Moves to establish a strong industrial sector and thus revitalise the economy of Atlantis – which forms part of the greater City of Cape Town (CoCT) – have made headway after the city council approved the sale of 29 city-owned properties in the area.
CoCT mayoral committee member for Assets and Facilities Management, Stuart Diamond, said in a press statement that the sale of the earmarked land that was designated as “general industrial” should open up further economic opportunities in Atlantis.
The CoCT may only dispose of land after it has determined that the asset is no longer required for the provision of basic municipal purposes and has considered the fair market value of the asset. “In this instance, it is clear that releasing this land to the market presents huge economic and community value in exchange for the asset. We are certain that this will help to attract more investment in Atlantis,” said Diamond.
Suzette Little, the city’s mayoral committee member for Area North, highlighted the recent R1.3-billion investment into a nonwovens plant in Atlantis by multinational group Pegas, as another catalyst for economic growth.
“As the City, we feel a great sense of gratitude and elation at this recent investment in the region that will create at least 200 direct jobs. All indications are that Atlantis is en route to revitalisation,” she said.
Little told FTW that the city was also “progressing nicely” with its objective of having Atlantis declared a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), with a particular focus on green technology manufacturing.
“I am pleased to say that the target date for the official designation of SEZ is set for the last quarter of this year,” she said, adding that green technology investors would receive incentives such as a 15% tax break.
Non-profit organisation GreenCape – established to promote investment in the green economy – said over R600m had been invested in Atlantis by the green manufacturing industry for the manufacture of, amongst others, wind towers, wind tower internals and solar panels
Proposed new power projects, as part of government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPP), would see an additional R1bn in direct investment being pumped into Atlantis over the next five years, said GreenCape chief executive, Mike Mulcahy.
During the 1980s the suburb of Atlantis – established during the 1970s as an industrial centre – had over 50 industrial companies, but manufacturing declined with the termination of industrial incentive programmes by the previous government regime.
Currently, only about 3% of the original companies still have business in Atlantis, but numerous new local and multinational factories and businesses have started to operate in the area over the past three years.
