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Transforming
a derelict historical area
Development of Kliptown gathers momentum as pace of delivery accelerates.Greater
Kliptown, an area of historical importance in Soweto located between
the residential areas of Eldorado Park, Pimville, Dlamini and Klipspruit
West, is the scene of one of Blue IQ's five tourism-related projects.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Making
the airport free zone cost effective for tenants
PRICE is the most important inducement for industrial tenants in
considering the possible advantages of locating to an industrial
development zone. In order to make the Johannesburg International
Airport free zone competitive, Blue IQ is negotiating with the Ekurhuleni
Metropolitan Municipality for a rebate scheme on rates and taxes,
water and lights and electricity supply.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Full
speed ahead for top CBD projects
Extensive urban renewal programme set to transform Cape Town's inner
city. The regeneration of Cape Town's central business district
as part of an extensive urban renewal programme has sparked a development
boom that has bucked the trend apparent in some other SA inner cities.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Gautrain
gets closer to its destination
AFTER three rounds of public hearings there is still no final decision
on the routes for the proposed Gautrain express train linking Johannesburg,
Pretoria and Johannesburg Internation
(©www.bday.co.za)
Man's
ancestry is a prime attraction
THE Cradle of Humankind site could eventually rank as a major international
tourist drawcard, if managed properly. The fossil hominid sites
at Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai and the environs were declared
a World Heritage Site in December 1999 by the UN Education, Scientific
and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
(©www.bday.co.za)
Private
investors come to the party
THERE are signs that Blue IQ's plan to attract private sector investment
to its ambitious strategy is beginning to materialise. Blue IQ a
R3,5bn initiative of the Gauteng Provincial Government is rolling
out developmental projects as part of a long-term strategy to transform
Gauteng into the "smart province". Accelerating the economic
growth of the province, creating jobs and attracting investment
are the fundamental objectives of the programme.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Creating
a hub for cultural, arts and creative industries
BLUE IQ is putting more than R300m towards the regeneration of Newtown,
home of the creative arts in Johannesburg. Blue IQ's master plan
is for Newtown to become a hub for cultural, arts and creative industries,
with a series of permanent cultural attractions and tourism drawcards.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Historic
hill set to attract tourists
A legacy for future generations SA'S new Constitutional Court is
to be housed at the site of the 19th century Old Fort in Braamfontein,
Johannesburg, occupying roughly 12000m² of the 95000m²
Constitution Hill development site. The complex is part of the inner
city rejuvenation initiative and one of Blue IQ's five tourism projects.
The design will be open, highly visible and user- friendly. The
project will be a 24-hour facility combining residential, retail,
commercial and recreational facilities.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Province's
inland ports get facelift to boost efficiency
JOHANNESBURG's two inland ports, City Deep and Kaserne, form the
hub of an export-orientated growth zone. Blue IQ aims to exploit
this potential by developing the area into a national platform for
freight, distribution and logistics. "To this end we have upgraded
the road infrastructure and will facilitate development of a sophisticated
logistics management system," says Irvin Naidoo, portfolio
manager for the City Deep transport logistics hub project.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Fairvest
rings in changes after Daisy Street deal
THE R420m Daisy Street acquisition by property loan stock company
Fairvest has brought some radical changes for the group. Changes
in the offing include a name change from Fairvest to Reit Property
Holdings, and the group's asset management role will be taken over
by Sanlam Property Asset Management.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Former
Colliers MD is banking on mixed development
Former Colliers RMS MD Jaco Odendaal is venturing into a multimillion-rand
mixed use development, CapeGate, to be built on a 60ha site in Brackenfell,
Cape Town. The development draws on the growing trend of mixing
commercial, retail, residential and leisure activities in a single
space.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Small
players are blocked
The public sector carries enormous opportunities for commercial
property players, but its high barriers of entry can exclude small
players, says RMB Properties services director Barend de Loor. His
comments, posted in the RMB Properties quarterly review, come amid
hopes that public sector work will facilitate transformation of
the commercial property industry by promoting the use of smaller
players in mainstream contracts.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Builder
pumping millions into Tuscan-styled villa in Waterkloof
GAUTENG-based builder Rudan Maritz is pumping millions of rands
into the development of a home he hopes to sell for about R20m in
Waterkloof Ridge, an upmarket Pretoria suburb. His speculative venture
represents an enormous amount of confidence in SA's residential
property market, and in the Pretoria suburb, known as an embassy
node, in particular.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Two
investors eye East London zone
THE East London Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) company is in
negotiations with two investors who are considering investments
worth more than R1bn each. CEO Peter Miles declined to elaborate
on the talks, but said two tenants had already been secured at the
zone. German wheat beer producer Weissengold as well as German condom
manufacturer Condomi were now building factories on the site.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Foreigners'
ownership of land to be probed
CAPE TOWN Government has no plans to limit the foreign ownership
of land in SA, Deputy President Jacob Zuma said yesterday, but acknowledged
that the matter was the subject of a governmental investigation.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Aveng
set to consider South America as point of expansion
Industrial Correspondent SA's largest construction group Aveng will
look to South America as its next expansion point. The group already
derives 45% of its R13bn revenue from Africa, excluding SA, southeast
Asia and the Middle East. Growth beyond SA is in line with the group's
policy of spreading or balancing risk.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Sugar
mill plan sweet for farmers
Cape Town - Donors, investors and the government are close to finalising
a $200m (about R1.9bn) proposal for a 16th sugar mill in the country,
which could be operational within five years, officials said on
Thursday.
