Had two South African farmer types in our office this morning. I had met the one about 3 months ago when he came to present an idea to the local politicians and mine leaders. That same evening I was at a braai with this interesting chap and asked them what they wanted to do.
I think I mentioned this in an earlier posting, anyhow, they wanted to plant grape vines along the river at the available plots at Hohenfels, Swartkops and also plant grape vines on the rough ground as you come into town.... Jobs would be created and the town would become the centre of agriculture in the SOuthern Namib. These guys wanted to plant a vast array of other veggies also.....after all the land and the water are here....
But it turns out that certain elements were not prepared assist and could not think outside the box at the long term possibilities , these include politicians and mine leaders.... anyhow, needless to say, the farmers pulled out..... and with it a major chance at investment lost..... it must be noted that these farmers are not a fly by night crowd and are BEE accredited and have major projects in both South Africa and Namibia.....
Anyhow, as I mentioned at the start of the article.... they landed up in our offices today, we had a discussion about transport to Cape Town with empty Spar Lorries...... whilst they were here, they showed us what they had achieved in the last 3 short months on the opposite side (south african) of the river, just past beavallon...... You cannot believe how they have turned the desert green, they created 60 permanent jobs , pay a monthly wage bill of just over R200 000 and have just brought in 40 000 Orange tree's to be planted....... and this is just the start, they have to get 60 Tons of butternut to the market...now and are planning to put up a Distribution shed at Alex Bay...... this is straight from the horses mouth, no rumours but fact.....
SO I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY thank you to all the "so called narrow minded folk that claim to have this town's future at heart ", that managed to chase these folk away....... all that has happened over the last 3 months 30km across the river was meant to be happening in Oranjemund, if only you could have taken your blinkers off and made things happen.....
we will continue to stagnate whilst our neighbours eat our bread!
and.... that's my 2 cents.... ThatStinks2
MIKE THIS IS INDEED AN UURGH ...
So much for development and growth opportunity ... down the drain ! Could'nt agree with you more on this point.
One simple question - do the town folk actually know about all of this and the fact that the offer has been turned down? And on what grounds? Might it be that the 'eye patched potatoe heads' think that these guys are about to start prospecting and mining?
Well, like they say : everyone has a chance to be stupid ... some people just abuse it !!!!!!!
I think this type of thing stalls when people who have the power to make these things happen, prevent development because it is a case of what can I score from the whole deal?
But then, that is just my opinion.....
Have you ever tried phoning Home Affairs in WHK? The phones ring forever, then a person who cannot speak English , keeps transferring you to another mate, who also cannot communicate in the official language..... he passes you on and you land up spending hours getting nowhere, eventually shrugging your shoulders you give up..... I wonder how many potential foreign investors have experienced the exact same scenario and where we could have had investment, they just went to another country......
On a couple of occasions I had to phone Newcastle in the UK for my late father, a government dept, gee...how efficient and friendly....felt like I had know the guy for years and I was called "Sir"....
Just a thought!!!!!
Same thing happens here ... phone is answered something like : "Heeelo"
You say: " May I please speak to someone ... or can you please assist me with..."
The reply: " He? What you say?"
That is when I convert to French .... "Dowe bliksem - ek se ek wil ..."
For some funny reason they understand that perfectly well ..... ????
Yep - all comes down to the fact of if I cannot score then no deal is on !