The Nelson Mandela Bay council has approved an investment incentive that will bring hundreds of desperately needed jobs to the metro.
The next five years will see Clover SA investing R486m, Formex Industries R70m and Dastile Wealth Insure (DWI) R11.25m in the metro.
In return, the metro has approved incentives that include rates and rental discounts for these companies.
The approval was supported by councillors at a council meeting on Monday.
DWI and Formex will be supported with annual rental subsidisation of 80% and 40%, respectively, on private properties, while Clover SA will be supported through discounts on municipal rates and services at a total of 40% annually.
Formex Industries chief executive Hennie Venter welcomed the approval, saying the municipality was walking the talk.
Formex’s R70m investment is expected to bring 95 jobs in the next three years.
“We’re very excited about this.
“It was pre-approved a while ago but because of the leadership changes, it took a while before it got council approval,” he said.
“We view the metro in a very positive light and we’ve already invested a lot of money in this city, in excess of R100m.
“There’s been a demand in what we offer and this all results in the creation of jobs,” Venter said.
Formex is part of the automotive sector, specialising in metal pressing and tubing.
According to Venter, the company’s biggest customer is Volkswagen SA, followed by Ford SA and Mercedes-Benz.
The company also recently secured business with Toyota.
DWI chief executive Vuyo Dastile said the assistance from the municipality would help create jobs and retain the existing jobs.
“Our focus is not only to employ unemployed youth but give training and work experience to those who get rejected by employers because they have no previous work experience.
“We also have an agreement with Sanlam to create an extra 100 jobs,” he said.
Participants in the jobs programme, which starts on Wednesday, have been provided with laptops and tablets by Sanlam.
“We will be the first contact centre to launch a new way of doing business,” Dastile said.
Contact details for a Clover SA spokesperson could not be found on Tuesday.
The metro’s trade and investment department, a sub-directorate of the department of economic development, tourism and agriculture, has also facilitated a R168.6m direct investment in the metro by global food services company Bidcorp.
The company is building a new facility in the Bay and this investment is expected to create more than 100 jobs during the construction phase.
A report by economic development executive director Anele Qaba said construction by Bidcorp was expected to last nine months.
“The further projected jobs to be created after completion of the project would be an addition to the current 108 permanent jobs,” Qaba wrote.
The municipality adopted a revised investment incentive policy in October 2020, which aims to improve the economic competitiveness of the Bay to attract, secure and grow domestic and foreign direct investment. Source (Herald Live)
Company: Formex Industries
Contact: Mihlali Sogoni, Commercial Executive
e-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.formex.co.za