits for personal gain but rather used every cent to expand our product offering and intensify our
started baking for friends and family, and even though they loved the taste of her cakes, a friend called them “a delicious mess”. She got formal training with Prue Leith in Centurion while working a fulltime corporate job, flying to Johannesburg every weekend to attend classes.
She graduated in 2016 and started baking cakes as a side hustle. A year later she had enough clients to resign and started baking full-time, acquiring a workspace in Pinetown. DesBaked’s primary service is delivering premium quality baked goods, and providing catering for select events, conferences and corporate gifts.
marketing efforts. Finding the right partners to manufacture our product was also a challenge in the beginning as the manufacturing industry is really closed. But we have built solid partnerships and are proud to have all our products manufactured in Durban. We do not import anything because we are passionate about creating employment for South Africans.
“We looked for programmes that helped small businesses, and got accepted into the SEED Academy which provided a business coach for eight months and then another 18-month programme with financial and nonfinancial support. This has significantly improved our business from being a one-man band to a team of 20 people.
“We will be opening our factory soon in Hillcrest and will be employing an additional 20 people. This is critical to our success as we need to be ready to deliver on the growth that we continue to drive on a daily basis. We have a global mindset and we are dreaming big.” *
While the country – and the world – teeters on the tightrope of high inflation and rising interest rates, Durban’s Berea is experiencing a tsunami of residential property development, writes Anne Schauffer
The greater Berea is a bit of a construction site. Hundreds of millions are being pumped into little and large residential developments and developers say the only handbrake is a lack of sites to build more.
Following ’94, pent-up demand was unleashed for property in an area which above all else, had always been deemed “convenient”. That single word is at the
heart of the demand.
It has always been a highly desirable green, leafy suburb – particularly the Morningside belt – elevated above the city, and yes, conveniently close to everything including the CBD, north, west, beaches, and of course, some of the province’s top-notch schools.
The Berea has become a generic word for Musgrave, Essenwood, Morningside and other satellite zones. Reference
to the CBD too, no longer refers to the centre of town – it’s a far wider area, and while proximity to what was traditionally the CBD would not be something particularly desirable unless you worked there, proximity to its new interpretation certainly is. It’s part of the Berea’s “convenience”.
About six years ago, the city introduced new town planning schemes which allowed further densification of
the area, and increased the development capacity of sites. On GR1 sites (General Residential One – as opposed to Single Residential for one home – allows for apartments), coverage went up from 40-50%, and the Floor Area Ratio from 1 to 1,2 effectively allowing an additional 200m² on a 1 000m² site. It made development more attractive.
Koseelan Padayachee of Pam Golding Properties in Morningside, has worked closely with developer Joshua Chetty of AH Steel for the past six or seven years. Together, they work tirelessly to identify appropriate sites for a particular market. Chetty focuses on “boutique” developments, usually under 20 units, targeted at what he calls the “sweet spot” of between R1,8-million and R2,8-million. His latest development at 197 Lambert Road ticks all the right boxes, including being a stone’s throw from Clifton School and 100m from Starbucks in Florida Road.
As a young person, Chetty loves brands, trends and tech … and so does his market. He aims to provide a top product at a fair price: “Smeg appliances, Caesarstone, Hansgrohe taps, any finishes you would find up north, you will get here. Selling off plan – buyers have become more comfortable with that – we even provide them with layout options. Lambert Road has fourbedroomed units, but you can choose to have three larger bedrooms and/or a bigger lounge/dining room.”
I will never stop developing on the Berea, it’s a very strong market. If I launch a development, we can sell to the point of ready-for-construction in three to four months, that’s the strength of the market; 60% sold off plan, and we can get those figures in three to four months. We don’t have time to build a show unit.”
So, who’s buying there? Padayachee says the market is young couples, singles, professionals and parents buying for their children.
Next door to 179 Lambert Road, another new luxury block is coming out the ground – 181 Lambert Road, La Fountaine, which will have 22 apartments.
For most buyers into these developments, that “convenience” encompasses proximity to a mosque and prayer rooms. The new mosque in St Thomas Road is a strong drawcard, and with compulsory prayer five times a day for the Muslim community, walking distance from home is first prize.
Ahmed Moosa, sales consultant at Remax Address in Montpelier Road has spent 23 years in property in the area, and watched the values around the St Thomas Road mosque escalate significantly: “I sold a nearby apartment valued at R900 000 for R1,4-million.”
Chetty says, “For our development at 232 Vause Road, corner of Vause and St Thomas, our buyers were 95% Muslim and wanted to be near that mosque.”
“If you can be within sight of a mosque, that’s even better, specifically over Ramadan, when it’s possible to see the tower light up and know the fast can be broken. It’s considered prestigious to be able to see the mosque from your home, just as it is to live on roads such as Currie, Musgrave and Essenwood.”
Padayachee talks about regression and progression on the Berea. Quality developments around elderly, perhaps tired homes, lifts property values. On the flipside, properties in a state of disrepair with absentee owners, not only degrade the value of adjacent properties, but pose a security risk. A development –even if it involves demolition of a once glorious, now all-fall-down house –increases value and improves security.
Ridwaan Desai is an attorney, notary public and developer: “Development is my passion, my hobby. My father and grandfather shared the same passion. It is the pleasure of creating something from nothing, watching it grow, and then seeing people make homes in them.” Desai’s Vause Road development, Escardo, has 10 floors, with a mix of three- and four-bedroomed apartments priced accordingly. His current development, Silversky in Silverton Road, has 12 three-bedroomed units over six floors, all with sea and harbour views. Prices there will be between R2,75-million and R3-million.
He says, “There’s a great deal of money being pumped into the Berea. In the vicinity of my Vause Road development, there are a number of others too – around R200-million invested just in that corner.” Surprisingly, Desai says many Berea sites are already zoned GR1 –they’re often homes on only 800m²: “For Escardo, I bought two pieces of land with triple-storey houses on them, and both were zoned GR1. Getting land rezoned is a long (18 months) and costly (around R160 000) process, with no
guaranteed outcome.”
Change is always unnerving, and on the Berea, where generations had lived in large, often heritage homes, the whiff of residential development that broke the mould, was viewed with great suspicion. If it involved demolition or what was considered defacement of heritage properties, even more so. AMAFA, the watchdog body, had its hands full, so too community organisations like Save Our Berea. The winds of change were blowing.
The Reardon Group was one of the first developers on the Berea, and was responsible for developing Summer Glade near Greyville Racecourse in 1991: “Everyone thought I was mad,” says Katherine Reardon, “but it was very, very popular – close to Orient School, and town. Today, a Summer Glade apartment is more expensive per flat than Spring Glade which we developed in lower La Lucia (very similar design). Spring Glade units sold for R3,5-million and Summer Glade sells for up to R4,5-million (178m²). Summer Glade is a community, their children have grown up together. It’s extremely convenient, drive to your floor, close to the madrassa, mosques, and Jamaat Khana prayer rooms. People want to live where it’s convenient for them. The same reason communities first moved on to the Berea.”
Today, Reardon is busy with the earthworks just prior to starting construction of seven freestanding homes on 7 065m² of land in an estate in prestigious Eastbourne Road. Five are sold, two still available.
As with anything anywhere, there’ll always be those who flout the rules, who sidestep the municipality’s approved processes. That’s both property owners and developers. It enrages the communities and some tar all developers with the same brush. Reardon referenced the infamous
Currie Road property debacle, which she says, put enormous pressure on all other developers who were playing by the rules. But, similarly, she feels that today, many of the long-term issues with problem properties in the area have been resolved.
Demolition of what are considered heritage properties has always been a thorn in the side of purists, but old doesn’t mean heritage. Reardon restored one of the Berea’s most beautiful historic buildings – Kinnord House: “I believe in heritage and conservation of property, but during that Kinnord restoration, I learnt a lot about being a historicist. Before we bought it, Kinnord had had seven dramatic changes, and often, not for the better. We stripped all that off. But the point is, it’s not alone – so many homes were changed from the original over the years. When I look at architects’ plans, there are numerous different iterations on a single plot over many years. Look at how the Berea was first established with wood and iron homes, and how things that didn’t work were altered or demolished and rebuilt.
“There are heritage architects who believe architecture is organic and that times change according to different
needs; that there’ll always be a new fashion, new demand, and that some things become derelict by neglect. The changes happening on the Berea aren’t new. It’s just human nature. Times change. That’s the bottom line. We’ve forgotten the demolition of countless buildings in the 50s and 60s to
trend, and have its own identity. Desai, on the other hand, likes blending in with the surroundings: “I always use natural colours, and I love wood, so although the buildings are contemporary, I like a timeless feel.”
build blocks of flats when there was a massive demand for high rise.
“The attitude of the heritage keepers is that demolition of a Berea box when there are a hundred other great, better examples of it, is justified. You need to prove it’s a noteworthy piece of architecture. And if the building is falling down and it’ll cost more to repair, let it go.”
Each developer has his own architectural style and designs for his target market. For Chetty, he’ll look at the area, and while aiming to “fit in”, he also wants it to be contemporary, on
Today, the majority of developers avoid sites with heritage buildings, because it takes time to deal with the processes, there’s often delays, and time is money. Chetty says, “I like heritage buildings, but they’re often slap bang in the middle of the land and that makes it impossible in the market in which I operate, to get the numbers to work.” Chetty says he picks sites depending on what his architect says, to see if they will make a good return and are likely to get AMAFA approval.
One of the Berea’s current significant developments is under way on the corner of Montpelier and Musgrave Roads – it’s been a long time coming, as the buildings have long been in a serious state of disrepair. AMAFA required that Woodley House, built in 1902, had to be saved, and it was at considerable cost for the developers. Musgrave Pearls will have six levels with four apartments per level – 24 apartments in total – with ramps to each apartment.
