NEWS RELEASE                                                                                             26 February 2002

NOMZAMO ECONOMY TAKES OFF WITH A HELPING HAND FROM THE CITY OF CAPE TOWN

Business is booming in the informal settlement of Nomzamo in Somerset West where shops and small businesses are thriving from a rewarding partnership with the City of Cape Town.

The community is hard at work on a project to build supermarket premises to complement the 13 shops and six container shops already up and running.

All the work is being done by local builders, carpenters and bricklayers who formed the Nomzamo Builders Trust three years ago. With a total financial contribution of R1,7 million from the City of Cape Town for the four stages of the project, the Trust is going from strength to strength.

The City has contributed R912 000 for the fourth and last stage - the building of the 225 square metres of supermarket premises - and the community is optimistic that the anchor tenant will be a well-known name in small supermarkets. There is also provision for an open trading area in the same complex.

The Post Office and Eskom have indicated that they will be taking space in some of the hives, and an opportunity exists for a bank.

A good example of the new entrepreneurial spirit sweeping through Nomzamo is Mrs Grace Hoboshe, who runs her dressmaking business from a container.

She trains others to make dresses and presents them with a certificate when they have completed her course. This helps them find employment or start up a business on their own.

Fittingly, Mrs Hoboshe's business is called Nceduluntu, which means "helping the community."

Councillor Kent Morkel, the City of Cape Town's Executive Councillor for Economic Development, Tourism and Property Management, says the key to Nomzamo's success is the spirit of partnership that has evolved over the years with the Council.

"The Council recognises that future economic development and job creation largely depends on encouraging entrepreneurship in all our communities," he said.

"The Council identifies those projects that have the potential to teach people to help themselves, and then we help with training, infrastructure and funding where possible.

"The spirit of entrepreneurship is thriving in Nomzamo and the community is flourishing because of it," he said.

The City of Cape Town has financed the development of Nomzamo's first proper shopping centre. The fourth and final phase of the Nomzamo Business Centre is under way after the Nomzamo Community Trust obtained finance from the City of Cape Town. The contract for this phase has been awarded to the Nomzamo Builders Trust.

Seen from left to right, Vuyo Kavi (assistant project manager), Hilda Oosthuizen (director of Economic Development, Helderberg Administration), Xolani Sotashe (ward councillor), Percy Fredericks (project manager), Franco Inches (contract manager and member of the Nomzamo Builders Trust), Sydney Matroos (site foreman), Justice Mbula (secretary for the Nomzamo Builders Trust) and Adolfo Linares (architect).