Africa: The sod-turning ceremony was conducted by Blouberg Local Municipality Mayor, Her Worship Cllr Maria, investors Rheinland Investments together with its partner, Masingita Group joined by Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure MEC Nkakareng Rakgoale, Capricorn District Municipality Executive Mayor Cllr Mamedupi Teffo marked the beginning of the construction of the state-of-the-art shopping mall in Blouberg.
Investors, Rheinland Investments and partner Masingita Group will officially start construction of the mall on November 15, 2022, on Erf 300(formerly Senwabarwana Showground).
Together the project partners invested R350million into the development.
The groundbreaking event was celebrated under the theme: Unlocking Economic Potential For Socio-Economic Emancipation-BLOUBERG ON THE MOVE | 2022″.
The new mall will be a fully enclosed shopping mall offering 24 000m² of retail space. The construction will be implemented in three phases, and the mall is expected to open its doors in April 2024.
The mall will comprise three anchor tenants; there will be a filling station, drive-through food store, clothing stores, lifestyle stores, food court, pharmacies(health and beauty), bank court, hawkers stalls, taxi and bus drop-off, and pick-up zone, among others.
Rheinland Investments Chairman, Mr John Mphosi, extended his gratitude to the municipality for having faith in them and walking the difficult journey with them to ensure that the application for the construction of a mall is approved. He indicated that the retail development would be tailored to the needs of the greater community of Blouberg.
” Thanks to the Mayor, Municipal Manager and the team for working tirelessly to ensure that the project is approved. We have a good relationship with our development partner, Masingita Group, Mr Mike Nkuna; we are a family. We are currently finalizing some of the contracts with the tenants. It is fulfilling to be implementing this project here at home”.
1200 jobs will be created during the construction stage and 400 during operations.
Municipal Manager, Mr Refilwe Ramothwala, indicated that the municipality is looking into ways to improve the (town)planning of Senwabarwana to align with the new development as many people will be flocking to town after the completion of a mall construction project.
Mayor Thamaga, once more, thanked Rheinland Investments and the partner Masingita Group for partnering with the municipality to develop Blouberg and improve the economic status of the municipality and its people.
“When I got in office, public-private-partnership was one of the priorities and still is, to help us create employment opportunities for our people and improve our economic status. I want to see the people of Blouberg have better lives. Through public- private-public-partnerships we are able to do more for our communities as the municipality cannot create jobs for everyone, but together with the private sector, we can do more. We are happy about the beautiful mall that is about to be constructed. The construction of the mall will cut shopping trips shorter to the nearest towns like Louis Trichardt and Polokwane. We are going to be like other towns with big shopping malls and better shopping experiences”.
Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure MEC Mme Nkakareng Rakgoale commended Rheinland Investments and its partner Masingita Group for bringing a mall in Blouberg, saying the investment is the practicality of the public-private-partnership as alluded by the president.
MEC Rakgoale also conveyed the message of appreciation from Local Economic Development, Environment and Tourism MEC Mr Rodgers Monama to Rheinland Investments, Mr Mphosi and Masingita group for their big role in local economic development indicating that while many people lost jobs and companies closed doors during COVID-19 pandemic Rheinland Investments is putting in investment that will create more jobs.
The event was also attended by Capricorn District Municipality Mayor, Cllr Mamedupi Teffo, BLM Council Speaker, Cllr Blanco Boloka, Chief Whip of Council, Cllr Johanna Rangata, Municipal Manager, Mr Refilwe Ramothwala, Members of the Executive Committee, Councillors, Kgoshi Abram Seakamela, Kgoshi Ngoako Maleboho, Kgoshi Kgabo Moloto III, Kgoshi Mamadi TA, Kgoshi Makgato KB and the representatives of Kibi Traditional Authority.