ONE of Kouga’s oldest property developers, Dries du Preez, from Buchner Property Investments, has been elected as the Kouga Business Forum’s new chairperson.
Dries was born in the Eastern Cape and grew up on a farm near Paterson. He matriculated at PJ Olivier High School in Grahamstown (now Makhanda) in 1974 and obtained a B.Sc degree from the University of Stellenbosch in 1979. In the same year he married Marie. The couple has since had three children.
Dries has been involved in development in Kouga since 1983 and has developed a large part of Aston Bay. In the late ’80s, he was the project manager on the construction of Marina Martinique and from 2004 co-developer of the Fountains Estate, which includes the business park and Fountains Mall. He is also involved in game farming with buffaloes near Paterson.
“Dynamic impact economic growth in the Kouga is of utmost importance to me and I see this as my mission for the next few years,” Du Preez said.
“To achieve this, all role players, which include the Kouga Municipality and the business community, need to be aligned and focused on what will create a positive environment for investors.”
At the annual general meeting, the need for a healthy economic climate was evident when the KBF received 19 nominations for the management committee.
Instead of losing almost half of the nominees, negotiations took place with some of the nominees to become sector leaders to ensure that the KBF will have an ear on the ground in every town and sector.
A management committee of 10 members was elected and the rest of the available nominees became sector leaders. Each committee member will also be responsible for a portfolio and will work closely with the sector leaders.
The executive committee consists of Dries du Preez – chairperson (Buchner Property Investments), Lieb Swiegers – vice chairperson (Dolphin Properties), Johannes Barnard – treasurer (Moore Humansdorp), Anri Meyer – co-opted (Smhart) and Leilani Coetsee the administrator. The rest of the managing committee consists of Bryan Dhludhlu (KLM Councillor), Bernadette Swartz (Oasis FM), Line Liddard (Hydro Rubber), Wayne Furphy (St Francis Property Owners Association), Charlotte van der Merwe (Citeplan) and Johan du Preez (Servplan).
The sector leaders for the moment are Henk Agenbach (Humansdorp Co-op CEO), Hannes Cilliers (Bloekomlaan Boerdery and vice chairperson MPO EC), Dietrich Gerber (Humansdorp Butchery), Angus Bruiners (chairperson – Kouga Construction), Willie Oosthuizen (Humansdorp Co-op Trust organiser), Thuleka Ngeleza (Woman of Strength NPO), Estelle de Beer (Jeffreys Bay Tourism) and Leon Steenkamp (LMS Life).
“We live in challenging times with COVID-19 still in our midst and a severe drought that hampers the Gamtoos farmers and the communities of Patensie, Hankey, Loerie and surrounding areas, but despite that, our different economies are not doing badly,” said Du Preez.
Du Preez highlighted that:
- The workshops that were presented in April ’21 by Prof. Emil Nothnagel for all sectors in the region as part of a process (PACA) to compile a dynamic impact economic growth plan, were a huge success on different levels. The fact that the Kouga Business Forum (KBF) could raise the funds from the business community of Kouga to fund this project was proof of the hunger and search for progress and prosperity. These workshops pointed out the success stories of our region, but they also pointed out the many bottlenecks that hamper progress, and our challenge and mission now is to address and rectify these bottlenecks. Through these workshops all over the Kouga region, we made a lot of friends and suddenly there were bridges built between communities with a better understanding of what the Business Forum was standing for.
- During this PACA process, it became evident that for the KBF to become relevant as a regional driving force/ mouthpiece, they would have to restructure and ensure their presence throughout the region. To do that, portfolios were allocated to the new committee members, in line with the same sectors as were used for the PACA workshops.
- The KBF is involved in ongoing negotiations with the municipality to unlock the bottlenecks in the planning and engineering departments. These bottlenecks need to be resolved before the KBF can enter into “teaming agreements” with the municipality to facilitate the international grant funding brought to the table by the KBF through their involvement with Milan Consult (Prof. Nothnagel) and Meritus International (Annami Bruwer).
- To bring economic growth and prosperity to the Kouga is a marathon and not a 100m sprint, and for that reason the KBF need all the support and as many members as possible to be the driving force and mouthpiece on behalf of the business sector.
- Kouga Business Forum is extremely excited and proud to announce that a satellite office has been opened in St Francis Bay as part of the setup of the St Francis Property Owners Association. This office is situated at 28 Lyme Road South and Wayne Furphy is coordinating this office alongside Lyne Aitken. Anybody who needs information or wants to become a member, can visit the office or contact them.
Du Preez finished off by saying that they will try their utmost best to bring about economic growth and prosperity for Kouga and with that process, to alleviate poverty for all.
For more info, send an e-mail to kougabusinessforum@gmail.com. Alternatively contact Dries du Preez on 082 659 2655 or the administrator Leilani Coetsee on 084 681 3702.
