DA Gauteng Premier candidate Solly Msimanga visited Jet Park, known as the industrial business hub of Boksburg, to engage with business people.
This comes after numerous businesses at Jet Park threatened or have already resorted to moving their businesses elsewhere due to poor infrastructure, potholes, electricity and sewerage problems.
Msimanga, led by Ward 17 councillor Simon Lapping, toured Jet Park where Lapping pointed out some of the challenges faced by business owners in the area.
Some of the challenges raised included electricity woes, Kelly and Malcolm Moody roads flooding, poor road infrastructure and the lack of truck port facilities.
According to Msimanga, business owners complained that they are without electricity on a weekly basis which leads to businesses finding other premises to operate from.
“This has been happening since October 2017 when lightning hit a substation resulting in R25-million damage. This has a negative impact on jobs leading to retrenchments and businesses shutting down,” said Msimanga.
“Since then Jet Park has suffered a 20 per cent downtime due to electricity outages, which has now further been exacerbated by the current load-shedding,”
Msimanga said it is important for government to create a conducive environment for businesses to flourish by ensuring that there is a well-maintained infrastructure.
After the tour, Msimanga and a few other businesspersons met at the Pan Mixers South Africa (PMSA) boardroom to discuss dealing with the challenges.
One businessperson said he was concerned about the shoddy work done to fix the roads.
In reaction, Msimanga said in Tshwane they have gone as far as holding contractors accountable if their work is not done properly by not paying them until they get the job done.
“The government tends to think that it’s their job to create jobs whereas it’s not. Their job is to make sure that industry leaders are able to prosper by providing them with a conducive working environment in order to create jobs when they are taken care off,” Msimanga said.
Chris van Biljon from the Ekurhuleni Business Network said the lack of cooperation between businesses and local government is sad.
“Something that government can also look into is to recognise businesses. They can award them with certificates to recognise them for their continued financial support towards the enhancement of the economy,” Biljon said.
Walter Ebeling from PMSA said as business people all they want is for their work to be made easier to grow their business in order to employ more people.
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