Quality developments around elderly, perhaps tired homes, lifts property values
Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal (TIKZN) recently co-ordinated participation of three KwaZulu-Natal companies in Africa Fashion Week held in London in October 2022. The three companies – Gugu Mobile Boutique, LN Watches, and Sluvin Designs – are beneficiaries of Transnet Port Terminal’s Enterprise Development programme which is facilitated in partnership with Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal.
South African representation at Africa Fashion Week London (AFWL) has been undertaken since 2013, with the exception of 2016 and 2017 due to funding constraints. Trade & Investment KZN was then requested to co-ordinate local businesses participation by the South African High Commission in London. After consultation with the KZN Fashion Council and the dti sector desk for Clothing, Textile and Apparel, TIKZN has committed to facilitate the participation of KZN entities at Africa Fashion Week London 2018 and 2019.
Founded in 2011, Africa Fashion Week London (AFWL) was launched in the UK, inspired by the idea that African fashion needed a voice and representation outside of Africa, helping to connect a generation. With a collaborative catwalk, an exhibition and business development programme leads the way in highlighting Africa’s emerging designers and apparel industry, and has been at the forefront of bringing awareness of Africa’s burgeoning fashion industry to the international market.
Over the past eight years, AFWL has hosted more than 800 emerging designers and exhibitors from Africa, and almost 70 000 visitors including buyers, retailers, influential industry professionals, and the media, and is now regarded as a highlight on the annual fashion calendar. AFWL offers exhibitors, not just a platform to showcase, but further value through contacts, experience and market knowledge. AFWL is also helping to shed light on a new global African narrative, maintaining its position as the largest and longest running, culturally diverse fashion and trade exhibition in Europe.
This year AFWL celebrates its 10th consecutive year, and continues to increase the visibility and awareness of African designers by providing them with an affordable global showcasing platform. Featuring established and aspiring designers, the event helps nurture African-inspired fashion, design, culture and clothing manufacturing across the industry.
Three local beneficiaries of the Transnet Port Terminal’s Enterprise Development programme have recently flown the flag for South Africa – and KwaZulu-Natal – in London
Participants this year included:
• Ms Gugu Bhengu, director of Gugu’s Mobile Boutique. The company complies with customer specifications and is able to manipulate material into a high-quality product. The company is innovative and able to read a customer designed product. It collects, analysis, organises and critically evaluates information about the material, tools and equipment, identified and selected for production of craft products.
• Mr Lunga Smangaliso Aphomo Ntuli, director of LN Watches. The brand aims to make each watch relate to a story depicting the spirit of the Zulu nation. Our team – 90% young African women –has mastered the art of crafting African watch straps with a variety of beads.
• Ms Slu Mokoena, director of Sluvin Design. Over the past 10 years, a noticeable change has developed in the South African fashion design sector. Rather than merely adopting international designs, fashion designers have creatively adapted their designs to create a South African identity. Local brands have become increasingly popular in Europe, many of them reflecting the unique cultural blend of South Africa.
Take one old church, add some vision and creativity, and the result is a harmonious fusion of historic and modern architecture – a community gym, not just for getting fit, but for members to work, meet and socialise
The nave of the Berea Presbyterian Church is bathed in light glowing through the beautiful stained-glass windows, filling the space with heavenly grace. Looking up towards the vaulted ceiling today there’s a chance you will feel the same celestial connection worshippers felt back in 1886. That was the year the red brick building was constructed and its architects could surely not have imagined how elegantly it would be repurposed almost 150 years later.
Ten years ago the Presbyterian flock shrunk so much the church on the corner of Manning and Berea Roads was sold, prompting some locals to fuss and cluck. Wither the church they wailed: a victim of the times and urban decay creeping up the hill from downtown Durban.
Glenwood is valiantly resisting degradation and there are some stalwarts in the battle, beacons of hope, holding the line against crime and grime. Today the old church is one such magnificent monument to property investment on the Berea.
While others are struggling against a tide of litter seldom swept away, the church sparkles. It is a light, bright and tidy place and at the heart of a splendid redevelopment.
In 2012 the building was sold to property entrepreneur Ahmed Hansa, who also bought the adjoining property on Lena Ahrens Road. Among those commissioned in the revamp was interior designer Craig Bennett of Bennett Interior Design Studio.
The adjacent building was demolished, the church was meticulously preserved, and an
entirely new modern building was constructed, bolted on to the old one to create 1st Fitness, possibly the smartest new gym in town.
The facility now boasts over 1 000 members. It has two levels of secure parking – one level exclusively for women who have their own private entrance to the gym.
A host of features include a dedicated indoor cycling room, one of the largest weight lifting floor areas in Durban, a below ground “dungeon for mixed martial arts and boxing”, a health
coffee shop, lounge, rock climbing wall, aerobics studio for ladies only, an outdoor running track, kiddies playroom and 24/7 security.
Bennett describes 1st Fitness as a destination, and Hansa, also a supplier of gym equipment (Fitness Warehouse), has ensured that 1st Fitness is kitted out with state-of-theart equipment.
To build on to the church involved sinking foundations 14m deep. Specialist craftsmen toiled to conserve the church’s key elements. Its wooden trusses were bolstered and the windows and masonry repaired.
The result is a harmonious fusion of historic and modern architecture, with huge windows allowing light to flood into the exercise space.
Says Bennett: “This was an extraordinary opportunity to be involved in a one-of-a-kind project that Durban had never seen before. Our client was very involved and had an infectious energy that made the creative process extremely dynamic.
“Being an independent gym, I was given the opportunity to design without limitations, and encouraged to
challenge my own preconceptions of what a gym should be. Our aim was to create a community gym not only as a space for physical fitness, but a space for members to work, meet and socialise.
“The overall aesthetic success of the project is that if the old church building and the new modern addition were to be separated, they could just as easily stand as independent buildings on their own architectural merits.”
Hansa’s property portfolio began with a refurbishment project off Musgrave Road almost 30 years ago. Since then he has renovated a host of buildings, including Berea Court, an Art Deco gem that has won several
place at the right time and to have the partners that I have, like TUHF (the property financing company). The gym turned out to be all I wanted it to be. Training here brings people great joy. It is a happy place, a home away from home.
“It is a bold contrast between old architecture and new, giving a respectful nod to the building’s history and a new lease of life by promoting health and wellness. It is a unique project representing a generous investment in the development of the Berea we are proud of.”
Hansa said Durban’s Berea had inherent value. “It is central, convenient and has a lot of great community amenities. The returns in renovating here are much higher than investing in new builds in uMhlanga, for example. And it is much quicker to refurb than build from scratch. There are challenges, but there are challenges everywhere.
accolades for its restoration.
“I get great pleasure turning buildings around,” Hansa said. “I have been lucky to be at the right
“We’ve got involved in the UIP and other initiatives. Many people want to live in a cocoon and that’s just not feasible. There are poverty and development challenges all around us and we must apply ourselves to them as best we can. I thank God for the opportunities I have in my space.” *
FOR MORE INFO https://1stfitness.co.za/
“It is a bold contrast between old architecture and new, giving a respectful nod to the building’s history and a new lease of life by promoting health and wellness”
Hammarsdale and Cato Ridge are well positioned to benefit from the massive multi-billionrand N3 upgrades being undertaken by the South African National Roads Agency Limited, which while delayed for more than a decade. The upgrade is primarily aimed at entrenching the Port of Durban as a key export/import hub for the country and much of southern Africa.
The growth rests on a handful of key elements that the area possesses, namely flat erven, uncomplicated access to energy, and the fact that Cato Ridge is the first place outside the port precinct where all three forms of mass transport intersect – the N3 for road, freight rail infrastructure, and Transnet’s multipurpose pipeline.
A leading voice in the areas growth is the Hammarsdale Cato Ridge Development Association (HCRDA), a firm-led initiative that draws on leadership and expertise of individuals from a broad range of firms, the community and eThekwini Municipality. The association consists of 52 members employing in excess of 9 000 people.
John White, CEO of the HCRDA said the green shoots that the area is producing are “exciting” and bode well for the future.
“Logistic firms based in this area save more than an hour in travel time to Johannesburg, and you can better manage access to Bayhead (Port of Durban). Furthermore, operators based here are able to deal directly with Eskom which brings reduced costs as onward selling municipalities always add a mark-up. This saving alone for a power-hungry enterprise is massive,” said White.
The HCRDA’s vision, said White, is to advance Hammarsdale and Cato Ridge as a “desirable place to work and live, thereby supporting growth, employment and transformation”.
This vision can be seen taking shape in just a sample of the new developments underway.
For instance, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed RCL Foods, which owns the brand Rainbow Chickens, is reintroducing the second shift at its primary processing plant in Cato Ridge as well as pursing the development of broiler out growers which will strengthen the entire agri-value chain.
Meanwhile the Newlyn Group –whose focus is on creating “efficient storage facilities in close proximity to coastal and inland logistics hubs” –has a development underway for an approximately 20-hectare logistics and
A key intermodal logistics region on the outskirts of eThekwini has steadily grown over the last decade, and, writes Jonathan Erasmus, it is positioned to benefit from key state-led infrastructural developments that are finally starting to take shape
light industry complex.
Also, in August container and shipping giant Maersk completed its first phase in the development of their Cato Ridge reefer depot. They have built a 25 000m² reefer depot to handle refrigerated and non-refrigerated containers with a further 15 000m² to be developed at a later stage.
Furthermore, JSE-listed multinational Pepkor and owner of the Pep chain store, is close to completing its R1,5-billion logistics hub at Keystone Business Park. Pepkor joins a host of other major household name companies already based in the region such as Ackermans, Mr Price Group, and Value Logistics.
It is no coincidence that all of this is taking place within close proximity to the proposed dry port, sometimes
referred to as an inland port.
