Category: April 2023

Accredited Tour Guides and Tours

Accredited Tour Guides and Tours

Since the founding of the Middelburg Information Centre, it has been a dream of ours to offer interesting guided tours. Middelburg has such a rich history and meet some of our interesting citizens who entertain visitors with our history and stories.

KasiVibe Township Tour – Mhluzi is a great place to learn about different cultures and enjoy traditional foods. As a tourist, you will experience how the locals live. We will visit ten interesting places that will make your tour unforgettable. Middelburg has a rich history and numerous attractions to visit.

Industry Tour – Middleburg’s economy is linked to our diversified industry and commercial agricultural sectors. During the industry tour, you will witness the legacy of companies that have shaped our city for generations.

The Middelburg Information Centre offers four accredited tours and you can book your tour at the office with Mmabatho Phathakge at info@middelburginfo.com.

Thieves and criminals cripple our businesses

Thieves and criminals cripple our businesses
You can call theft corruption, but it is still theft. When will the thieves be removed from our society?

I was recently at an event where thieves were helping themselves. It was unbearable to watch them greedily helping themselves. I was paying people for a service, and it was as if I had given them permission to take what they wanted. When you work in an environment where theft is tolerated, you cannot work at your best. Seeing people just enriching themselves as if it was their right made me first exhausted and then angry.

As a manager, you have to be very vigilant because when the culture of dishonesty becomes entrenched, your business and your emotional well-being suffer. Perhaps this happens in the various government institutions? The honest people just gave up.

It is disrespectful to humanity to suggest that poverty is a licence to steal. No, you steal from your own initiative and avarice. Without accountability, these activities will go unchecked. You can either impose strict regulations that make managing your business a challenge, or suffer the consequences. What will be the threshold that drags your business and the country over the edge?

MCCI urges all its members to weed out and eliminate the criminals in your environment.

Middelburg must take its future into its own hands.

Middelburg must take its future into its own hands.
The executive team of the Middelburg Chamber of Commerce deliberated on how they can use the advantages of the locality to the benefit of the town and its businesses. With the constant load shedding, it was crucial to take charge of the electricity supply in our town.

The Executive and Jan Oberholzer, Eskom’s group chief operating officer, spoke about the issue on 5 April 2023 and MCCI invited the members to participate in the conversation. Following the meeting, we formed a sub-committee to continue the process. The committee will initiate various processes to move forward.

The technical committee will create a plan to start the project. AM Ott can provide you with more information if you are a person or business wanting to join the proposed consortium, cooperative, or other structure that will be established; ceo@middelburginfo.com.

No! Solar energy is not Free

No! Solar energy is not Free
At the Presidential Climate Change Commission meeting held at the CSIR on Friday,14 April 2023. The point of view of the meeting was that solar energy is free and we need to trust the government that the equitable energy transition will be fair (JET).

Many respected officials and ministers opened the event, but the most honest discussion came from a young student, Otsile Nkadimeng, who said that the current generation has gambled away their future. Unfortunately, he is not wrong. What will the future look like for the new job seekers after the current Eskom Loadshedding programme?

First, it is important to note that the conversion of solar energy into electrons/electricity is not free. It is very expensive to convert solar energy into such an amount that you can optimally run a house or, more importantly, a business. The type of solar panels, battery storage, inverters, electrician costs, environmental regulations, etc. can cost hundreds of thousands of rands.

A story is told that one company had allocated R1 million to run its business on solar energy, but the cost has now risen to R3 million and is growing. If you make the wrong purchase and set it up incorrectly, you’ll have to start from scratch and your hard-earned cash will have gone to waste.

During the strategy meeting at the Nkangala District Council in March 2023, a CSIR representative stated that the district and the Mpumalanga region will suffer a tremendous loss of employment because of the government’s JET programme. Many consultants talk about retraining the soon to be unemployed. I wonder what skills we will need when economic activity declines significantly.

Solar energy is not free and, because of the current power shortages, our current jobs are in danger. Our country and our region need cheap, reliable base load to stabilise our manufacturing sector for economic growth.

Battling with your ED or SD Spent?

Battling with your ED or SD Spent?
The Mpumalanga Enterprise Development Organisation offers a stress-free solution for businesses wanting to achieve their BBBEE values. You do not need to employ somebody or set up a department to deal with these requirements.

MEDO has been successfully assisting businesses with enterprise, socio-economic and supplier development for over ten years, taking the pressure off you to ensure a successful project.

MEDO has been helping businesses with their BBBEE spend for over a decade. And is currently hosting an exciting business development training programme. MEDO is training community businesses in the diverse skills they need and we expand and support our local businesses.

MEDO was established to manage these projects for our town and province. MEDO encourages our members and businesses to contact A Ott for more details on our BBBEE programmes.

Employee of the Month


Often you have a staff member you would like to mention in particular.

The Middelburg Chamber offers a new service to its members: mentioning the employee of the month. We publish the person’s photo, a brief description of their achievements and then also post it on our social media for the month.

Keep a lookout for the Employee of the Month in May. If you know someone who should be recognized, please reach out to AM Ott on 013 243 2253 or email ceo@middelburginfo.com.