South African Property Review December 2016 - January 2017

South African Property Review

PROPERTY SOUTH AFRICAN

December 2016/January 2017

REVIEW

PROPERTY REVIEW - LogoTreatment.pdf

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2016/08/25

11:31 AM

CSI

Taking care of social commitments

CSI and property development

PE and EL The lowdown on the Eastern Cape

President’s round-up

Nomzamo Radebe positive about SAPOA

Events

End-of-year networking fun December 2016/January 2017

SAPOA events

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from the CEO

One of the real joys of the Holiday Season is the opportunity to say Thank You and to wish you the very best for the New Year

Dear friends and colleagues, As another year draws to a close, I would like to thank you for your continued confidence in SAPOA. As a member-driven organization, I can tell you that we do not take this confidence for granted. We are motivated and inspired by the opportunities that you give us to help us succeed as an industry body. Delivering results that exceed your expectations is our top priority.

The past year has been a positive one for SAPOA. It was no ordinary year, as we marked 50 years of serving the commercial property industry. Our 50th anniversary adds a great deal to the credibility of SAPOA, as it proves our longevity, staying power and success as the property industry body.

The Annual Convention & Property Exhibition took place in June, this time held in the City of Gold, and drew close to 1400 national and international property professionals under one roof. The three day event lent itself to relevant, thoughtprovoking discussions and several networking opportunities. I would like to thank you for your participation in making this annual event a success.

We also witnessed a very special moment with the inauguration of Nomzamo Radebe

as SAPOA’s first black female president. In the few months since the announcement, Nomzamo has already made inroads, and there are still some exciting projects in the pipeline. We congratulate her on this milestone and wish her all of the best for the rest of her tenure.

The year has been turbulent in terms of our country’s economy and political climate, but the commercial property sector has remained resilient in keeping the interests of our members in the forefront.

Looking ahead, it is a great pleasure and an honour to extend to you a warm invitation to attend the 2017 Annual Convention & Property Exhibition from 20 to 22 June 2017 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The theme of the Convention, Disruption, will underpin the need for change the way we think and use technology in reshaping the property industry. It’s all about collaboration and cooperation of individuals from a wide range of professional backgrounds. We hope you will join us for a symphony of outstanding real estate discussions.

In this season of gratitude, we give thanks to you, our valued members. As we continue to build a stronger partnership

together, we fully recognize that your support and the continued trust that you place in us is the foundation of our success.

You are at the centre of everything we do and we will work tirelessly towards ensuring that we meet and exceed your expectations in a fair and responsible way. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you for the past fifty years.

As we prepare to enter another year, we hope to make it one filled with positive growth within the property space. We are excited for the future and the opportunity to work with you in building stronger working relationships.

As yet another year draws to a close, I hope that you will have some time off to spend with family and friends, and that the holiday spirit of love and sharing will prevail. To those of you who are travelling, may you all have a safe and pleasant journey.

On behalf of SAPOA, I wish you prosperity, health, happiness and peace in a new year filled with hope. Here’s to the best of holidays and a prosperous 2017! Season’s Greetings!

With best wishes, Neil Gopal, CEO

Winner of the iPad Pro in SAPOA membership survey

In mid-October, SAPOA invited its members to participate in a membershipsatisfaction survey to gauge the benefits they derive from a SAPOA membership.

Members were asked their opinion on

various initiatives, as well as what more they need from SAPOA to better support and serve them. The survey ran for two weeks, and we received many responses.

After the closing date, a random number draw was conducted to find the winner of the iPad Pro that was on offer for completing the survey.

Congratulations to Sharon Kruger of Bidvest Prestige in Johannesburg, whose name was drawn as the winner!

We would like to thank all our members who participated. Your feedback is valuable and will be used to better serve all our members’ needs.

SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

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from the Editor’s desk

Farewell 2016, hello 2017 Half a tonne past, and a new look and feel introduced – not to mention new committee chairpersons and members

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s the year draws to a close, one is wont to reflect. Yes, that’s a bit of Victorian English – but with it comes with the realisation that time marches on.

At the beginning of the year we had high hopes and expectations – and as mentioned by our CEO Neil Gopal in his message, we anticipated the changing of the guard with our 50th Anniversary celebrations, along with a new look and feel to our identity. You – the SAPOA members – can be proud of your organisation: it has achieved a great deal this year, and promises to continue to stand in your corner going forward.

The Convention edition of South African Property Review was my first at the editorial helm, even though I’d been working in the background as Managing Editor until then.

So this Convention took on new meaning for me: it gave me an opportunity to become more involved in SAPOA and provided a deeper understanding of what the organisation is about.

In many respects, my renewed involvement as editor has created an opportunity to find ways of getting a more informed message out to our members.

When it came to our magazine’s annual planning meeting earlier this month, we agreed we needed to be more members- and associates-focused. So we will be changing the magazine’s DNA a little – but not too much! Why interfere with a winning formula?

Instead of generic industry news – which most of you get online on a weekly or even daily basis – we will be introducing a platform where we will showcase our associates’ news. Organisations that have MOUs with SAPOA will receive regular phone calls from our Deputy Editor to find out what they’re up to. The news section will be more of a quick glance-type read, rather than a long story, so don’t worry if don’t have a lot to say.

That said, your news may prompt us to come up with feature articles, and will help us with leads as to what’s happening in this exciting industry of ours.

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I’m also looking forward to getting together with the decision-makers in the commercial property industry n our brand-new one-onone interview segments. While we’ve featured interviews in the past, the new approach will be more in line with each month’s theme; this means we’ll identify members well in advance to ensure we can speak to them without it being last-minute.

As the year progresses, I plan to visit each of the regions to get to know each of SAPOA’s Committee Chairpersons a bit better.

(I’ve already made a start with East London, Port Elizabeth and Durban.) This will also help me put faces to names and see first-hand what’s happening in each region in terms of commercial property.

With property development in mind, we will continue (as we have in this edition) to focus on regional property development every three months. The aim in the past two or three development focus editions was to identify projects, such as Sibaya and Kato Ridge in KwaZulu-Natal, the Coega IDZ in Port Elizabeth as well as the Baywest mixed-use project, and to touch base with East London’s Call2Action initiative. But Gauteng has plenty of new development to report on as well.

As a regular visitor to the region, I look forward to visiting many of the office developments that could potentially become material for our “On Show” platform. And with regards to the Western Cape, it’s always easy for me to pop out of the office and touch base in my home province.

Our “On Show” feature is an excellent way of showcasing your building, office or mall. We look at all aspects of what went into the creation of the project, from the architectural excellence to innovative construction methods and Green Building ratings. It also gives you an opportunity to acknowledge the partnerships and teamwork that go into a project.

This is the kind of material that we have identified as being important to you, our readers. I welcome your input and feedback, so please drop me a line at mark@mpdps.com.

Of course the magazine will still carry its regular in-house articles, informing you of legal happenings as well as what’s affecting members in terms of town planning, social events – those that have already happened and those that are still coming up. It’s important to us that you submit pictures and write-ups of your events for inclusion in the magazine – please send all the information to Maud Nale at profficer@sapoa.org.za.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our advertisers who have supported the magazine over the past year – and in so doing to introduce you to Robbie Pansegrauw, who will be looking after all media enquiries going into 2017. He can be contacted at rob@mpdps.com.

All that remains is for me to thank you all for your support of the South African Property Review. As the property industry closes for its traditional break – usually from about 16 December to mid-January – I wish you all a great festive time, a restful holiday and a prosperous new year.

See you all in 2017!

Mark Pettipher, Managing Editor

SAPOA events

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SAPOA events An opportunity

I nnovatIve C orporateaward offiCe developm offICe

PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT AWARDS FOR INNOVATIVE EXCELLENCE

not to be missed The SAPOA Property Development Awards for Innovative Excellence coffee table book 2017 ents

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Paddock View, Hunt’s End Office Park, 36 Wierda Road West, Wierda Valley, Sandton PO Box 78544, Sandton 2146 t: +27 (0)11 883 0679 f: +27 (0)11 883 0684 www.sapoa.org.za

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Every year, buildings get smarter and more beautiful.

SAPOA’s primary objective is to define excellence in property and recognise top-quality design and functionality as a benchmark for excellence.

SAPOA awards for excellence 2016

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engineers BD&O, AECOM Fire Solutions, AECOM

2016 rds for excellence

SAPOA awards

Principal contracto

SAPOA awards

The SAPOA Property Development Awards for Innovative Excellence are widely respected within the commercial property design industry, illustrating various types of excellence, from the clarity of purpose in the brief to ingenuity of product, clever design solutions and delivery on time and within budget.

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for excellence 2016

SAPOA awards

for excellence 2016

It is this recognition that owners, developers, architects and property practitioners strive for.

for excellence 2016

Cost: R15 000 excluding VAT (Includes design, photography and production) Deadline: 08 April 2017 Bookings: Jane Padayachee, Marketing Manager e: marketingmanager@sapoa.org.za t: +27 (0)11 883 0679

A SAPOA award is forever, much like the raw bricks and mortar that make up the timeless beauty of property.

To be part of this amazing opportunity, partner with us by profiling your executives and/or team in our SAPOA Property Development Awards for Innovative Excellence Coffee-Table Book Volume 4

Volume 4 of this prestigious coffee table book will be given to each delegate attending the SAPOA Convention & Property Exhibition ● ●

20 - 22 June 2017 Cape Town International Convention Centre

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SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

contents

December 2016/January 2017

PROPERTY SOUTH AFRICAN

Abland

REVIEW

South African Property Review

PROPERTY SOUTH AFRICAN

December 2016/January 2017

REVIEW

PROPERTY REVIEW - LogoTreatment.pdf

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2016/08/25

11:31 AM

CSI

ON THE COVER Season’s greetings from SAPOA and the team at the South African Property Review

Taking care of social commitments

CSI and property development

PE and EL

The lowdown on the Eastern Cape

President’s round-up

Abreal

Nomzamo Radebe positive about SAPOA

Events

End-of-year networking fun December 2016/January 2017

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From the CEO From the Editor’s desk Industry news President’s round-up Networking, advocacy and collaboration is the way to go Legal update Land reform: Version 2 of the preservation and development of agricultural land framework Legally speaking SAPOA Broker Committee announces series of legal forums for members in 2017 SAPOA Limpopo Chairman Unlocking the region’s potential through mutual understanding, education and trust Planning and development Habitat III: The New Urban Agenda Taking measurements Getting the measure of things Port Elizabeth development overview East London development overview Development overview Westside Precinct provides the ideal central, mixed-use location CSI initiatives Events Off the wall Surfing the greens: forget the buggy, get trendy!

Oilgro

FOR EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES, email mark@mpdps.com Published by SAPOA, Paddock View, Hunt’s End Office Park, 36 Wierda Road West, Wierda Valley, Sandton PO Box 78544, Sandton 2146 t: +27 (0)11 883 0679 f: +27 (0)11 883 0684 Editor in Chief Neil Gopal Editorial Adviser Jane Padayachee Managing Editor Mark Pettipher Copy Editor Ania Rokita Production Manager Dalene van Niekerk Designers Wade Hunkin, Eugene Jonck Sales Robbie Pansegrauw e: rob@mpdps.com Finance Susan du Toit Contributors Anne Schauffer, Brenda Bryden, CDC Business Development Communications Officer, Fiona McFarlan, Lekgolo Mayatula, Maud Nale, Megan Manley, Mumtaz Moola, Phil Ruimte, Shirley Williams, Simlindele Manqina, Stanley Karombo Photographer Mark Pettipher DISCLAIMER: The publisher and editor of this magazine give no warranties, guarantees or assurances and make no representations regarding any goods or services advertised within this edition. Copyright South African Property Owners’ Association (SAPOA).

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form without prior written consent from SAPOA. The publishers are not responsible for any unsolicited material.

Printed by Designed, written and produced for SAPOA by MPDPS (PTY) Ltd e: mark@mpdps.com

e: philip@rsalitho.co.za

P R O P E R T Y

F U N D

industry news

MEC Zikalala welcomes R50-billion Sibaya coastal development

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he KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Sihle Zikalala has described the new Sibaya Coastal Precinct Development as a positive boon that was set to alter the province’s economic fortunes for the better.

Zikalala, who was speaking at the launch of the multibillion-rand property development spearheaded by Tongaat Hulett, said the project served as proof that even in times of generally depressed market conditions, KwaZulu-Natal has remained an obvious choice for the discerning investor.

“This residential property development demonstrates that KwaZulu-Natal’s resilience as a regional economic powerhouse is able to withstand even the generally subdued economic conditions,” he said.

The MEC said the project, which is expected to inject an estimated R50-billion into

the regional economy and also result in the creation of about 300 000 jobs, would go a considerable way to cementing KwaZuluNatal’s reputation as one of the country’s leading regions with respect to property and real estate business.

“KwaZulu-Natal is a holiday-resort paradise with a substantial domestictourism market that’s gradually being complemented by growing figures of international visitors seeking pleasure in the diverse tourism attractions,” Zikalala said. “These factors – and others – contribute to the province becoming one of the most soughtafter parts of South Africa by property developers, and buyers intent on securing private residential apartments or holiday retreats. This latest development is another confirmation that this area, boasting exciting beaches and world-class entertainment and recreational facilities, will always be on investors’ radar screens.”

Tongaat Hulett official launch of the Sibaya Precinct: (from left) Chairman of Public Accounts Committee Councillor Sipho Alam Kaunda, KZN MEC Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Sihle Zikalala, Tongaat Hulett CEO Peter Straude and MD Tongaat Hulett Developments Michael Deighton

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SAIBPP CEO Vuyiswa Mutshekwane

Nkuli Bogapa

SAIBPP annual convention: the future of empowerment in property development

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mpowerment, transformation, and collaboration: these are some of the themes that emerged at the annual convention of the South African Institute of Black Property Practitioners (SAIBPP), held on 2 and 3 November.

According to SAIBPP Chief Executive Officer Vuyiswa Mutshekwane, the convention was a great success. “The way we crafted our programme really reflected our objectives – to facilitate a solution-oriented strategic discussion around the transformation of the property sector,” she said. “In crafting our programme, we sought to draw meaningful input from all key property industry stakeholders. The programme included representatives from the private sector, financial services, civil society and the public sector, including the Department of Public Works, and provincial and local government as represented by the Chief Executive Officer

of Joburg Property Company, Helen Botes. The Green Building Council of South Africa spoke about opportunities available for green building practitioners within the space as a new area for black professionals to work in, while Managing Director of Tsebo Real Asset Management Mashilo Pitjeng spoke about the necessity of internal reflection and the need for self-empowerment, Mutshekwane explained.

During a panel discussion on funding, Robin Lockharte Ross of Nedbank discussed the role the financial services sector can play in terms of making it easier for new entrants to access finance.

Chief Executive Officer of the Gauteng Partnership Fund (GPF) Boni Muvevi explained that Gauteng has a low-income housing backlog of about 900 000 units. Government has limited resources, so the GPF was established with the private sector, with the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements (GDHS) as its executive authority.

SAPOA events

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industry news Emira signs an agreement to house both KFC and Pizza Hut Africa head offices in another landmark deal for Knightsbridge

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mira Property Fund has signed a deal to house both KFC and Pizza Hut head offices in Africa in 3 150m² of quality green office space at Knightsbridge office park in Bryanston. The deal kick-starts the second of three phases in Emira’s R815-million total redevelopment of the former Knightsbridge Manor.

This agreement comes hot on the heels of Emira’s recent deal with WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff for 5 900m² of offices at Knightsbridge.

Knightsbridge consists of seven buildings. Emira’s redevelopment will triple the size of the office space it offers to nearly 29 850m². Emira’s transaction with WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff is part of the first phase of the development, comprising three buildings. Construction on this phase began in January 2016, and WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff will open at Knightsbridge office park in August 2017.

Emira will begin work on the fourth building in Knightsbridge to undergo redevelopment from March 2017, and KFC and Pizza Hut will start operating at their new Knightsbridge premises from June 2018.

“We’re thrilled to sign KFC and Pizza Hut at Knightsbridge,” says Emira Chief Executive Officer Geoff Jennett. “This deal will help KFC and Pizza Hut to realise their property objectives by matching them with P-grade, resource-efficient green offices that support their business goals.”

“We’re excited about our new office space and look forward to seeing the development take place,” says KFC Africa Managing Director Doug Smart. “These green offices will be a true reflection of our pioneering and iconic brand, and a great place for our team to work.”

R625-million boosts lives of 20 000 first-time homeowners in Gauteng

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ore than 20 000 Gauteng families are set to become first-time homeowners and secure a firm foothold in the residential property market.

This follows an investment

by Futuregrowth Asset Management of R625million in major housing projects being developed by the Cosmopolitan Group. The investment is primarily being used to fund regulatory approvals and to install bulk services for integrated housing developments that have been designed to include amenities ranging from schools to shopping centres in areas close to major CBDs in Gauteng.

The Cosmopolitan Group is a lower-to-middle-income housing specialist with more

than 20 years of experience in the industry. Its houses are priced from R400 000, with packages tailored for families earning between R10 500 to around R30 000 a month.

“Demand for housing in this income group far outstrips supply,” says Futuregrowth portfolio manager and investment analyst Paul Semple. “These developments enable first-time homeowners to move from outlying areas into growing metropolitan suburbs situated closer to places of work, with amenities and facilities on their doorstep. This is real social transformation and wealth creation. It gives young families upward mobility by enabling them to create equity and to eventually trade up in the property market.”

Green building: how a love for life will help achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement

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he 22nd United Nations Framework for Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP22) took place recently in Marrakech in Morocco. The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) had attended the higher-profile COP21 in Paris in December last year, and was represented by the World Green Building Council at COP22 this year. COP21 generated major global support for the Paris Agreement, ratified by 55 countries, to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below two degrees Celsius.

The building sector has a significant contribution to make in reducing emissions rapidly.

At COP21, the GBCSA made an ambitious commitment to introduce a net zero building certification scheme, and target 2 500 commercial green building

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SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

certifications – representing about 10million square metres of gross building area – and 10 000 residential green building certified homes in South Africa by the year 2020.

On 4 November 2016, the Paris Agreement came into force. Now, COP22 is focusing on implementing the agreement and fine-tuning details such as financing for developing countries.

As a big part of achieving its green goals, the GBCSA aims to change South Africans’ perspectives on the built environment by sharing a better understanding of the ways that green buildings achieve a range of environmental, social and economic goals. Biophilic design is one such way.

Buildings with biophilic design help to reduce stress, enhance creativity and clarity of thought, and improve overall wellbeing. As the world’s population

Brian Wilkinson CEO Green Building Council of South Africa [GBCSA]

continues to urbanise, these qualities have become increasingly important.

The term biophilia, which means “the love of life or living systems”, was first used by social psychologist Erich Fromm to describe people’s attraction to all that is alive and vital. Biophilia suggests humans have a biological need – physical, mental and social – for a connection with nature. This connection affects our wellbeing, productivity and social relationships.

people in profile industry news

people in profile industry news

New penthouse office suites take companies straight to the top

Onisms Manyewe Head of Energy Management Bidvest Facilities Management Renee Feenay, Head spearheads of Leasing at Melrose Onisms Manyewe the Arch identification, implementation and benefit oburg’s premier business address, Melrose tracking and reporting of energy management, Arch, has added a new dimension to clean energy and green buildings interventions, business accommodation in the city. generating sustainable bottom-line value It has crowned the iconic buildings for Bidvest clients. He has a BSc Honours in around the iconic Melrose Arch Piazza electrical engineering from the University with exclusive new rooftop office space. of Zimbabwe, and completed an Executive Taking workspace to new heights, Development Programme in 2013 through Amdec has extended five office buildings Wits Business School. He is internationally by adding a new top floor to each one and, certified with the Association of Energy in doing so, redefined boutique corporate Engineers as an Energy Manager and a space in Melrose Arch. The 4 800m² of new Measurement and Verification Professional, office space is designed in stylish industrial and also by the aGreen Building steel andaccredited glass, providing chic executive Council of South Africa as a Green Star SA aesthetic and great views of the precinct Accredited Professional for Existing Buildings and its surrounding vistas. All five rooftop Performance.

