Secondary city vision plans
The Border Kei Chamber of Business (BKCOB) networking session highlighted the National Cabinet Representative (NCR) and his team’s vision to establish Komani and its surrounding areas as a secondary city status economy.
This would see Komani following in the footsteps of towns such as Paarl and Stellenbosch in the Western Cape, as well as Richards Bay in Kwazulu-Natal.
BKCOB deputy chair Jacque van Zyl, standing in for chair, Lisle Clark, informed those attending its business networking event at The Gallery recently about the chamber’s engagements with NCR Dr Monde Tom.
To reach the milestone, the NCR had so far approached external financiers to tackle the electrical infrastructure issues as well as access the R800m Eskom debt serviced, he said.
“The framework would focus on electricity and the wage bill, which were two major areas of the four that had been identified from the NCR ‘as is’ state of Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality ([EMLM] state of affairs report,” Van Zyl said.
The focus areas would include the upgrading of 30 substations of EMLM, of which four are primary and 26 secondary, and replacing switch gears where necessary.
It also included the reticulation repair of underground cables as per the electrical master plan; the generation of revenue through smart meters and control of electricity losses, among others.
Security, street lights and functioning traffic lights were to be prioritised, with the organisational design and structure of the department of technical services set to be reviewed.
Meanwhile, electrical operations separate from EMLM were to be ringfenced.
Van Zyl said the chamber had agreed
that Queenstown Ratepayers Association chair Dr Pieter Prinsloo would join the chamber’s meeting with the NCR.
“The chamber, together with the Queenstown Ratepayers Association, had a fruitful engagement with the municipal manager [Nokuthula Zondani] and the speaker [Noluthando Nqabisa] on September 20, where it was agreed that a monthly forum be established with the municipal manager and the heads of her departments, ” Van Zyl added.
The platform would deal with matters regarding electricity, revenue generation, potholes, revenue billing, traffic and law enforcement, and communication.
At the event, Jackson’s owner and former BKCOB chair Mark Wilson was honoured with gold membership for his support and sponsorship of the chamber.
Wilson, one of the founding members of the chamber in Komani, said he was humbled by the gesture.
He was confident in the new leadership which was working closely with the NCR.
Meanwhile, local businesswoman and motivational speaker Zodwa Gqwaka in her speech said local businesses needed to invest more in developing their employees.
As part of the entry fee, members of the BKCOB brought pet food to be donated to the SPCA.