SA’s special economic zones are scrambling for investment, following the harsh 18-month lockdown period due to Covid-19, which led tenants to negotiate rental holidays and other special concessions.
Despite huge pressure on SA’s budget, there are state resources on offer, although sometimes those are unappreciated, poorly understood — and sometimes even ignored — by businesses. More than 50% capacity is currently available at SEZs, said the divisional heads of the SEZs at OR Tambo, the Dube Trade Port, Saldanha Bay Trade Port and Richards Bay, at a webinar recently.
To talk about SEZs and what makes them special, as well as the criteria applied by the government when companies want to locate in an SEZ, and how they can manage to locate in and access the benefits of an SEZ, Michael Avery spoke to Tumelo Chipfupa, joint MD at Cova Advisory; Bianca Romans, manager at Cova Advisory; Benedicta Durcan, Saldanha Bay IDZ ease of doing business executive; and Maidei Matika, chief investment officer at Gauteng...