Kimberley - Optimism exists about Kimberley's business prospects despite the planned R300 million vehicle assembly project failing to get off the ground.
Although Mac Makume, the city manager of the Kimberley City Council and facilitator of the vehicle assembly project, said earlier this month it would be "a sad day" and "devastating" for Kimberley if plans to establish the vehicle plant failed, he said there was a "fall back" position for the project.
He said this involved looking at attracting motor component manufacturers to Kimberley "for any future car plant that might come" to the city.
"The manufacture of motor components would set the platform for future investment in a car plant."
There were also other initiatives to attract investment to Kimberley to create jobs to help alleviate the city's unemployment, he said.
He said unemployment in Kimberley was running at 56 percent and the council was obliged to create jobs.
Pieter van Niekerk, the president of the Northern Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nocci), said the chamber had not come out in support of the vehicle assembly project "or shot it down either".
Van Niekerk said before Nocci could support the project and persuade people to invest money in it, it needed to see a business plan and a prospectus.
The vehicle assembly plant, if it goes ahead, is expected to provide nearly 1 000 direct jobs within five years and be capable of producing 20 000 vehicles a year on a single shift basis.
Van Niekerk is critical of the vehicle assembly project because he said it was "creating expectations that will never be met".
Members of Kimberley's business community believed that the project was being driven on a political level and a final decision was being drawn out because "some people will lose face if the project fails".
Makume admitted that Nocci was sceptical about the project but remained undaunted.
"At the word go, we wanted between R60 000 and R70 000 to compile a business plan. Nocci's view was that if we didn't have R60 000, how would we get R300 million."
Despite uncertainty about the vehicle assembly project, Van Niekerk was optimistic about Kimberley's prospects.
But he said people needed to get the perspective right and Kimberley could not be compared with Bloemfontein and other big cities.
Van Niekerk admitted that there was negative sentiment about Kimberley in the late-1990s and suggestions it was "a dying city".
But Van Niekerk said there were many positive things happening and business sentiment was positive.
He said the Kimberley Investment Network Authority (Kina), which was offering attractive municipal incentives to stimulate local economic development, had created some enthusiasm.
Hennie Labuschagne, the development manager of the Kimberley City Council, said the council believed the Kina incentives were the best offered by any local authority.
Projects in the pipeline that plan to use these incentives include a R32 million waterfront development; the development of two retail centres at a cost of R2,5 million; a McDonald's and Spur outlet worth R1,5 million; and the R300 million KimCarCo vehicle assembly project.
Other projects planned for the city include a new R100 million provincial building; R40 million housing project; R30 million indoor sport and recreation centre in Galeshewe, a township in Kimberley; and a R3 million cultural village, also in Galeshewe; while the airport will also be upgraded.
In addition, De Beers, the world's diamond leader, is building a R610 million recovery plant in Kimberley and construction kicked off last week on the R100 million Flamingo Entertainment World, which is the first casino complex of its kind in the city.