Western Cape Cabinet approves Atlantis SEZ land transaction

9th December 2020

By: Yvonne Silaule

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The Western Cape Cabinet has approved key amendments to the founding documents of the Atlantis Special Economic Zone Company (ASEZ Co), which enabled the purchase of land on which the ASEZ Co is located from the City of Cape Town in exchange for a minority shareholding in the ASEZ Co.

This is considered a critical step in the development of the ASEZ Co, as it allows the company to attract and engage investors independently over the next three years, with the ability to negotiate terms directly.

Once the land transfer has been registered, the Western Cape government and the City of Cape Town will conclude a shareholders’ agreement and the ASEZ Co will move onto the land.

As the shareholder of the ASEZ Co, the Western Cape government has worked hard to support the establishment of the greentech, export-orientated manufacturing hub in order to attract investment that leads to increased exports and localisation of green technologies, which will ultimately enable the creation of green jobs in the Western Cape.

Much progress has been made since the ASEZ Co was officially established as an unscheduled State-owned enterprise in December 2019 and there is now a significant pipeline of investments in development. The ASEZ Co is seeking to recruit suitable investments of up to R600-million and contribute to the creation of more than 1 000 direct jobs in new energy generation technologies and other green technology investments over the next three years.

"The Western Cape government has committed to jobs as one of the three key pillars of our provincial recovery. The green economy, and the Atlantis SEZ specifically will attract job-creating investment which will help us achieve this goal. This step is an important one in realising the full potential of this green manufacturing hub for the province.

“The timing of this could not be more pertinent as the land sale agreement needs to be in place for potential investors who will be bidding for the national gas independent power producer programme with investments estimated at R350-million to R400-million and who need the land sale agreement in place to break ground in 2021. We remain committed to realising the immense potential of the green economy in the Western Cape through our continued support and promotion of the ASEZ. This is critical to our economic recovery plans in the Western Cape,” provincial Finance and Economic Opportunities Minister David Maynier noted in a December 9 statement.

"2020 was used to establish the building blocks to ensure that we have an operational SEZ in 2021. Those building blocks are now in place with this approval by Cabinet which we welcome. We look forward to taking the SEZ forward in the next year now that the land has been secured," commented ASEZ Co acting CEO Pierre Voges.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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