Question NW1641 to the Minister of Small Business Development
31 July 2015 - NW1641
Chance, Mr R to ask the Minister of Small Business Development
(1) What steps has she taken to engage with the (a) Premier of Gauteng and (b) Small Enterprise Finance Agency to urgently address the state of neglect and disrepair at Gauteng’s township industrial parks; (2) does her department intend to investigate claims by the parks’ tenants that they were promised titles to their premises after 10 years of continuous payment of occupational rent; if not, why not? NW1858E
Reply:
1. (a) Minister is seriously concerned about the poor state of the Gauteng’s township industrial park and although has not engaged with the Premier of Gauteng regarding the matter, the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa), which reports to the Department of Small Business Development, is handling the matters of Gauteng’s township industrial parks.
(b) So far Sefa has reported that it will engage with the Office of the Premier of Gauteng through the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP) in order to understand the Gauteng Province’s plans for property revitilisation. Sefa is in the process of conducting visits to the industrial parks to determine the extent of neglect and disrepair on these industrial parks: this includes assessing the physical state of these properties in order to perform all the necessary repairs and maintenance to these properties in the coming months.
2. Sefa has done investigations to the validity of these claims, and has so far obtained some information on the matter dating back to 1999. During the 2014/15 financial year, Sefa held discussions with the Tenants Association on the terms and conditions of transfer of ownership of these properties. Sefa is now in a process to meet individual Tenants Associations to discuss the framework for the transfer of ownership of these properties to tenants who qualify under the initial framework for transfer.