Calls mounting to revive a diverse Bela-Bela Business Chamber

The Bela-Bela region is considered to be the destination of choice for tourism and agriculture.

“But let us face it, the town does not have a tourist vibe anymore. And almost all of the income is spent elsewhere and not locally.”

This was but one of the discussion points during a formal meeting at the Gold Rush Casino at the Bela-Bela Waterfront on Wednesday 12 June in Bela-Bela, when 46 people attended a meeting to revive the Bela-Bela Business Chamber. It was the first time in quite a while that a diverse group of people attended a chamber meeting.

Mark Rainier, previous chamber secretary, said that Bela-Bela has become a tough place to do business in.

“Income has declined since 2018. If we want to be regarded as relevant, we must seriously look at whether this town will still exist in the future. The business chamber should have one purpose, and that is local economic development. The old ways do not work anymore.”

Paul Smith, previous chamber chairperson, said in the past there was no appetite for the chamber to continue existing.

This was due to internal and party politics, wrong approaches, lack of interest and a feeling of exclusivity, he said. The chamber was revived at least 10 times since its establishment in 1985 and was initially affiliated with the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut (AHI). The AHI has however since been replaced by the Small Business Institute (SBI).

Rainer said Bela-Bela does not neces-sarily have to be affiliated with an outside institution and can function on its own in order to reject exclusivity.

“Most of us depend on each other to survive, and those who are here want to be here because they want their businesses to succeed. This is why a diverse approach and equal representation is needed.”

This includes representatives from formal business, non-governmental organizations, government organizations and people from the informal sector.

“But if there are 50 members who will serve on the executive committee, that means that they have to be 50 active members. A handful of people burdened with this task, cannot make it happen,” said Rainier.

“We cannot afford to close our minds towards other sectors such as mining any-more. As for tourism it is important, but understand that tourists will leave the area and take their spending money with them.”

Smith said that in the past the main focus was to place pressure on the Bela-Bela municipality for various reasons, but this has led to doors being closed in the business sector’s face.

“We now have an open door to the municipal management because they approached some of us and asked, amongst other things, how to revive the famous Sonskynfees. But it is important to know our common goal as a town and as a chamber when it takes off.”

Drummond Hammond, businessman, said that a solid structure of big players, such as the municipality, the police, Eskom, the banking sector, Forever Resorts, organized agriculture, tourism and other businesses must be represented in a chamber.

“If no-one cares about this town, then there will not be a future or a chamber.”

He used the Warmbaths Rotary Club as an example. The club was supposed to be terminated a few years ago due to lack of membership. But with the imput of a few willing people, the club has since received countless international citations and plays a key role in keeping charity organizations afloat.

“But, we are not here to start a chamber at this time. Businesses will be contacted and by November, when we have our annual general meeting, we will likely know the way forward.”

The suggestions from those present were a drafted constitution, to focus on networking, that income should be spent in Bela-Bela, to focus on education (to establish higher learning institutions), to involve the youth, membership fees and what the benefits are for joining a chamber.

“The Chamber will not initiate itself and we will need the support of everybody,” Hammond said.