Chaos in Middelburg
The business community has watched the recent riots and unrest in Middelburg with distress.
The business community has taken some hard knocks in the last five years. The inflated cost of electricity, the COVID19 closures in 2020 and 21, our employees are getting sick due to COVID19, our businesses having to close for a few days, the cost of sanitation and other PPE’s, to top it all off, the cost of raw materials like copper. The disaster of the July riots disrupted our supply lines and exports. Also, the unpopularity of coal in the global arena even led to hundreds of people losing their jobs last week. All these factors affect our economy.
The one advantage we had over our competitors was that Middelburg had a well-functioning city government. We cannot afford any more disruptions to our businesses. We call on the municipality and all stakeholders to solve the problems that agitated the citizens. We want to rebuild our businesses, protect the jobs of the people we employ, and grow our economy.
Middelburg has a reputation for being able to discuss and solve complex problems in the past. We can do it again.