(@www.news24.com)
Avoid
duplication of training plans, urges minister
THE private sector must keep government informed about technology
training initiatives to avoid duplication of effort, says Communications
Minister Ivy MatsepeCasaburri. Opening the Communal Information
Technology Centre for underprivileged students in Carletonville
last week, MatsepeCasaburri said: "Business, government and
the community have demonstrated that they have the ability to make
a difference to the lives of many people.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Master
plan aims to increase Gauteng's competitive edge
Three-pronged strategy for knowledge-based economy, writes Eamonn
Ryan BLUE IQ's vision had its genesis in a trade and industrial
strategy initiated by Gauteng's finance and economic affairs department
in 1995. In 1997 the department produced the strategy after two
years of research into the functioning of the provincial economy.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Cahora
Bassa power flows, but talks to continue
Electricity company Hidroelécrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) has
resumed supplies to Eskom, after the South African utility agreed
to pay a higher tariff from yesterday.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
US
holds Agoa up as model
US Secretary of Commerce, Don Evans, last week praised the African
Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) as an "economic model"
to encourage new investments, jobs and trade.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Ports
policy fuzzy on scope of competition
Several forms of competition are possible within and between the
various ports in South Africa, but the Draft Ports White Paper fails
to explicitly recognize these types of competition, and the draft
policy is inadequate to that extent said Competition Commission
chief economist Geoff Parr in a submission to the Portfolio Committee
on Transport.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Good
progress on $1,2bn SA-Moz gas project
Petrochemicals group Sasol is making rapid progress with the development
of the Temane gas field and construction of the Central Processing
Facility near Vilanculos in Mozambique, from where natural gas will
be piped over 865 km to Secunda in South Africa.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
R20bn
in projects promises rich harvest for valve makers
Plans by South African petrochemical giant Sasol and its affiliated
companies to implement projects worth more than R20-billion in the
next five to ten years hold much promise for local valve manufacturers.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Strong
earnings, prospects for Barloworld
South Africa's Barloworld reported yesterday a 24,6% surge in 2002
profits, reaping the rewards of its value-based management strategy,
and said it expected further growth in 2003.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
World
Summit budget exceeded by 13%
The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held earlier
this year might cost the taxpayer more than anticipated.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
SA
plans farm insurance against disasters
South Africa will establish an insurance scheme to protect farmers
against disasters, including a brewing El Nino weather pattern that
threatens to fuel a regional food crisis, the agriculture minister
said on Wednesday.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
South
Africa is plum agroprocessing investment site
The thriving Spring Valley Foods fresh prepared-fruit operation,
in Mpumalanga, epitomised the immense investment and export potential
in South Africa's agroprocessing sector.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Bearings
leader expands across its Joburg fences
The R30-million Bearing Man park in Johannesburg has become too
small for the listed engineering consumable company, which is experiencing
rocketing performance.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Mariculture
may add value to Namaqualand
The government of the Northern Cape is working on a plan to convert
the barren Namaqualand coastline, with its depleted mineral deposits,
into a R100 million-a-year mariculture park.
(@www.busrep.co.za)
SAFCEC NEWS
TRADE UNION SURVEY
The trade union survey that was recently conducted by the HR Department
shows some interesting developments in regard to the total number
of employees in the industry and union membership. If compared with
the 1999 survey then the total number of hourly rated people employed
by members has increase by approximately 20%. The union membership
has however decreased in real and actual numbers. The SAFCEC information
will now be compared with the information supplied by the unions
after which the process for a new bargaining structure will be taken
forward.
(©www.safcec.org.za)
CHANGES AT SABS
The Standards Division of the SABS has changed its name and will
henceforth develop and publish standards under the banner of Standards
South Africa (STANSA), to distinguish themselves from the identity
of their parent organization, SABS. This identity change was identified
as necessary during the recent review of South Africa's SQAM (Standards,
Quality Assurance, Accreditation and Legal Metrology) infrastructure
commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry, and is part
of an ongoing implementation programme of transformation deemed
necessary to bring us closer to our stakeholders.
(©www.safcec.org.za)
STANSA TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON EARTHMOVING EQUIPMENT
A meeting to constitute the Technical Committee to consider standardisation
in the field on earthmoving machinery and related equipment will
be held at the SABS Building, Pretoria, at 10:00 on Thursday, 28th
November 2002. Any member interested in joining this Technical Committee
should contact Howard Richardson at SAFCEC Head Office.
(©www.safcec.org.za)
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