Committee on Enterprise Development welcomes North West Development Corporation Initiative by the NWDC to take over Christiana Hotel as O re bone re go bone continues
North West Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Premier, Treasury and Enterprise Development led by Hon. Raymond Elisha welcomes the decision of the North West Development Corporation (NWDC) in taking the initiative to take over the ownership and operation of Christiana Hotel known as Protea Hotel Christiana after it was liquidated. This was during a preliminary oversight visit the committee conducted at the hotel, as part of the “O re bone, Re go bone” Campaign which means “You see us and we see you” aimed at taking the legislature to the people to strengthen oversight and public participation and to promote accountability and transparency in government.
The purpose of the visit was to determine the value for money in buying the hotel, the processes that unfolded on the acquisition of the hotel and its assets, and the state of readiness of the hotel.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NWDC, Mr Lemogang Moletsane gave a brief overview of the purchasing of the hotel, stating that it was an opportunity that the cooperation seized as part of rebranding, re-positioning and renewal of the province to purchase the hotel to create an economy that can be viable for growth in the province. “This opportunity can create a good platform for cooperatives such as the youth and military veterans to have job opportunities and create a sustainable environment for themselves,” said Mr Moletsane.
The Acting Manager of the hotel, Mr Moses Seriti stated that the former director of the hotel was unable to pay the owner and this led to the hotel going for an auction which costed the NWDC R38million to purchase it. “The previous director whom we traded under could not manage to pay off the owner of this place, and it has not been operational since last year 25 November 2015 and this led to the auction which took place on the 12 March 2015,”said Mr Seriti.
Thus far, the NWDC has managed to pay R6.4million as deposit and are anticipating to pay off the balance by the end of June this year. The CEO stated that the NWDC did not budget for this endeavor as part of their Annual Performance Plan, but managed to acquire most of their budget from their reserves and also were assisted by the Department of Finance, Environment and Enterprise Development with an amount of R11million. They also mentioned that the amount is inclusive of all assets, lock, stock and barrel inclusive of the game farm.
It was noted that staff that was previously working at the area had been retrenched with packages, but would be given first preference in time for recruitment processes and will also allow opportunities in hiring young people who have hotel management expertise in the province. The cutoff date for the full operation of this hotel is the 01 September 2015, as it is still under maintenance and renovations.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Hon. Elisha welcomed this initiative is a good platform for opportunities in growth of the economy as well as creating sustainable job opportunities for the community, but requested the CEO to provide a thorough report for the committee as part of strengthening oversight to ensure transparency and accountability. “We welcome the good initiative for this pursuit by the NWDC, but we also have a requirement to perform our duties as part of our mandate to conduct oversight so as to protect and ensure that the public purse is effectively and efficiently used in benefitting our communities," said Hon. Elisha.
The committee requested the CEO to issue a detailed report on the value for money for the acquisition versus the expenditure, profits made since acquisition, to compile an asset register including assets of animals at the game farm, feedback on staff that have been retrenched and hired since inception of business, a detailed operational plan and the process that unfolded on the auctioneering of the hotel. Hon. Elisha also said that the next meeting that will be scheduled in the next quarter would include the Portfolio Committee on Tourism as the facility forms part of conservation and serves as a tourist attraction site.
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Namhla Luhabe
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E-mail : namhla@nwpl.org.za