Prior to joining Bidvest Facilities office suites will be completed before the Management in 2010, Manyewe was a Senior end of the year, offering flexible space from Consultant at Camco Clean 100m² to 1 500m², with lotsEnergy. of adaptability.

“Being as Head of Energy Reneeappointed Feeney, Head of Leasing at Melrose Management was a fitting achievement after Arch explains that developing the exclusive 15 years of experience in energy efficiency, new rooftop office spaces was undertaken in energy management, carbon management, response to demand. “The demand for offices renewable energy, climate change and green at Melrose Arch continues to be strong, ” she buildings, gained mainly says. “Its corporate appealinissouthern enhancedAfrica, by the East Africa and Central Africa, ” he says. and many facilities it houses for businesses “Successfully implementing carefully employees. With internationally renowned considered solutions that helpvenues, our clients hotels, conference and event a host of quality restaurants and ideal everyday achieve sustainable bottom-line value truly amenities, Arch is particularly inspires me.Melrose It involves lowering buildings’ popular with ” operating and multinational total life-cyclebusinesses. costs, optimising In addition, Feeney points out the resource usage and enhancing operational new Melrose Arch rooftopour offices add efficiencies, and assisting clients into the variety of workspaces attargets, the achieving their sustainabilityavailable goals and leading live-work-play-stay Melrose which include reducing theirprecinct. carbon footprint Arch includes a selection of large, tailor-made and the operational environmental damage.” branded corporate headquarters as well as vibrant multi-tenant office environments.

There is a big representation of blue-chip companies that consider Melrose Arch to be the ultimate business address. DuPont, Bidvest Group, Lonmin, MasterCard, Royal Bafokeng Holdings, Stanlib, Worley Parsons, Sasfin and Bankmed are among +27 (0)12 641 8000 the long list of corporate heavyweights that call Melrose Onisms.Manyewe@bidvestfm.co.za Arch home.

J

www.bidvestfacilitiesmanagement.co.za

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industry news

Ballito Junction Regional Mall appoints CEO

Ballito Junction CEO Geraldine Jorgensen

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allito Junction Regional Mall, which opens on 23 March 2017, has appointed Geraldine Jorgensen as its Chief Executive Officer.

Jorgensen is a KwaZuluNatal-born property professional with extensive

shopping centre and property management experience. She will lead the management team of the iconic new Ballito Junction Regional Mall in the heart of Ballito on KwaZuluNatal’s North Coast, located just off the busy N2 highway.

Taking shopping on the Dolphin Coast to new heights, Ballito Junction Regional Mall is the major expansion of an existing 10 000m² shopping centre to a magnificent 80 000m² mega-mall. It is owned and developed by a consortium of leading South African property companies,

Giuricich Bros confirms construction of the innovative Springs Mallis is on track for a March 2017 opening

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iuricich Bros Construction, a leading South African family-owned construction firm and the main contractor for the prestigious new Springs Mall at Blue Crane Eco Park, has confirmed the mall’s construction is progressing on schedule to open on 16 March 2017.

Giuricich Bros construction industry pedigree goes back seven decades and includes many landmark construction projects countrywide. The regional 48 000m² Springs Mall is its largest retail development so far as a main contractor.

Construction for the R950-million mall broke ground in 2015.

“We are hugely proud to be part of developing the all-new Springs Mall,” says Director of Giuricich Bros Construction, Nicky Giuricich. “Not only is Giuricich Bros the main contractor but Murinda Investments, which is part of the Giuricich Bros Group, is an investor and a proud joint owner of the mall.”

The group has played a key role in helping to unlock the Springs Mall development,

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which is the brainchild of the Springs-based D’Arrigo family.

Besides the Giuricichs D’Arrigos, shareholders in the development include leading shopping centre developers and leasing specialists Flanagan & Gerard Property Development & Investment, and JSE-listed retail-focused REIT, Vukile Property Fund.

Unique in many ways, this world-class regional mall development in Gauteng has demanded the highest level of construction skill and expertise from its contractor.

Springs Mall is a feat of engineering as its site is over dolomitic rock, which weathers and erodes when it touches water. This presented some challenges for its construction.

Nicky Giuricich

SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

Menlyn Maine Investment Holdings and Flanagan & Gerard Property Development & Investment.

Jorgensen, who has lived in KwaZulu-Natal for most of her life, is excited about the new Ballito Junction Regional Mall, especially because “this beautiful mall is opening in my home town,” she says. “Ballito Junction Regional Mall is going to be an asset for our town. It’s going to be great for Ballito and for the whole area.“ Jorgensen matriculated from Carter High School in Pietermaritzburg before starting

her working life with a six-year stint at SARS. After travelling abroad she returned to South Africa to join Old Mutual Property, where she began her 15-year career in commercial real estate.

Before taking up the new position at Ballito Junction, Jorgensen spent six years at the super-regional Gateway Theatre of Shopping in Durban as property manager. Prior to this, she was property manager of a portfolio of commercial and industrial properties in the Durban CBD for Old Mutual Property, a position she held for seven years.

Black property professionals honour Growthpoint Properties’ commitment to transformation

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he South African Institute of Black Property Practitioners (SAIBPP) has honoured Growthpoint Properties for demonstrating outstanding commitment to the transformation in the property sector. This is the first time that SAIBPP’s Annual Awards have acknowledged property sector companies that, through their programmes and procurement policies, display an over-andabove commitment to transforming the property sector. The award was presented to Growthpoint at the SAIBPP’s 2016 awards dinner during its annual convention in Sandton.

“Growthpoint has demonstrated its intention and commitment to transforming the property sector, and has gone above and beyond what is required of it,” says SAIBPP Chief Executive Officer Vuyiswa Mutshekwane. The Chairman of Growthpoint’s social, ethics and transformation board committee Mzolisi Diliza is also Growthpoint’s largest individual shareholder with 38,6-million shares. “Growthpoint’s commitment to transformation is driven by real intent,” Diliza says. “It’s worked hard to make good progress on its transformation journey, so receiving this significant award from SAIBPP is very meaningful.”

Diliza describes Growthpoint as an active proponent of transformation, internally and across its industry. “Growthpoint has earned a track record of driving meaningful change, starting with concluding the first and largest BEE deals in the industry in 2005 that have since earned billions of rands for black investors,” says Diliza. Besides institutional shareholders, today more of Growthpoint’s shares are in the hands of black investors than any other group. In addition, more than half of its employees are black.

Growthpoint has invested continuous executive representation on the Board of the Property Sector Charter Council, and its executives represented the Property Loan Stock Association, now the SA REIT Association, as a signatory to the Property Sector Charter.

industry news

Steady growth in mixed-use hospitality developments

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here has been steady growth in mixed-use hospitality developments such as hotels or conference centres on a global scale, and there’s no sign of this momentum slowing down, according to local and international hospitality experts.

These urban developments blend office, commercial, hospitality, entertainment and residential space, offering people a “live, work, play” lifestyle. The concept has brought about a broader accommodation mix and improved convenience for residents seeking to live closer to their work, leisure and shopping areas.

Mixed-use developments are not a new concept or property trend in South Africa. In fact, the country wisely adopted this approach in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when Melrose Arch and Cape Town’s Century City made it onto our city maps.

But what has been counting in the country’s favour is our consistent building on this trend, resulting in the creation

of new business hubs and innovative property development solutions on the back of massive capital investment.

All and all, mixed-use developments boost the economy, stimulate small business growth, create jobs and present a host of investment opportunities. They are also a sterling way of capitalising on a more resourceful use of denser space, as well as meeting the country’s infrastructure needs.

In South Africa there are a few either in progress or in the pipeline. The R1,2-billion Yacht Club mixed-use development in Cape Town’s Roggebaai Canal precinct will consist of A-grade commercial space as well as 170 residential units and a hotel.

Another newcomer is the 207-room Radisson Blu Hotel in Durban’s Oceans Umhlanga development that’s expected to open its doors in 2019. Designed as an urban resort, the highend complex will feature luxury apartments and a shopping mall with leading international brands.

industry news

Development Management

Quantity Surveying Leasing Tenant Co-ordination

+27 (12) (12) 346 4744 | www.illungile.co.za SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

11

President’s roundup

Networking, advocacy and collaboration is the way to go SAPOA President Nomzamo Radebe talks about the value of networking and her focus areas for 2017

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ix months into her SAPOA presidency, Nomzamo Radebe continues to make inroads into establishing solid networks and promoting advocacy.

“The first few months involved getting familiar with the topical issues within the organisation and defining my focus areas in more detail,” she says. “Not much has changed since I delivered my speech at the annual Convention. I’ve mainly been looking at the initiatives allocated to each area within SAPOA.

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The strategy remains the same, with our main focus areas being advocacy, networking, conferencing, education and research. I’m currently looking at what needs to be refined, what needs to be re-jigged and where we need to place greater emphasis.”

Networking with the media and local government “Shortly after my appointment as President of SAPOA, I was fortunate to be introduced to

the media in Gauteng and Cape Town. This has been most helpful; now we’re on a firstname basis with key journalists. A direct line of contact with them makes it easy to discuss issues and get press coverage.

“The Meet the Mayor initiative, where we meet and establish relationships with the mayors of the major metros, continues to be an important networking initiative for SAPOA. “Following the municipal elections in August, which saw a change of leadership in various municipalities, we have been in contact with the mayors of Ekurhuleni, Tshwane, Johannesburg, Cape Town, eThekwini and Nelson Mandela Bay to tell them more about SAPOA and our objectives, as well as the role we can all play.

“SAPOA has already had one-on-one meetings with Athol Trollip, Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay; Herman Mashaba, Mayor of Johannesburg; and Patricia de Lille, Mayor of Cape Town. We aim to have many more of these face-to-face meetings, as we’ve found that creating an awareness of who and what SAPOA is as well as the contribution SAPOA members can make to the running of the metropolitans are key to building and fostering relationships throughout the year.

“Mayor Mashaba, indicated that there will be changes in some areas, and that new initiatives will be introduced. What was clear is that he appreciates, as did the previous incumbent, the contribution of the property industry as a whole and what SAPOA stands for. So whether or not certain initiatives are changed, we have once again kept the door open for further dialogue.

“At the end of the day, we want smoothly functioning metros that add value to the lives of their citizens.”

Education and the Bursary Fund Another major area of focus is the Bursary Fund and strengthening SAPOA’s relationship with the Services SETA. “The SSETA has made R40-million available to

President’s roundup SAPOA to fund students in propertyrelated disciplines,” says Radebe. “Our focus continues to ensure that there is alignment with the SSETA as to how funding should be distributed – and if there are any changes, that it is communicated to both parties. We are concentrating on making sure the necessary administration happens as it should and that benefits reach the students.

“We are very aware that the Fees Must Fall campaign could mean some of our existing students will need to be funded for the same courses again next year. This could have a negative impact on our funding, but we will continue to provide assistance to students. We remain in contact with the students to understand how they have been impacted by this campaign and to offer support so they can graduate and enter the industry. The pool of interns entering the industry in 2017 is likely to be smaller, but we are doing everything we can to train and nurture talent and introduce new entrants to the property industry.

“I will continue to look at the initiatives around education and mentoring students to ensure we give proper focus to this area of our operation. I’m reviewing some of the courses we offer – especially the one- and two-day courses – to ascertain whether they are still relevant and identify what needs to be tweaked. We have noticed a decline in registration for some of the courses, and while we know the state of the economy has a lot to do with it, we need to ensure that content is still relevant and that it meets the members’ requirements.”

Getting to know you “We have a number of new committee chairpersons, and in September we hosted a successful council meeting in Sandton, where we met the chairpersons of the various committees and the secretariats of the different regions. About 40 people attended the meeting.

“One of the outcomes from that meeting is the need to find a better way to share information among the various committees so we can enhance what each committee is doing and, where there are overlaps, either consolidate the committee or draw the line.

Most of the overlaps centre around legislative matters, regulatory issues relating to developments, utilities and town planning matters. We will be concentrating on directing traffic to the right places and making sure we optimise our resources so we don’t have two or three people running with the same issue at different levels. This

was a key focus of the meeting and highly appreciated by all the parties.

“It was wonderful to see the passion, enthusiasm and commitment among the various committee members. SAPOA is definitely in safe hands on all levels! During a financial year, SAPOA committees and the board hold more than 200 meetings. These deliver tangible outputs. I thank the many members who are prepared to voluntarily sacrifice their time for the greater good of the industry.”

“I will continue to look

A big drive for advocacy and engagement in 2017

– especially the one- and

According to Radebe, SAPOA’s main focus in 2017 will be on continuing the relationships with the mayors, strengthening advocacy at a provincial and national level, and fostering engagement with complementary bodies.

“I recently spoke at the Black Conveyancers Convention, which has a MOU to collaborate with SAPOA on a number of initiatives,” she says. “It was a great opportunity to engage with the members. I have also attended a few Women in Property Network meetings that focus on recognising exceptional women in the industry, regionally and nationally.

During Women’s Month, we hosted an event in Johannesburg, in collaboration with the Green Building Council of South Africa, to celebrate women, and encourage each other to carry on and add value to the industry. And early in November, I attended a South African Institute of Black Property Professionals conference, where I was able to meet and interact with the members of that organisation.

“For me, collaboration with the various property bodies and organisations is of utmost importance. In the end, we all want the same thing, so I aim to do more of this kind of engagement with other members and organisations.

We continue to look for more sponsorship opportunities around education and for SAPOA as a whole. We recently sent out a member survey asking members for their opinion on the various initiatives and what we cover, and what more they need from SAPOA to support and serve them. I’m hoping that once we get that feedback, we can look at what must be done and answer our members’ needs.

“Ultimately, my main objective is to ensure that SAPOA becomes the best organisation it can be, and that it serves all our members. I will continue to strive for greatness!” says Radebe

at the initiatives around education and mentoring students to ensure we give proper focus to this area of our operation. I’m reviewing some of the courses we offer two-day courses – to ascertain whether they are still relevant and identify what needs to be tweaked. We have noticed a decline in registration for some of the courses, and while we know that the state of the economy has a lot to do with it, we need to ensure that content is still relevant and that it meets the members’ requirements”

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legal update

Land reform: Version 2 of the preservation and development of agricultural land framework

By Mumtaz Moola

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he Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act was passed in 1970 to prevent the subdivision of agricultural land into uneconomic land units. The Act provided that land that historically fell outside the area of a municipality or a town could not be subdivided without the consent of the Minister of Agriculture.

In 1998, Parliament passed a law repealing the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act, but the implementation of this law has not yet been brought into effect.

In the Government Gazette of 2 September 2016, the Minister of Agriculture published Version 2 of the Draft Policy and Bill on the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land. Comments on the Policy and Bill were due on 30 October 2016. The Bill is to replace the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act, and its aim is to protect agricultural land.

Unfortunately, the Bill goes far beyond this.

What is agricultural land?

Like the old Act, the Bill defines agricultural land to include all land outside of a proclaimed township. It then categorises agricultural land into eight different classes depending upon the agricultural potential of the land. Land that is categorised in classes 1 to 3 is defined to be high-potential cropping land, and land categorised in classes 4 to 8 is defined to be medium-potential agricultural land.

From what follows, it is clear that the structure of the Bill with respect to the subdivision and rezoning of agricultural land is unconstitutional in that it falls foul of the provisions of Sections 156(1) and 41(f ) of the Constitution as read with Schedule 4 Part B, whereby municipalities have executive authority in respect of municipal planning, as explained more fully below.

The Bill intrudes on the exclusive constitutional competence which Section 156(1) of the Constitution confers on municipalities. Section 156(1) provides, in part, that a municipality has executive authority in respect of, and the right to administer, the local government matters set out in Part B of Schedule 4 to the Constitution.

The Schedule mentions the local government matters listed to the extent set out in section 155(6)(a) and (7). Section 156(7) provides that

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national government has the legislative and executive authority to see to the effective performance by municipalities of their functions in respect of matters in Schedule 4, by regulating the exercise by municipalities of their executive authority referred to in section 156(1). However, regulating their authority does not leave room for usurping their authority or intruding into their functions and authority. This is also clear from section 41(1)(f ), which provides that all spheres of government and all organs of State within each sphere must not assume any power or function except those conferred in them in terms of the Constitution.

Although Schedule 4, Part A, assigns agriculture as a functional area of current national and provincial legislative competence, it does not empower national government to intrude on the exclusive constitutional competence which is conferred upon municipalities by Part B of Schedule 4 in respect of municipal planning. As appears below, municipal planning entails land use planning. This includes the zoning of land in terms of town planning schemes and in terms of SPLUMA to adopt and approve a single land use scheme for its entire area and to prepare municipal spatial development frameworks that are binding on Municipal Planning Tribunals or any other authority required or mandated to make a land development decision in terms of that Act or any other law relating to land development.

Such Municipal Planning Tribunals and other authorities may not make a decision that is inconsistent with a municipal spatial development framework.

Principles of interpretation where there is an overlap between local government matters in Part B and functional areas of national competence in Part A of Schedule 4 In the case of City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality v Gauteng Development Tribunal, the Constitutional Court had to determine whether the power to approve applications for the rezoning of land and establishment of townships fell into the broader functional area of “urban and rural development”, which is listed in Part A

of Schedule 4, or into the more specific functional area of municipal planning which is listed in Part B of Schedule 4. The Constitutional Court began its analysis not by interpreting the functional area of “urban and rural development” but rather by interpreting the functional area of municipal planning, which it went on to find did include the power to approve applications for the rezoning of land and the establishment of townships.

The purposive interpretation of the schedules requires that a restrictive meaning be ascribed to development so as to enable each sphere to exercise his powers without interference by the other spheres. This restrictive approach coheres with the functional scheme of the schedules, which vests specific powers in municipalities.

The constitutional dimensions of decision-making with respect to the functional area of municipal planning Section 41(f ) of the Constitution confirms the autonomy of each sphere of government by stipulating that one sphere may not assume any power or function of the other except those conferred on them in terms of the Constitution. The limited scope for intervention by one sphere in the affairs of another is the context in which the powers conferred on each sphere must be construed. Neither of them can by legislation give itself the power to exercise executive municipal powers or the right to administer municipal affairs.

All land within the Republic of South Africa falls within the jurisdictional area of some municipality, and the effect of the Bill will be that the exclusive executive authority and administration conferred upon municipalities with respect to agricultural land within their municipal areas will not only be interfered with, but will become subject to decisions by the Minister of Agriculture in the national government.

The Bill intrudes on the exclusive constitutional competence of municipalities in respect of municipal planning Clause 9(2) obligates every municipality to prepare an agricultural sector plan. The objectives of these plans are, inter alia,

legal update

to ensure the preservation and development of agricultural land for the purpose it was “declared”. In terms of clause 12(1)(b), the agricultural land use plan must include agricultural land use zones indicating what activities may take place in the different agricultural land use zones within the area.

Clause 13(3) then makes these plans, once approved, binding upon all organs of State, including municipalities. In terms of clause 9(3) the municipal agricultural sector plan must be prepared as part of the municipality’s integrated development plan in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Systems Act “in consultation” with the Minister – i.e. with concurrence or agreement of the Minister.

