Nelson Mandela Bay gives R1m incentive to Discovery

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

The value of public private partnerships was restated on Monday when Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality presented a R1m cheque to Discovery Holdings as an incentive for its investment in the Metro.

The company, which has already invested close on R30m in a state of the art call centre at the Coega Industrial Development, says it will reinvest the money into its Eastern Cape operations.

Executive director of Discovery Holdings, Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba, says the company has a growing partnership with the Eastern Cape.

"I do not believe that it would have been possible for us to grow at the pace at which we have grown in such a short space of time without the active support of all the partners that we've built relations with here in the Eastern Cape," he said.

"That gives us the confidence that it is indeed possible for us building on these partnerships now to really build something that contributes to the broader economy of the Eastern Cape.

"Our commitment is to uphold and promote our core purpose through providing products that meets the needs of our members, job creation and corporate social investments in the region. To that end we have invested in excess of R5 million on training and development at Coega in the last 18 months," said Dr Ntsaluba.

Nelson Mandela Bay executive mayor, Zanoxolo Wayile, says its fundamental that the Metro forge strong strategic partnerships particularly with the private sector in order to deal with the challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality.

"Nelson Mandela Bay Metro is not immune to the challenges that are facing our country today, those being the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequalities. It has become fundamental that Nelson Mandela Bay Metro forge strong strategic partnerships particularly with the private sector in order to deal with these challenges. The partnership with Discovery is a shining example and testimony to now more than 300 young people employed in this region."

Wayile says despite the challenges government has to create an enabling environment for business investment in the region.

"The investment incentives are mainly aimed at lowering the cost of setting up the business in Nelson Mandela Bay and thus creating an attractive trade and investment atmosphere, accelerating the attraction of foreign direct investment and expansion in Nelson Mandela Bay," he said.