Business forum signs historic agreement to rejuvenate Perseverance
Mpho Jonas (Director of Trade and Investment - Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality), Siyolo Dick (Chairman of the Perseverance Business Association) and Denise van Huyssteen (Chief Executive Officer - Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber).
Today represented a historical milestone for the Perseverance area with the signing of an agreement which will result in the establishment of the Perseverance Business Association. This will see various business owners mobilising their joint efforts to drive for an enabling environment to be in place so as retain and attract investment in the area.
“Over the years, Perseverance has gradually deteriorated due to the lack of maintenance of key infrastructure and related facilities,” says Siyolo Dick, the Chairman of the Perseverance Business Association. “To this end, a number of businesses have committed to taking the appropriate actions to secure and facilitate the sustainable upgrading and maintenance of this precinct with the assistance of local and national government authorities.”
“With the overarching goal of rejuvenating the area, the Perseverance Business Association, will operate as a voluntary forum to represent the needs, interests and views of the participating industries and businesses in the area.
Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber CEO Denise Van Huyssteen says the Chamber stands firmly behind this initiative as it perfectly aligns with the business organisation’s strategy of resurging the city’s economy through an action orientated approach. “We are actively involved in initiating and supporting clusters which are either geographical or sectoral based as we believe that given the dysfunctional state of the operating environment, approaching issues as a collective is more impactful.”
“The Perseverance Business Association is a trailblazer in terms of this approach and are likely to serve as a benchmark for other similar clusters going forward,” she says. “It is vital that businesses, as the key drivers of economic activity and jobs, establish the appropriate platforms to collaborate with the relevant stakeholders to get the basics working again.”
The Perseverance area is an important contributor to the local economy and as such is home to 46 businesses, ranging from multinationals to local SMMEs who combined employ over 10 000 employees.
The Founding Members of the Association include Borbet SA, Coca Cola Beverages South Africa, SPAR Eastern Cape Distribution Centre, Welfit Oddy, and property owners Strydom Basson and Tait, while discussions are underway with other businesses in the area to join the association. The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber has been coopted as an honorary member of the association and will also be represented on its Management Committee. Additionally, Japie Strydom from Strydom Basson and Tait, has been appointed as the Chair of the Perseverance Property Owner’s Association.
Dick says that the team has already developed key focus areas for the association among which include:
- Promoting sustainable regional business development in Nelson Mandela Bay, mainly in Perseverance, within the context of local governmental strategies and through cooperation with the local community and local organisations to embrace common aims and objectives.
- Minimising and eradicating the common challenges relating to electricity supply, water shortages, safety and security, illegal dumping and road maintenance to the extent that such challenges impact adversely on the properties or its occupants.
- Maintaining the stability of the existing Perseverance infrastructure and also to ensure a stable platform for further infrastructure enhancement, development and maintenance.
- To adopt a common vision for the association and its members.
Van Huyssteen says that the level of support and positive feedback from some key local government stakeholders was encouraging. “Ultimately we all share the same goal of growing the local economy so that much needed jobs can be retained and created.”
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture (EDTA): Executive Director Anele Qaba says that “the revitalisation of industrial areas in and around Nelson Mandela Bay Municipal area is key to building a sustainable economy that is able to attract and retain investments (both foreign direct and domestic direct investments) as well as create the much-needed jobs. Therefore, these efforts of formalising and rejuvenating the Perseverance cluster must be applauded, noting the contribution of the Perseverance Industrial Area to the economy of the Nelson Mandela Bay”.
Qaba says that this initiative is reinforcing the commitment made by EDTA of supporting and developing clusters in the Metro. Thus, the initiative is consistent with the Municipality’s economic recovery plan whose outcomes are amongst others:
- to support the ongoing survival of existing businesses in NMBM;
- Create an enabling environment for businesses and investors to generate meaningful and sustainable profits that contribute to enhanced economic performance; and
- Provide support and grow key economic sectors.
“The Municipality through EDTA will continue to support this Business Forum and its attempts of accessing funding such as critical infrastructure funding from Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, and any other funding offered by Provincial government or National government”, says Qaba.