It is thus to be noted that the land uses on agricultural land contained in the agricultural sector plan as well as the integrated development plan of the municipality are subject to the approval of the Minister of Agriculture. In this roundabout way, the Minister of Agriculture assumes the function of approving land use planning by municipalities in the IDP as well as in the municipal agricultural sector plan.

The Minister may also declare a protected agricultural area which also has to be included in the integrated development plans, spatial development frameworks as well as Land Use Management Schemes (which is the instrument replacing town planning schemes, created by SPLUMA). This is the prime instrument whereby municipalities, in terms of Section 24 of SPLUMA, regulate land use rights and zonings within the whole of its municipal area.

This is a direct interference by the Minister of Agriculture in the exclusive competence of municipal planning set out in Part B of Schedule 4 to the Constitution. It is an iteration of the principle in clause 5 that agricultural use of land on farmland is the dominant land use to be safeguarded for future generations. This principle is also in conflict with land use planning and administration, which is an exclusive competence of municipalities.

Clause 30 is a blatant intrusion into the exclusive sphere of land use planning of municipalities by prohibiting a municipality to adopt a by-law, spatial development framework or land use scheme under any law on agricultural land “without the consent of the Minister”. In terms of that clause, a municipality is also prohibited from issuing an authorisation in terms of any legislation on agricultural land without the consent of

the Minister. Clause 30(2) empowers the Minister with the power to prescribe development controls imposing development parameters applicable on agricultural land which may be listed in regulations in terms of clause 30(3). Clause 30(4) then prohibits a municipality to permit land development on agricultural land where the municipal development parameters or controls are not consistent or less restrictive than development controls or parameters on such land as may be imposed by the Minister in terms of the draft bill.

In terms of clause 33, an appeal against a decision by the Minister lies not with the Municipal Tribunal created by SPLUMA for decision of land use decisions, but with the Minister who can appoint a person as a competent authority in terms of clause 34.

The Minister thus assumes the function of deciding on land use matters on agricultural land to the exclusion of a municipal appeal tribunal as created in terms of SPLUMA. This municipal appeal tribunal was created specifically to retain the exclusive competence of municipalities to decide on land use matters.

By prohibiting the adoption of by-laws, spatial development frameworks and land use schemes without the consent of the Minister, the Minister becomes the final executive decision-maker with respect to these land use planning functions. This is unconstitutional and an intrusion and in conflict with section 41(1)(f ) of the Constitution. All of this is apparently done under the guise of Section 146 of the Constitution by stating it is a matter of national importance and must be regulated by legislation of the national government.

Township establishment The same principles apply to township establishment. In terms of clause 24, no person may subdivide or change the use of agricultural land without authorisation by the Minister. Clause 19(3) goes as far as to prohibit decisions on these matters in terms of other planning legislation by a person who exercised the powers of an approving offer to approve a subdivision of agricultural land without prior authorisation. This applies to exercises of power under SPLUMA as well as the Deeds Registries Act, the Land Survey Act and the Sectional Titles Act, or any other planning legislation.

Clause 20 requires an owner of agricultural land who wishes to use the land for nonagricultural purposes to apply for authorisation to the Minister. A municipality or Municipal

Planning Tribunal or authorised official in terms of SPLUMA or any board or agency established by a municipality, having land development authorisation power, may only permit a development on agricultural land if it is consistent with development controls imposed by the Minister. Even if control was necessary in the national interest of the use of agricultural land, the decisionmaking power had to be left in the hands of municipalities and could not be assumed by the Minister.

The Bill is rife with examples where Parliament will be abdicating its function of law-making. The Minister becomes his own legislature in laying down norms and standards and the requirement and criteria for those empowered in the Bill to grant agricultural land authorisations.

Taxation Clause 59 obligates the Minister – in consultation with the Minister of Finance – to “develop taxation strategies” with the objectives to discourage the conversion of agricultural land to other non-agricultural uses, as well as to encourage the optimal utilisation of agricultural land for agricultural purposes. Agricultural land is already rated by municipalities.

Conclusion The preservation of agricultural land is highly desirable, but not an absolute principle.

Instead of simplifying regulatory control, land development will be extremely difficult under these circumstances, even adding holdings costs to agricultural land, with township establishment potential, by adding yet another tax.

This legal opinion is only a guide and should not be copied with the expectation that it will serve specific individual circumstances. Most of these recommendations have not been tested in our courts. SAPOA cannot guarantee any success in any court if any of these recommendations are put to use.

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legally speaking

SAPOA Broker Committee announces series of legal forums for members in 2017 The event will be held on 9 March 2017 at the Sandton offices of Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr.

All brokers are welcome to attend

“B

rokers face many legal issues, notably the fine print associated with various property transactions. This requires ongoing education and training,” says Rene Styber, Chairman of the SAPOA Broker Committee.

“Legislation is changing constantly, so as a committee we want to assist our members – in particular our smaller brokerages, which do not have a legal department on site – to check non-disclosure and sales agreements and to protect their interests in all transactions.”

To this end, the SAPOA Broker Committee is holding a series of legal forums in 2017, the first of which will cover dispute resolution and will be sponsored by Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH). The late-afternoon event will be held on 9 March 2017 at the firm’s offices in Sandton. All brokers are welcome to attend.

“As the SAPOA Broker Committee, we are very keen to serve SAPOA broker members and invite them to submit legal issues of

particular concern to them, so the forums will be relevant and assist in addressing their day-to-day challenges and concerns,” Styber says.

Having partnered with CDH in these endeavours, the Committee is excited about the level of service and expertise the firm can offer.

“Dispute resolution and how a broker can be treated fairly without going to court are particularly hot topics right now,” Styber says. “I am confident that Burton Meyer, Director of Dispute Resolution at CDH, will equip brokers with some practical advice on avoiding a dispute. The SAPOA Broker Committee has never been stronger, and we are ready to serve our members in 2017.”

Invitations to the event, which will include a presentation, drinks and valuable networking opportunities, are to be dispatched shortly.

Brokers are urged to register so their seats are guaranteed.

1 Protea Place (c/o Fredman Drive & Protea Place) Sandton, Johannesburg 2196 South Africa

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FROM LEFT Mitta Ndaba, Rene Styber, Joan Goldswain, Graham Marder, Stephanie Bernstein, Marita Meyer, Roger Long and Justin Armstrong

SAPOA Limpopo Chairman

Unlocking the region’s potential through mutual understanding, education and trust Paul Altenroxel, SAPOA Limpopo Regional Chairman, believes every challenge is an opportunity that, if handled correctly, will benefit property development in the region

Paul Altenroxel

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APOA’s Limpopo region has in recent years been through a challenging “changing of the guard”, says new Regional Chairman Paul Altenroxel. “But this is a golden opportunity to engage more representative and younger property owners with strong entrepreneurial spirit and skills, who will be supported by and benefit from the knowledgesharing and experience of the formal and corporate sector.

“However, with this comes the added responsibility of exposure and developing the platform for the understanding and education of the emerging sector, especially with regard to the many legal aspects of property ownership. So it presents an opportunity for many large corporate and listed property developers active in the region to encourage their local representatives to get involved in the regional SAPOA forums, events and initiatives. The new regional committee is taking an informal and cooperative approach to developing

a big-picture philosophy that will resolve many of the challenges to the formal property development in the area. I am eager and energised to seek opportunities that will ultimately enable and empower every individual to own their own home, office or business premises, and to develop their community in such a way that the value of these owned homes and offices increases.”

Altenroxel believes that the development and maintenance of good municipal relationships as well as strong networking and a focus on education will go a long way to strengthening property ownership and property rights in the region.

“One of the many challenges facing our municipalities is a lack of skills and an inconsistent work ethic – both essential elements for driving corporate and entrepreneurial property development worldwide,” he says. “So we need to find a platform and a mechanism to transfer skills and encourage work ethic. This, coupled with building trust and the formation of mutually beneficial forums through the collaborative efforts of a number of key players who will not allow self-enrichment to cloud the mix, will certainly contribute to a stronger property industry.”

Working with the municipality “SAPOA recently reviewed the Town Planning Amendments presented by the municipality and was able to meet with the municipality to discuss the

comments, all of which were adopted,” reports Altenroxel. “Furthermore, we are involved in ongoing negotiations in respect of the Polokwane Municipality’s moratorium on development, which is a result of pressure on services. The responsible and planned lifting of this moratorium is the key to unlocking the potential of the region.

“We have hosted several municipal officials and the mayor, Councillor Tembi Nkadimeng, at a business breakfast with guest speaker JP Landman and will also be holding a Meet the Mayor dinner early in the new year in addition to our annual golf day. We also plan to present a number of SAPOA educational courses in Polokwane. All of these initiatives are aimed at developing closer relationships with the municipality, local industry representatives and key role-players.”

Altenroxel says that property development in the Limpopo region is slow at the moment, with the biggest commercial

project currently under way being the Thohoyandou Mall, which is being developed by Flanagan & Gerrard.

Intrigued by property Altenroxel says he has always been fascinated by property.

“Property has always intrigued me as a long-game wealth creator that, through gearing, enables a start-up entrepreneur to gain and grow personal wealth with time,” he says. “I purchased my first property in 1995, and I’ve been very fortunate with the properties in which I have invested.”

He is currently involved in: ●● The redevelopment and unlocking of The Farmyard Trading Post’s potential, an 11-hectare site opposite the Mall of the North; ●● The development of The Aloes Lifestyle Estate, a 600-residential multi-gated lifestyle estate on the eastern suburban end of Polokwane; and ●● The development of various MacLife developments in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape.

More about Paul Altenroxel Born in Polokwane in 1968, Paul Altenroxel is married to Angela and has two teenage children.

He graduated from the University of Natal in 1989, then concluded a commercial property business course through the University of the Witwatersrand in 2010.

He has been self-employed since 1993, with business interests in distribution and property. He

lives with his family at Clearwater’s Cove on the Ebenezer Dam east of Haenertsburg.

He is the CEO of The Farmyard Trading Post, a lifestyle development east of Polokwane that includes an independently operated filling station, a fastfood drive-thru, a garden centre, a restaurant, and a bowling entertainment centre.

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SAPOA events

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SAPOA events

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planning and development

Habitat III:

The New Urban Agenda F Lekgolo Mayatula is SAPOA’s Planning and Development Manager

The advocacy associated with this conference was based on the improved quality of life through more equitable distribution of resources for the benefi t of all end-users 20

rom 5 to 16 June 1972, the United Nations convened its first major conference on the development of international environmental politics. This conference, commonly referred to as the Stockholm Conference, was based around the theme “Only One Earth”. The conference deliberations took place around six key focal discussion points: (a) human development, (b) resource management, (c) identification and control of international pollutants, (d) development and environment, (e) education and information, and (f ) future organisational needs. This conference highlighted the environmental crisis on an international platform for the first time, and challenged the 113 participating nations to consciously take responsibility for the manner in which they make use of the Earth’s irreplaceable resources and consciously commit to the creation of a better quality of life for all mankind and the environment.

The conference ended with a signed declaration that symbolised the commitment to change, and this was to be implemented via various policy documents at both national and international level.

The commitment to change was short-lived.

This was evident in the rapid growth and development in the urban environment and the fast-paced development of cities, presenting major challenges to governments worldwide. These challenges included (but were not limited to) the rise in inequality; accelerated human migration from rural areas to urban areas;

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the inability to provide adequate services (clean water, sanitation, quality health and social care), the provision of adequate housing and the need to design and develop sustainable urban environments.

In 1976, the United Nations convened its first human settlement conference, commonly referred to as “Habitat I”, in Vancouver, Canada.

This conference adopted a declaration known as the Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements, and recommended 64 national action plans that are together referred to as the Vancouver Action Plan. The six focal themes that underlined the action plan were (a) settlement policies and strategies, (b) settlement planning, (c) shelter, infrastructure and services, (d) land, (e) public participation, and (f ) institutions and management.

The advocacy associated with this conference was based on the improved quality of life through more equitable distribution of resources for the benefit of all end-users.

The city planning/urban planning was one of the key components for the actual realisation of the intended outcomes of a more integrated society.

In 1996, the United Nations convened its second human settlements conference.

The conference, this time hosted in the Turkish city of Istanbul, was known as “Habitat II” and aimed to address two themes of equal global importance, related to the provision of “adequate shelter for all” and “sustainable human settlements development in an urbanising world”.

In June 2001, five years after “Habitat II”, the United Nations General Assembly held a special session to review the implementation of the Habitat Agenda. The event brought together all the States Members of the United Nations, which culminated in the United Nations Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium.

The commitment by the United Nations members was a significant milestone: it re-affirmed that the world would no longer ignore the plight of the poorest countries.

In order to follow through on this, time-bound action targets were agreed upon via the Millennium Development Goals.

The global community has not differed from its mission of finding ways of addressing the challenges faced by the actions of mankind on the environment. Between 17 and 20 October 2016, the United Nations held its “Habitat III” conference in Quito, Ecuador. The focus for this event was on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development.

The conference offered a unique opportunity to discuss the important challenges of how cities, towns and villages are planned and managed in order to fulfil their role as drivers of sustainable development, and how they can shape the implementation of the new global development goals (Habitat III Conference: New Urban Agenda document).

The Habitat conferences have been instrumental in creating

planning and development a platform for global dialogue on developmental issues, and the unquestionable evidence of the effects of urbanisation has forced the global community to focus on the development of a New Urban Agenda.

This agenda, along with the formulation of policies, plans and programmes at local, national, regional and international level, takes into consideration the following: ● The role of sustainable urbanisation as a driver of sustainable development; ● Urban-rural linkages; ● The interlinkages among the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development in promoting stable, prosperous, inclusive societies.

What does the New Urban Agenda entail and what does this mean for South African?

According to the United Nations research on urban living, the global view of cities is that they occupy approximately two percent of the total land – but they produce 70% of the total GDP, consume more than 60% of global energy, release 70% of greenhouse gases and produce 70% of global waste.

No matter which way we look at it, cities will continue to grow – and we need to plan for this.

The New Urban Agenda is based on the fact that half of the world population resides in cities. Therefore, the various participants within the development of urban spaces need to understand that we must create cities we want, and cities we need for the future. The intention of the New Urban Agenda is to create a new paradigm in the development of our cities. Instead of avoiding the effects of urbanisation, the agenda encourages us to embrace this, and incorporate urbanisation as a tool for development,

as mentioned by Dr Joan Clos, the Secretary-General of the “Habitat III” conference.

Urbanisation has exacerbated the effects of inequality at a much more localised level compared to the past, where Habitat conference discussions were based more on a national and global perspective. The localised view of urbanisation is captured through the lens of urban poverty. Clos states

As previously mentioned, all cities are facing similar challenges.

The opportunity provided by the “Habitat III” conference for local authorities and various other participants to engage on city development issues is commendable that “although the United Nations has always been concerned about development and has gathered considerable amount of data in this regard, the shift is that the ‘Habitat III’ conference has realised a different type of engagement is required. This ensured that local authorities would be able to participate at a much broader level in order to share their experiences, especially given they all share common challenges under the collective name of urbanisation.”

The various role-players within the development field are in agreement that urbanisation is an excellent growth tool and therefore needs to be incorporated into the various strategic developments documents at all levels of government – but most especially by the local authorities.

The consultative road map that was embarked for the formulation and adoption of the New Urban Agenda is described by Clos as a “humble process of engagement” and it took into consideration the following aspects: (a) knowledge monitoring through research, (b) policy development and implementation commitment, and (c) engagement at various levels.

On 21 October 2016, 193 member states adopted the New Urban Agenda, which is a framework that lays out how cities should be planned and managed to best promote sustainable urbanisation.

The framework focuses on six themes: (a) social cohesion and equity – livable cities, (b) urban frameworks, (c) spatial development, (d) urban economy, (e) urban ecology and environment, (f ) urban housing and basic services.

As previously mentioned, all cities are facing similar challenges. The opportunity provided by the “Habitat III” conference for local authorities and various other participants to engage on city development issues is commendable. The appointment of Councillor Parks Tau as the President of the United Cities and Local Government, the umbrella body for local government around the world, is evidence that the work accomplished by South Africa is held in high esteem on an international level. It is also affirmation that, as a country, we have so much more of offer the world, and we are renowned for our bravery when it comes to dealing with challenges head-on.

The South African Council for Planners will be using the New Urban Agenda as one of the guiding documents when performing its mandatory functions, especially when it comes to the evaluation

of courses offered by planning institutions and the assessment of professionals to ensure there is alignment from an educational perspective, practical perspective and international competitiveness.

At an industry level, the New Urban Agenda provides business with the necessary strategic tools to make informed decisions on their investments. It encourages local authorities to make decisive decisions on targeted areas of development, and almost holds all the participants accountable to the sustainable implementation of projects.

The process requires active participation by all stakeholders; it requires a change of attitude, dedicated commitment, collaboration and – above all – genuine focus on a better life for all those who reside in our cities.

Councillor Tau is also the current President of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA).

Urbanisation has exacerbated the effects of inequality at a much more localised level compared to the past, where Habitat conference discussions were based more from a national and global perspective.

The localised view of urbanisation is captured through the lens of urban poverty

SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

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taking measurements

Getting the measure of things The International Property Measurement Standards (IPMS) Standard Setting Committee (SSC) recently met in South Africa to design a definitive set of global standards for property measurement in the industrial and retail arena

By Mark Pettipher and Brenda Bryden

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n 18-strong team of representatives from the US, the UK, Australia, South Africa, Belgium (representing the European Union), Germany, Russia and China spent several days discussing the issues and methodology for how space is measured to ensure that it’s done consistently around the world. The SSC is made up of 18 experts from around the world, who are specialists in various areas of the property industry – architects, valuers, engineers, leasing agents and brokers.

According to SAPOA member Tony Gebhardt, who is the South African representative on the IPMS SSC, the committee was formed following a request by the World Bank to create one shared and international property measurement standard across four asset classes: ●● Offices – completed; ●● Residential – published;

●● Industrial – consultation process completed and final draft to be published within the next month; ●● Retail – in progress.

A uniform approach providing transparency and consistency “The international method of measuring property aims to be a bridging method between countries to ensure that there’s a uniform approach to what is included in the measurement of property floor space, thereby providing a solid knowledge basis for comparing property values and assets,” said Gebhardt. “The ultimate benefit for property owners, developers, valuers and lessees is transparency of property values, knowing that every property will be measured according to one set of standards.”

The way property measurement is currently done varies from market to market

and country to country (and even within certain states and provinces), leading to confusion, and does not offer transparency or consistency.

For example, South Africa uses the Method for Measuring Floor Areas (MOMFA), a method devised by SAPOA in 1990, revised in 2005 and currently under revision again; while in the US, the standards as set out by the Building Owners and Managers Association International (BOMA) are used. Various professions also measure space differently according to their specialisation; for example, an architect will use different measurements to those of a land surveyor.

The new IPMS standards are set to change all this, providing a global benchmark for all markets in all areas of the world.

At the recent round-table conference hosted by SAPOA, the delegates discussed the responses received from interested

BACK ROW, FROM LEFT Nick Stolatis, Alexander Leung, Andrey Lukashev, Peter Stevenson, SAPOA CEO Neil Gopal, Kent Gibson, Luke Mackintosh, Frederick Mortier and Marc Grief FRONT ROW, FROM LEFT Alexander Aronson, Allen Crawford, SAPOA President Nomzamo Radebe, Max Croft and Anthony Gebhardt

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taking measurements parties and member bodies regarding the initial draft of the industrial class, and finalised the document, which is due to be published shortly. Next on the agenda was the design of the draft set of standards for the retail class. An initial draft has now been sent for consultation to all IPMS member bodies for review. Once the comments have been received, the SSC will discuss the comments, make the necessary adjustments and then present a final draft for ratification.

