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R200m auto component plant for ELIDZ
Posted on: Thursday, 20 October 2005. Article source: Daily Dispatch
The R200 million Foxtec-Ikhwezi black empowerment industrial development in East London's West Bank industrial area has finally moved onto proverbial "firmer ground".
Company chief executive Pieter Bosch said on Friday he was in receipt of a letter dated October 5, in which Buffalo City municipal manager Mxolisi Tsika confirmed a council decision that the city sell a 60000mē site in the West Bank industrial area to the city's IDZ corporation (ELIDZ).
In a separate deal - which offers attractive incentives - the IDZ will now "re-sell" a third of the site to the German/South African empowerment consortium for R200000.
ELIDZ board chairman Zolile Tini welcomed the council decision as "long overdue". He said a special board meeting would be held early this week to approve the new deal.
He said developers and investors watched with concern the "internal politics and strife" of the Buffalo City council and municipality.
This latest development sees the whole deal going full circle which has resulted in delays of more than four months.
Foxtec-Ikhwezi initially approached the IDZ with a view to buying a parcel of industrial land adjacent to its abrasives factory near the DaimlerChrysler South Africa (DCSA) plant on the West Bank.
As the land was earmarked for the future Phase 4 development of the IDZ, the corporation approached the municipality to buy the land for re-sale to the developers. The IDZ was in a legal position to offer the investors attractive incentives.
The municipality, however, then moved to deal directly with the investors though it was not legally able to offer the same IDZ incentives. Foxtec-Ikhwezi took issue with this and executive mayor Sindisile Maclean in June requested chief financial officer Brian Shepherd to probe the matter and to report to him within a fortnight.
This resulted in the matter coming before the council and it approved the IDZ deal.
Bosch said on Friday more than R10m had already been invested in the first phase of the R200m factory, the roof of which was already up.
The company was under contract from DCSA to begin delivering components for its new generation C-Class luxury Mercedes-Benz cars from early 2007.
The new industry would provide more than 100 new job opportunities. Staff recruitment had already started and some of the new employees would soon be sent to Germany for training, Bosch said.
Company chief executive Pieter Bosch said on Friday he was in receipt of a letter dated October 5, in which Buffalo City municipal manager Mxolisi Tsika confirmed a council decision that the city sell a 60000mē site in the West Bank industrial area to the city's IDZ corporation (ELIDZ).
In a separate deal - which offers attractive incentives - the IDZ will now "re-sell" a third of the site to the German/South African empowerment consortium for R200000.
ELIDZ board chairman Zolile Tini welcomed the council decision as "long overdue". He said a special board meeting would be held early this week to approve the new deal.
He said developers and investors watched with concern the "internal politics and strife" of the Buffalo City council and municipality.
This latest development sees the whole deal going full circle which has resulted in delays of more than four months.
Foxtec-Ikhwezi initially approached the IDZ with a view to buying a parcel of industrial land adjacent to its abrasives factory near the DaimlerChrysler South Africa (DCSA) plant on the West Bank.
As the land was earmarked for the future Phase 4 development of the IDZ, the corporation approached the municipality to buy the land for re-sale to the developers. The IDZ was in a legal position to offer the investors attractive incentives.
The municipality, however, then moved to deal directly with the investors though it was not legally able to offer the same IDZ incentives. Foxtec-Ikhwezi took issue with this and executive mayor Sindisile Maclean in June requested chief financial officer Brian Shepherd to probe the matter and to report to him within a fortnight.
This resulted in the matter coming before the council and it approved the IDZ deal.
Bosch said on Friday more than R10m had already been invested in the first phase of the R200m factory, the roof of which was already up.
The company was under contract from DCSA to begin delivering components for its new generation C-Class luxury Mercedes-Benz cars from early 2007.
The new industry would provide more than 100 new job opportunities. Staff recruitment had already started and some of the new employees would soon be sent to Germany for training, Bosch said.
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