Middelburg’s economy is heading for a boost as construction of a R350 million hotel is about to take off.
A luxurious 4-star hotel with 150 rooms and a convention centre accommodating 1000 guests will be developed by Akani Properties, a 100% black owned property development company from Kempton Park.
The development will take place in Aerorand at corner Sondagsrivier Street and Dr Mandela Drive taking a 29 000 square-meter piece of land.
Part of the agreement was that 10% ownership will be sold to a local company through a bidding process, to partner with Akani. The project will not only put the Steve Tshwete municipality on the map by growing the local tourism market, but will also create employment for many residents of the town. Hundreds of jobs will be created during the construction phase and permanent jobs once operational.
Mayor Diphala Motsepe told Highveld Chronicle absorption of local labour and local companies will be prioritised. “The municipality through the office of the Local Economic Development (LED) will work closely with the developer to identify construction opportunities that will be given to local companies,” he said.
“We will develop a database of local companies to make sure that they properly account for local participation,” Motsepe explained. “We have agreed that labour absorption should be 50% on construction and 30% on operations,” he said.The project, said to be one of the municipality’s anchor projects included the Integrated Development Plan (IDP), also received endorsement from Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane.
During the State of the Province Address (Sopa), on 5 March, the Mtshweni-Tsipane indicated that the public private partnership (PPP) component within the District Development Model was beginning to bear fruits. “In Steve Tshwete local municipality, we will be working together with private sector partners to build a R350 million four-star hotel,” she said.
“Part of the conditions of the award is that 10% ownership should be local and 30% of the construction work should be subcontracted to local businesses,” she said.