A global language for real estate markets Heading up the 18-strong SSC committee is Max Croft, a property professional with more than 40 years of experience in all aspects of commercial property in the UK and in other parts of the world. He represents the Commonwealth Association of Surveyors and Land Economists on the SSC, and has served on the committee for three years.

“The SCC has already published the standards of measurement for office buildings and residential buildings, and we are actively working on finalising the industrial standards, as well as beginning the work on the retail standard,” says Croft.

“This suite of property management standards will provide a global language for the real estate markets around the world. At present, people might talk about the nett internal area of their building, but it means different things in different countries, and even in different areas of the same country. Under these standards, a common terminology will be defined and used by engineers, architects and developers and brokers, thereby negating possible misunderstandings regarding the area under discussion.”

Commenting on the progress made by the SSC, Croft said that, “The major milestones have been the adoption of IPMS 1, 2 and 3 as the definition describing the external, total internal area and occupied space within a building, whether it be single or multiple occupation. The measurement standard is not a valuation standard. However, within our IPMS 3 areas, there will be areas that are classified as ‘of limited use’ – this is for valuers to assess.

One consistent figure for the floor area will be given, which may include areas of limited use.

“The standards will be of great benefit to everyone in the property industry, particularly those who work on a crossborder basis or are investing in multinational locations. Armed with the IPMS figures as well as a good set of computergenerated plans, valuers will be able to

provide a more holistic valuation, taking into account the number of staff that can be employed in an area, or the quality of the space, and will not have to rely on the floor area as the sole determinant of value and rate per square metre.

“These international standards will eventually become universal, but it will take time – about five to 10 years – before they are fully implemented worldwide.

The signs are very positive that the standards are gaining traction, and will be led by major corporate occupiers – big international companies with premises in numerous countries who will expect their agents and brokers to be fully aware of the standards and able to work competently with them.”

A quantifiable letting and building space standard “The South African MOMFA system was based on the BOMA system of measurement, but the international standards of measurement in European and Asian markets are very different from these,” said Allen Crawford, Vice-Chairman of the SCC and Managing Director of a real estate company in Australia.

“This does not mean that standards can’t exist at a national level, as these are often defined by local government and other statutes – but an overarching set of standards will ensure that stakeholders across the world are comparing like with like “Therefore, as a committee, our main aim is to develop a global quantifiable letting and building space standard, allowing people to move from one market to another knowing what to expect.

“This conference is quite a milestone.

We have achieved our main objective of resolving issues and finishing the draft of the industrial standard. We are now working on the retail standard, which is in the roughdraft stage at present. It needs to be written in detail, fine-tuned, and documented and sent for review.”

Offering value to all Kent Gibson has more than 30 years of commercial real estate experience, and has previously served as chair of BOMA International in the US. He was asked

by BOMA International to participate in the SSC group because of his in-depth knowledge of the BOMA processes in measuring standards.

“North America, Australia and South Africa operate according to standards that have many similarities, enabling us to influence the rest of the world to come in line with the way it is done in these three countries,” he said. “The value of the international standards lies in transparency, quantifiable space, benchmarking and comparison against other buildings. It will help to protect the value of a property, prevent possible loss of rental income as a result of disagreement, provide tenants with greater clarity on what they are receiving and benefit financiers, property developers, property owners and tenants.”

Comparing like with like Alexander Aronson, Director of Technical and International Standards for the International Valuations Standard Council and the International Executive for the SCC, has also commented on the recent conference.

“Currently, the measurement standards are nationally and even locally based, therefore it is not possible for international investors and tenants to know the standards for every single country in which they operate,” he said. “Many stakeholders who operate in different countries have indicated that they want some form of unification of standards, so these standards are a direct response to a very real market need. It does not mean that standards can’t exist at a national level, as these are often defined by local government and other statutes – but an overarching set of standards will ensure that stakeholders across the world are comparing like with like.

“According to the World Bank, 50 to 70% of the world’s wealth is in real estate. In theory, this could be measured incorrectly.

In office measurements, research has shown that the measurements could vary by as much as 24% (up or down), depending on the measurement standard that has been used.

And we are not only talking about how you measure, but also about what you measure – what you include and what you exclude.

A set of international standards for property measurements will go a long way towards reducing risk and meeting the market need for greater transparency.”

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Port Elizabeth development overview

Renewed confidence in PE to benefit property development Mark Bakker, SAPOA PE Regional Chairman and Managing Director of BruceMcWilliams Industries, is upbeat about the region’s future

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“There is renewed confidence

ort Elizabeth, known as both the Windy City and the Friendly City, has quite a unique property market, with most property development undertaken by well-established family businesses as opposed to the bigger property developers.

“Port Elizabeth is not the type of city where big property developers such as Redefine and Growthpoint invest, but rather a city where a lot of older established families own properties, especially in industrial areas. It is, in effect, a blue-collar city – and the industrial market is big,” says Bakker.

According to Bakker, SAPOA and the South African Institute of Valuers Eastern Cape host a regular property survey evening, to which active property owners, brokers, valuers and others are invited to discuss rental rates and escalation and vacancy rates. “We’ve discovered that there seems to be a fair bit of movement on the top end of the industrial market, while retail and commercial has been quiet for the past year,” he says.

“Sales and rentals are on the increase, and there has been a lot of interest from other centres. There is renewed confidence in the Port Elizabeth market following the municipal elections in August and the change in local government. We hope this will filter through to the property prices and rental rates.”

in the Port Elizabeth market Retail and commercial upgrades and extensions following the municipal “On the shopping-centre front, we are seeing elections in August and the change in local government.

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more revamps and extensions to existing centres such as Greenacres – one of Port Elizabeth’s biggest shopping centres.

Baywest Mall, which opened in 2015, is undergoing further development to offer mixed-use property – mainly retail and commercial, with some residential. It is based on a similar concept to Cape Town’s Canal Walk development at Century City.

SANRAL has recently taken occupation of

its completed offices, and the construction of a conference centre is planned for the future.

“There are also several small developments going up in local areas, which will provide localised shopping centres.”

Industrial areas springing up “In the well-established, centralised industrial areas, we are seeing mainly the re-development and renovation of existing buildings,” says Bakker. “The properties are sold, and the new owners revamp and modernise them; then they’re put up for rental. Rental rates, depending on the terms and conditions and the nature of tenants’ businesses, vary from about R65 per square metre for new buildings, and R35 per square or more for older buildings.

Port Elizabeth development overview “Newer industrial areas are springing up in Coega and Greenbushes, an area that is trying to get established but faces resistance from Port Elizabeth locals who object to travelling more than 15 minutes. The areas are also in close proximity to taxi ranks and informal townships, which are stumbling blocks to the developments. In Port Elizabeth, we have found that if developers stray from the centralised areas, the general populations raises these concerns and objections.

“The Coega harbour is established and the land around it is available for industrial development. However, this land is not up for sale; rather, it is being leased through structured deals. There are no plans for any residential or mixed-use development here – it’s purely industrial.”

Economic outlook Bakker says that Port Elizabeth’s economy is mainly centred around the automotive industry, which either directly or indirectly employs the bulk of the population. Many company subsidiaries are active in this sector.

The South African and global economy directly affect this area of the Port Elizabeth economy.

“We try to promote tourism, but Port Elizabeth is not really a long-term tourist destination,” says Bakker. “Usually tourists stay for a day or two en route to the many game farms in the area, so tourism is not a major economic driver.

“With the change in local government and a more positive sentiment that investors can see and feel, we will hopefully see a positive spin-off for the local economy – Mayor Athol Trollip is incredibly positive about investment into the area.

“With regards to the property market, we are building a good relationship with the Mayor. He was very prompt to reply to SAPOA’s request for a meeting to discuss property issues. SAPOA CEO Neil Gopal and President Nomzamo Radebe and I got a very positive reception when we met with him. In the new year, we are planning to host a Meet the Mayor function so that all our members have a chance to get to know Mayor Trollip better.”

Areas of concern

“In the well-established, centralised industrial areas, we are seeing mainly the redevelopment and renovation of existing buildings. The properties are sold, the new owners revamp and modernise them, then they’re put up for rental”

The local SAPOA committee is dealing with several localised issues – such as illegal dumping and water pressure in fire systems in suburbs – all of which have been raised by its members.

“Other areas of concern include the cost of services and utility fees – these are very high in Port Elizabeth, especially electricity fees, which are a massive expense for developers and end up being a high running cost,” says Bakker. “We hope to be able to look into the current cost structure and see whether there is something that can be done to improve it.

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Port Elizabeth development overview

Port Elizabeth set for major employment opportunities The Coega Development Corporation (CDC) is a state-owned enterprise (SOE) mandated to develop and operate the 11 500 hectares of prime industrial land of the Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ). It was established in 1999 and is adjacent to the transshipment modern deep-water port of Ngqura in Port Elizabeth.

By Simlindele Manqina

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oega’s vision is to be the leading catalyst for championing of the socioeconomic development in the Eastern Cape and in South Africa.

The CDC has achieved performance results previously unseen by any other IDZ in southern Africa, making it the number one IDZ in southern Africa. In the past four years, the CDC has attracted 54 new investors with a combined investment value of R31,93-billion.

The CDC is projecting to add at least another R2-billion this year, which will increase new investment value to more than R33,93-billion.

CDC projects have resulted in the creation of more than 56 000 job opportunities as well as an average of 40,43% SMME procurement participation

Products and services The Coega IDZ is specifically designed along the cluster model, linking related industries and their supply chains in close proximity to one another to maximise efficiency and minimise turnaround time.

The Coega IDZ boasts the following clusters: ●● Commercial and logistics ●● Automotive and auto components ●● Light industry ●● Training/academic ●● Metals and metallurgy ●● Chemicals ●● Energy ●● Agro-processing (aquaculture, food packaging and food processing) ●● Mari-culture and coastal.

To ensure business sustainability, in 2008 Coega diversified its product offering to include the 216-hectare automotive supplier park called Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park in Uitenhage. ●● Coega Industrial Development Zone (currently on 36 operational investors with an investment value of R181-billion, 2014/2015 FY). Nineteen new investors

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signed in the Coega IDZ, valued at R1,899-billion, in the 2014/2015 FY. ●● Coega commercial services: recruitment, training and staff development services for investors in the IDZ through Coega Human Capital Solutions; leisure and business travel-related solutions through Coega Corporate Travel; business consulting services providing turnkey solutions through Coega Business Solutions; and ICT services through Coega Telecom. ●● Project management services: targeted to cater to the project management needs of large infrastructure developments, currently servicing government projects and IDZ investors, but can potentially service private industry infrastructure developments as well.

Investments The CDC recently marked a historic R11-billion automotive investment at the Coega IDZ. The Chinese automotive plant is the biggest automotive investment in Africa in 40 years and is expected to create more than 10 000 jobs.

In the 2013/2014 FY, Coega became the first South African IDZ to attract double-digit investment in one year. In the 2014/2015 FY, the CDC continued to exceed its set target by 172%, resulting in the signing of 19 investment projects worth R1,889-billion. There hasn’t been any other IDZ of the same size in Africa that has managed to attract this level of investment over a 12-month period.

Job creation In an effort to eradicate the triple challenge of inequality, poverty and unemployment faced by the country, the organisation continues to prioritise the employment of local labour on a ratio of 70% to 30% in both urban and rural areas across the country.

The CDC created 14 765 jobs (96 776 since inception), through projects in the IDZ and its infrastructure development programme.

CDC’s annual target for job creation was exceeded by 101%, with 14 588 being the initial target. The organisation remains committed to creating opportunities that will contribute to the creation of short-term and long-term jobs.

Port Elizabeth development overview

Baywest City Port leading Port Elizabeth’s metropolitan growth The Baywest City mixed-use precinct is a new urban node located directly adjacent to Port Elizabeth’s N2 freeway approach from the west; a key gateway to the city as identified in the metropolitan planning frameworks Complied by Phil Ruimte

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he new precinct encompasses a full range of mixed land uses in a development on 320 hectares of land that will be developed over next 10 to 15 years.

Following the successful opening of the R2-billion Baywest Mall in May last year, Baywest Mall Marketing Manager Samantha Hewitson said many brands were keen to invest in the rapidly growing consumer market in the Bay. These include popular food franchises Melissa’s and Subway, as well as leading jewellers Swarovski – all firsts for the Eastern Cape.

Major anchor tenants include Incredible Connection, DionWired, Game, Schwarma Grill, Jimmy’s Killer Grill, new home-grown Foschini Group outlet aimed at the growing “tween” market, Soda Bloc, Dis-Chem, Lacoste, Timberland and Kids Emporium, among others.

“Nelson Mandela Bay is no longer seen by leading retailers as a second-rate market to Cape Town or Johannesburg. The influx of new stores and brands is testament to this,” she said. “Many retailers have seen the success of Baywest Mall and because of this have been keen to open their doors at the mall.

For several outlets, it is their first foray into the province.”

With Baywest Mall the catalyst to the Baywest City roll-out, ground has broken on the next development – the first Green Star-rated commercial office block for the Eastern Cape, which will open at the end of 2016.

In the next two years, Nelson Mandela Bay residents can look forward to the addition of a modern residential development, greenrated office blocks (in addition to the green office block set for completion this year), a top international hotel, two high-end restaurants and a lifestyle centre sporting a Virgin Active gym, among others.

The concept for the precinct roll-out, the developers say, is similar to the way in which Cape Town’s Century City and Durban’s Gateway developments have unfolded.

Baywest City Managing Director Gavin Blows said the green office block is the first of many to come for the precinct. Developers are focused on positioning the Baywest City development as ecofriendly, having set aside 20% of the 320-hectare Baywest City site for the protection of rare indigenous fauna and flora.

“There is immense interest in developments of this calibre,” said Blows. “Port Elizabeth has nowhere else to grow but into the western suburbs, which is why Baywest City is ideally located for the future of the city.”

Unlocking the economic potential of the Bay’s western suburbs is the completion of Phase Two of the R300-million Baywest road network, linking Port Elizabeth’s Walker Drive with Cape Road via a new bridge over the N2. Market research has shown that the Bay will grow into the western suburbs over the coming years, making Baywest City ideally located to provide a much-needed “live, work, play” environment for the region, with cutting-edge office blocks, retail outlets and modern, safe residential developments.

Phase One of the R6-billion Baywest City development includes 2 000 residential opportunities, office and commercial space, light industry, a private school and hospital, and a hotel.

According to Blows, in an article first published by Heraldlive.co.za, the intention is to grow the precinct into a secure, modern, mixed-use environment. “All the developments will ultimately complement one another and create one of the fastestgrowing nodes in Port Elizabeth,” he says.

First on the cards for this year is the 228-unit residential component, which will comprise a mix of modern free-standing homes and townhouses in a hi-tech, secure gated community off Walker Drive opposite the mall.

Blows said construction on the high-end residential village, which will have a total built area of 46 000 square metres, is under way.

Also scheduled for construction is the precinct’s second A-grade office block – a modern, Green Star-rated multi-storey building with high-speed fibre connectivity, a gross letting area of 8 000 square metres and ample basement as well as groundlevel parking.

“Our research shows that there is a high demand for A-grade office space in the western suburbs,” Blows said. “Most staff and managers reside on this side of town, and getting in and out of Baywest is far easier than in and out of other nodes. “Businesses will be able to occupy space ranging from 150 square metres to an entire building.”

Boasting an environmentally sensitive design, the buildings were targeting a fourstar Green Star certification from the Green Building Council of South Africa, he said.

“Another purpose-built, three-storey office block, which carries a five-star built rating, is under construction,” he said. “It is set for completion by the end of this year and will be the first green-rated commercial building in the Eastern Cape.”

Blows also said that the two-year plan further included the establishment of two free-standing “destination eateries” – top-end restaurants either new to the city or extremely popular – overlooking the conservation area bordering the N2 freeway.

Another major project is a 20 000-squaremetre lifestyle centre incorporating the latest-design Virgin Active gym and big-box retail outlets. According to Blows, the lifestyle centre would house hardware, furniture, home and outdoor outlets, in addition to the gym.

Baywest City visitors and travellers can also look forward to a 150-room international hotel, as well as an Engen 1-Stop service station with 24-hour convenience offerings.

“This is simply the next phase in a 20-year plan,” Blows said. “The take-up so far has exceeded expectations.”

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East London development overview

East London in good shape, offering a quality lifestyle Investpro Property – a commercial property brokering company in East London – believes that East London is a resilient city offering excellent growth potential and quality of life

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Robin Knott

nvestpro Property focuses on retail, industrial and retail letting, commercial property portfolio and management, and (more recently) property development, predominately in the Border area – East London, Mthatha to Port Alfred, and Queenstown. Investpro Property’s Robin Knott shares his opinions about and optimism for the region with South African Property Review.

“There are many wealthy people in the Eastern Cape,” he says. “East London was the wealthiest per capita by individual until a few years ago, when Nelspruit took over. Many wealthy people from the Transkei came to settle and invest in East London, which serves as a supply base for the Transkei.

“East London is a busy and economically active city, especially over the past 10 years.

This is largely because of its proximity to the

Transkei, which has plenty of fertile land for development; both local and national government are showing a keen interest in the Transkei. In East London itself, there is very little available level land for development.

East London is expanding northwards along the Gonubie River. It remains a better investment prospect for commercial and residential property development than its neighbour Port Elizabeth. Property valuations in East London are about 20 to 30% higher than Port Elizabeth; what you get in East London for R3-million will cost you about R2,5-million in Port Elizabeth. Also, East London is obviously a lot cheaper than Cape Town and Johannesburg.

“The difficult thing for the East London residential property market is the ability to raise finance. There is a huge demand for

East London: an interesting place to be right now The Kempston Group’s Wesley Norris discusses the state of property development and the future prospects of East London

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Wesley Norris

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ccording to the Kempston Group’s Wesley Norris, there are interesting things afoot in East London, and further afield in Port Elizabeth and the Transkei. He claims the commercial and industrial market, although somewhat stagnant at the moment, is likely to change, while the greatest potential is in future residential property development, particularly along the beachfront, which will shortly be revitalised and beautified as part of the East London Call2Action initiative.

“Developing tourism and attractive residential housing that promotes a quality lifestyle on East London’s beachfront is an exciting prospect,” he says. “I think that our beachfront is as nice or even nicer than Port Elizabeth’s, and is comparable with Cape Town’s Sea Point and Greenpoint environments.

However, the area needs to be uplifted: some of the older units (built many years ago) have deteriorated terribly, and unfortunately attracted some bad elements. But if the area can be transformed smartly, and new developments are added, it will have a lot to offer.

“The beachfront area offers fantastic views, and if future residential complexes are designed in such a way as to maximise the ocean views, the beachfront will be beautiful and become sought-after. There is plenty of space available for future development. If we unlock the beachfront’s potential, we will attract people; and if the beachfront is made secure and offers a safe place for people to visit and use for leisure activities such as early morning runs, the tourism aspect will follow.

East London development overview

Transkei development benefits East London

“While there is difficulty in obtaining the necessary finance for buyers, the demand for rental properties is increasing, which obviously pushes rental prices up – and when rental prices get too high, people find it’s not worth buying again. Then developers start developing, and so the property cycle continues”

“The highway to Durban is going to be very crucial and beneficial for East London,” says Knott. “The bypasses through Mthatha and Butterworth may take a few years to complete, but the roads are fantastic now. There’s a lot of money being pumped into the Transkei for infrastructure, although it’s mostly social grant-driven, and there is an influx of migrant labour and money. The growth potential is big.