The eThekwini Metropolitan has for over a decade included the development of the dry port in its
The South African National Roads Agency is currently on a massive R28-billion drive to upgrade the N3 and N2 leading towards Durban. The N3 is, however, a priority as it is South Africa’s main freight and logistics corridor linking the country’s busiest port to Gauteng. The Port of Durban accounts for 40% of the country’s imports and exports, of which 80% is transported to Gauteng. The N3 is also a vital link to the rest of southern Africa.
There are currently three active projects on this stretch, namely from Cato Ridge to Dardanelles’ Interchange (often referred to as the Umlaas Road Interchange); the Dardanelles’ Interchange to Lynnfield Park; and Lynnfield Park to Ashburton.
All of these sections have been identified as bottlenecks. The upgrades, estimated to be the combined cost of R4-billion, will see the roads widened to between four and six lanes. The N3 on this key route carries an estimated 50 000 vehicles a day. These three projects began in 2021 and are expected to run for at least another two years.
Meanwhile SANRAL has published a tender notice for the development and construction of the stretch of road from the Hammarsdale Interchange to towards the BP Ridge Oasis Convenience Centre.
At the forefront of the dry port initiative is the Cato Ridge Logistics Hub Consortium.
The consortium’s CEO Warwick Lord, who has been involved in the process for nearly a decade, told KZN Invest that the scale and size of the proposed dry port has “never been attempted before on the African continent”.
Lord said while the shipping industry and import/export volumes have grown considerably over several decades, the Durban port’s handling capacity has not, leading to regular port delays. He said this has created the need for an “intermodal or dry port solution” that would ease congestion.
Integrated Development Plan noting it as a “catalyst for the Cato Ridge nodal development” capable of creating jobs and driving the local economy.
Lord said the consortium has four main focus areas. These are: the development of a truck stop and staging hub to control access to both the Cato
Operators based here are able to deal directly with Eskom which brings reduced costs as onward selling municipalities always add a mark-up
Ridge Dry Port and the Durban port; the development of an intermodal facility whereby goods can be stored and transferred between road and rail; the development of logistic and industrial parks; and a tank farm to store carbon-based products such as petroleum.
“In order to get a collaborative project like this off the ground, there are many, many role players who have to perform their function,” said Lord.
He said SANRAL has done its part and has co-designed and co-obtained all the required approvals for the construction of the proposed R1,8-billion N3 KwaXimba Interchange development which would then accelerate the dry port development.
“There are discussions currently ongoing with the National Treasury, the eThekwini Metropolitan and the Department of Transport to finalise the funding of the interchange. We have also been advised that the Office of the Presidency is now involved in facilitating this process,” said Lord.
The CRLHC is also in the process of taking over the Catcon (Cato Ridge Container) rail siding after the
conclusion of a long-term lease and operational agreements with Transnet.
Lord said in terms of this agreement, the CRLHC is in the process of developing a road to rail terminal which would facilitate the large-scale rail movement of containers between Cato Ridge and the Durban port. They are expected to take over the operations of the railway line in Cato Ridge within the next six months. The line is currently operated by the parastatal Transnet Freight Rail.
White said he hoped that state-owned entities will continue to be open to mutually beneficial partnerships.
“This privately run inland rail terminal is a catalyst to get companies to locate here. The dry port is going to be realised in a staged approach. There is often the expectation that it will suddenly happen but instead it will grow as the infrastructure allows for it,” said White. *
On November 10 the HCRDA hosted the Outer West Investment Conference as part of its strategy to help businesses connect at a highlevel networking event. For more information visit https://www.hcrda.org/activities.
Across the country concerned citizens and organisations are increasingly collaborating through entities such as Business Chambers, Special Rating Areas, Urban Improvement Precincts and Ratepayers Associations. The Outer West of Durban is no different with the Hammarsdale Cato Ridge Development Association (HCRDA) being formed in January 2021, comprising 16 members.
Its vision was and is to make Hammarsdale and Cato Ridge a better place to work and live, thereby supporting growth, employment, and transformation. Less than two years on, with 52 members, including four Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed members, it has made a number of strides towards this vision.
Activities to date include: 1 000m² of road has been repaired, 6 000 local work seekers are listed on a free-touse recruitment platform, regular engagements with local councillors and civil servants take place, South African Police Service and Community Policing Forums are supported, all major access routes are covered by Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, local black-owned Small Medium and Micro Enterprises are registered on a directory and HCRDA has made numerous connections with these SMMEs and its members, regular expert presentations and peer visits support innovation and greater collaboration amongst members.
www.hcrda.org | info@hcrda.org | 087 147 2531
“Westown is the new city of the west – a ground-breaking, locally-driven initiative that connects people with spaces and experiences, bringing new opportunities to live, work and thrive,” says Carlos Correia, CEO of Fundamentum.
The Shongweni area has a unique character in terms of its topography and history. Borrowing from the natural beauty of the area, characterised by extensive green spaces and outdoor pastimes, this is a place that will develop organically and according to the needs of the people who live there.
The upgrade of Kassier Road is long overdue and the commitment by the city to the funding of this work has enabled Westown to begin development. This upgrade, along with supporting bulk infrastructure (water, wastewater, electricity) has been triggered by the first phase of Westown’s development.
A retail high-street offering with open and convenient spaces that connect people to shopping, dining, commercial and recreational amenities, this project is widely recognised as a catalyst for the upliftment of the entire region.
“Supported by all three spheres of government, as well as the leadership from surrounding communities and local businesses, we are grateful for the patience and belief of our neighbours and stakeholders, who are working with us to ensure Westown becomes a true asset for the area.
“As part of Fundamentum’s commitment to the long-term success of Westown, The Westown Foundation has been set up to facilitate and amplify local socio-economic opportunities that the development will create in the surrounding communities,” concludes Correia.
Rob McInerney and Peter Edmonds of Share-List Property have been focusing on industrial and logistics properties in the Upper Highway areas of the N3 Corridor, around Hammarsdale and Cato Ridge, for nearly 15 years.
They have developed strong relationships with most of the property owners, as well as the large developers such as the Cato Ridge Logistics Hub Consortium, Keystone Park, Hammarsdsale Industrial Park and Spurwing Park.
They also have a lot of complementary business experience and are therefore well placed to assist you in finding the property that best suits your needs whether it is for warehousing, factories, truck staging or vacant land for development.
As industrial and logistics property specialists, they strongly believe that the N3 Corridor is the best location for access, via road and rail networks, to the current Durban port but more importantly to the Cato Ridge Dry Port and the rest of the country.
The availability of well-priced zoned industrial and logistics land, with power directly from Eskom, further enhances the attractiveness of the N3 Corridor.
Their passion for and knowledge of the area has assisted them to sell and lease more industrial and logistics property in Hammarsdale and Cato Ridge than all other brokerages combined, and they would love to assist you with your specific requirements in the area.
They have well priced rental and purchase options in some of the older industrial parks as well as options for state-of-the-art turnkey developments within the newer and proposed logistics precincts.
Catchway Properties first invested in Hammarsdale at the end of 2015, purchasing redundant Rainbow Chicken farms. At that time rumours had just started circling about Mr Price developing a DC in the area and a planned new interchange both of which promised to be major catalysts for development and interest in the area.
A few short years later and both are complete along with many other multi-million-rand projects, with things only set to get bigger and better. These investments, as well as others, have put a peg in the sand to mark a feasible and functional place to be and do business.
During this time, Catchway has developed our site from a single tenant to more than 15 other businesses – all new to the area. The planning for the Hammarsdale Industrial Park development has taken five years, but we finally got our SPLUMA approval with help from the eThekwini Development Unit.
The Catchway team employed from the area has increasingly grown in conjunction with their skills and abilities. Likewise, we have witnessed multiple employment and skills development opportunities come to local labour via the establishment of new businesses.
Major factors driving demand are space, size of sites, the cost to acquire land and infrastructure. A shortage of industrial land in areas like the Port, Riverhorse, Westmead, etc, are forcing developers and endusers alike to look elsewhere. A large part of the demand is for operations requiring large platformed sites such as logistics businesses, container depots, warehousing and vehicle storage, the likes of which are popping up in grand scale along the corridor.
Businesses are often looking for sites ranging from 10 000m² to over 100 000m² of single level platformed land which is hard to find. Hammarsdale and Cato Ridge provide some of the most practical and economical, natural land formations to accommodate platforms of this size and in quantity.
In terms of pricing, the outer west is offering serviced platformed sites from R1 000/m-R1 600/m compared to R2 500R3 000/m in some of the more developed industrial nodes, making it a lot more appetising to end-users as well as drawing in tenants to lower rental rates.
In a world beset by change and insecurity people crave certainty and security, especially for the things they hold dear. Which is why a Durban entrepreneur, Theo Moodley has created Capital Vaults
Moodley and angel investors have spent a small fortune creating what they describe as the “safer safety deposit box”, but might arguably be the safest safety deposit box system in South Africa.
Moodley is a chartered accountant with investments in a host of businesses. Three years ago he set about de-risking his house, an exercise that proved how perilously vulnerable our homes can be and why it makes supreme sense to get the valuables we store there away from us.
Keeping irreplaceable family heirlooms, jewels, cash, Krugerrands and important documentation makes our homes and businesses targets for smart and violent criminals. Everyone knows someone who has been robbed and Moodley didn’t want his young family to be a target. We often unthinkingly put the lives of our loved ones at risk by safeguarding the things they hold dear at home.
So Moodley looked around for somewhere to store his valuables. Everything he looked at didn’t measure up to his standards. In recent years the major banks have moved away from offering safety deposit boxes because of the risks associated with keeping them.
And so Capital Vaults was born. But where to locate it?
Consider a place situated on a standalone site, with only one way in and one way out. It is a place with exceptionally strong and state-of-the-art security 24/7. The answer? A casino.
The company signed a 20-year lease
to house Capital Vaults in the Sibaya casino complex. The company won’t divulge where in the complex they are housed, but create a mental picture of a vault with impenetrable thick steel walls somewhere in the concrete reinforced basement. It is a place with a three-phase physical entrance and an ingenious, bespoke Swedish engineered access system – all of which humans seldom get sight of.
