The best for business
Kenton rated highly by new, old investors
KENTON and its surrounding environs are the place to be for new businesses. That was the good news from last Thursday’s Kenton-on-Sea/Bushman’s Chamber of Business and Tourism AGM
Eugene de Witt, chairman of the chamber, welcomed the far bigger than anticipated crowd of more than 100 people, and said he was very impressed with the turnout.
Ndlambe mayor Phindile Faxi addressed the meeting and spoke of how all the people of Kenton should unite to make sure development in the area suited everyone.
Faxi made the comment that Port Alfred was “over-malled”, referring to the Heritage and Rosehill malls, and implied that Kenton would benefit from a new mall. He also mentioned the water shortages in Nemato and asked that anyone who could help should do so to alleviate the problems being experienced there.
“We have wide areas of open land in the Kenton area,” said Faxi, “and we could use these to build new houses.”
However, Faxi did recognise that placing a low-cost home next to an expensive private home would devalue the private home and therefore lead to dissatisfaction with the system.
“But if the system remains as is, we are in for trouble. If we maintain the status quo we become complacent,” said Faxi. “We may be comfortable here, but those on the other side of the R72 are not. We therefore need to work together.
“We need to fix the infrastructure in the area, and my administration is aggressively addressing the road infrastructure to attract more tourists and businesses into the area,” he said.
Faxi ended by saying that all needed to work together, mentioning the proposed ship-building industry, aquaculture and chicory processing plants mooted for the area.
“In November we will be discussing the IDP and five-year plan. I am your servant, work with me,” he said.
De Witt spoke about the successful projects Kenton had or would be undertaking, including the Jaco Maree fundraiser and the “very successful Winter Campaign”.
It was then time to award trophies and certificates to the various members, who were thanked for service excellence in their respective fields.
Kenton Pharmacy won the Top Service
Excellence trophy and certificates were handed to those who had helped to encourage businesses and tourism in the Kenton/Bushman’s area.
Pollos Purdon of the House Planner, who hosted the event, gave a talk about opening her new boutique hotel, and Francois Theron spoke about building and development projects in the area, as well as his involvement with his architectural projects in the area.
“We have carried out around R160-million of residential property projects this year, and next year doesn’t look too bad either,” he said, implying how popular the area was becoming among tourists and businesses alike.
The Kenton/Bushman’s mobile app was also discussed by Matt Alexandre from Cape Town. This should be available online shortly.
Sunshine Coast Tourism manager Sandy Birch then spoke of the work being done to promote the entire Sunshine Coast, in particular Kenton/Bushman’s, including events such as the Rhino Run and the proposed Park Run, to take place later in the year.