The Board of the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone has kicked off its Strategic Plan Session with the tour of the zone.

In particular, the strategic plan is aimed at ensuring that the organization takes a lead in terms of job creation, inward investments and community development. The Chair of the Board Advocate Bheki Mbili has opened the session by emphasizing the need for the board to continue to play a strong oversight role over management and all categories of staff.

This, according to Adv Mbili, would ensure that the vision of the entity was realized for the benefit of millions of unemployed people who are waiting impatiently for jobs and access to economic opportunities. Ahead of the session, board members were joined by the Acting Head of the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Dr. Thandeka Ellenson on a tour of the Zone.

Dr Ellenson, who is representing MEC Siboniso Duma has been formally introduced to the board. She has expressed her appreciation on behalf of the MEC to the board for the amazing work that has been done by management and all categories of staff. MEC Siboniso Duma is encouraged by the fact that the construction of Wilmar Palm Oil, originally from Singapore, is nearing completion. About R1, 5 billion has been invested to produce margarine and other edible oils.

Plans are underway to ensure that more land is acquired to enable local communities to be involved in the production of raw material required by the plant. For instance, Wilmar has been successfully convinced to ensure the optimisation of local content whereby sunflower and soya beans could add into raw input that could be sourced locally. To achieve this, a cluster for local content will be developed to do an operation to crush sunflower oil. This is done to ensure sustained access to jobs and economic opportunities for local communities in the land under Amakhosi.

Issued by The KZN MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Siboniso Duma.