In collaboration with Gunnebo, a global security leader headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, and founded in 1764, Capital Vaults has created a world-class robotic system that almost eradicates human interface and is completely keyless. The company spent years working with IT engineers developing a bespoke access to the safe, Gunnebo’s South Africa Sales Director, Gail Carew said.
Moodley says the system is engineered to eliminate risks associated with human intervention. “We wanted a system that was automated and independent of people who can be put under pressure and potentially crack. To sign up you call our customer service centre. All we need is a name, a bank card and your fingerprint. We don’t need to know you and we certainly don’t want to know what is in your safety deposit box.”
The system combines technology and anonymity. The advanced user identification involves a card reader, three levels of authentication.
This is how it works: To access your deposit box you go into one of two
secure privacy suites available – a private lounge in the casino. Entry is via card (any bank card works), biometric fingerprint and numeric password. Once alone inside the suite you approach a console on a terminal where you input the same data again.
Capital Vaults customers carry no cards or branded insignia identifying the company, which dramatically reduces the risk of them being targeted.
Once your card, pin and fingerprint
have been entered into the system it initiates the robotic sequence that engages with your Secure Automated Boxes or SABs. Your safety deposit box is extracted from the vault and within a minute it emerges and the terminal opens.
The robotics has located the box associated with a unique user ID. Once you have engaged with the contents of your box, it locks and transports your box back into the vault.
No one can gain access to the vaults even if they were under duress
Customers have access to four different sized boxes, which are dubbed silver, gold, platinum and diamond and vary in size, and are capable of holding 10kg, 15kg, 20kg and 25kg. An example of how big the silver box is – it holds 294 Kruger Coins.
Monthly rental of the boxes range between R379 and R1 039, and there are no contracts and no joining fees. Given the location of Capital Vaults, access is available 24/7/365. No documentation is required to open a safety deposit box.
A silver size box is adequately sized to store a will, birth certificates, ID documents and other essential documentation. Customers remain completely anonymous and never have to identify themselves to anyone. There is no record of customer transactions. Part of Capital Vault’s pledge is that computerised robotics will never steal from you.
While the system is fully automated with highly encrypted Swedish software, it has been refined and enhanced over 40 years from one of the leading vault companies in the world. The key differentiator of Capital Vaults is that when humans have to get
involved, the system requires a unique six eye security protocol. Humans only enter the vault under exceptional circumstances and when they do, three people or six eyes have to be present including a Capital Vaults employee, a Gunnebo staffer and a Capital Vaults head of security. Everything they do in the vault is transmitted live to Gunnebo’s office in Germany and is recorded.
An example of when humans have to enter the vault might be in the case of an emergency, death or disability. If a customer has stored valuables in his or her safety deposit box and is involved in a fatal car crash, they will have left instructions for who can access the vault along with an inventory of what is in their box. If that inventory is disputed, the six-eye protocol is engaged and the box is inspected by three unconnected and independent people and video of that process is transmitted live to Germany. The system cannot be manipulated and has been stress tested around the world. In addition, no one can gain access to the vaults – not even Moodley himself if he were put under duress to do so.
FOR MORE INFO http://capitalvaults.com/#video
Scan the QR code to learn more about how to de-risk your home
Jacques Celliers strides across the stage in downtown Joburg to applause from a jubilant crowd. Dressed in jeans and takkies, topped with an open-necked shirt and smart jacket, Celliers looks more like a tech boss about to unveil a glitzy gizmo than the CEO of South Africa’s biggest bank by market cap preparing to pull the wraps off … a new corporate logo.
It’s a perception not far from the truth. FNB has come a long way from its humble origins as a single branch in Grahamstown 184 years ago to an outfit that now employs 40 000, has almost 11-million customers and pre-tax profits this year of over R28-billion.
Celliers and his management team forgo stiff suits and ceremony in favour of innovation, an approach they insist goes beyond appearances, despite last month’s event ostensibly being all about giving their iconic acacia tree logo a modern makeover.
It was a whizz-bang event with lots of noise courtesy of towering bass speakers, singers and dancers, complete with social influencers pouting up a storm to further underline the tech launch vibes.
But behind the hoo-ha seems to be a sincere and deeply rooted bid to connect an expanding ecosphere rich in customer data. According to Celliers and other speakers at the event, they’re pivoting to being an advice-led, rather than product-led company, a process they have dubbed “beyond banking”.
And technology is very much front and centre of that transition. For more than a decade, FNB has been the South African trailblazer in a trend called platform banking. Deloitte defines it as a digital marketplace, owned and operated by a bank or another entity, that provides banking and, possibly, non-banking services.
At the heart of FNB’s platform aspirations is its smartphone app which serves as a portal to an ever-multiplying suite of products and services the bank is using to connect the dots between their customers’ day-to-day activities and their aspirations and goals.
The bank revealed a slew of improvements to the app at its logo launch event. Customers can now personalise their experience by customising its home screen and selecting frequently used or preferred features.
App users can also view a snapshot of their transactional accounts, credit,
With a few taps, customers can now split a bill, while businesses can receive contactless payments easily and safely on their android smart devices without the need for a separate point-of-sale device.
“We continue to facilitate our customers’ journey from analogue to digital and digital to platform. We’re excited to see millions of our customers embracing the migration to more accessible, user-friendly, and safer interfaces,” says Celliers.
“Our digital interfaces have become a one-stop shop for customers’ financial and lifestyle needs, with over three billion transactions and 1,6-billion digital interactions over the past 12 months. Likewise, we recognise that fraud is a reality in our society, and we are continuously enhancing our measures to assist millions of our digitally active customers in mitigating these risks.”
Another major pivot has been from offering disparate banking and investment products to an integrated advice strategy.
investments, insurance, and valueadded services. In addition, the search function has been improved to help customers find services much quicker. Similar enhancements are being made to the internet banking channel.
The bank also introduced Money Protect, which it describes as an “industry-first” offering of free insurance cover for certain fraudrelated losses when using interfaces such as the FNB App and ATMs.
There’s also a strong focus on payments systems, with FNB Pay now the payments umbrella in the FNB App.
As part of this, says Raj Makanjee, CEO of FNB Retail and Private Banking, private bankers will evolve into private advisors who will be “equipped and accredited to provide integrated advice to help clients unlock cashflow in transact and lend activities thus enabling them to save and invest more and protect their assets and loved ones”.
Traditionally, private banking was mostly about providing personalised services for day-to-day client needs, he adds. “We’re evolving our approach towards providing integrated advice across the banking, lending, investment and insurance needs of our clients.”
In line with its refined segment strategy and growth ambitions, FNB
FNB is branching out –and the bank has just introduced the next step on its platform journey write Greg Ardé and Alan Cooper
Our digital interfaces have become a one-stop shop for customers’ financial and lifestyle needs, with over three billion transactions and 1,6-billion digital interactions over the past 12 months
recently announced new leadership in its retail business.
Within the overarching FNB retail operations Lytania Johnson is now CEO of the Personal segment and Sizwe Nxedlana CEO of the Private segment.
Makanjee has since 2018 had dual responsibilities as CEO of the overall retail segment and FirstRand Chief Digital Officer (CDO). He retains his retail CEO role until June 30, 2023, at which time he will transition to the dedicated group CDO position.
Nxedlana says the leadership team is encouraged by the conversations and feedback around the recent FNB brand refresh.
“It affirms that our brand resonates strongly with our customers, employees and stakeholders in the various markets we operate in. The refresh has also helped us remain relevant and create a versatile brand that aligns with our transition of helping customers with solutions that transcend beyond banking.
“While we continue on this journey we remain deeply rooted in our brand heritage, which is defined by our timeless purpose of help.”
Another aspect of the bank’s growth which got less play than the logo
and app enhancements was the organisation’s strong financials and its reach into Africa. A few standouts in SA include: profit before tax increase of 23%; deposits increase of 13%; and overall transaction volume increase of 14%.
The bank’s commercial segment also delivered strong results, with just under 300 000 new business accounts. Its broader Africa activities buoyed FNB’s overall performance from its operations in countries such as Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini and Zambia. FNB said there was continued rebound in Mozambique and maturity in its Ghana bank. *
A top-end location for a top-end workforce – that’s Rewardsco Investments’ new R300-million operations centre in uMhlanga Ridge, which was officially launched earlier this month
Speaking at the roof wetting of Block A – the third of the operations centres to have been built over the past eight years – founder and executive chairperson of Rewardsco Investments, Michael Steenfeldt-Kristensen, said the vision for the three-building campus that was now complete was a perfect fit with the strong growth of the business.
“We always intended growing this business exponentially. But, to accommodate this, we had to have the right premises. We have now built three buildings that are all P-Grade and 5-Star rated and have created a beautiful campus for our employees to enjoy,” he pointed out.
“This is a strong endorsement of our belief in KZN and eThekwini, as well
as in uMhlanga. When you collect a lot of similar businesses into an area, you create a centre of gravity which attracts a multitude of clients from different geographies. That puts you on the map. But if you stand up as a high-calibre business like we do, we believe this can only be a positive thing,” he said.
Dylan Koen, group commercial director at Rewardsco, added that the new operations centre was an investment in job creation and a reflection that the company remained strong even during turbulent economic times.
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is seen as an important job creator for South African youth, and according to StatsSA, by the end of the second quarter of this year, youth unemployment was
63,9% for those aged between 15 and 24, nearly twice the national unemployment rate of 34,5% and more than four times the global average of 13,6%.
Of the 275 000 people currently employed in the call centre space nationally, 57 000 reside in KwaZuluNatal. Rewardsco is one of the biggest single employers at 2 000, with more than 1 200 jobs likely to become available in the near future.
