By Nangamso Mabindla
24 April 2008

PEOPLE living in Mdantsane will no longer have to travel to East London to do their shopping, as the R520-million Mdantsane City Mall was opened for business at a colourful ceremony on Thursday, 24 April.

The opening was attended by Premier Nosimo Balindlela; Executive Mayor Zintle Peter; the chairman of developers Billion Group, Sisa Ngebulana; retail managers; and local business people.

It is the second biggest mall in the province behind Greenarchers in Port Elizabeth. Speaking on the day, Balindlela said she was very excited that one of the largest townships in the country had its own mall.

"Mdantsane people will not have to go to East London now; they will have their own mall, and this is thanks to Billion Group. I urge the people to seize this opportunity and use this mall and be part of its success."

She also thanked the private sector for coming up with an initiative that would help create employment for the township's people. "The government cannot succeed without assistance from the private sector and this mall is proof of that. Every citizen of Mdantsane has a place in this mall; and we should all take ownership."

Peter echoed the premier's words, saying that the government needed help from the private sector in its quest to create employment.

"This is a day to celebrate because we are witnessing the fulfillment of our dream of regaining dignity for the people of Mdantsane. We want to improve the conditions of Mdantsane and this [mall] will go a long way in assisting us do that through the Urban Renewal Programme," Peter said.

The mall would open opportunities for big business to invest in Mdantsane. "I also want to take this opportunity to thank Billion Group for investing in this township. I want to promise [it] that we will ensure that this mall gets smooth services from the City so that the retailers get returns on their investments."

Peter urged Mdantsane residents to take ownership of the mall and to make sure that it maintained its standards. "This is their investment, their building and we as the municipality will give it our support."

Ngebulana said that he was happy that the mall was completed on time so that the people of Mdantsane could use it.

"Before this mall was constructed local people had to go to town to do their shopping; they also went to Vincent Mall, spending around R50 on transport. Now with this mall here, people will be able to shop closer to home," he said.

The mall, which is in NU6, was easily accessible as it was on the main road and had a taxi rank inside it. Ngebulana said that before the group decided to build the mall, it had undertaken a lot of research, which had found that Mdantsane residents had considerable buying power.

"The Mdantsane people spend about R650-million annually and we feel that this mall's turnover could be around that figure. I want to urge people to use this mall so that retailers continue investing here."

The mall was expected to create about 1 200 jobs.