C Martin on Black Economic Empowerment

20 April 2009

Eastern Cape Public Works MEC Christian Martin has moved up a gear by
starting executing his target that 50% of the owners of properties leased by
the Eastern Cape government would have to be black by the end of the 2009/10
financial year.

Mzoxolo enterprises, owners of the Fig House Building in King William’s
Town, is the first BEE landlord that will benefit from MEC Martin’s commitment
since he has made it in March. Addressing the Department of Public Works
conference on the transformation of the property industry in Port Elizabeth
last month, MEC Martin said the slow transformation of the property industry is
not acceptable.

The MEC said he was “not happy at all with the pace and performance of
transformation and the empowerment of BEE entities in the industry, especially
in the Eastern Cape.” As a result he said “I want a change in the current state
in terms of which 50% of our landlords should be black by the end of the
2009/10 financial year.”

Fig house that has a rentable area of 353 square meters house the Office of
the Premier’s unit on policy and governance and will charge the Department
Public Works R1,1 million over a three year lease period. Approximately 40
officials are currently accommodated in the building. The officials will have
11 parking bays for their utilisation.

The Department of Public Works currently leases 84 premises from landlords
in the Eastern Cape. In the previous financial year the department spent R89
million on rental, which are to be increased to R126 million in the current
financial year. Only 27% of land lords are BEE entities. This represents 21
black landlords, of which only two are black women.

MEC Martin said government would “begin to use our muscle to drive
increasing participation by black and women owned businesses so that they are
rapidly able to gain experience in the leasing and facilities management, a
critical entry point to the sector.”

He said the current state in the Eastern Cape is unacceptable and is not in
line with the governments developmental objectives. The MEC’s target is a
“performance output” included in the performance agreements of the property
management of the Department of Public Works at Head Office in Bhisho and at
regional level.

Issued by: Department of Public Works, Eastern Cape Provincial
Government
20 April 2009
Source: Department of Public Works, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
(http://www.ecprov.gov.za)