The development of the R1.7-billion Baywest Mall in Port Elizabeth has boosted the Eastern Cape construction industry. Commenting on the mall this week, Eastern Cape Economic Development MEC Mcebisi Jonas said the province’s  construction industry had out-performed all other provinces in the first nine months of this year, according to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) published by StatsSA.

About 1,500 local jobs will be created during the mall’s construction phase, out of a total of 3,000 direct jobs. A further 7,000 indirect and induced jobs will be created. Baywest City MD Gavin Blows said the mall would boast 260 tenants, “of which 85% are major national retailers”. Most of the mall’s tenants for its retail outlets already secured, including Game, Ster Kinekor, Truworths, Edcon Group, Woolworths, Pick n Pay and Checkers.
Blows said the mall was set to change the face of retail in the region.

“Baywest is set to have an extremely positive long-term effect not only on the construction industry in the province, but also on other sectors such as tourism and retail. Over the next 15 to 20 years, Baywest City will grow into a R6-billion development. “It will be to the Eastern Cape what Canal Walk is to Cape Town or what Sandton is to Johannesburg. It will be a massive attraction for Eastern Cape residents, as well as a major draw card for national and international visitors, in the meantime injecting much-needed jobs and income into the local economy. “With construction on track, we are confident that when the mall opens in early 2015 shoppers will want to come from all over the region for the ‘Baywest experience’. It’s going to be something totally unique and engaging,” he said. Upon completion of the 87,500m² shopping centre in early 2015, a further 1,500 permanent jobs will be created to staff about 260 retail outlets.

HELPING SMALL BUSINESS:
Meanwhile, the developers of Baywest, Abacus Asset Management and Billion Group, are targeting small-to-medium sized businesses for involvement during the construction phase of the centre.

With more than 400 SMMEs registered on the mall’s database for possible work on the mammoth project, developers recently held a workshop for SMMEs struggling to get the required paperwork required by law for registration.

A Compliance Workshop, held at the Newton Park Methodist hall [EDITORS: 6 NOV], was headed by the project’s principal contractor Murray & Roberts and saw about 100 SMMEs in attendance.

To assist SMMEs in understanding how to become compliant in terms of legislated building industry requirements, SARS, the Department of Labour and Murray & Roberts all gave presentations and took questions from the audience.

SMMEs were told how to apply for letters of good standing, tax clearance certificates, and other important documents required by construction industry developers when considering which companies to sub-contract to.

In turn, some SMMEs raised frustrations with the Department of Labour over government’s laborious bureaucratic processes, which often meant they could not get the paperwork needed to register for building big contracts. It was an issue the department’s Mondli Kweyama promised to address.

Addressing the workshop, Murray & Roberts quantity surveyor Loyiso Bomvana said that at present the local labour contingent on the Baywest site stood at 86%, with PDIs (previously disadvantaged individuals) comprising of 81% of the on-site labour.

The Baywest Mall primary contractor Murray & Roberts, through the mall’s Community Liaison Officer (CLO) Azola Tybosch, is looking to SMEs throughout the city – particularly from the Northern Areas suburbs and townships – to register on their database for possible work during the R1.3-billion construction phase.