Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa Real Estate Investor Magazine - August 2017 | Page 12

MASTER INVESTOR
Within six years, the company grew from being
operated from a 200m² factory, to a specially‒built
6000m² facility in the Mabopane Township. Well‒
acquainted with the pitfalls of starting one’s own
business, Mashaba didn’t reach economic success
overnight. After a full 30 months of working for other
people, he resigned in 1982 to start his own business.
Selling everything from insurance, crockery, and linen
out of the back of his car, he soon realised that he
wanted to focus on haircare products. The birth of Black
Like Me came about with the help of a R30 000 loan
and the support of four business partners. Somewhat
symbolically, the company was based in Ga‒Rankuwa,
in the then homeland of Bophuthatswana.
In order to bring about the change needed in
Johannesburg, drastic measures need to be taken
regarding infrastructure and service delivery. Nowhere
is this more apparent than in the townships around the
city ‒ “181 informal settlements have mushroomed
across the city, more than half of
these have no basic services” the
Mayor revealed in his May
speech. In response to this,
the City’s 2017/18 budget
is allocating R40 million
to enhance sanitation in
these informal settlements,
compared to the R17 million
allocated last year. R162.7
million is also being
made
available
for the provision of additional electricity and water in
informal settlements ‒ an increase of R42.7 million
from the previous year. Ten informal settlements are
due for upgrades within the 2017/18 fiscal year, followed
by the upgrading of 20 more the year after.
In order to make these improvements sustainable and
meaningful, it must go hand in hand with employment
opportunities. Here, Mashaba is aiming to get
Johannesburg to work. As reported in his May speech,
there are 862 000 unemployed people in the City, with
the youth facing an unemployment rate of over 50%. In
order to reach the aforementioned goal of 5% economic
growth by 2021, it’s clear that more needs to be done to
facilitate employment.
An entrepreneur in his own right, the Mayor
places much emphasis on the importance of creating
opportunities for yourself. This, he believes, is best
achieved through the support of small businesses. In
May, Mashaba revealed that the 2016/17 fiscal year
saw the City of Johannesburg assisting 7 374 SMME
(Small, Medium and Micro‒Sized Enterprises) with
the help of its SME Hubs. A staggering 50% increase
was seen in the amount of SMME being assisted, when
compared to the year before.
According to Mashaba, the 2017/18 budget sees
R16 million being invested in SME Hubs across the
city, extending its footprint from seven to 14. The goal
of these hubs is to “create an enabling environment
for small businesses to flourish and thereby become
employers of our people.” According to the City of
Johannesburg’s official statement, these hubs aim to
offer both start-up and seasoned entrepreneurs a “one-
stop” shop where they can receive all the advice, funding
application support and training they need to start or
grow their businesses.”
This growth is not only focused on the CBD, but
also extends to townships. An example of this is the
R12 million being set aside for the commissioning
and operations of the Alex/Marlboro Hub and the
Alexandra Shared Industrial Production Facility.
Furthermore, R10 million is being invested in artisan
development training programmes. These initiatives,
along with the aforementioned upgrades and provisions
of infrastructure and services, aims to empower the
poor to become more successful.
“Corruption will be enemy
number one.”
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AUGUST 2017 SA Real Estate Investor
www.reimag.co.za