Mthatha already boasts 13 Spar outlets, four Shoprite stores and three Pick n Pay stores.

This is not hurting East London – it is helping the region.

“The motoring industry in East London and Mthatha has grown. Many companies are basing their head offices here rather than in Port Elizabeth; this is helping East London to grow.”

properties in the lower-income type of development, and there are plenty of buyers.

Offers are being made and accepted, but people are battling to get the necessary finance. The requirements from the banks regarding income are pretty high, presenting a bit of a stumbling block for the residential market in that sector.

“While there is difficulty in obtaining the necessary finance for buyers, the demand for rental properties is increasing, which obviously pushes rental prices up – and when rental prices get too high, people find it’s not worth buying again. Then developers start developing, and so the property cycle continues. We find there is a big demand for rentals in the R5 000 to R10 000 category, and you can still get good two-bedroom accommodation at that price.”

With that will come other opportunities that feed through to the Transkei.

“From a tourism point of view, East London has plenty on offer – nature trails, forests, the Wild Coast, etc, and we have cultural resources that are horribly underutilised. If we harness these effectively, exciting things can develop.”

Industrial development under pressure Norris says the industrial market is currently presenting a huge challenge because of the high costs involved in development as well as depressed rentals. “East London is not Johannesburg or Cape Town, where they can command rentals of R65 to R70 per square metre,” he says. “We are still peaking, if we are lucky, at R45 per square metre. So, after R4 500 per square metre input costs, with the land and extras, you are not really yielding much.

So this market is under a bit of pressure. The last big industrial-type development was the construction of the DHL building. I think office space is oversupplied at the moment, and rental prices are not that good.

“It’s possible that development of small industrial units might take off, but there’s not much of that activity – except in the IDZ itself.

This presents its own set of problems: it is not an easy space to get involved in, and the building criteria are quite stringent. You are looking at about R5 500 per square metre to build, and that doesn’t align with rental rates.

However, there is some activity in that area with certain Mercedes operations looking to expand their space, which may stimulate further expansion for local businesses and other big companies.

“The port also presents a few challenges.

Although there are good plans for its upgrade in place, there are challenges with the implementation of that upgrade.

“Many good businesses have sprung up in East London and grown, and are doing well. If things are structured properly, they will stay and prosper. There are also several businesses that create value chains – for example, many NGOs are farming macadamia nuts, which is highly labour-intensive and therefore good for job creation. This farming practice requires a good plant, a place to dehydrate the nuts and then bulk packing – all value chains.

With the right people and the right type of business, a great deal of value can be created here.

More about Investpro Investpro offers sales, leasing, management and valuation services in the commercial, residential and agricultural property sectors, and has recently expanded its business interests to include property development.

Robin Knott and Dan Taylor started the company in 2003, after travelling and working overseas for several years.

Returning to South Africa, they identified a growing need for a commercial property brokering business because most of the property brokers in the Eastern Cape only concentrated on residential property.

“East London has been quite resilient to the recession, mostly because the economy in the city and surrounds is governmentdriven – it is the administrative hub for the Eastern Cape. There are many government employees here who are spending money and investing locally, which has helped to drive up house prices.

“East London remains a popular place to live in, invest in and do business in. It offers a good quality of life and some excellent schools. The quality of life here is very different to that of hustling, bustling metropolis that is Johannesburg.”

“The property group network here is tight.

Some of the big players are leaving the area, which is a great shame as they could play a big part in keeping things going. But with knowledge and a considerable amount of effort as well as a good structure, things could improve as the industrial and commercial market remains somewhat underdeveloped.”

From accountancy to property Wesley Norris originates from the Transkei but was schooled in Selbourne in East London. He is an accountant by profession and got into the property business purely by accident. After applying for a position as an accountant at a local property portfolio company, he was told that they believed he was better suited to operations. Recognising this as an opportunity, Norris worked in the operations department of the company and gradually became more involved with growth and acquisitions, which he found both enjoyable and interesting.

From then on, he was hooked on the property industry.

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East London development overview Current developments “There is quite a lot of residential development happening in East London, as well as some commercial,” says Norris. “Currently on the go is the Beacon Bay Crossing development, the extension on Chiselhurst (which is part of a bigger development), and housing going up in Amalinda.

“One of the projects the Kempston Group is rolling out over the next two years or so is a 300-hectare housing development, which is aimed at the emerging middle class and will be priced in the R550 000 to R1,2-million bracket. It will consist of three-storey wall caps, semi-detached and free-standing units. Plans include a private school. Several companies have approached us, but we may look at doing it ourselves.

“One of the obstacles is that it takes a long time to get municipal approval and hinges on what the municipality can provide towards

input costs that can be passed on to potential third-party investors. For example, if a private school is to be built, investors want to know how much they are going to pay for the land, which is an input cost for them.

But if we can get a subsidy on bulk services, we could pass it on. That would be ideal because we could then provide education, retail, commercial and activity facilities. The project is based on a 10-year plan and, at the end of the day, 4 000 homes are set to become available.

“The Kempston Group has also picked up a few distressed plots on which we are building R1,6-million to R1,7-million three-bedroom, two-bathroom, double-garage homes. We will roll out 22 units there.

“Heading towards Brakfontein, we have a 14-hectare piece of land earmarked for a mixed commercial development that will, hopefully, include a filling station and have

some retail activity. We are also planning a housing development on 20 hectares of land further down the line.

“Beacon Bay Crossing is made up of primarily residential space and office space, and includes a new building for the Daily Dispatch. There is residential, quite a lot of commercial space, a very small industrial area, and some park development, which has an asset value of about R400-million. It’s significant but not massive.

“An interesting development is that Mercedes is looking at increasing its activities in East London, which could possibly mean some people or businesses may move out of their existing space. That might have a knock-on effect. There is a bit of vacancy out there already.

“In terms of other activity, I don’t think there’s much that’s currently happening on the industrial front. There’s a new government

A cleaner, greener and more prosperous East London An amazing Call2Action initiative, funded by donations from the local business community, is set to clean and green East London and contribute towards making it a more productive and innovative city positive response, welcoming the solutions that we provided,” explains Haardt. “What has transpired since then is enthusiasm and buy-in – whenever we meet with the committee, it’s all talk about Call2Action and what we have to do to make the city cleaner and greener.”

Implementation company brought on board Saskia Haardt and Drayton Brown

I

n the October issue of South African Property Review, we reported on the Call2Action initiative that was launched through the joint efforts of the Border-Kei Chamber of Business and various other interested parties and associations. We recently spoke to Member Liaison Saskia Haardt and Head of Communications Drayton Brown to get more insight into one of the pilot projects – the cleaning up and greening of East London.

“When we introduced the Call2Action initiative to the city’s leadership – the mayor, the mayoral committee and all the heads of department – sharing the aims and objectives, the municipality gave us a very

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“The technical team involved in the initiative meets every Wednesday afternoon to look at the whole programme and to discuss the issues and details,” she says. “We have received many commitments from various businesses expressing interest, as well as offers to help and financial assistance. We recently appointed an implementation agent, D and F Waste and Environmental Services, who will be responsible for appointing staff and their work schedules, setting up the recycling stations, and overseeing general operations. We have been very fortunate in sourcing sufficient funding (about R740 000) for the initial pilot site from the business community. In time, we will set up pilot site offices in the various areas.”

Issues and solutions “Although the initiative is a long-term strategy, and has entire precinct development similar to Cape Town’s CID system as one of its aims, for now we are focusing on sensitising the business community and assuring them that the plans are viable and executable,” says Haardt. “Of course, as we proceed, we will find certain issues arising. One such issue is that of signage, which may require further discussion with the municipality around legalities and their requirements.

“We want to have nice exposure in terms of our pilot site offices, where we are putting up funky cubicles created from shipping containers and customised for use as storage and for drop-off stations. We’re collaborating with a designer to create something eyecatching to help get better exposure, but it has to be something that’s not an eyesore.

Some shipping companies are donating these containers.”

According to Brown, with so many stakeholders coming on board and a host of ideas being put forward, there is a lot of communication involved and a lot of things to consider. “Our main focus at the moment is how best to brand East London as a city,

East London development overview precinct that’s could be going ahead in Bisho. I think that will be interesting because it will force some departments out of existing space in and around East London, which may free up even more commercial space. So I think we may end up experiencing some downwards pressure.”

What’s happening further afield?

“Looking outside of East London to Port Elizabeth, there has been plenty of acquisition activity. We recently bought the Sanlam office park from Growthpoint Properties.

Port Elizabeth certainly has promise, and we have heard that there are good things on the horizon.

“If you look at the Port Elizabeth market, it is still far behind – residential sales are behind those of East London, as is office rental and industrial space. So there is scope for growth and development. There has been plenty of

taking the municipalities’ perspective into account,” he says. “We need to find a single image, a single slogan that ties everything – from business to tourism – together as a single idea or brand.

“There is some general negativity about East London, and we definitely want to change this perception. The primary goal is to increase business confidence and to promote investment. Once these goals are achieved, everything else will fall into place.

When economic activity is stimulated, companies will prosper and contribute to the local economy, while their CSI projects will benefit the entire community.

“We are setting up a workshop with city management on a possible memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will outline everybody’s responsibilities – what business is expected to contribute and what the municipality is expected to contribute. We need to manage this process carefully to ensure that everyone abides by their commitments. The most pressing issue right now is to get that MOU signed and for the city to agree to allow us to use some of the unused land that we have identified as suitable for setting up our site offices. If we can’t find a common date to get everyone together to sign the MOU, we may take a risk and proceed with our site offices without any agreements being signed. We do not want to delay.

“In terms of our strategy, we want to start by communicating with the public and the business community, getting people on the ground to start the big clean-up and getting

activity in the Greenbush area, and in the next five to seven years we are likely to see a boom there, especially as many people are moving from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth.

“In the Transkei, especially in Mthatha, doing business is very tough, and finding freehold land where you can also get bulk services is almost impossible. In addition, there are tribal land and land dispute problems, as well as a lot of communitydriven activity. The costs are astronomical: premium-grade prices are being charged for B- and C-grade spaces because there is such a shortage of available land. However, I think it is a node that will grow as a result of a great deal of interest and activity.

“The housing market in Mthatha is also a tough one, with residential units attracting a 60% premium. And skilled labour is hard to come by, while basic infrastructure such as roads is not up to standard. Neither is

town planning. Personally, I think that property developers are better off doing business elsewhere.”

the public to support the recycling programme. But we need to be careful not to create expectations that may not be met.

“Community buy-in is vital. We want people to come and drop off their waste at the designated sites and to recycle actively.

We are looking at introducing a recycling token system for the public. We also plan to do education on recycling at school level.

Once we get these pilot projects up and running, we can start working on other aspects. For example, we may need new bylaws, and we are very fortunate to have some lawyers who have offered their time and expertise to help in this area, to ensure that the city is well-governed.

“We are taking a sensitive approach as we don’t want to be perceived as dictating and critical of the way things are currently being done. We are pitching the entire initiative as businesses caring enough to want to build a better city for the greater good of all. Once we have a greener, better-governed city, we will surely have a more productive and innovative city.

“The number of professional people and businesses who have already committed to give freely of their time and expertise – from town planning and engineering to design, communication and marketing – is huge, so we have incredible resources to call on.”

with lots of litter and potholes in the road.

We also have much traffic congestion. This is not a good situation. When people enter the city they must have a sense of being welcomed to a beautiful and clean city. We will focus on beautifying the area with the cooperation of the Department of Parks and Recreation, planting indigenous flora.

The surrounding areas will be cleaned of litter, and road repair and maintenance will be undertaken.”

Beachfront focus “Our first focus area is to improve the beachfront to help get tourism moving,” says Brown. “When visitors arrive at our airport and drive to their destination, they see an eyesore

The Kempston Group: a diverse operation The Kempston Group is not only involved in property, although that is a large part of its operations, but also in transport and logistics, finance, asset-based finance, cultural assets, personal finance, bond origination, insurance and several motor dealerships including Dodge, Peugeot, Mercedes-Benz and Mitsubishi.

In addition, the group offers car-rental services and has recently acquired Clark Forklifts, the oldest forklift brand in the world. The group also owns and operates several truck stops around the country.

Positive growth Brown says that there is definitely positive growth in East London, and he is excited about the future of the city. “In terms of property development, the Beacon Bay Crossing development is already under construction,” he says. “Some universities are collaborating to build libraries in the CBD, and on the outskirts of town there are lots of golf estates going up as well as other housing estates. Some property developers are busy with environmentally friendly green housing, which will add real benefit to the Call2Action initiative. Beacon Bay is a major business hub but also has retail and residential components, including a shopping mall, niche restaurants, and a large residential area.

Throughout the city, there are new restaurants popping up, new coffee shops opening, and extensive renovations.”

It certainly looks as though East London is on the up – and thanks to the commitment and enthusiasm of the local businesses and associations, it is set to be a “proudly successful” South African city.

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East London development overview

Eastern Cape golf course

forms focal point of newly launched lifestyle estate Boasting lush indigenous forests and long stretches of beach, Chintsa – 40km outside of East London – has long been celebrated by holiday-makers as the perfect place to break away from city life. Welcoming those who prefer a more permanent escape is Olivewood Private Estate and Golf Club, a newly launched lifestyle estate that stretches over 1 000 hectares of the Chintsa Valley

By Dei Gratia

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orming the focal point of the estate is Olivewood’s 18-hole championship golf course, developed prior to its launch. The natural shape of the landscape was not altered during the formation of this unique course. The undulating valley setting was used as the basis for its design, with hole locations determined by the natural contours and ridges of the earth.

Measuring 6 200m from the back tees and 4 900m from the ladies’ tees, the par 72 championship course is framed by indigenous vegetation and features captivating ocean views. Carefully placed water features and streams add to Olivewood’s aesthetic while ensuring that golfers of all levels are presented with a worthy challenge. The rough has been kept relatively short, while long bushveld grass on the outskirts awaits errant shots.

Olivewood’s signature 15th hole is worthy of mention. Measuring 128m from the club tees, the par three is an interesting short hole that presents the player with a challenging tee shot. With a selection of tee boxes available, the shot needs to extend over dense bush to reach a green situated on the other side. The green is guarded by two bunkers and slopes from back to front, so smart play is to keep the ball below the hole.

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Club selection is key on this hole, especially when the prevailing east wind blows.

As you play, indigenous wildlife including nyala, impala, blesbok, waterbuck and warthogs roam the kikuyu fairways and bent grass greens, which are kept in pristine condition with water from Olivewood’s own dams, springs and boreholes.

On-site facilities include an elegant Colonial-style clubhouse, locker rooms, a pro shop and cart hire. The clubhouse’s inviting hand-crafted wooden bar welcomes golfers

in from their exploration of Chintsa’s slopes, and is the perfect place to share stories and enjoy well-deserved refreshments.

Nature is a key ingredient in the Olivewood way of life and the golf course was created with this priority in mind.

Environmentally conscious living is reflected throughout the estate, from its eco-luxe property designs to its high-end amenities, all of which promote Olivewood’s vision to provide the very best that estate living has to offer.

development overview

Abland develops Westside Precinct Westside Precinct is a new mixed-use, integrated development which is currently under development.

Located in the Pretoria suburb of Centurion, it will provide a mix of office, residential and retail which promises to create a new and vibrant live-work-play hub in the area

Centurion Junction

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bland is facilitating the development of the entire precinct, and is also responsible for two major office developments in the area, namely Westend Office Park and Centurion Junction. The location of Westside Precinct close to the Centurion Gautrain station and along the BRT route, will make it easily accessible by public transport, and convenient to reach from Pretoria, Johannesburg and OR Tambo International Airport.

The urban design for the precinct is centred on two key elements. The first is West Avenue – the extension of an existing avenue which now runs the length of the precinct and acts as a central spine around which other activities are located. West Avenue forms an attractive boulevard featuring a shuttle lane (with drop-off and pick-up points), cycle tracks and pedestrian walkways.

The second element is a large existing area of municipal parkland which has always been popular with local residents of Centurion, but which is now in need of some attention.

Abland is in the process of securing the park, which will then be accessible to the entire node and will provide a pleasant green oasis in the urban environment. It is anticipated that residents in the area as well as occupants of the office will use the park for exercise and recreational purposes on an ongoing basis.

The first of the office developments which Abland is busy with is Westend Office Park – a

35,000 square metre campus style office development which will comprise several buildings set in a park-like environment. Buildings A and B of Westend Office Park are complete.

Building A is fully let with a few offices still available in Building B. Building C is expected to be complete towards the end of 2017.

The second development is Centurion Junction – a 45,000 square metre mixed-use precinct which will include high-end offices, retail and potentially, a hotel. Approximately 5,000 square metres will be dedicated to lifestyle oriented retail – restaurants, coffee shops and convenience stores.

With the mix of uses in and around the Westside Precinct, it is expected that the

development will re-energise the area around the Centurion Gautrain station and that the precinct itself will become an urban anchor for the neighbourhood. With the sophisticated office buildings on offer in Centurion Junction, the more relaxed office environment of Westend Office Park, the various residential developments in the area, and the leisure mix on offer (including the open space of the park), there will be something to suit everyone’s taste.

From a sustainable development point of view, Westside Precinct fits perfectly with the government’s initiatives to densify urban development along transport corridors, and to do so in a mixed-use fashion which encourages multiple functions in one location and which creates vibrant neighbourhoods. Furthermore, all the buildings being developed by Abland in the precinct will include a variety of energy and water efficiency measures, therefore tenants are guaranteed to have optimised utility costs.

As part of Abland’s vision to be a cutting-edge developer, it includes measures in all new developments in line with the current thinking on sustainable and energy-efficient building.

Westside Precinct has the benefit of being extremely centrally located – and with many large companies looking to consolidate Johannesburg and Pretoria offices into a single location, Westside Precinct meets those needs perfectly, whilst providing all the additional benefits of a truly mixed-use environment.

Westside Precinct site plan

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CSI

Working towards employing local communities

Managing Director Michael Deighton

T

ongaat Hulett Developments is driving a fundamental shift in social investment, moving away from small projects to a more holistic urban development strategy that creates “organised, empowered, successful and sustainable” communities in line with the company’s Socioeconomic Sustainability and Innovation Programme approach.

“It’s no longer about smaller projects for CSI points but about developments that are driven by a fundamentally different view of the urban picture,” says Tongaat Hulett Developments Managing Director Michael Deighton. “There is no such thing as a silver bullet. But togetherness in an urban realm, which combines the public, entrepreneurs, small and big business, environmental

Corporate Services Director Bongani Gumede

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stakeholders and government, and includes efficient use of resources is what’s needed.”

Tongaat Hulett Developments is not a typical property developer and stands at the forefront of converting agricultural land for urban use as Durban rapidly grows northwards.

“We have a unique opportunity to show what can work,” says Deighton. “Thirty-five years ago, our vision was to embrace urban growth and to develop best practice. This is why we are here today and continue to put resources behind it.”

Earlier developments, such as the Umhlanga New Town Centre, marked the beginnings of creating opportunities for entry-level businesses and investors, as well as creating mixed use spaces. This has since evolved to the point where, at Bridge City, the mall provides an entrance to the underground railway station. There’s an adjacent intermodal transport facility, plans to build residential accommodation above the shopping centre and a mixed-use commercial/residential precinct in front of the mall.

When it comes to socioeconomic impact (SEI) and job creation, Deighton acknowledges that “the numbers are staggering and the projections even more so”.

