Pretoria - Hlanganyela Tyre, a new black empowerment company, had been established by a group of employees from Trentyre, the prominent tyre retailer, Arthur Bokholane, an executive director of Hlanganyela Tyre, said yesterday.
Bokholane said the company, run by a group of Trentyre employees from previously disadvantaged communities, would focus on supply contracts from the government and parastatals.
He said Hlanganyela Tyre was a national company. It would use the resources of Trentyre, with 60 percent of the shareholding held by himself and fellow executive director Imtiaz Cassim.
Bokholane said the remaining 40 percent shareholding in Hlanganyela was held by Trentyre, which would relinquish this eventually to other black empowerment partners.
The new company already has an outlet in Johannesburg, and a second is due to start operating in Durban next month.
Hlanganyela is a multibrand supplier of new tyres, retreads, rims and ancillary products.
Bokholane was not prepared to comment on the investment being made in establishing the company and a national network of outlets.
"We are currently working on a loan account from Trentyre, which is financing the whole entity 100 percent with repayment within the next five years," he said.
Cassim said Hlanganyela had adopted a deliberate strategy of targeting the government and parastatal supply contracts.
"It's our view that social construction programmes that address poverty should, in the main, support previously disadvantaged communities through revenue from government or parastatal tender processes," he said.
"Hlanganyela's composition will enable us to be well positioned to qualify for tender contracts and to work in synergy with the relevant government and parastatal entities to achieve the common objectives of the RDP," he said.