The president of the Greater Alexandra Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Galxcoc), Mpho Motsumi has described the opening of the Alex Mall as ‘a dream come true not just for me but the whole of Alex’.
He was speaking at a cocktail party to mark the official opening of the new mall, which was graced by the who’s who of Alex, including its former son now lost to Diepkloof in Soweto, the chairperson of the Premier Soccer League and Orlando Pirates’, Dr Irvin ‘Iron Duke’ Khoza and former Bafana Bafana coach, Screamer Tshabalala.
Khoza was born and bred in Alexandra and cut his teeth in football administration in the now defunct Alex Blackpool Football Club as a 14-year-old youngster. He went on to become the co-founder of the National Soccer League and its premiership arm of which he is chairperson.
Motsumi described the mall as a 100-year legacy project of the township designed as a platform to help residents to remember their heritage, their legacy and an opportunity to create employment for the residents of the country’s oldest township.
Read: New Alex Mall is officially open for business
“It is also a place to shop, a place for families, a place to reminisce on our past history, legacy, culture and tourism,” he said “The global economy is in a state of acute disruption. Competition is even fiercer and consumers have never been so well-informed and loudly demanding.
“What worked yesterday may just be obsolete today and this mall is responding to the global needs of today and of the future.”
He added that it would be remiss not to mention the people who have helped shape him into the man he is today, singling out Khoza as the provider of the wind beneath his wings, who would stop at nothing in voicing his and Khoza’s collective desire to improve Alex, both socially and economically.
“This is a tall order and a plea coming from a man I truly admire and look up to,” said Motsumi. “I had to think, dream, visualise and find an answer to his plea. Today, not only is the dream visualised [but] it is delivered for the people of Alexandra.
Read: Councillors sing praises of the new Alex Mall which is set to launch at the end of March
“Our love for soccer could not be left out on the growth and development [of the mall idea], it is where young men get time to unwind, show their talent and hopefully become professionals of the beautiful game. So the six-a-side pitches had to be included as part of the mall development.”
He said the remembrance plaques around the mall were aimed at celebrating excellence, preserving the township’s culture and heritage, promoting tourism and to tell the story of greatness about Alex.
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