Development Executive Greg Veerasamy says master plans that include employment creation both during and after construction activities, SEIs and different land use scenarios and projections are drawn up for each landholding within the company’s expansive property portfolio.

“We assess for each landholding, based on the potential land use mix and development yields and using internal models, the range of potential economic and socioeconomic outcomes for the city and region,” he says. “This assessment is undertaken using empirical data and the current value of money.”

These impacts include the value of the real estate investment achievable over time, employment creation during the different parts of the property value chain, an indication of projected rates income that accrues annually to the city and anticipated taxes that would accrue annually into the national fiscus.

For a development such as the highly successful Riverhorse Valley Business Estate (RHVBE), the numbers are easily accessible.

For newer developments such as Bridge City, Cornubia, Ridgeside, Izinga and more, it is more difficult to model the full effects as these developments have commenced and have both historic and future impacts.

A recent survey indicated that the development cost of RHVBE was R215,7million. The market value of properties was about R3,2-billion, with an estimated R83million annual rates contribution. According to the survey, more than 17 000 people work in RHVBE. The permanent workforce is estimated to be 12 629 (of which 4 249 are new jobs), augmented by a contract workforce of 4 446.

Looking at Tongaat Hulett’s targeted land development activities over the next five years, Veerasamy says the company’s combined developments have the potential to create, over time, R36- to R86-billion in total real estate investment value. These sales could also enhance the city’s rates income by R500-million to R1,3-billion per year, and this excludes the income from the tariffed water, electricity and waste water. Furthermore, there is a potential of 46 000 to 110 000 permanent jobs to be created over time from the projected sales over the next five years.

Veerasamy notes that estimating construction-related jobs can be complicated as these jobs are for a finite duration and cover skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers.

Youth at the Cornubia housing development

CSI

The local community at Cornubia have been employed to work in vegetable garden projects

It is for this reason that construction-related jobs are measured in full time equivalents (FTEs).

Veerasamy has estimated that over the same five years, between 350 000 and 920 000 FTEs could be created during both the infrastructure and top structure development phases.

However, the legacy of these developments is not counted just in jobs but also in the lasting impact on surrounding communities.

Tongaat Hulett ensures that tenders for infrastructure development are not awarded on price alone but also on B-BBEE status, localisation, enterprise development and the implementation of community projects. To date, eight companies have benefited from the enterprise development initiative.

Contractors are required to outsource work to companies with lower CIDB ratings and obtain a significant amount of their supplies from SMMEs. Furthermore, all contracts with contractors stipulate the employment of and skills transfer to local people, giving preference to youth, women and people with disabilities.

“We build a supply chain of opportunities to ensure that people who live in Cornubia, for example, get preference when it comes to job opportunities,” Veerasamy says.

Of the people working at Cornubia, 32% are youth, with 33% of the total workforce being drawn from the local community.

In addition, 33 people are working in Cornubia’s open spaces. Of these, 94% are youth, 48% are women and three percent are people with disabilities.

Corporate Director Bongani Gumede says that one of the key challenges when localising employment is a shortage of skills. Employing skilled outsiders often displaces community members who rent out their homes, relocating to informal settlements. To prevent this, Tongaat Hulett Developments has set up a temporary multipurpose skills centre at the former Blackburn Primary School site to cater for between 400 and 500 people. A partnership with a local TVET college enables the provision of courses suited to the key economic sectors in the region. One of the largest is the retail sector, followed by the hospitality industry and call centres.

Tongaat Hulett Developments also works with the eThekwini Skills Academy to develop construction-related skills. Property development brings employment opportunities in “propertyrelated services” such as domestic services, landscaping and management of urban spaces, suited to unskilled and semi-skilled people.

In facilitating land conversion and development activities and working better together, local community participation, inclusion and beneficiation can only thrive.

A contractor working on house construction

About Tongaat Hulett Tongaat Hulett is an agriculture and agriprocessing business, focusing on the complementary feedstocks of sugar cane and maize. Its ongoing activities in agriculture have resulted in the company having a substantial land portfolio within the primary growth corridors of KwaZulu-Natal, with strong policy support for conversion at the appropriate time. A core element of Tongaat Hulett’s strategic vision is to maximise the value generated from the conversion of land in the portfolio by responding to key demand drivers and identifying optimal end use for stakeholders.

Through its sugar and starch operations, Tongaat Hulett produces a range of refined carbohydrate products from sugar cane and maize, with a number of products being interchangeable. Global sweetener markets continue to be dynamic, and the business seeks to optimise its various market positions, leveraging off its current base to maximise revenue from these products. The business’s sugar operations are well placed to benefit from evolving dynamics of renewable electricity and ethanol in South Africa, and the Southern African Development Community region.

Tongaat Hulett continues to focus on value creation for all stakeholders through an all-inclusive approach to growth and development, and regards its constructive interfaces with governments and society to be of significant importance.

Contact Tongaat Hulett Developments: Rory Wilkinson, Planning Director Contractors on site at Cornubia Shopping Mall

t: 031 560 1900

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CSI

COEGA Development Corporation providing career opportunities COEGA Development Corporation’s Human Capital Development (HCD) programme enhances the value of the workforce through progress and growth over a period of time

By Simlindele Manqina, CDC Business Development Communications Officer

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s is evident by the 185 interns enrolled in COEGA Development Corporation’s (CDC) flagship 18-month internship programme, the CDC’s Human Capital Development programme uses its comprehensive internship programme to focus on developing unemployed youth by providing tertiary qualifications in order to improve their employability and reduce the rate of unemployment in Port Elizabeth.

In addition, interns are given an opportunity to acquire driver’s licences at no cost to them, thereby empowering them and increasing their employability.

Furthermore, the CDC supports staff who wish to further their studies. Currently, 69 employees are enrolled at various tertiary institutions in the country for developmental purposes. Included in the programme are women employees who are being developed for leadership positions at the CDC. As part of CDC’s effort to promote gender equality and women empowerment, CDC has appointed black females to top management and board levels. The organisation has embarked on an exclusive and focused Women Leadership Advancement Programme (WLAP 2014), a developmental and coaching programme focusing on 20 women who occupy senior positions in the organisation.

The programme is intended to develop or advance them towards leadership maturity, premised on the CDC Leadership Maturity Framework, so they can take up leadership positions when opportunities arise.

Through its partnership with the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, the CDC has conceptualised a riveting and pioneering five-module programme rolled out over a period of 18 months. The programme promotes and enables participants to navigate today’s complex, volatile, uncertain and ambiguously demanding environments, both at work and in life, to gain leadership maturity.

The CDC invested R13-million in staff development programmes over the past two financial years.

The CDC, through HCS, provides employee training and development for investors in the IDZ. To date, the CDC has provided training

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to 26 000 job-seekers in translating to an employment rate in excess of 80% for all trained. Job-seekers are registered on our web careers portal, www.g2o.co.za.

SMME development and mentorship contributes to the CDC’s continued success in achieving key performance indicators.

The CDC invested R3,9-billion in SMME development over the past three financial years. In addition, the CDC invested R450 000 in supporting small business development in partnership with the Motleka Holdings Black Business Awards, held at the Emperors Palace in Johannesburg in 2014.

In addition, the CDC has provided an additional R250 000 for small business development and mentorship during the 2014-20115 financial year. The B-BBEE Level 1 Scorecard Improvement Programme benefited 300 and 200 small businesses in KwaZuluNatal and the Eastern Cape respectively.

Training The CDC, through its Human Capital Solutions Centre, has trained 8 147 people with various skills (85 886 people trained since inception), diversifying the local skill pool for specialised projects. As a result, in the financial year 20142015, the CDC exceeded its target by 145%.

This is a result of a redirected focus towards technical and accredited training, and the grant funding available to pursue such quality training interventions. In addition, during the 2014-2015 financial year, CDC enrolled 185 interns in internship programmes established in 2004 (total enrolled since 2004 is 1 980) with the intention of improving the employability of young aspiring professionals, increase the rate of absorption of South African graduates into the labour market, and developing professionals with critical and scarce skills. Of these, 68 were permanently appointed against a target of 46.

CDC flagship programmes Project

Objectives

Mobile Science Laboratories

• Provide learners with practical aspects of physical science as a subject • Increase pool of STEM-skilled students

Maths and Science Centre

• Improve Grade 12 maths and science to gain access to HEt/ FEt institutions for SEt studies

Township Flagship Schools

• Revival of township schools that were recognised as Centres of Excellence in education.

Target Group

Beneficiaries

Achievements

• Grade 10 to 11

• 2 500 in Fort Beaufort, PE/ Uitenhage, Mdantsane

• Consistently achieved pass rate above province’s • More learners choosing science, technology, engineering and maths studies at tertiary level.

• Grade 12 maths and science learners

• 52 learners in 2015 • PE-based

• 98% pass rate for both subjects in 2015 • 56,6% subject average for maths and 55,2% for physical science – higher than national subject averages • 44% of learners admitted to institutions of higher learning to study science, engineering and technology • 100% commitment

• Grade 10 to 12 learners

• Six high schools in NMBM – Walmer, Ithembelihle, Loyiso, Phaphani, Mzontsundu and Masiphathisane

• Partnership with NMMU to provide tutors • Engagement of CDC employees through Employment Involvement Programme • Partnerships with schools

CSI Corporate Social Investment (CSI) The CDC continues to be a leading example of a socially responsible organisation, with more than 1,5% of its profit after tax given over to the CSI programme. The CSI programme focuses on the following areas: ●● Rural development ●● Job creation ●● Education and skills development ●● Health ●● Crime and corruption prevention ●● Sport and recreation.

(See table on left.)

Techno Girl job-shadowing programme The programme entails girls following a structured programme at various jobshadowing host organisations. Girls are placed at companies whose core business activities are focused on scarce career fields in STEM, where women are under-represented. Girls are placed within a host organisation for five days three times per year over a four-year period.

Ten participated in the programme for 20142015, coming from the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro – the same group that started in 2013.

The girls started when they were in Grade 9 and have progressed to Grade 11 in 2015. The cost for 2014-2015 was R50 000 all inclusive.

Chess Development The objective of the Chess Development is to encourage scholars to use chess as an educational tool. Chess assists with analytical and accurate thinking, developing the ability to interpret situations accurately. The organisation has spent R60 000 for 2014-2015 and committed R50 000 for the roll-out of the programme in the rural areas for the 2015-2016 financial year.

The project beneficiaries are all currently located in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. For 2015-2016, the programme will be extended to the Alfred Nzo District Municipality.

ANF Accounting Academy The CDC has partnered with ANF Accounting in an Accounting Academy that focuses on providing special support to students from rural schools. Emphasis is given on academic potential and ability, drive and willingness.

In 2014-2015, the CDC spent R800 000 to kick-start the programme, which had 66 students undertaking a bridging course with the University of South Africa. This year, the 66 students have commenced with their first year studies.

people with disabilities into the workplace. An amount of R581 457 spent on transportation for People with Disabilities. A total of R1 257 457 was spent on the programme during the 2014-2015 financial year.

Social assistance to destitute families The purpose of this programme is to provide social relief to families in need, especially those families headed by children.

The relief comes in the form of blankets, mattresses, foam sponges as well as school uniforms to deserving children. In 2014-2015, the CDC, in partnership with FAW SA, distributed school uniforms to 300 learners in the Motherwell and Wells Estate areas, as well as to 53 learners from the Grogro Informal Settlement near Kragga Kamma. Through the programme, the CDC managed to donate the following: ●● 50 blankets and mattresses to the Community Chest in Port Elizabeth; ●● 30 blankets to St Stephen’s Church in New Brighton for the destitute families around the area; ●● 30 blankets to the Animal Welfare Society; ●● 30 blankets to an Educare Centre in Grogro Informal Settlement; ●● Five wheelchairs donated to elderly people in Grogro Informal Settlement; ●● Two wheelchairs donated to drivertraining trainees who were in need of new wheelchairs; and ●● 10 wheelchairs handed over to the Alfred Nzo District Municipality for the Social Assistance Programme.

B-BBEE contribution The CDC’s commitment to transformation been certified with a B-BBEE Level 3 status.

Workplace diversity CDC prides itself as a leading employer in the country and for being certified by the Top Employers Institute for its exceptional qualities. The institute only awards the world’s leading employers, making it a very prestigious accolade.

It is because of the organisation’s commitment to offering a dynamic, vibrant and diverse environment that the CDC enjoys a working environment conducive to organisational success, growth and a high level of responsiveness to workplace dynamics. As a result, gender diversity is also visible in CDC’s work space.

In addition, the CDC takes the overall wellbeing of its employees seriously. In an effort to maintain a working environment that’s conducive to success, the CDC makes Careways accessible to its employees. Careways is responsible for providing organisational wellness programmes for staff members and their families.

The CDC is also a catalyst of socioeconomic development in the Eastern Cape and South Africa at large, and is committed to the creation of job opportunities and advancement of knowledge and skills among its employees, including people with disability.

Yearly, the organisation sets aside skills development expenditure over and above the target required for B-BBEE under skills development. As a result, a number of employees have been placed on various academic programmes, such as PhD, master’s, local and international professional certifications and short courses.

(See table below.)

The CDC continues its Disability Affirmation Programme, which provides career opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

In the 2014-2015 financial year, 13 people assumed the role of data captures and administrators on a contract basis for various business units. CDC also provides special transportation services.

To date, CDC has 21 employees living with disabilities enrolled for the CDC Workplace Mentorship Programme. The programme is designed to improve skills and competencies of physically challenged employees. The programme offers disabled employees career guidance and tools to improve job performance.

Summary of Skills Development Initiatives: Employee training Type of intervention

No. of employees

% Male

% Female

3

3,33%

0%

Master’s

102

47%

53%

International certification: Prince 2

42

40%

60%

Disability Affirmation Programme

National certification

83

53%

47%

In June 2013, the CDC launched its Disability Affirmation Programme by integrating 15

Short courses

70

51%

49%

Academic studies, incl. PhD

SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

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CSI

Sobering statistics prompt corporate social investment initiative Staggering statistics on unemployment in the Ekurhuleni district of eastern Gauteng have prompted Ekurhuleni East TVET College to embark on a corporate social investment (CSI) community project dubbed “Learn to Fish”. Spearheaded by Deputy Principal: Corporate Services Dr Muswaba, this project is an attempt by the college to empower the surrounding East Rand community. It is envisaged that this can be achieved by providing educational programmes that encourage entrepreneurship and selfreliance while promoting employability

By Fiona McFarlan

I

The basic data of the 2 200 respondents was analysed according to age, race, geographical location, qualifications and employment status. The results make for sobering reading

n July, the Ekurhuleni East TVET College advertised thirty-five posts for general assistants in two local newspapers. The response was overwhelming, with more than 2 000 applications received. Faced with this staggering response, the college’s HR department undertook an analysis of the respondents’ details as the basis of a college CSI project. The essence of the CSI initiative is the voluntary involvement of business in the creation of a better society and a cleaner environment, while still maintaining profitability. It is promoted through the implementation of ethical codes of good corporate governance, as outlined in the King Reports of 1992, 2002 and 2009.

The basic data of the 2 200 respondents was analysed according to age, race, geographical location, qualifications and employment status.

The results make for sobering reading. As can be seen from the graphs, just over 53% of the respondents were under 35 years of age; 847 had written matric but had failed, and a further 806 had left school between Grades 9 and 11. Matric

passes totalled 187, while 29 had diplomas and five had a degree. Yet they had applied for a general assistant’s position along with the 26 applicants who had no formal qualifications at all.

Demographics indicated that 2 193 of the applicants were African, six were coloured and one was white. Areas of origin indicated that 2 107 lived in the Ekurhuleni East area, 36 in Ekurhuleni West, 16 in Johannesburg and 41 in either more far-flung regions of Gauteng or other provinces in the country. Predictably, the highest percentage of unemployed applicants were those who had either failed matric or had left school between Grades 9 and 11. The number (80) of those with professional certificates or diplomas who have not been able to secure employment is also concerning.

In promoting this CSI initiative, the HR department, with the support of Principal Sibande, college management and council, hope to alter the perception that CSI is a charitable rather than a corporate social responsibility.

Ways of achieving this include developing a

Qualification status of applicants Number of respondents

806

237

187 57

29 5 Grade 9 ABET level Certificate Degree Diploma 1 to 4 6

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SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

847

26 Grade 9 to 11

Matric

Matric + None certificate

CSI Age demographics of applicants 5% 2%

9%

<35

35-40

41-45

46-50

51-55

56-60

12% 53% 19%

Current employment status of the job applicants indicating level of education Number of respondents

standard benchmark for CSI implementation; promoting awareness and a CSI culture in the college by better communication among the internal stakeholders; and incorporating CSI projects in the college’s strategic plan.

A business plan and an implementation plan are being developed specifically to address the needs of some of those 2 200 applicants who applied for the 35 general assistant positions.

This will involve identifying those respondents who need to further their education and skills acquisition as well as outlining timelines, funding budget indicators and project outcomes. It is also hoped to secure the involvement of college council members in identifying projects in which they may be able to use their own personnel and resources to teach these respondents the necessary skills.

As the highest regulator of the college, the college council can play a significant role in driving the efforts of all stakeholders towards good corporate governance by promoting CSI. In the long term, the sustainable development and organisational growth of the college will be intimately associated with the implementation of corporate social investment projects. These are projects that will aim to change the lives of people in the communities that we serve.

5

806

Grade 9 to 11

174

52

25

4 5 Matric, no Matric + Professional Diploma certificate certificate certificates 82

1 Grade 9

765

Employed

13

Employer

3

24

2

1 1

Degrees

None

Unemployed

One of SAPOA’s primary objectives is to define excellence in the property industry award e ments efurbIsh InnovatIv r

As part of this objective, the SAPOA Property Development Awards for Innovative Excellence provides public recognition for top quality design and functionality and a benchmark for excellence in property

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Position your company as a market leader - reap the benefits from positioning as a champion of South Africa’s property industry, innovation and excellence.

SAPOA awards

C

SAPOA awards

2016 for excellence

Winning a SAPOA Innovative Excellence Award provides members of the project team with a multitude of benefits.

136

SAPOA awards

2016 for excellence

for excellence

Don’t miss the opportunity of celebrating the success that results from determination and the resilience demonstrated by our industry in providing exceptional PROPERTY.

2016

SAPOA awards

for excellence

2016

Be part of these exclusive awards in the most prestigious property awards program in South Africa by submitting your entries for the 2017 Property Development Awards for Innovative Excellence.

Entry fee: Queries: Entries closes:

R17,500.00 (excl VAT) Jane Padayachee marketingmanager@sapoa.org.za or 011 883 0679 28th FEBRUARY 2017

ONLINE REGISTRATION - www.sapoaawards.co.za Registration ad Final.indd 1

2016/11/24 11:44 AM

SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

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CSI

Attacq corporate social investment and enterprise and supplier development The JSE-listed Attacq Limited – a premier property company – has made a corporate social Investment contribution of R6,5-million in the financial year ending 30 June 2016 (2015: R4,9-million). This according to Morné Wilken, Chief Executive Officer of Attacq

By Stanley Karombo

Attacq the Future, Sep 2016

T

he company believes that its future viability depends on the sustainability of its surrounding communities and the continued economic success of South Africa.

“We remain committed to education and training,” Chief Executive Officer Morné Wilken says. “Education is a key priority in addressing many of the challenges facing South Africa. Our success is contingent on the success of our stakeholders. We continue to do our utmost to ensure we are acting in Attacq’s best interests while being mindful of our stakeholders’ needs.”

