Fruitful meetings held between Nkowankowa Concerned Group and business owners
Several business owners operating in the Nkowankowa Industrial area met with community members representing a concerned group in Nkowankowa and Dan village on Monday morning at Fairview Hotel to reach an amicable agreement on issues raised by the group after protests raged in the area last week.
Stakeholders include, the Limpopo Economic Development Agency (LEDA), the Greater Tzaneen Municipality, security companies, police officials, the Danko labour desk, and Sanco as well as the Department of Labour were present to observe and contribute to the meeting. Several issues raised by the group, including the appointment of residents of Nkowankowa, the hiring of people with specialised skills or qualifications, illegal foreigners working in the industrial area, fair salaries, the repair of roads, and the contribution of businesses to the community and youth, were discussed during the proceedings.
Steyn, representing seven of the businesses, opened the meeting by clarifying that not all the concerns can be addressed due to legal implications but that the meeting aims to find solutions to the issues that were raised. “We are here in good faith to negotiate and we commit to working together to find solutions,” said Malawu Mathye secretary of the group affiliated with Sanco and the labour desk of Danko.
Also read: Business owners threatened by ‘concerned group’ in Nkowankowa
Mathye reiterated that the concerned group, Danko and Sanco distance themselves from violence. “It was a successful meeting and we all agreed that protests must be halted. After the meeting business owners understood the concerns raised by the community,” said Steyn on Tuesday. He added that the parties will work together to improve the Nkowankowa community and identify goals to meet socio-economic responsibilities.
“We will work together and plow back into the Nkowankowa community once projects have been identified,” said Steyn. At the time of going to press on Tuesday at least three different meetings with businesses that were affected by the protests were held. These meetings went well, there were no intimidation, no racist remarks, and no unlawful demands,” said Helgard de Villiers, representative of PeppaDew. Mathye confirmed that a fruitful meeting was also held with Biligom International on Friday