“We have capacity for about 600 consultants now – which will take us to over 2 500 nationally,” he said. Further international contracts that are expected to come on stream next year could boost this to 3 200.
Koen said the Rewardsco campus –with its three operation centres joined by impressive sky bridges – was a
contribution towards making KZN more competitive nationally in the business services sector.
Up until now, the company has focused on South African clients. However, the investment in a third operations centre marked a strategic move towards international markets, especially the United Kingdom, North America and Australia.
“It makes sense to pursue business growth opportunities within the global business services space. We’d be remiss not to capitalise on these because they represent new business lines that offer greater volumes than those that are likely to emerge domestically,” Koen explained.
He said the creation of a night shift component would enable Rewardsco to fully utilise its current assets while servicing countries operating in different time zones.
Koen said that the creation of a sophisticated operational facility such as this went hand-in-hand with investment in skills development and staff retention, offering long-term career development prospects rather than just entry-level jobs.
The five levels of floor space in Block A, and adjoining Rewardsco facilities, feature spacious cubicles, comfy chill areas and restaurant facilities set within a sea-facing indigenous landscaped precinct. Other features include natural
light and an open, free-flow plan that fosters interaction and collaboration.
Koen said that this third large investment in infrastructure at a time when many other companies were tightening their belts, reflected the resilience of Rewardsco’s business model and the fact that the company is expected to grow by an average of 25% per annum for the next five years.
Rewardsco’s entrepreneurial journey began in 1996 with a focus on loyalty and incentive programmes that were
outsourced to it by major brands such as Pick n Pay and ABSA. By 2010, it employed 71 agents. Two key factors underpinned the company’s growth, according to Koen.
The first was the pandemic which changed market dynamics and increased demand for products offered by Rewardsco and partners such as Vodacom, MTN and Telkom.
The second was diversification. “We invested heavily into online and digital whereby we created our own lead generation business which is now a Google premium partner. This has allowed us to augment our business as a telecommunications reseller. This side of our business – known as www.mondo. co.za – has grown by nearly 400%, which is significant,” he said.
Looking to the future, Koen said inbuilt features within the Rewardsco campus proactively addressed potential challenges to growth. Each building is fully prepared and equipped when it comes to emergency infrastructure, and each has its own generator to ensure that services will not be interrupted during electricity outages.
Rewardsco remains a good destination for foreign business to outsource operations, offering a high-quality service at a reasonable cost. Right now, our business is on an exponential growth curve and this will continue over the next few years. We are not only expanding our local footprint but also our footprint overseas. So, in five years’ time, we expect to have a very active proprietary business and BPO business,” Steenfeldt-Kristensen concluded.
FOR MORE INFO www.rewardsco.com
The creation of a night shift component would enable Rewardsco to fully utilise its current assets while servicing countries operating in different time zonesExecutive chairperson of Rewardsco Investments, Michael SteenfeldtKristensen, and executive director of Rewardsco Investments, Fathima Dildar, cut the ribbon on the company’s third building at its uMhlanga-based campus.
The brains trust of the King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) is set on positioning the precinct as a viable alternative to other international airports in the country, in an effort to “foster global connectivity” and increase the province’s standing as a gateway to Africa.
While still operating at below prepandemic levels, between April and June 2022, 20 033 passengers arrived from international destinations, according to Thulisile Galelekile, the co-chair of the Route Development Committee.
She said the airport had a total of 338 international flights that either landed or departed over the same three-month period. Over and above the big three airlines – Emirates, Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways – there were regular flights to Harare, with more on the way, said Galelekile.
“Currently Airlink operates between Harare and Durban. This was launched in April and flies four times a week. The team is also in negotiation with Swazi Airline for the Swaziland/Durban route given the number of tourists into KZN from Swaziland. This is still pending necessary approvals.”
The Route Development Committee was established by the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government in 2019 and comprises officials from Tourism KZN, Dube TradePort, the Airports Company South Africa, Trade & Investment KZN,
In a country blessed with an embarrassment of natural riches, tourism is regarded as an “easy” economic multiplier; a business that can create employment opportunities relatively quickly. But Covid whacked the hospitality industry. We spoke to a host of experts about tourism priorities. These reports by Jonathan Erasmus, Lyse Comins, Matthew Hattingh and Shirley le Guern
“Given the strategic role played by KSIA in strengthening the South Africa value proposition, KZN is planning to develop this airport into an alternate aviation hub that will foster global connectivity of the KwaZulu-Natal region. This is [significant] given the strategic location of KZN with the two ports [of Durban and Richards Bay] that will help in terms of strengthening our positioning as a gateway to Africa,” said Galelekile.
The team was “deliberate” in driving the positioning, she said, and that KSIA should not simply be considered a secondary aviation hub, but a viable alternative.
“The team plans to further leverage Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone and the aerotropolis to position the airport as an engine for industrial development in the KZN region and a global investment, tourism, trade and aviation hub. A key and critical component of the strategic intent is the air connectivity.
“As a consequence of such, ACSA is part of Durban Direct, a multi-entity committee whose task is to drive and co-ordinate the promotion of air services into King Shaka International Airport. The strategy has proven to be a viable one for the province, as evident in the strides made by the province – prior to Covid-19 – in getting more airlines to fly into KSIA.
“Post-Covid, we are starting to see the numbers come back and the team will continue to work together to ensure more airlines fly into the province,” said Galelekile.
Nkosinathi Myataza, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) regional
general manager for KwaZulu-Natal, said it was the multi-entity approach that led to the success of bringing the likes of British Airways direct flights from London Heathrow to KSIA.
While British Airways has since withdrawn due to the Covid-19 pandemic induced lockdowns, Myataza said they are currently investing in marketing in the United Kingdom in order to “accelerate the recovery of air travel demand” from the UK.
“British Airways will likely return to KSIA,” said Myataza.
In August, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) published its findings on tourism and migration for the month of June. The data was collected by the Department of Home Affairs at the country’s ports of entry and exit.
Stats SA said that 399 550 international tourists who spent one or more nights in South Africa, passed through the country’s various ports of entry. Of this number, 115 615 arrived by air. It said that KSIA was the third biggest airport in terms of international passenger arrivals. The report further said that the majority of tourists arriving at the airport were from Europe and Asia. The two largest nationality groups were from the United Kingdom and India.
Myataza said the impact of Covid-19 to “our industry was devastating”, but that it also “propelled ACSA to ensure sustainability of the business and become increasingly agile”.
“We embarked on a recover and sustain strategy, coupled with a revision of the company’s governance framework and operating model. Sadly, our recovery efforts were further disrupted by the fatal floods, and while we as an airport experienced minor damage to our infrastructure and operations, the impact to our province of which we form a critical component to, was detrimental. Together with our tourism trade partners and government entities, we have made inroads in our robust efforts to rebuilding our region as a destination of choice for both leisure and business travel.”
According to Emirates Southern Africa’s regional manager, Afzal Parambil, Emirates operates five flights to and from KSIA every week.
“With Emirates’ five weekly flights, we are still not operating at prepandemic levels. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, we operated daily flights to and from KSIA. However, we are currently operating at 70% of those levels. As travel demand continues to take shape, we will continue to review our network operations and will adjust
schedules to respond accordingly, taking into consideration other operational factors. Globally, Emirates has resumed passenger services to over 130 destinations, recovering close to 90% of our pre-pandemic network,” said Parambil.
He said that travel demand had been “consistently high throughout this year to compensate for the lack of travel in the last two years”.
“Furthermore, we continue to see surges of traffic during peak seasons for KZN travellers, including the European summer holidays as well as religious holidays. We hope to reinstate our full flying schedule of daily flights as soon as commercial and operating conditions allow. We want to continue maintaining healthy loads and traffic to and from KSIA to ensure we can rebuild our operations fully to Durban.”
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) a key factor affecting the aviation sector is the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which is driving up the cost of jet fuel and therefore ticket prices.
“For airlines, the increase in jet fuel prices represents a major challenge as this cost typically accounts for 20-25% of total operational costs. The jet fuel price rose by more than 70% during the first six months of 2022, marking one of the steepest increases since at least 2002, and causing unprecedent pressure in terms of cost management for the airline industry,” said the IATA.
However the IATA is also bullish on demand, buoyed by the reduction in Covid-19 travel restrictions. It also noted that in June, international air traffic between Africa and Europe and the Middle-East were close to pre-pandemic levels.
Duncan Heafield: National spokesman, Hospitality, Entertainment, Leisure Industries Association of SA
Visitors will return in numbers; consumer confidence is bound to bounce back. But there are no quick fixes. It will take time and effort and we must get the basics right.
That’s the cautiously optimistic view of Duncan Heafield, national spokesman for the Hospitality, Entertainment, Leisure Industries Association of SA.
Heafield, who is also the owner of the popular Bellézar Beach Cafe on the uMhlanga promenade, mentioned a
recent meme – KZNilience – to sum up the general mood.
“We have shown we have the resilience to get through the most arduous times,” he said, adding that the series of storms – natural and otherwise – that KZN has weathered in recent years reminded us of the value of working together.
Infrastructure was severely depleted – and bridges, roads, beaches and other basics must be put right if we are to make ourselves attractive to visitors and investors.
“We need public-private partnerships to repair structures. Before Covid we were reporting potholes. We’ve now realised if we don’t fix it ourselves we won’t have roads at all,” he said, adding it was “great that communities are rallying together.”
Tourism was not isolated from the wider world and Heafield called on owners and operators to get involved in civic matters – “what’s needed in their specific community related to their industry”.
“In uMhlanga you have a lagoon that doesn’t have fish,” he said, referring to the UPL chemical spill during the looting and subsequent contamination of the beaches.
“When beaches are closed, how can anyone trade?”
Assisting communities builds huge support, he said, “that spirit of ubuntu is desperately needed at the moment.”
The tourism industry must continue to build the domestic market, he said, suggesting the international market and five-star establishments would take
longer to recover.