Wilken believes that communities are incredibly important to the organisation – they provide both the human resources needed to operate efficiently and the market in which to operate. “Growth and stability in our surrounding communities means growth and stability within Attacq,” he says.

“Development of struggling communities also provides strength in the market and, as such, greater opportunities for business. However, contributing to this growth in the most beneficial manner to foster sustainable positive impact is an ongoing challenge.”

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The reason for starting the Attacq Foundation According to Wilken, the Attacq Foundation was established to address this challenge and to serve the surrounding communities. The non-profit organisation award and public benefit organisation status enables the foundation to function as a tax-exempt organisation and secure third-party funding, thereby enhancing Attacq’s social impact.

“We understand that building relationships of trust with our stakeholders is key to the ongoing viability of our business, and we continue to drive internal focus on sustaining healthy relationships through constant meaningful engagement with those who affect (and are affected by) our business operations,” says Wilken. “By listening and responding to our stakeholders’ needs, we enhance our brand and ensure our business remains relevant.”

As the business environment in South Africa remains uncertain, economic growth and stability are ongoing concerns. Attacq believes that small businesses are essential to the strength and stability of the economy.

As small businesses find more success, larger companies and corporations also begin to prosper. Attacq understands its role in supporting small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for the benefit of the company and South Africa. “Attacq established the Group ESD Proprietary Limited to function as a social enterprise vehicle that aims to empower SMEs through training and resource development,” says Danny Vermeulen, BEE and transformation specialist at Attacq. “Furthermore, the aim is to generate profits and declare these to its 100% shareholder, the Attacq Foundation, as dividends.

“We believe that supporting enterprise and supplier development (ESD) is a key way in which we can meaningfully create change in South Africa. We continued our partnership with Property Point (established by Growthpoint Properties) for significant enterprise and supplier development that delivers industryspecific results. Through this programme, we sponsor 17 SMEs.” The objective is to maximise meaningful transformation in the property sector by growing small business.

CSI The first intake ran over two years, and culminated with a graduation ceremony for qualifying SMEs in November 2016. The programme’s aim is to develop the SMEs to be supplier-ready, and includes SMEs in various trades from painting and electrical contractors to air conditioning contractors and landscaping contractors.

“We’re committed to supplier diversification and continuously consult our transformation specialist to identify opportunities for SME participation – in particular those SMEs graduating from the various enterprise development programmes in which Attacq is involved,” says Vermeulen. “The results, to date, have been positive and business-linkage opportunities resulted in four of these contractors participating in various projects in Waterfall and Newtown, including the development of Mall of Africa.”

company, Attacq knows that it’s not only about giving to the community, but also about being responsible for making sure that the “giving” actually makes a lasting and sustainable difference. Through its membership in this programme, Attacq is also monitoring itself for year-on-year improvement, and collaborating with (and contributing to) other industry leaders along the way.

Attacq the Future (CSI)

Columba Leadership (CSI)

Attacq partnered with the Bright Kid Foundation to establish an early childhood development centre (ECDC) for the community of Villa Liza in Boksburg. In total, the ECDC accommodates 75 children and has created nine employment opportunities.

This programme aims to empower historically disadvantaged young people by instilling personal, social and environmental responsibility, drawing heavily on the teaching power of lessons from the natural environment.

Attacq the Future aims to expose academic performers and/or children with leadership qualities – who are not necessarily part of a school’s student representative council – to an environment of large business, and for them to interact with business people.

Bana ba Rona Early Childhood Development Centre (CSI)

Attacq’s social and relationship resources scoreboard The company recorded 366 employee hours and reached more than 2 000 beneficiaries.

It scored 89% on its overall CSI purpose (industry average is 65%) and 46% on strategy development (industry average is 38,9%).

Attacq supports ESD Attacq believes that supporting ESD is a key way in which the company can meaningfully create change in South Africa. During the year, it continued their partnership with Property Point to host their second intake of property industry SMEs for a focused enterprise and supplier development programme. The objective of this is to collaborate in order to maximise meaningful transformation in the property sector.

Newtown Development (ESD) Attacq is at the forefront of supporting a formal city improvement district (CID) known as the Newtown CID. Through the Group’s involvement, a programme was implemented where previously unemployed individuals have been employed as cleaning and security service providers, receiving ongoing training.

The Attacq Foundation (CSI) The Foundation acts as catalyst and channel for sustainable social investment, and is aimed at promoting and supporting education and training programmes

Nation Builder Attacq is a Nation Builder member, committed to the country, its people and a future that benefits all South Africans. As a Nation Builder

Attacq’s second Property Point intake

SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

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advertorial

Bomax Architects:

designing change within architecture Specialising in bespoke contemporary design solutions for sustainable architecture aimed at minimising environmental impact, a small but well-established Cape Town architecture practice is slowly reforming commercial and residential landscapes across the country

By CDC Business Development Communications Officer

FROM LEFT Dion Max Walters, Joshua Brodie, Robyn Marias, Dane Minords, Armien Abrahams

B

omax Architects, a Cape Town architectural company in practice since 2000, designs and project-manages retail, commercial and residential property using innovative materials that have minimal impact on the environment.

Dion Max Walters, sole director of the practice, spoke to us about his company’s philosophy and some of its best projects.

“As a practice, we strive for creativity,” says Walters. “We design unique buildings that are aware of their environment. The idea behind sustainable architecture is to minimise the negative environmental impact of buildings; we therefore exercise moderation in the type of materials and energy used in the buildings we design, and take into consideration the development space, always being mindful of site context and adding aesthetic value.”

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SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

Born and schooled in Durban, Walters studied architecture at the University of Port Elizabeth. After graduation, he relocated to Cape Town, where he worked with KCvR Architects on housing projects. Later, through a merger, he spent two years in the commercial space at DHK before he and a fellow graduate joined forces to start Bomax.

“We burnt the midnight oil and in less than four years created a name for ourselves as a passionate design practice that creates unique buildings,” he says. “We specialise in creative design and, over the years, we’ve gained valuable site administration experience.

An inability to deliver site administration is a budding practice’s weakness. It took time but we got there; now, after 17 years, Bomax Architects specialises as a design practice

that provides a service from design inception through to site completion.”

In 2005 Walters became sole director after his partner left following an illness. He and his team of architects and technical specialists expanded out of residential design into commercial and retail work.

“The experience gained from implementing creative details into housing projects and managing consultants prepared us for commercial work,” says Walters. “We act as the principal agent on behalf of the client, and coordinate the other consultants and suppliers. We have a short-list of contractors the practice prefers to work with – contractors and suppliers with whom we have built solid relationships and on whom we can rely to deliver consistently good service.”

advertorial Spotlight on projects Bomax Architects has created a portfolio of international and national projects, including commercial buildings, up-market residential homes, retail interiors and even a wine farm.

These buildings reflect a distinct style of clean lines, balanced forms and ordered planning.

They have a relationship with the site they are designed for, often integrating indoor and outdoor spaces seamlessly.

Residential highlights “We are busy with a project in Fishermen’s Bend in Llandudno for a North African client,” says Walters. “The property overlooks the sea and offers amazing vistas of Llandudno and the Atlantic Ocean. The design concept brings the beach into the home. Natural materials – all with matte finishes – create a worn, barefoot environment like the beach. The project is an alteration to a badly designed house on a great site – a problem we often have to deal with. There is much energy in an existing dwelling, so we utilise the existing fabric where we can to reduce the costs of energy consumption. We have remodelled this house entirely while retaining the existing concrete frame. A giant granite boulder remains in the house, too difficult and beautiful to move.

“In Thorn Street, Newlands, we designed a home on the fringe of the Newlands forest but it was squashed between two neighbours on a narrow site. We wanted it to feel like a contemporary tree house, relating to the forest behind. The main bedroom is elevated and projects towards the trees. The orientation of the building and the circulation of the planning hides the views of the close urban proximity of neighbours.

“Another house, in Culross Road, Bryanston, designed for a known advertising executive, Thorn Street, Newlands, Cape Town

Fisherman’s Bend, Llandudno, Cape Town

Mixed-use lifestyle precinct for Second Avenue, Bloemfontein

Dedicated and diverse team Bomax Architects operates from 27 Pepper Street, from a building the firm has recently renovated. The new office interior is an example of the team’s design skills and has an industrial, mid-century Modern interior, with bespoke components designed by the team. The centrally situated office is home to Bomax’s dedicated creative team whose diverse range of skills and experience enable the firm to provide a full range of architectural services to clients.

The practice is registered with both the Cape Institute of Architects and the South African Institute of Architects, and is a member of the Green Building Council of South Africa.

SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

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advertorial

Culross Road, Bryanston, Johannesburg

is currently on hold. It’s an awesome project that merges two realms with two distinctive layered forms. On entry you experience a public realm of spaces – lobby, living, family, kitchen and veranda. These are contained in a geometric form surrounding the open-plan spaces. This component is then overlapped by an organic form, which envelopes the private realm where the bedrooms, gym and study are situated. The design is unusual, creative and feminine; it reflects the owner’s personality.”

Commercial work Bomax was the designing architect of the recently completed FNB regional headquarters for the Free State in Second Avenue in Bloemfontein. This 10 000m² building was designed to house all the departments of FNB that were previously housed in various buildings around the city.

“It’s been a while since the Free State has had a construction crane. We hope this will be a catalyst for further development in the area,” says Walters. “The building employs various ‘green’ features and we have experimented FNB Bloemfontein internal atrium

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SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

with new materials. The atrium is designed to maximise natural light with a new acrylic sheeting product instead of glass, achieving both the required heat gain and insulation values. A 100KWp photovoltaic solar system is designed for the rooftop to generate 170MWh of power per annum. This takes advantage of the sunny days in Bloemfontein. The western sun does become extreme, so we designed less glazing on the west façade and more cladding. The cladding is a dark grey, largeformat, scratch-resistant ceramic cladding tile from Turkey; it is so hard, we use it on kitchen counters as well. The battleship-grey colour of the cladding gives the building that secure, corporate-banking aesthetic. This cladding is ventilated on a frame away from the building, which prevents heat gain to the interior. The glass used is low emissivity-coated to prevent heat loss in winter, and tinted grey to prevent heat gain in summer.

The building has been designed with two entrances on an east/west atrium axis, which links the pedestrians on Second Avenue in the east to the vehicle parking site in the west.

FNB west entrance, Bloemfontein

The pedestrian entrance will be understood later as the precinct develops circulation to the waterfront.

The interior reflects on the regional status of the Free State building and is inspired by the natural materials and palette of the bushveld.

Bomax designed the atrium chandelier and had it made in Cape Town. “I love the edgy deconstructed mood the chandelier creates against the ordered interior façades,” says Walters. “Like ‘shards of glass’, the chandelier creates tension in the space. Not foreign to a corporate environment, it is sculptural and designed to fill the volume with feeling.”

The building is a catalyst for a new mixeduse lifestyle precinct in Second Avenue, designed by Bomax. It includes a collection of buildings that will enhance the city and create a gateway to the Loch Logan Waterfront.

The practice has also been involved in probono community work. Bomax designed an orphanage in Mozambique called Life Child, for children who have lost their parents to Aids; a project that is funded by the Life Church of Sea Point. With supplied brick machines and

advertorial tutoring by the Life Church, the community members are able to progress the development themselves. The project is growing all the time and now includes a clinic and a primary school. This has led to other exciting church projects, which include alterations to the Life Church in Sea Point as well as a new church for Urban Edge in Durbanville.

The new Urban Edge Church accommodates a thousand-seat auditorium with attached public spaces as well as two other halls for use by youth and children. The entire family is considered, with facilities for mothers and infants as well. The building is designed to serve the fast-growing residential community of Durbanville and Pinehurst.

“I am in awe of the dedication and support that the church provides not only to its congregation but the communities within its reach,” says Walters. “We want to assist the church with new community projects in Fisantekraal to support its current school and clinic initiatives.

“In Cape Town, we’re busy with The Link on the Foreshore. We are converting the old Chevron building to serve as a ‘link’ between the new Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital and Virgin Active. The Link itself will house a Netcare Day Ward Centre, an inner-city urban Woolworths and other corporate tenants on two top floors still to be built.

“We are privileged to be a part of the design future of the inner city of Cape Town. The Link forms part of a new arrangement of buildings that include the CTICC extension, and the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital and Media City that are going to create an urban landscape around Salazar Square. These are exciting times for Cape Town!”

Virgin Active gym visitors can conveniently enter from Salazar Square. “We’re cutting a volume out of the existing building’s concrete to fit a dynamic ‘red ribbon’ staircase up to the gym,” says Walters. “The staircase has been designed to express movement. In sport, you should feel as though you’re wrapped in an Olympic ribbon staircase sculpture while ascending to a victory platform. We opened the façades with glass so it is more visible.

“It’s an expensive project. The extensive alterations and additions – particularly the new fire-escape routes – require considerable remodelling of the existing super-structure.

We utilise as much of the existing fabric as we can to save energy, and fit the building with effective sustainable materials and systems where possible.

“This is inner-city rejuvenation at its best.

It’s a collaborative effort by all involved – and ultimately, the city is the client.”

Urban Edge Church, Durbanville

Olympic ribbon staircase sculpture, Cape Town

SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

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events

Harnessing the power of partnerships SAPOA meets the Mayor of the City of Cape Town

By Maud Nale

FROM LEFT SAPOA CEO Neil Gopal, Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town Patricia de Lille and SAPOA President Nomzamo Radebe

S

APOA executives and members of the Board met with the City of Cape Town as part of SAPOA’s Meet the Mayor initiative.

The initiative, which is one of the organisation’s key endeavours to strengthen partnerships, dialogues and collaboration between the commercial property sector and government, was attended by the Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town Patricia de Lille, SAPOA President Nomzamo Radebe, SAPOA Chief Executive Officer Neil Gopal, SAPOA Board members and representatives from the City of Cape Town, among other key government and property stakeholders. This was De Lille’s first engagement with SAPOA since her re-election as the Mayor of Cape Town for a second term.

During her welcoming address, Radebe highlighted the importance of such events to an industry body such as SAPOA. “A key issue for us as SAPOA and business is the issue of inter-governmental relations,” she said.

“We acknowledge that mutually beneficial partnerships and a joint working relationship with government is at times fraught with challenges that could be avoided through better understanding. The reality is that we are inseparable and we have to work together.”

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SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

She further pointed out that as the urban conversation advances between SAPOA, the property industry and the government, South African cities would begin to progress and evolve to compete on a global scale. “Cities and how they are governed and managed must be at the heart of the national economic jobs and growth debate if we are to have any hope of reaching the employment target,” she said. “The ongoing concerns from both the private and public sector surrounding challenges that we both face requires that both parties become more actively involved with each other. We need to engage in meaningful dialogue and work together to improve business and the infrastructure in South Africa.”

De Lille expressed the City’s commitment to becoming an “opportunity city” that ensures an environment conducive to doing business at a global level. Her vision for the city is quite clear-cut. “First, we are pitching Cape Town to become the ‘digital city’ of Africa, and we are well on our way to achieving that – we are the only city in Africa with an open data portal,” she said. “Then, we want to pitch Cape Town to become the ‘ideas centre’ of Africa. As a city, we are leading on innovation.

Cape Town was elected World Design Capital in 2014, and that was the catalyst for looking at design and innovation. In the past three years, in all our city departments, we’ve overlaid all our planning processes with design-led thinking.”

But the thing closest to her heart is poverty and inequality. “In the 20 years of our new democracy, our people have been very patient,” she said. “We need to double our efforts, so more and more people can taste the fruits of democracy. We need to change the lives of the most vulnerable out there.”

De Lille believes the partnership with the private sector is critical in achieving the city’s objectives. “We maintain that cities are best placed to be the key drivers of change, and we are confident that we will be successful, provided we have the support of all partners and stakeholders.”

One of SAPOA’s priority roles is ensuring government departments and representatives remain in constant conversation with the property sector and that the industry’s needs are addressed at a legislative level. As a result, the Meet the Mayor initiative will continue in other cities and remain a highlight in SAPOA’s diary.

events

FROM LEFT SAPOA Board members Nnema Byrd and Dr Sedise Moseneke

SAPOA Board member Jeff Zidel

FROM LEFT David Green, Refqah Fataar Ho-Yee and Dave Russel

SAPOA President Elect Peter Levett

FROM LEFT Noel Mashaba, Sigi Naidoo and Kulani Lebese

SAPOA Past President Kevin Roman

In partnership with

Malcolm Horne

Nazeem Khan

SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

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events

Women’s Property Network announces winners of 2016 South African Women in Property Awards Dedicated to advancing the success of women in the property industry, Women’s Property Network was established in early 2000 to create a forum for women in a predominantly male industry to join together to exchange information, develop business contacts and enhance professional success.

We celebrate the winners of the South African Women in Property Awards Words provided Photography provided

A

t a glittering event held at the Monte Casino Ballroom, the Women’s Property Network (WPN) celebrated the 2016 South African Women in Property Awards. These awards recognise women who have excelled in the sector and have had a remarkable year. More than 300 guests celebrated the winners, with special guests the First Lady Masina and Phindile Mbanjwa, Head of Department in the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, as well as many prominent industry leaders. The event was sponsored by the Airports Company South Africa and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. This is the second year that the awards have been held, recognising outstanding achievement by women in the property industry.

Outgoing WPN Chairwoman Genevieve Naidoo says that not only is the organisation recognising great women who have gone beyond their call of duty, but it is also using the event to raise funds towards the Education Trust, which provides bursaries to female students in the tertiary environment who are currently pursuing degrees related to the property industry.

In the last few years, the property sector has seen several women appointed as the CEOs of notable companies, as well as the key appointment of the third female president (since 1966) of the South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA), Nomzamo Radebe.

“The South African Women in Property Awards are a collaborative platform that is

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dedicated to recognising not only outstanding leadership but also the inspiration, vision and innovation in organisations that have stepped up and shaped women’s roles within the private and public sector,” says incoming WPN chairwoman Sandi Mbutuma. “The awards categories reflect a wide spectrum of work in which these deserving women from the public and private sector are involved. This includes CEOs, executives and leaders in corporate South Africa, SMMEs, government departments and agencies, as well as entrepreneurs.”

The following nominees were recognised in their respective award categories:

Young Achiever Award (under 35 years old) ● Gauteng: Marianka Victor, Managing Director, Finlay Mall Leasing ● Western Cape: Kirsten Sloth-Nielsen, Project and Programme Director, Greater Tygerberg Partnership ● KwaZulu-Natal: Sanam Shree, Chief Strategy and Investment Officer, Shree Property Holdings The winner in this category was Sanam Shree, who was recognised for the significant role that she plays within Shree Property Holdings. In a short space of time, she has moved through the ranks and is active in many industry and youth initiatives.

Businesswoman of the Year: Entrepreneur Award ● Gauteng: Monalisa Sam,

Founding Managing Director, Tungwa Retail Holdings ● Western Cape: Busi Nzo, Partner, Lakhanya Quantity Surveyors The winner in this category was Monalisa Sam.

Professional of the Year: Corporate/Private Sector Award ● Gauteng: Madeleine Truter, Legal Counsel, Pivotal Fund; and Noluthando Molao, Associate Director, Turner & Townsend ● Western Cape: Liezel Conradie, Regional Director, JHI Properties ● KwaZulu-Natal: Karen Petersen, Development Director, Tongaat Hulett Developments The nominations in this category were cause for much healthy debate amongst the judges, because the women nominated were all strong candidates from varied backgrounds, and all have made a contribution to the industry. The final consensus was that Noluthando Molao of Turner & Townsend be recognised as the winner because of her incredible achievements and contribution to the built environment.

