Tag: community

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.

How to turn your business into a tourist attraction

How to turn your business into a tourist attraction

For the first time, the Middelburg Tourism Information Centre is offering training for local site tour guides. Popular areas such as Mbombela, Pretoria, and Cape Town have tour guides who attract many tourists to certain areas.

If you are visiting a place of interest with interesting stories, there is often a site guide who will show you around the premises or area. If you offer this service in your business, your visitors, and tourists, they will stay longer or spend more money in your business. This is a well-known international practise that supports and grows the tourism industry. As a private person, you can also earn an income by offering guided tours.

We do not know when we will offer the training again. The training will be held at MCCI’s auditorium for ten consecutive days starting 10 August 2023. After the exam, the participant will be accredited with NQF Level 2. The full NQF Level 4 tour guide training will be offered next year at an additional cost of R500.

This is an opportunity not to be missed. There are interesting stories and people everywhere and tourism businesses can only benefit if they can also offer a tour guide. Please contact Mmabatho Phatakge on 013 243 2253 or secretary@middelburginfo.com.

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.

Snap Chat with a Difference

Snap Chat with a Difference
MCCI hosted the first Speed Networking Session for 2023, and judging by the enthusiasm generated by the exchange of information between business people, the event was another success.
The idea of the Speed Networking event is that a person gives a one-minute pitch of their business, service, or product. Then, within five minutes, you exchange information with the person sitting in front of you. After five minutes, you move on and then talk to another person from a different company. After that, you still have the opportunity to talk to the people you missed.
At the end of the hour of snap chatting, you have a lot of contact details or at least one more person knows about your business and what it offers. Save the date for the next speed networking event: 18 May 2023, at the MCCI Auditorium 12:00 – 14:00. Look out for the invitation to be sent out in early May 2023. For more information, contact Mmabatho at 013 243 2253 or at info@middelburginfo.com.

120th AGM and election for MCCI 2023 Executive

120th AGM and election for MCCI 2023 Executive

The Middelburg Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) will hold it’s 120th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and is calling on our members to nominate candidates for the 2023/24 election.

MCCI will hold the 120th AGM on 9 March 2023 at 17:00, at the Auditorium, Middelburg Information and Chamber Centre, 292 Walter Sisulu Street, Middelburg.

I request members to confirm their attendance by 9 March 2023. If you cannot attend the AGM, please complete a proxy form and return it to the office by 7 March 2023.
Your presence is essential to ensure the election of competent Executive Members to represent the business community of Middelburg.

We have emailed the notice, nomination, proxy forms and minutes to the membership. Please contact Mmabatho on 013 243 2253 or info@middelburginfo.com for more information.

Another 150 trained managers for Middelburg

Another 150 trained managers for Middelburg

A young woman knocks on the door of MCCI to attend the WBS SSETA graduation ceremony on 2 December 2022. She is perfectly dressed and ready for a momentous occasion.

Organisations like MCCI, Wits Business School, and Services SETA are sometimes so focused on the administrative requirements for our projects we forget the human element, and the impact skilling programmes can have. I am referring to the WBS Management Development Programme (MDP) sponsored by SSETA Discretionary Grant. The MDP training was celebrated by the students who passed with a WBS Graduation at the Middelburg Country Club.

We often dismiss the impact of a university education for local people as an unattainable dream. Wearing a university robe and standing there with a certificate in hand is the achievement of 150 students who last Friday, 2 December 2022 graduated from the WBS MDP.

MDP courses have offered our members’ staff the opportunity to further their education and strive for promotions and a better-paying job. They offer a qualification that they could not have offered their employer a year ago.

Students who have graduated should look out for your graduation photo on the Middelburg Chamber of Commerce Facebook page.

I would like to thank the SSETA Board, SSETA staff, WBS staff and lecturers, and MCCI staff for their dedication and hard work in ensuring that this opportunity was available in Middelburg and giving local people the chance to achieve an unattainable goal.

Implementation of the BBEEE Scorecard at the local level is crucial

Implementation of the BBEEE Scorecard at the local level is crucial

The Mpumalanga Enterprise Development Organisation (MEDO) has developed an innovative tool for the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) scorecard’s supplier development, enterprise development, and socio-economic development elements. MEDO can provide targeted, localized programmes to the business community and has done so for more than ten years.

A measured company can spend considerable time and money to transform itself and reach the desired BEE level. A company must calculate the correct targets per the legislation, to achieve the desired result. These scorecard targets are determined by the company’s financial results.

For BEE champions, it is essential to have a solid regional network to ensure a broad reach in the community. Sound financial management is the backbone of a successful BEE scorecard and transformation strategy that meets all BEE audit requirements. It is important to note the successful MEDO projects over the last ten years. These projects were rolled out in the identified areas determined by the company’s BEE requirements.

The Middelburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the implementing agent for MEDO’s enterprise development programme. If you want to know more about how your company can use the successful MEDO BEE system, contact Anna-Marth Ott at info@me_do.co.za.

