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THE Coega Development Corporation¹s (CDC) winning streak
continues as it scooped the Top Empowered: Public Service Award at the
14th Annual Oliver Empowerment Awards at Emperors¹ Palace in Johannesburg
on 23 April 2015.
³The organisation is thrilled to have been awarded an Oliver Empowerment
Award for a second year running as the Top Empowered public service
organisation. It shows CDC¹s consistency in delivering top class services
and efficiency. This award speaks to the hard work and inputs by everyone
in the organisation,² said the CDC¹s Executive Manager for Business
Development, Christopher Mashigo.
The Oliver Empowerment Awards are regarded as South Africa¹s premier
awards for leadership and innovation in empowerment and transformation.
They are hosted in association with publication Impumelelo, South
Africa¹s Top Empowered Companies.
The award is given to companies with a strong performance in
socio-economic development programmes, with policies and initiatives that
advance underprivileged communities and individuals affected by income
inequality.
The CDC was one of five finalists in the category along with the
Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC), the South African Maritime
Safety Authority (SAMSA), the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation
(NECSA) and Mango Airlines (Flymango.com).
The competition was adjudicated by esteemed panel of judges, i.e. Xolani
Qubeka: Secretary General Black Business Council, CEO: Small Business
Development Institute; Duduzile Maseko: Executive Director for Community
Development City of Joburg; Allon Rai: CEO of Raizcorp; Johanna Mukoki:
Group CEO of Travel with Flair; Leigh Gunkel-Keuler: Public Affairs,
Policy and Communications Director of Pfizer; Siphiwe Ngwenya: CEO of
Gauteng Growth Development Agency (GGDA); and Molebatsi Moagi: Managing
Director of Centre of Supplier Development

Last year, the CDC won the Job Creation Award at the Oliver Empowerment
Awards and was also one of four recipients of a RAIZCORP bursary valued
at R250 000.
³We remain committed to improving conditions for the people of the
Eastern Cape, and further afield throughout the country where we are
present,² said Dr. Ayanda Vilakazi, CDC head of Marketing and
Communications.
The CDC, which manages South Africa¹s largest and most successful
Industrial Development Zone (IDZ), continues to excel and has manifested
a number of strong growth and development coups in the last financial
year ended 31 March 2015. Some of the company¹s big achievements include:
€       Securing 19 new investors for the Coega IDZ and investments
valued at R1.8-billion for the South African economy.
€       Delivering 75 construction and refurbishment projects, including
emergency schools and early childhood centres, for the Department of
Basic Education and the Eastern Cape Department of Education.
€       Creating 7000 jobs from new investors secured during 2014 and
2015.
€       Empowering 500 small, micro and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs)
which took part in the CDC Black Economic Empowerment Competitiveness
Improvement Programme (BEECIP) in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal.

Issued by COEGA