Professional of the Year: Public Sector Award ● Gauteng: Helen Botes, CEO, City of Joburg Property Company ● Western Cape: Ruby Gelderbloem, Director Property Management, City of Cape Town

events ● KwaZulu-Natal: Subulele Diko, Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent Provincial Project Manager, Province of KwaZulu-Natal The 2016 winner in this category was Helen Botes, acknowledged for her phenomenal work for the city.

FROM LEFT Sandi Mbutuma, Sanam Shree, Genevieve Naidoo and TC Chetty

FROM LEFT Sandi Mbutuma, Helen Botes, Genevieve Naidoo and TC Chetty

FROM LEFT Sandi Mbutuma, Noluthando Moloa, Genevieve Naidoo and TC Chetty

FROM LEFT Phindile Mbanjwa, Sandi Mbutuma, Monalisa Sam, Genevieve Naidoo and TC Chetty

Also at the gala dinner, The Lisa Blane Award was introduced this year, in recognition of Lisa Blane and her significant contribution to the WPN and the property industry.

Blane was a founding member of the WPN and an originator of the Five Star and Rising Star Awards, introduced so that women in the industry could be acknowledged for their significant contribution.

Blane was also a staunch supporter of education and the WPN Educational Trust, which ensures that young women can be well educated and adequately equipped to fulfil roles within the industry.

Ipeleng Mkhari, the Chief Executive Officer of Motseng Investment Holdings, was also acknowledged for her contribution to the industry and for giving tirelessly of herself.

The awards were adjudicated by a panel of judges, which was represented by a broad spectrum of disciplines from the industry and included: ● TC Chetty, Country Manager: RICS South Africa; and Chief Executive, TC Chetty and Associates ● Gary Garrett, Head of Real Estate Finance, Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking ● Genevieve Naidoo – Head of Credit Risk Real Estate, Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking; and WPN Chairwoman ● Peter Levett, Managing Director, Old Mutual Property; and SAPOA President Elect for 2017.

Ipeleng Mkhari and Amelia Beattie

SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

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events

Negotiation Skills Master Programme in KZN

The first group of delegates for the NSMP, which was held at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Durban North. The facilitator was Candis Cheyne

The second group of delegates attended the NSMP at the Master Builders Conference Centre in Westville

SAPOA KZN hosted the Negotiation Skills Master Programme (NSMP). The short learning programme proved to be very popular, with 36 delegates registering. Thirty-two of these delegates were from Transnet Properties.

Because of the programmeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interactive nature, delegates were spilt into two working groups over different days. Delegates enjoyed the NSMP and found it to be extremely useful in giving them the fundamental techniques and confidence in negotiation.

The course was facilitated by Candis Cheyne.

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Candis Cheyne, a Durban professional specialising in training across negotiation techniques, presentation skills and customer services

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Western Cape meet the media SAPOA President Nomzamo Radebe and CEO Neil Gopal hosted a media meet-and-greet at the Century City Conference Centre and Hotel in Cape Town

FROM LEFT Western Cape Regional Chairman Marlon Parring, Carin Smith from FIN24.com, Louise Fenner-Solomon from Architect & Builder, Louise Smedt from Property Wheel, Maude Nale from SAPOA, Neale Petersen from Real Estate Investor, SAPOA president Nomzamo Radebe, Mark Pettipher from MPDPS, SAPOA CEO Neil Gopal, Kim Maxwell from Property and Business Day Homefront.

“As SAPOA, we recognise the media is a critical partner to SAPOA’s success,” said the organisation’s Chief Executive Officer Neil Gopal. “To this end, we believe regular meetings with members of the media are important as we meet key journalists and get to know them. A direct line of contact with them makes it easy to discuss issues and leverage the relationship to secure press coverage.”

The breakfast session was attended by journalists from publications such as Real Estate Investor, Architect & Builder, Fin24.com, Property Wheel, Property Professional and Business Day Homefront.

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events

Built Environment Professionals honoured at the Buffalo City Developer’s Awards Evening

Award recipients with Evita Bezuidenhout: FROM LEFT Terry Cook from Misty Mountain – Developers Award for Corporate Office Development – Nedbank, Beacon Bay. Also Developer of the Year.

AJ Corbett – (TCN Architects) representing Olivewood Golf Estate – Merit Award Sizwe Fono – (DRPW – Heritage Award for Restoration of Buffalo Volunteer Rifles HQ, East London) Robin Knott – Merit Award for Gleneagles Estates – Residential Development Jed Webber – (Smale & Partners) – Developers Awards for 7 Frere Road, Vincent & Merit Award for 53 Beach Road Nahoon Mark Gale – (Smale & Partners) – Developers Award for Retail Development of Pick n Pay, Southernwood, East London

T

he Osner Hotel on the Esplanade in East London was the perfect setting for an awards evening.

In recognition of the importance of property development to the South African economy and the community which it serves, SAPOA Buffalo City honoured those property innovators, developers, owners and built environment professionals who, through the quality of their products and commitment to the region, have contributed significantly to the enhancement of the industry in the region.

As part of his welcome address, regional chairman, Robin Knott, welcomed guests and updated them on SAPOA activity in the Buffalo City.

Entries for the awards were received in the following categories: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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Commercial Office Developments Retail Developments Small Office Refurbishments Hotels / Leisure / Other Heritage / Community Projects SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW

The following developments received an Award of Merit: Small Office Refurbishment: Radiant Summer Trade 1 (Pty) Ltd for 53 Beach Road, Nahoon: Residential Development: Gleneagles Estate (Pty) Ltd for Gleneagles Estate Corporate Office Development: Novate Property Investments for the Daily Dispatch Head Office Hotels/Leisure: Olivewood Trade & Investment 123 (Pty) Ltd for Olivewood Private Golf Estate and Golf Club

Misty Mountain Trading 101 (Pty) Ltd was named Developer of the Year. The awards, which take place every second year, were very well attended, with more than 100 guests in attendance. Buffalo City vice-chair, Grant Wheatley, was the Master of Ceremonies, and the special guest was Evita Bezuidenhout with her amusing and thought-provoking show, State of the Nation.

The developments which received full Developer Awards were: 1. Commercial Office Developments: Misty Mountain 101 (Pty) Ltd for Nedbank Offices - Beacon Bay 2. Retail Developments: Blue Thistle Trading 101 (Pty) Ltd - for the Pick n Pay Centre, Southernwood 3. Small Office Refurbishments: Atkinson Family Trust for 7 Frere Road, Vincent 4. Overall Award For Heritage: National Dept of Works for the refurbishment and upgrade of Buffalo Volunteer Rifles Headquarters - Fleet Street

Mel and Neil McGarry

events

FROM LEFT Bernard Lindstrom, Les Holbrook (CEO of Chamber of Business), Penny Lindstrom (Chairperson IEASA Border)

Master of Ceremonies and Vice-Chair of Buffalo City Regional Council, Grant Wheatley

FROM LEFT Dale Beckermann, Layla Moriarty, Ashley Wicks, Lisa Beckermann from Olivewood Golf Estate

Phumelelo Setoboli

FROM LEFT Noel & Pearl Nyemba and Ray Madyira

Annette and Gavin le Roux

Sidney Mishi

Bruce and Lesley Webber

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events

Gauteng networking event SAPOA Gauteng’s evening of networking, held at the iconic Johannesburg Stock Exchange in the heart of Sandton, took the City of Gold by storm. Members were on hand to chat and mingle over wine and canapés

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FROM LEFT Londiwe Mthembu, Brad Bentz, Mafonti Morobi, Bernadet Hartley, Vinnie Fourie

Greg Branford

FROM LEFT Makhado Nesengani, Sechaba Kou, Makhosana Ndindani and Kuda Mujaji

Jane Parker with Paula Hardy

FROM LEFT Lisa Crossley, Greg Branford, Clement Twala and Sibusiso Sibya

Katrine Lategan with Sven Retzlaff

FROM LEFT Arshaad Carrim, Carina van Vuuren and Marcelle Kingsley

Sivuyile Makiza with Amesh Patel

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FROM LEFT Clive Shepherd, Guy Steenkamp and Paolo Onofri

Bianca Barnes and Chanean Beetge

FROM LEFT Rowan Bryant, Danya Pearce and Guy Powell

Francois van Vuuren and Riëtte Stevens

FROM LEFT Rosemarie Williams, Kashmir Singh, Rose Marie du Plessis and Happy Mnisi

Marcia Seymour with Miguel Tavares

FROM LEFT Sindiso Dandala, Tumelo Mokoena and Mike Sithole

Trevor Spence-Crooks with Robert Clouston

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SAPOA KZN breakfast presentation It was a full house at SAPOA KZN’s networking breakfast at the Protea Edward Hotel on the morning of 28 October. The high-level speakers and weighty topics showed the good, the bad and the way forward

By Anne Schauffer

A

Chinese curse says, “May you live in interesting times” – and although as South Africans we rarely consider that expression a curse, few would argue that we’re living in the most interesting of times.

Take the SAPOA breakfast, where SAPOA KZN’s Regional Chairman Edwin van Niekerk welcomed the major personalities of our local commercial property world to a double act: a dual presentation by Frikkie Brooks and Martie Milne, entitled “Moving KZN Towards Achieving Vision 2035”. The stated vision is that “By 2035, KwaZulu-Natal will be a prosperous province, with a healthy, secure and skilled population, living in dignity and harmony, acting as a gateway to Africa and the world.” No small task – so it was, understandably, no small presentation, handled with great agility, some wonderful humour and a frank interpretation of the issues facing the province.

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The two eminent speakers came with credentials as weighty as the topic under discussion. Frikkie Brooks is the Deputy Director-General: Strategic Management in the Office of the Premier, responsible for provincial macro-policy, strategic planning, and monitoring and evaluation. In addition, he’s the Head of Secretariat of the KZN Provincial Planning Commission, supporting the commission with the refinement and implementation of the provincial growth and development plan in pursuance of the KZN Vision 2035.

Handling a part of the presentation was Martie Milne, who is responsible for provincial planning, policy and research coordination in the Office of the Premier, and provides support to the Provincial Planning Commission.

After a detailed progress update on the implementation of the provincial growth and development strategy and plan, Portia Tau-

Sekati took to the podium. Tau-Sekati is the CEO of the Property Sector Charter Council, entrusted with driving transformation in the property sector, and she was invited to break down the all-important Property Charter and Sector Codes.

It was an intense morning, with everyone’s eyes proving to be a little bigger than their stomachs – there was an enormous amount to absorb and ponder. So much so, in fact, that Van Niekerk suggested a workshop for delegates to better understand and manage the property sector codes.

The breakfast was superb, the networking was, as always, loud and long, the interaction between the floor and speakers highly vocal, and the speakers themselves eloquent and informative. The event ran longer than usual – but then again, with two massively important topics for the property industry, it was really no surprise.

FROM LEFT Soo Meyer, Trenley Tilbrook and Sandra Mqina

Thandekile Sibiya with Fiona Hodge

FROM LEFT Martie Milne, Deidre Bestbier, Moshin Shaik and Perun Naidoo

Saantha Naidu with Dayalan Chetty

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FROM LEFT Edwin van Niekerk, Frikkie Brooks, Portia Tau-Sekati and Andrew Layman

Phillipa Chernaud

FROM LEFT Bev Nelson, Peter Kleynhans, Di Franks and Hylton Strous

Andrew Thompson

FROM LEFT Hlalelo Makwabe, Kamla Singh, Simphiwe Maphumulo, Vumiso Nyamazana

Mark Bray

FROM LEFT Mogamat Behardien, Sumendra Naidoo, Ryan Schneeberger, Paul van Heerden and Garth Sims

Caressa Perumal

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events

SAPOA Mpumalanga hosts annual gala dinner The annual gala dinner was held at Zest Restaurant at the Kavinga Guest House, in partnership with Mathata Food Services

FROM LEFT SAPOA Regional Chairman James Aling, SAPOA CEO Neil Gopal, General Manager: City Planning & Development for the City of Mbombela Dumisani Mabuza and SAPOA President Nomzamo Radebe

Comedian John Vlismas was a special guest

SAPOA Regional Chairman James Aling welcomed guests and provided a brief summary of the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s activities throughout the year, before SAPOA President Nomzamo Radebe highlighted national updates since her tenure.

To top off the festivities, special guest John Vlismas provided comedic entertainment. The gala dinner was enjoyed by all who attended.

We would like to thank our partners, Mathata Food Services, as well as Halls & Sons Properties for their valuable contribution to making the evening a roaring success.

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FROM LEFT Gugu Mkhatshwa, Mpumalanga Regional Secretariat Bella Chirwa and Zizezeza Ngomane

FROM LEFT Amanda De Lange, Courtney and Grant Campbell, and Keith and Lesley Kellar

events

Sakkie van Rooyen

Janus Schutte

Owen Wiggins

FROM LEFT Grant and Courtney Campbell, and SAPOA Regional Deputy Chairman Derek Todd and Lesley-Ann Todd

Onkgopotse and Palesa Mashigo

FROM LEFT Dumisani Mabuza, Beth Aling, SAPOA CEO Neil Gopal, SAPOA President Nomzamo Radebe, Hendrik Ferreira (FNB), Derek Todd, Lesley-Ann Todd, James Aling and Mrs Mabuza

Carlyn and Reudi van Rensburg

FROM LEFT Miranda and Wihan Venter, Gail and Craig Lewis, and Marita Cronje and Bennie van der Merwe

Cecilia with Inge Janse van Rensburg

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SAPOA Western Cape networking evening

Steve Rennie and Nikki Paige of Rennie Property

David Talbot

FROM LEFT Marlon Parring, Refqah Fataar Ho-Yee and Jedd Grimbeek

Jeremy Wiley

Guests were treated to an evening of great conversation and spectacular views of the Mother City as they celebrated our final networking event for the year, held on the 32nd floor of the Absa Building.

The event was sponsored by Rennie Property, who used the opportunity to showcase the space to prospective tenants. Nikki Paige, Managing Director at Rennie Property, made a lucrative offer to any commercial property broker who could sign a tenant to the amazing space.

Marlon Parring, Chairman of the Western Cape Regional Council, thanked all guests for their support throughout 2016, and gave all those present a sneak preview into the bumper year planned for 2017.

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Myles Hornbuckle and Matthew Lilley

events

FROM LEFT Isabella Peens and Angela Efendakis

Mutoni Kaitakirwa

FROM LEFT Marc Bright, Guy Venter and Daniel Botha

Michael Russell with Charmagne Monk

FROM LEFT Julie van Zyk, Gavin Hiscock and Martin Rippon

Jacqueline Midgley with Rob Sedgwick

FROM LEFT Tim Hughes, Patrick Parring, David Stoll and Dylan Pelton

FROM LEFT Sarah Swabey, Claire Perks and Joanne Boswell

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off the wall

Surfing the greens: forget the buggy, get trendy!

It might be associated with middle-aged men and trundling buggies, but golf is about to get a lot cooler

By Mike Dawes, Sarah Griffiths and Jack Millner/Mailonline

A

new battery-powered vehicle could see golf appealing to a generation more accustomed to riding a skateboard than a cart.

The GolfBoard is a cross between a skateboard and a cart, and is fitted with a gearbox similar to those found in cars to let you cart your clubs around in style. It is the brainchild of big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton and businessman Don Wildman, and can reach speeds of up to 19km/h.

“The GolfBoard is the most exciting, revolutionary addition to the game of golf since the graphite shaft, bringing hi-tech mobile innovation to an otherwise traditional game,” said Justin Jones, distributor of the device in the UK. Golfers can use the board to “surf” over the varied terrain of a course at various speeds using a hand-held controller, and its 81-yearold designer believes it could one day replace conventional buggies.

“It’s an old man’s sport,” inventor Don Wildman said. “I know that if I had kids, they’d probably really like to come out and play golf if they got to ride around on an electric skateboard.’

He said that he hopes the board does for golf what “snowboarding did for skiing”.

In addition to speeding up the game, the electric board claims to make “getting from

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one shot to the next just as fun as hitting a great drive or approach shot”. However, this coolness comes at a price – each board costs US$6 500 (about R94 000).

The GolfBoard claims to be easy and intuitive to use, and its use feels similar to snowboarding, surfing or skateboarding. It is controlled using a hand-held device that controls its speed and braking, while the rider rocks back and forth to steer the board.

Riders can select a high or low speed, ranging from 11km/h for new users up to the top speed of 19km/h, which lets golfers travel at around the same speed as a conventional golf cart. The board is powered by a 48V lithium battery pack built into the base of the board and takes about 90 minutes to charge to provide enough power to navigate 36 holes.

The electric board claims to be the first of its kind to be driven by a gearbox that is similar to ones in cars, instead of chains and belts, which can be unreliable and need frequent maintenance.

Gearboxes fitted on each end of the board provide power to all four wheels evenly, while “wheel positraction” means the board will not slip on the steepest hills and eliminates “spin-outs” on the golf course, which can mark the green, the company has said.

The pressure on the turf is “substantially” less than that of a golf cart, so golfers can ride on fairways without damaging them in wet conditions, thanks to tyres that are nine centimetres wide and 23cm tall, with specially designed treads. A flexible “spring deck” works as a shock absorber for a smooth ride, while a “bi-directional steering damper” prevents the board from wobbling in transit.

The board measures 120cm by 50m by 25cm, so it can be easily stored in a golf locker or bag.

The board is made by SolBoard, which has been distributing the quirky mode of transportation since last year.

Former European Tour player Chris van der Velde has had a chance to “surf the earth” along with Wildman.

“I’m not sure it’s a traditional gamechanger,” said Van der Velde. “Some people will push back. Some people won’t like it because it’s different. They didn’t like going from wooden clubs to metal heads. So it’ll push people back. But it’s pretty cool.”

But according to Paul Hodge of SolBoard, “If you really want the industry to grow, and to be accepted by the mass market, you need to kill that stodgy conservative attitude and you need to make it fun – and attract the younger crowds.”

GolfBoard features ●● The board can reach speeds of up to 19km/h – similar to a golf buggy. ●● It’s 48cm wide with 9cm tyres. ●● Each end is fitted with an “industrialgrade” gearbox, which allows it to tackle a variety of terrains. ●● The pressure on the turf is less than that exerted by golf carts, so the board can be used in wet weather. ●● It can ride up to 36 holes on a single battery charge – or at least 18 holes on a hilly course with a heavy golfer. ●● It is controlled by a hand-held device as well as the rider learning to steer the board – like an electric skateboard.

SAPOA events

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Appreciating Property Value Johannesburg - 011 684 2707 I Cape Town - 021 403 6433 I Durban - 031 830 5521

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SAPOA events

1

Specialised Knowledge and Expertise 3

2

4

1 Medical facility for 200 Rivonia Road in Morningside, Johannesburg. Architects: Geyser Hahn Architects.

2 The Union office development for Eris Properties in Accra, Ghana. Architects: Boogertman + Partners.

3 & 4 Head office for Business Connexion for BCX HQ Offices Co-ownership JV in Centurion, Pretoria. Architects: Stauch Vorster International. QS services in JV.

Whilst timeously and adequately providing traditional quantity surveying services DelQS identified and developed certain services vital to the bottom line of investors • Elemental construction cost estimating • Financial viability analysis (in-house developed program : precise and logical in presentation) • Building contract expertise • Final settlement with contractors • Cost control and reporting (in-house developed program: proactive and audit trail) • Africa projects (expertise and track record) • Specialised developments (retail, hospitality, healthcare, student housing, etc)

QUANTITY SURVEYING

Nico Roos

Liza Botha

Wilco Lourens

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Gerhard de Leeuw Akopo Africa

Corné de Leeuw

Christine Larson

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