IDC accused of racism after they reject businesswoman’s R10m funding application

Businesswoman Charlotte Friedrich accused the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of racism following their decision to decline funding for an expansion of her Three Countries Estate lodge, reports Sunday Independent.

Friedrich said she was aiming to create more jobs if the funding had been approved.

The businesswoman said her wedding venue and conference centre employs 13 people following her investment worth more than R18 million in capital to build the lodge.

In July 2019, Friedrich had applied for a R10-million loan at the IDC and negotiations began after she shared her business plan with the organisation’s consultants.

She said she was confident that the funding would be approved because her business “ticked all the right boxes”, but one of the consultants told her she was not going to get the funding.

The businesswoman alleged that she was told by the IDC that they would have to reconsider because the business was white-owned.

She further alleged that she did not get the funding because she was white.

Friedrich said she was told that the IDC funding a white person would be a risky move because they were interested in corporate businesses which operated on weekdays.

“Three Countries Estate has a resort, twelve-room hotel and a conference centre. The issue is that more rooms are needed,” she said

“I lost approximately R400,000 in December bookings because of the rooms not being enough to accommodate my clients,” she added.

Friedrich said she approached the IDC because it funded companies that were operating in the tourism industry for “new projects, expansions and refurbishments” as stated on the organisation’s website.

“I am not opposed to giving shares of the business to any black entrepreneur. I feel like I’ve taken a risk in a rural area. I knew I had to do it. I’ve been in business for 36 years and I know how this works,” she said.

“It takes three to five years for a business to become profitable and with so much unemployment, people need to be realistic with regards to what they expect. My staff have stuck with me for a long while and I want to keep them employed.”

Patience Mushungwa’s IDC spokesperson denied Friedrich’s claims that the IDC rejected her application because of her ethnicity.

“The CEO gave William Smith, who the divisional executive of IDC, the responsibility of dealing with Mrs Friedrich’s matter,” said Mushungwa.

“All of the obstacles relating to Mrs Friedrich’s application were evaluated and it was critical for the IDC to examine the merit of any application submitted before us.

“The emphasis being there has to be the viability in the applicant’s business,” she concluded.

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