If made tourism minister, Heafield would fix the ministry’s “very bad” communication, including the way it makes policy without talking to those affected by it.
Brett Tungay: KZN chairperson, Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa
“Our roads are in a shocking state, especially in rural areas like the Drakensberg. The road from Oliviershoek Pass – the R74 to Bergville and Winterton – which is the alternative route into the province if Van Reenen’s Pass is
The contractor who attempted to fix it did a poor job and all the tar is pulling off the road. The road is now closed to heavy vehicles because of safety concerns.
“The other big issue is water. The quality of our water at Durban beaches needs to be sorted out. There are constantly reports of high levels of E.coli which does not help us to attract tourists. Surfers and paddlers have complained that they have got sick after being in the water. There are also problems of erratic or no water supply in some parts of the province such as the KZN South Coast which the government needs to urgently resolve.
“Tourists also need to feel safe when walking around so we really need to look at improving our safety and security in key areas frequented by tourists, especially when it comes to crimes such as mugging.”
Sadha Naidoo: CEO, Calypso Group
“The growth of tourism in KZN requires a strong focus on the three pillars as defined in the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan – protecting and rejuvenating supply, reigniting demand, and strengthening enabling capability for long-term sustainability. Critical and relevant in our province would be growing the MICE market (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions), domestic tourism and embracing new travel trends, for example, ‘staycations’, ‘bleisure’ and tech empowered travel. A co-ordinated and integrated approach will ensure we restore our tourism sector.”
Mel Ntombela: Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu Community Tourism Organisation
Tax breaks, rates reductions and other government incentives and support are needed to help KZN tourism find its feet, says Mel Ntombela.
Ntombela, who chairs the Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu Community Tourism Organisation, said they had lost nearly half their members since 2019.
Members – now numbering about 35
– were mainly owners of accommodation establishments, tour operators and guides. They have long counted on visitor interest in the area’s cultural and historical landmarks, notably the Gandhi settlement, Inanda Seminary and Ohlange Institute. But Covid kept tourists away and they have been slow to return.
The owner of a travel business himself, Ntombela reckons full recovery may take two to three years and will require sustained marketing, directed at individuals, operators and agents.
He pointed out that people typically take six months to plan a holiday, so industry bodies, businesses and the government must get the message out that: “We are still here. We are still a destination of choice. We are ready for business.”
Rebuilding confidence in KZN and whetting the travelling public’s appetite for its many charms was only part of the answer, though. Ensuring affordability was vital too.
Ntombela pointed out that the economic climate remained chilly. Domestic tourists were cash-strapped, while soaring airfares were keeping foreign visitors away.
Oil price shocks which had driven up travel costs were the consequence of distant events, beyond the sway of the government. However, the authorities could play a direct role in making KZN more affordable by assisting businesses.
“The government really needs to come in big,” he said, “we are looking at things like tax breaks and incentives. We need to look at (municipal) rates; government should assist businesses to reduce their prices for tourism. People don’t have a lot of money to travel, so we need to be offering good prices.”
“Now that the world is fully open and the tourism sector is back in full force we are focusing our efforts on regaining our international markets. We would like to get our international arrivals, especially from key source markets, back to where we were pre-Covid 19.
“We have also learnt a lot about our domestic market over the past two years. We want to ensure that locals continue to be excited to travel domestically and for KZN to remain a firm favourite for the domestic market. We want to keep diversifying our tourism offerings, so we continue to work closely with members of the tourism trade and government to get new tourism developments, especially in townships and rural areas. This will ensure the economic benefits are spread.”
There are investment opportunities in the tourism sector. There’s a lot of stock out there, so I don’t think new builds are a good thing – but I think that investing in our current infrastructure is. We are constantly refurbishing and I think that is what will set us apart from our competitors. We have a long-term view of the country, so we are already doing little things while others are waiting.”
ANEW, which manages properties in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Western Cape and North-West province, grew its business from four properties to 14 during the pandemic –and Armour says they are shopping for a property in Durban/uMhlanga to add to their portfolio.
The KZN North Coast has performed well and was already gaining momentum with the international market before Covid hit. It will continue on this trajectory once the market normalises.
Overall, Armour says KZN has outperformed the rest of the country as it remains the largest domestic tourism market.
Despite economic turbulence and petrol price hikes, he is confident the middle to upper segment of the
domestic market will still travel this year with many having saved for festive season getaways.
Already, small numbers of international tourists are returning – a trend that will gather momentum towards the end of the year.
As travel begins to stabilise during 2023, he is confident the local tourism sector will begin to return to preCovid levels. Groups will be smaller and overseas visitors will do more bookings, making a social media presence important. At the same time, tour operators and travel agents are rebuilding their businesses and it will be important to build new relationships.
but bad news travels quickly while the good variety takes time to catch up.
Linda Mncube, chief executive of the municipality’s economic development arm, Enterprise iLembe, said reassuring would-be visitors was central to efforts to bolster tourism in the district.
“We are ramping up our activities to get the message out that the area is attractive to tourism and investment. We are open for business and visitors,” he said.
Mncube said they were spreading the word, including by sharing marketing platforms with partners such as Tourism KZN.
He said messaging to domestic and international tourists sought to reassure them “in terms of safety and security”.
Linda
Mncube: Chief executive, Enterprise iLembe
The April floods walloped the iLembe District Municipality, knocking out infrastructure, including water supplies to areas around the popular seaside town of Ballito.
There’s never a good time for a disaster, but coming as it did on the eve of the Easter weekend was especially unfortunate. Visitors stayed away in numbers, compounding tourism industry Covid lockdown losses and a lingering hangover from last July’s looting.
Water supplies were soon restored,
While winning hearts and minds through marketing was important, Mncube said repairing infrastructure, especially roads, was crucial.
Maintaining infrastructure around the area’s beaches – “our main attractions” –was vital to recovery too, he said.
Beyond this, Enterprise iLembe was working with local municipalities to develop new attractions and products to spread the benefit of tourism to areas that previously had not benefitted. Here he mentioned work, still at the planning stage, to develop the hot springs in Maphumulo, on the Tugela River.
Such attractions would have the added benefit of giving visitors more to do, encouraging them to linger longer in iLembe. *
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Tourism entrepreneur Brett Gehren has learnt the hard way, but today runs four thriving lodges, has bounced back from the pandemic, and would like nothing more than for the government to raise the tourism flag for KZN
on their farm and by 2005 had built another two. They now run three lodges in northern KZN: Kosi Forest, Rhino Safari and Thonga Beach. They also run Tsowa Island on the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls.
In 2000 they successfully tendered for a site in Kruger National Park and built Rhino Post Safari Lodge and other properties which they sold in 2020.
It is well documented how Covid dramatically impacted the hospitality sector and Isibindi was amongst the many hit hard. But Gehren learnt valuable lessons in the pandemic. Deep relationships with long-serving staff meant he was able to navigate changes to working conditions to survive. It meant paying for time worked, rather than a salary, but with a profit share.
If anyone in government has ears to hear the real deal about tourism in KZN, they would do well to visit Brett Gehren, an entrepreneur from Dundee who runs four thriving high-end lodges that employ 155 people.
Gehren was a “jeep jockey” game ranger whose passion for tourism has helped him create a thriving business and expose thousands of tourists to the gems KZN has to offer.
A quick summary of 54-year-old Gehren’s story: after he did a commerce degree he worked as a game ranger with Mike Rattray. He followed that with a stint travelling abroad and returned home to work with his neighbour, Dave Rattray (and Mike Rattray’s son) at Fugitive’s Drift Lodge.
In 1992 Gehren and his wife Paige bought a small farm nearby on the Buffalo River and started Isibindi Rafters – isibindi being the isiZulu word for courage. The Gehrens built a lodge
What started out as a means to survive has become a mechanism for prosperity.
“Business is unbelievable right now. We were running at 80% capacity in July and those figures are not far from March. It is phenomenal. I expected we’d come back by July next year, but the rebound came a year earlier.”
Apart from moving salaries from a fixed to variable cost, Covid also opened up a new market. Before the pandemic lockdowns, about 80% of Isibindi’s patrons were foreigners. In lockdown, Isibindi dropped rates by 30% and lured in locals.
“It made us appreciate how strong the domestic market is and that we have to pay it more attention. During Covid, we couldn’t travel abroad and a lot of us realised what incredible places there are locally.”
Gehren believes the government should seize the opportunity to work more with the private sector to create more tourism offerings. Since 2015,
three new lodges have opened around Hluhluwe/Umfolozi, including one of Isibindi’s.
“There should be 20 or 30, not two or three. The government could do a lot more. They should privatise more. It can take up to 10 years to get a concession and build a lodge. It takes years to get permits to operate game vehicles. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has amazing assets. The Wilderness Trails, for example, could be running at five times the current capacity. The Hluhluwe/Umfolozi area should be like Kruger. Sanparks has done a great job of privatisation.
“There is an opportunity for tourism
“My dad ran the Toyota franchise and a petrol station in Dundee. I saw him operate tightly and grow with meagre assets. At Mala Mala, Mike Rattray was a hard taskmaster. He insisted people deliver the best possible service. Dave Rattray enchanted people by connecting them with beautiful places that have real impact.”
“Other than Isibindi’s three resorts I rate the Injisuthi mountains in the Drakensberg. I love walks at full moon along the Maputuland beaches and in the Umfolozi wilderness. I have slept on top of Isandlawana with my three sons. That was amazing. Kayaking down the Buffalo River is something. Walking in the Ntumeni Forest in Eshowe is fantastic. There are stunning places, but safety can be challenging at times.”
to fly in KZN but the government is slow and reluctant to offer private concessions. We made good progress with Ravi Pillay (as MEC for tourism) but he’s moved on and we’ll have to start from scratch. It is a bit disheartening when you consider the opportunities lost. Most of the private sector is committed to conservation and advancing the sector, but at the end of the day people have businesses to run so they can’t spend hours petitioning politicians.”
