For now, the Moorreesburg Business Chamber’s goals are twofold:
Goal 1:
Creating and supporting an environment that will allow our members to operate their business safely and secure along with good service delivery.
Goal 2:
Getting investment to our town that will benefit our members and the community in broad. This investment can be in the form of the following as examples but are not limited to:
a. National Retail chains
b. Residential property developers
c. Factories and Industrial businesses
d. Service orientated business, like medical and legal professionals.
Our Partners
In order to reach our goals, we had to partner with organizations that will help us in reaching these goals. Our partners include:
a. Swartland Municipality
b. West Coast District Municipality
c. Moorreesburg Urban and Rural Safety, (M.U.R.S)
d. Dept of Labour
E. South African Police Service
We have already made very good progress attempting to make the town safer with the CCTV project. This project is entirely funded by business owners and residents that strive to make Moorreesburg a safer place. Swartland Municipality (SM) also supplied cameras that were installed at the sports fields to monitor the ongoing but sad vandalism of these facilities. Successes are positive and on many occasions, suspects were apprehended and successfully prosecuted. This will be an ongoing project.
I also need to give special acknowledgement to SAPS, M.U.R.S. and the Protection Services of Swartland Municipality that are really attempting to keep our town and surrounding areas safe. On a national level SAPS are under pressure with the limited availability of staff and equipment. The broader Moorreesburg Community understands this, and members of the chamber are assisting SAPS to ensure that, for example, vehicles are roadworthy and able to CONTINUOUSLY support the community.
Members of M.U.R.S also frequently patrol the streets and rural areas of Moorreesburg on their own time and own resources. Despite the recent massive increase of petrol and diesel these members are still committed to help and play a positive role in keeping Moorreesburg safe.
M.U.R.S is also registered at the Department of Community Safety. The police do request the assistance of M.U.R.S (LEGALY) when needed. In these cases, M.U.R.S will play a supportive role as guided by SAPS. During these supportive operations members of M.U.R.S again use entirely their own resources to assist SAPS, they do this with pride but also from the understanding that their active participation and potential life threatening exposure will make the whole community safer.
Chamber vs Ratepayers Association
The business chamber is not a ratepayers association. Our focus is business and how we can implement strategies that will benefit our business members as well as the community as a whole.
Ratepayers Association on the other hand, engages more closely with a municipality with regards to service delivery. Unfortunately, some residents report service delivery issues to the chamber. In cases like this we refer them directly to the local municipal office, the staff at this office are extremely helpful and up to date we have heard of no complaints which they did not attend to.
Engagement with Investors
The business chamber regularly discusses potential investment with investors. During these discussions we make it clear that we will support investment that will:
a. Benefit business members of the chamber.
b. Benefit the Moorreesburg community as a whole.
c. Adhere to industry specific regulation.
A restaurant, for example, must have the necessary certificates to serve food to customers, again as an example.
During our discussions we request that members of the business chamber form part (WHERE POSSIBLE) of the construction process. Again, as an example we have electricians, builders and plumbers as members and it is our request that those businesses get priority as opposed to outside contractors.
Neither the chamber or our partners have the legal right to force a contractor to use local artisans, but we try to create a “standing of goodwill” to use our locals during the process.
We also make sure that we give residents the opportunity to apply for jobs once construction is completed by posting the relevant information on our social media channel. Unfortunately, corporate companies are using digital channels where applicants must upload their information and some may find the process a bit tedious.
The management of the chamber are not experts in specific fields, we are then led by government regulation, both regional and national, to determine if a business is indeed legally commencing with a project. It is, however, the right of the public to question ANY development if they feel that any new business, factory or even residential development will have a negative impact on them, their business or the community.
The chamber does not have any legal right to stop any development or business, but we will act, again in good faith if we can be supplied with documentation that substantially proves any misconduct.
Furthermore, the chamber plays a facilitation role between individuals, land owners, business and potential investors. Once the introduction is made, we as the chamber step away and let the investors and individuals work out the details of the proposed project. We are however willing to engage with our partners in the event that there are no agreements that can be made to specific requirements.
The chamber has no authority over the submission or approval of building and project plans. This process remains strictly between the landowner, the investor, and the municipality, which sets and enforces all civil construction and building standards.
For instance, regarding Hungry Lion, the chamber was consulted on proposed parking arrangements. Because the property is privately owned and Swartland Municipality approves plans based on specific regulatory formulas, we must refer to the municipality’s requirements on matters such as parking.
The structure of the Business Chamber.
We are registered as a non non-profit organization with directors that are legally responsible for the management of the chamber. Since we do receive membership fees, we are by law required, to manage the chamber in a specific way.
During 2024 we applied for a tax exemption certificate, the Article 18 A from SARS. Once SARS issues this certificate businesses can donate money as a tax-deductible expense. SARS rejected our application and according to other sources and business chambers SARS is currently revamping the whole Article 18 A and rejected a bunch of applications and in some cases even withdrew certificates from organisations. We are in the process of re-submitting the application and once issued our members will be able to make donations that we can use to uplift organisations that play a vital role in Moorreesburg.
The directors receive no compensation whatsoever and all expenses are for their own pocket, a true indication of their commitment to the town, their members and the community.
Business chamber membership works in different tiers. Our current tiers are:
• Enterpreneur/Private/Home business
• Small business
• Medium business
• Large business
• Corporate members
• Agriculture: Farming/Farming business
• Schools, churches, clubs
• Charity organisations and Public Service delivery (SAPS, Municipality, WCDM, Ambulance services)
Your membership tier allows a certain number of representatives to attend membership meetings and also determines your voting rights at the Annual General Meeting, if decisions needs to be made by means of membership votes.
Besides paying members we also have free tiers of membership, this typically include sport clubs, churches and other non profit organisations.
Representing the business chamber
Besides investor and other chamber related meetings, members of the chamber are also required to attend other important meetings:
- Community Policing Forum (CPF) – Monthly
- SAPS Partner Meeting – Monthly
- Ward meetings – Quarterly
- Swartland Safety Meeting – Quarterly
- Tourism Board Meetings – As scheduled
- Special Public Participation – As required per project
- AHI Business Chamber Conference – Annually
To conclude.
The chamber would like to thank the community for their support and for the positive feedback that we sometimes receive. The directors undoubtedly have a very thankless job and constructive and positive feedback is always appreciated.
We would also like to thank the the men and women of our partners, including SAPS, M.U.R.S, Swartland Municipality and West Coast Municipality who also are sometimes the targets of unreasonable criticism yet they continue serving the community.
Fritz Els
Chairman: Moorreesburg Business Chamber