Telkom, CNA, Dunns, Waltons, JW Auto and Sheet Street are among several businesses that have quit Grahamstown this year. While the closures have caused concern, the municipality says that it has some solutions planned.
Telkom, CNA, Dunns, Waltons, JW Auto and Sheet Street are among several businesses that have quit Grahamstown this year. While the closures have caused concern, the municipality says that it has some solutions planned.
Professor Gavin Keeton, a Rhodes University Economics lecturer, says that he does not think the economic downturn is the cause of these closures.
He claims that the recent shop closures are more likely due to special circumstances involving those particular businesses.
Individual circumstances
Keeton adds that along with the closures, new businesses are also opening. “Obviously everyone is feeling the pinch, but there are also new businesses coming up around town,” he says.
However, this doesn't make Keeton any less concerned about the consequences these failing businesses have for employees who lose their jobs though. “In a small town any business closure is a big blow,” he says.
“We need to be growing jobs. Grahamstown cannot be a static economy – there are many people who want jobs.”
Municipality solutions
Makana Municipality's Local Economic Development Director Riana Meiring is also concerned, but says the municipality has some ideas to generate more employment in town.
“The closing of a business does affect the economy negatively; not only in terms of the loss of a specific service but also in terms of job opportunities,” she says. But the municipality has completed an investment incentive policy to guide it in attracting investment to Grahamstown.
The policy includes things like marketing the municipality and looking at different rates for water and electricity for investors, Meiring said.
Makana will launch various programmes to facilitate the policy, including capacity-building programmes, craft development and establishing Grahamstown as a creative city.
“In order to attract business, good services such as water and electricity are essential, thus the municipality is drafting a strategy and plan to maintain infrastructure and attend to ageing infrastructure,” Meiring says.