Gehren says tourism authorities have to do more than broadly promote the KZN brand and tourism. They have to help develop more products. At the heart of lasting, impactful tourism is community engagement. For Gehrens it is about dropping fences, literally and figuratively.
“Fences create the mentality of them and us. We have to integrate. It’s not easy and there are lots of challenges, but we have to get to a place where we all protect nature and wildlife instead of an us-and-them attitude.”
Tourism is not only about creating jobs, and Gehren would rather see better opportunities for people to grow. Apart from the people directly employed at Isibindi, the company has a host of service providers, local companies doing everything from providing curios to running transfers.
Guests rave, Gehren says, because the people they engage with are deeply invested in what they do. “Service is embedded in our psyche. We know tourism is our livelihood. The guests bring us money.”
Gehren says he’d rather employ “fewer people and let them shine than create more jobs for the sake of it and have people loitering around earning a measly salary”. “Our people make the business work. Sometimes fewer people with more responsibility are more efficient.
“I get excited about the opportunities we have and the community partnerships. It has created prosperity. I engage with four inkosi (tribal leaders) and any one of them might call me at any given time to say they have broken down and need help with a tow, for example. Corporates don’t do that sort of thing. Small businesses closely aligned with communities will do that. The government needs to open up more opportunities in tourism. There is a one in 10 success rate and people run out of patience and resources.” *
The lack of potable water in the area has often taken centre stage, as has poor service delivery from local authorities. This – combined with infrastructure challenges and corruption allegations – has made it tricky to market the region as a preferred destination to live, work and play.
The area comprises the local municipalities of Umdoni, Umzumbe, Ray Nkonyeni and uMuziwabantu, all falling within the Ugu District Municipality. Each has faced significant operational issues.
While the South Coast has floundered, the province’s North Coast has taken centre stage and is attracting an everincreasing number of investments. This has transformed former farmlands from uMhlanga to Salt Rock and created some of the most sought-after real estate in South Africa.
But there is resilience on the South Coast, and a renewed eagerness to change.
In Scottburgh, there is a multi-year rates dispute being led by residents tired of poor service delivery, while in Port Edward, concerned residents undertake water tests for water service provider Ugu.
A common thread that runs through each community is the need for selfdetermination. An example of this can be found in the initiative known as Tidy Towns. Its mission is simple – to change the perception of the South Coast from one of negativity to one of prosperity.
Driven by Stephen Herbst, the initiative has seen residents get stuck in to improve things. Herbst said the main industry in the region was tourism and the South Coast wasn’t the only area facing service delivery failures.
“We are not the only South Africans with a broken municipality. In 2021, Tidy Towns was started on St Michaels beach as a clean-up. We wanted to show what a small group could do. We are just trying to get the basics right. This initiative is self-funded, and the success has been to change mindsets.”
The South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal – in times gone by a favoured holiday destination for local and international travellers – is re-energised, fixing problems and attracting new business, writes Jonathan Erasmus
Tidy Towns now has chapters in various municipalities. And with each success, the group of community warriors has been emboldened to take on even bigger projects.
“We repaired the R68 road which was severely damaged by the April floods. It was priced as a R3-million job. That road was blocking the business artery between the south and north of Margate. We did the job in three weeks after we got permission from the council – and we did the entire repair on donations.
“Not only are we transforming our region, but we are creating hope. We
have a massive homeless problem here and are reintegrating these people back into the community. We provide them with a stipend to look after a specific area,” said Herbst.
But voluntary community activism is not easy, and despite all the best intentions, such efforts require reinvention and consistency of resources.
This is why the creation of special rating areas (SRA), guided by the Municipal Property Rates Act, is slowly gaining traction. Southbroom has transformed itself in a matter of years via the use of SRA, resulting in crime being decreased by some 80% thanks to a combination of security patrols and number plate recognition cameras, according to Grant Meyer, who runs Wolf Security.
Ramsgate has also recently implemented its own SRA and further SRAs are on the cards for Margate, Uvongo and Shelley Beach.
SRAs, also referred to as UIPs (Urban Improvement Precincts) have been used successfully in uMhlanga, Durban’s popular Florida Road, and Glenwood, in recent years. The concept is simple – if the majority of property owners accept the need for an SRA then an additional fee is added to their monthly rates bill. This additional amount is then transferred to a special-purpose vehicle in the form of a non-profit
company that manages the funds. The funds are mostly used for extra security, additional cleaning, and maintenance of public infrastructure.
The South Coast has used the financial muscle of the SRA and combined it with the power of the Community Policing Forum (CPF) to help fund more police reservists. The reservists are assigned a CPF-branded car and a security officer to work alongside them.
Wolf Security has partnered with the Ramsgate and Southbroom SRAs,
CPF, which is supported by the SRA. Right now, we have a reservist for each shift. It is a marvellous working solution. There is also much more accountability, and we are able to open case dockets and follow through to finality any incident that has been recorded and reported. The Margate Station Commander is fully supportive and involved in the initiative as it has freed up his personnel to deal with other serious issues in the rural areas,” said Meyer.
The president of the South Coast Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dick Basday, said there were also positive movements in local business, with residents getting back to work after the Covid-19 lockdowns.
“There is a demand for office space. People are considering opening businesses and the economy is picking up.”
Basday, who was elected in August, said the focus of his 24-month tenure would be on water supply, regularly hampered by infrastructure failures.
with Meyer describing this as a game changer. Each SAPS reservist is authorised to execute arrests, undertake stop-and-search operations, and open dockets, all with the support from private security.
“The reservists, who are volunteers, are provided with a donation from the
“Any business needs water. In some areas there is no water for 20 days of a month, yet Ugu District Municipality – the water service provider – is still charging its customers. The Chamber will be tackling this issue and if need be we will drag it to the high court.”
Basday said the South Coast should be one of the most desirable places to live in the country, but the water crisis had suppressed the values of property and hampered growth. The Chamber would hold the local authorities accountable.
Jo-Anne Wentzel, the chairperson of the Margate Business Association, said the “miles and miles of golden beaches” make the South Coast “the perfect destination for families and tourists”.
“All the swimming beaches are currently open for swimming, and [water quality] is regularly tested. Our local SAPS and municipal law enforcement, together with our local security companies and all stakeholders, have created a very safe overall experience for all,” said Wentzel.
She said that Margate, unlike many other nearby towns, had experienced no water disruptions for a few months – a positive turnaround for the business and tourism hub.
“Being a sought-after tourist destination, obviously our businesses mostly cater for tourism. Most of our established holiday resorts and accommodation facilities are functioning perfectly well again, and offer extremely affordable prices for a well-deserved holiday,” said Wentzel
There is a demand for office space. People are considering opening businesses and the economy is picking up
QYour development falls into a wider Renishaw Coast Precinct. What is the extent of
AThe Renishaw Coastal Precinct, backed by the JSE-Listed Crookes Brothers, will be a new oasis, located just outside of Scottburgh. It is 40 minutes from Durban, and one hour from the King Shaka International Airport. The precinct consists of 1 300-hectares, of which only 266-hectares will be developed, all of which will be done on the hilltops with beautiful sea views for much of it.The precinct has been divided into five nodes, of which Nodes 1 and 3
have SPLUMA Approval (The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act which aims to provide a framework for spatial planning and land use management in the country). It touches on all market sectors, including residential, retail, light industrial, educational, healthcare and mixed-use.
The precinct aims to be a selfreliant, secure, sustainable and smart development that puts quality of life front and centre. Roughly 1 000-hectares will be converted into conservation areas, thereby reintroducing the lush indigenous coastal forest and grassland that once existed
Renishaw Hills is a catalytic development on the KZN South Coast. KZN Invest spoke to Barto van der Merwe, the managing director of Renishaw Hills, about the host of investments this development promises to unlock in the area
that?
in the area.
We understand the impact this development will have on the area and the responsibility this brings. However, our belief is that if we live by our values of visionary thinking, committed partnerships and responsible custodianship, it will leave the legacy that we envisaged from the start.
QTell us more about the different nodes.
ANode 1 consists predominantly of residential opportunities (both single residential and medium density developments), as well as a number of retail opportunities in the area of the Old Renishaw Mill.
Node 3 is the economic heart of the development with the following features:
• Medium impact mixed-use site (earmarked for a shopping centre – many of the national food retailers are showing a keen interest after the latest media releases and we are working with an interested developer on the sale of this specific site).
• Hospital site.
• School site.
• Light industrial park.
• Residential.
• Office zoning.
QWhat developments have you done to date?
AWe started with Renishaw Hills, a mature lifestyle estate. At the time Renishaw Property Developments was the new kid on the block, and the company knew we had to establish ourselves first to gain credibility from
in first and see greater returns faster. Quality of life – developments on the hilltops, with conservation areas in between, filled with hiking and MTB routes, close to the beaches and Aliwal Shoal. Not to mention the friendly laid-back nature of the people of the South Coast.
Self-reliant – Renishaw Property Developments must, as part of our conditions of establishment, install and manage all the services prior to being able to sell off the sites. Hence the development will be self-reliant and managed by RenSERV, a division of RPD.
QWhat is your plan for development? Will you do it all?
the market – and so Renishaw Hills was born.
With roughly 190 occupied units and about 350 residents, Renishaw Hills is now a well-established community, and we are currently selling Phase 6. Once completed this estate will consist of 516 units and about 800 to 1 000 residents. We feel we have now established ourselves and are ready to launch the bigger Renishaw Coastal Precinct.
ARenishaw Property Developments do not intend developing all the sites ourselves, but instead, we want to sell off the various opportunities to other developers to take it further. These sites include:
• Shopping centre.
• Filling station site.
• Light industrial park.
• School site.
