The main message was spoken in isiXhosa: “Ingca yaseMakana mayityiwe ziinkomo zaseMakana okanye zizakubhitya iinkomo,” said chairman Lungile Mxube at the launch of his Makana United Business Chamber (MUBC) last Thursday 15 August at City Hall.
The main message was spoken in isiXhosa: “Ingca yaseMakana mayityiwe ziinkomo zaseMakana okanye zizakubhitya iinkomo,” said chairman Lungile Mxube at the launch of his Makana United Business Chamber (MUBC) last Thursday 15 August at City Hall.
It roughly translates as “The grass that grows in Makana is meant to be eaten by the cows of Makana, otherwise the cows of Makana will get thin.”
The Chamber is an initiative of the Grahamstown Business Forum, the Makana Development Business Forum and the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nafcoc). Opening the proceedings Mayor Zamuxolo Peter described the organisation as a “rainbow chamber” because it cuts across gender, ethnic and racial lines. He praised it as something that has never been done before in Makana Municipality.
The event was attended by municipal officials, business people and other stakeholders in the local economy. Notably absent was Nafcoc, whose involvement with the Chamber has been erratic since the first meeting in June. Nafcoc regional chairperson Albert Adam refused to comment on the reasons for their absence.
“I don’t want to talk about this now, but no we did not attend [the launch],” he told Grocott's Mail. Reacting to Nafcoc’s absence Chamber chairman Mxube said, “Maybe they are tired of being in our meetings. There are business people who want to promote factions in business. But we won’t let them do that.”
Doors are still open for [other]forums to join, said the deputy chairperson of the project steering committee, Mike Bandey. He predicted that over time more organisations will join the Chamber. “Not only has the [MUBC] united us as business, which was the aim of the initiative, but it has also united us as friends and it has helped instil trust between [the forums].”
Mayor Peter said he was especially pleased that there now was a single body that he could deal with. “I am happy when such initiatives take place to manage the business of Makana. Because one day you speak to this forum, and the next day you speak to the other forum. Then it becomes difficult.”
The Mayor said the business chamber will go a long way to improve business and entrepreneurial skills in Makana. “If you look at reports on projects and tenders, most of them go out of Makana, because most of [the applicants in Makana]don’t have the necessary expertise to get the gradings for tenders.”
Mxube said from now on there will be close scrutiny of tender procedures. "We will be holding business and the municipality accountable by having a code of good practice to eliminate kick-backs and kick-fronts to acquiring tenders. Everyone will be using the same door to get business now."
Other key areas the Chamber will focus on are crime eradication (including the proposed installation of CCTV in the CBD), the return of the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA, a provincial organisation that supports and promotes start-up and established businesses), eradicating poverty, creating employment, and bringing the Liquor Board to Grahamstown to make it easier for Makana residents to apply for licenses.
The new Chamber will also contribute ideas for the Makana municipality development plan (IDP) and the Makana Local Economic Development strategy for business.
Additionally, it will have independent projects, funded by the Chamber, and some in partnership with the municipality. Mxube said his organisation would also organise road shows to visit other municipalities in the Cacadu District, to mobilise business in those areas.