We are getting our town back

The Middelburg Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) would like to thank all the parties that worked amicably together for Steve Tshwete Municipality’s (STLM) survival through the civil unrest and unlawful strikes.

It has been a trying year for the citizens of Middelburg; between the illegal strikes, load-shedding and the increase in lawlessness so staying positive was becoming very difficult. MCCI’s journey during this trying time was fascinating. First, we tried to communicate with the newly elected ANC Mayoral committee and SALGA with no results. We eventually met with the Mayoral Committee in March 2022, and after that meeting, the municipal situation deteriorated.

MCCI then met with the opposition parties of the Steve Tshwete Council, urging them to work together to benefit the town. In the meantime, our town infrastructure was damaged either through lack of maintenance or wanton, malicious damage. Seeing locked entrances when you want to keep your business sustainable is demoralising. The agreement between the citizens and municipal employees seemed to have broken down completely.

Thank you to Andre Brandmuller from Brandmullers Attorneys for being willing to brandish the big stick to try and get the municipality working. MCCI has congratulated Andre for winning the case against the STLM employees, the STLM and the Middelburg Police.

Thank you to the STLM Councillors for standing together when needed.

Thank you to the Middelburg Council of Churches, town elders and organised business that selflessly gave their time, sometimes twice weekly, to find a mediated resolution for the strike. Without the collective support of all, our town would not be recovering so fast.

Thank you to the businesses that continued to operate and looked at ways to grow their local businesses or attract investments into Middelburg.

As a solution to safeguard our town’s future, we propose the re-establishment of the Middelburg Peace Forum (the name to be finalised.) Through open and honest discussion, we can and will rebuild our town.

Organised business met with MM

Organised business met with MM
Members of the organised business community: the Middelburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry and NAFCOC, and the Hendrina Business Forum met with Mr. Mandla Nguni, the newly appointed Municipal Manager of the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality (STLM), and his team on Tuesday, 20 September 2022.

The STLM officials discussed the municipality’s 2040 growth plan. The good news is that STLM’s local economy has grown at the expected rate of 4.4%. But, warned that a doubling of the population is expected. This increase would put the infrastructure and access to water under strain without the necessary planning. The local unemployment rate will also become a significant problem without concerted action to attract manufacturing companies.

Mr. Nguni said the STLM is working hard to address all municipal services and infrastructure maintenance backlog. Issues such as protecting our electrical infrastructure are high on their agenda. He also reiterated that with the support of the organised business community, STLM will once again become the investment community of choice in Mpumalanga.

All business associations have pledged their support, and we are looking at a bright future for our town.

 

JET for Business: Opportunities?

JET for Business: Opportunities?
The Middelburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted a congress on Wednesday, 28 September 2022, to discuss business opportunities in the Just Energy Transition (JET). MCCI President Que Naidoo opened the congress and stressed that the role of coal in the region cannot be dismissed. MCCI wanted the conversation and opportunities around JET to change from purely socio-economic development to business-oriented expansion.

Dr. Sibanda, CEO of Exilite, introduced the day. He said that we need to see JET as a system with interconnected parts. If you take out the parts of the system, the system loses its essence. One part cannot thrive if the other parts are not functioning. The economy has to adapt to the changes that are coming. We have assumed that the part of the system that concerns electricity supply has shown us that some parts of the country’s electricity supply system are not working.

Dhesigen Naidoo, Senior Advisor to the World Bank and responsible for climate adaptation in the South African President’s Climate Change Commission, spoke to the companies and they agreed to have further discussions with MCCI. How to finance renewable energy was presented by Rentia van Tonder, Head: Renewable Energy, Power & Infrastructure, Standard Bank. Wayne Glossop of Wartsila and Jean-Francois Pinharanda of Total Energy, Matola LNG Project, spoke about gas development and opportunities for JET. Is nuclear a viable part of the energy mix for JET, said Mxolisi Makhatini, Group Executive, Power and Industry, Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa.

We also looked at the accessibility of the grid, by Ronald Marais, Grid Planning from Eskom Transmission and how tariff changes could be calculated when you supply Eskom, and Feed in Tariff Changes – Shirley Salvoldi, Corporate Consultant, Electricity Pricing, and Eskom Distribution. These were very technical presentations, but they brought some clarity to the current situation.

Mike Teke, Chief Executive Officer, Seriti Resources, spoke about adapting the coal mining industry to a greener future. He began by highlighting the role that coal mining plays in the economy, that 93 000 direct jobs and 200 000 indirect jobs are associated with coal mining. He also said that Sereti is looking into wind energy in the Gert Sibande area and is also exploring other alternative energy generation. He urged everyone to take a balanced approach and explore the opportunities that are available.

At the end of the day, businesses and our members want reliable, affordable baseload power to grow our businesses and economy and keep jobs in the region. Thank you to Nashua and Standard Bank for your main sponsorships. Members interested in joining the next round of discussions can contact me at ceo@middelburginfo.com.