• A number of the medium density residential opportunities within Node 1.
value proposition entails the following three pointers: Value for money to our clients – get
• Node 2A is an anomaly. It is for sale in its current state to prospective investors or developers, without it being further subdivided.
• Approvals obtained to date were based on the following basket of rights: 102 Single residential sites: 102 erven; Various medium density residential sites – totalling 433 residential units; 1 Boutique hotel; 1 Small retail opportunity.
The precinct aims to be a selfreliant, secure, sustainable and smart development that puts quality of life front and centre
QWhat is your strategy with regards to rolling this development out?
AOurBarto van der Merwe.
Woodhead Bigby Attorneys has a solid and diverse team of attorneys, conveyancers and notaries public who take pride in offering top-tier legal advice. Their services cover the practice areas from litigation, corporate and commercial law, property and conveyancing, estates and trusts, to employment and labour law. Specific service offerings within these practice areas include mergers and acquisitions, court litigation, property disputes, property transfers and mortgage bond registrations, estate planning, deceased estate and trust administration, and employment law disputes, to name a few.
This year Woodhead Bigby celebrated a century of legal excellence. Built on generations of wisdom, this milestone has not been reached by chance but rather by careful strategy, diligence, inclusivity, diversity and bestowed knowledge.
It takes considerably more than a pedigree and qualification to persevere and thrive in a highly competitive profession. Adaptability, continual development, cultural inclusion, and an emphasis on constant improvement are rated before becoming bigger. This attitude has helped forge a robust resilience to changing times, changing laws and evolving political landscapes. The firm has remained focused on a steadfast purpose: a regional firm that aims to build relationships and a trustworthy reputation.
In fulfilment of that, Woodhead Bigby has amply maintained its dependable foundations throughout the years.
The longevity of this Durban-based firm has its roots in diverse legacies
How does a law firm thrive for over 100 years? The answer is to provide a full-service firm of attorneys rooted in a century of talent, adaptability and perseverance
that run through it. The family-oriented foundations are undoubtedly a defining trait. Decades worth of invaluable practice experience has been passed
We have remained focused on a steadfast purpose: a regional firm that aims to build relationships and a trustworthy reputation
down from generations of renowned legal figures who have served the firm through the years.
The firm’s achievement of 100 years
is led by the firm’s current managing director Scott Bigby and his codirectors, Russell MacDonald, Joanne Taylor, Ian Johnson, Yadhya Bissasser, Samantha Subiah, Kovishthra Naidoo, dynamic siblings James Bigby and Margaret Bigby and its latest addition, Anubhav Laalje.
Reflecting on the significance of 100 years, the firm wishes to express profound gratitude to all the clients and its diverse staff who have played a vital role in the journey thus far. Looking forward, we are excited to discover what the future holds and
to uncover opportunities to gain further wisdom and to continue making a difference for the better.
These times of rapid change are a catalyst for adaptability, progress, and bringing enticing legal challenges that provide powerful motivation. Having proved its endurance, Woodhead Bigby’s commitment to dependable legal services and client relationships remains unwavering.
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Agriculture is possibly the most popular category of our Zulu online business publication, Umbele. It is aptly named Isivuno (the harvest).
Our content is largely profile-driven, because we are about giving exposure to emerging entrepreneurs. Recently, we featured Siphosihle Maseko, who grows grain and greens.
Maseko said balance sheet permitting, he would invest in a drone because it would save him a significant amount of production time that is currently spent spraying pesticides manually – roughly an hour per hectare on the 10-hectare plot he owns.
Last year we profiled Mbali Nwoko who runs Green Terrace. An established farmer, she has found a thriving market in large supermarkets. She negotiated with her customers and sourced funding for a computer-based system that has automated irrigation and the process of spraying fertilisers. The R4-million investment has improved operations and production significantly.
These are just two examples of how access, or lack thereof, to technology can enhance or hinder the growth of small-scale farmers.
At the recently held Africa Tech Festival, in which Umbele was a media partner, I moderated on a panel discussion titled A New Era
For Farming In Africa: Scaling Digital Solutions To Reach Smallholder Farmers.
The Africa Tech Festival brings together leaders from across the globe, and on the panel were Vodacom managing executive Internet of Things Africa Pavesh Govender, and United Nations – IFAD Global senior technical specialist ICT4D in Agriculture Brenda Gunde.
The panel deliberated on the
opportunities and challenges for smallscale farmers across the continent. The outbreak of Covid-19 has demonstrated amply that technology is an enabler. Inversely, the inequality gap was magnified.
According to the 2022 Africa AgriFoodTech Investment Report, investment in the continent reached $482,3-million in 2021, rising from $185-million in 2020. African agri food tech companies have collectively raised $1,1-billion since 2017. Agri food tech companies made up just about 10% of all venture capital investment on the continent last year, with the lion’s share going to fintech start-ups.
Additionally, the report showed that Africa raised $4,3-billion in venture capital funding (Africa: The Big Deal), compared to $621-billion in venture capital worldwide (CB Insights). There are 119 agri food tech companies on the continent that raised funding in 2021. The largest category in Africa was Midstream Tech, which scored $293,7-million or 61% of all agri food tech venture capital funding.
Midstream Tech accounted for just over 7% of venture capital funding. The strongest upstream sector was farm robotics and mechanisation. Kenya’s solar irrigation maker
SunCulture raised $11-million in debt. Cloud retail infrastructure, which includes on-demand enabling tech and last-mile delivery services, claimed
Let’s capitalise on technology enablers to grow small-scale farmers, writes Slindile Khanyile
close to 12% of the funding, while e-Grocery claimed 9,2%, compared to 36% worldwide.
Overall, Africa’s B2B (business to business) e-commerce ventures have gained more traction with investors than their B2C (business to consumer) peers. Farm management software claimed just 0,1% and novel farming systems claimed even less.
Globally, these figures are just as massive. The 2022 AgFunder AgriFoodTech Investment Report says venture capitalists invested $51,7-billion into agri food technologies in 2021, an 85% surge when compared to 2020. The report said agri food tech sectors that emerged as a result of Covid-19 not only remained popular investment categories, but they expanded with new deals. eGrocery ventures grew by a staggering 188% when compared to 2020, and claimed more than a third of all agri food tech investments.
Appreciating the agricultural (and other) opportunities that technology creates is something Umbele understands well. We are an online
publication that launched at the height of the pandemic, a feat that would have been at best difficult and at worst impossible to achieve, were it not for technology. Distribution logistics aside, even affordability of a print publication would have been a barrier.
government support, they don’t know how to produce anything.
The reality is that in the past two years we have profiled 120 black farmers who have done amazing things with what they have and often with little or no support from the government.
In South Africa, a great deal of effort and financial resources have gone into land reform and restitution, rightfully so, given our history as a country. A lot more still needs to be done in this regard.
Often, when assessing the success of the land reform and restitution programme, the only metric considered is how much of the arable land remains productive after the land has been returned to the previously dispossessed. This is further used to perpetuate a generalisation that says black farmers are incompetent and without
Agriculture is one of the industries where the barriers of entry can be low, especially when you start as a subsistence farmer. This is where the focus should be, at least to encourage people to start. As a start, it can mitigate against rising food prices in the short term, and is a possible solution to the food security challenge in the long term.
It is about time the government assistance stretched beyond seedlings, fertilisers and tractors. How can technology be leveraged to better improve production, access to markets and the growth of emerging farmers? We cannot continue to be content with black farmers making up the bulk of emerging farmers. Through technology, we can dream and attain bigger.
Slindile Khanyile is the editor and co-founder of Umbele; www.umbele.co.za
Through technology, farmers can dream big
•
• The Department of Economic Development Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA)
T• Afriexim Bank
• InvestSA One Stop Shop (OSS)
• International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC)
• Exporter (Emerging, Existing, Seasoned)
• Transnet Port Terminal (TPT)
• Dube TradePort (DTP)
• Richard Bay IDZ (RBIDZ)
When the team arrived to set up for a recent beach clean-up, the municipality had already swept through the beaches. However, at Battery Beach a different scenario faced the Pirates team. SBS Tanks constructed sieves to sift the sand revealing little pieces of waste that lay trapped just beneath the surface.
• Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI)
• Department of Trade and Industry and Competition (DTIC)
he Adopt a Beach concept is simple: we started with six local Durban beach sites. A co-ordinator at each cleanup is supported by three sponsored assistants, and this team is in charge of set-up, welcoming volunteers, cleaning and waste management. We aim to recycle what we can and leave only landfill waste which municipality collects.
cutlery and a multitude of fragments from common household plastic items that had broken up over time.
Plastic litter and mismanaged plastic waste from drinks, snacks and personal hygiene items accumulates on the beaches and in the sea. Plastic never breaks down – instead it breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces, causing harm and lasting hundreds of years in the environment.
• Chambers of Commerce and Industry (locally and internationally)
Connecting with fellow water and beach lovers is key for us – meaning we get the support of clubs and individuals.
• Trade commissioners and foreign delegates
Universities (Maritime and Shipping Schools)
Export Credit Insurance Commission (ECIC)
Durbanites Against Plastic Pollution’s Steve Cohen explains more: “We undertook a rapid citizen survey of a 30m² area along the high tide mark. Even though the beach is cleaned daily by the municipality, the survey did however find an abundance of small pieces of plastic. Most of the items are “problem plastics” which we define as the most commonly found items in the environment with few benefits to society.
The most common items were nurdles, pieces of polystyrene foam from take-out containers, earbuds, sucker sticks, plastic
We advocate that many of the above mentioned items – like earbuds and polystyrene containers – should be banned or taken off our supermarket shelves. Likewise, bottle caps should be affixed to bottles by law, and returned with the bottle in a city-wide depositreturn scheme.
We look forward to continuing these surveys and using the data to lobby the government and retailers to reform their policies and practices respectively.
Our Adopt a Beach is yielding interesting collaborations –and this is only the start of a cleaner beach environment
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