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Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone : We wish to formally inform stakeholders of the appointment of the new RBIDZ Chief Executive Officer – Mr Thabane Wiseman Zulu. He will assume his role with effect from 1 July 2020.

Mr Zulu holds a Masters in Business Administration and has extensive experience in government administration and in economic development. One of his previous appointments was that of a Director for International Trade and Development for Africa and the Middle East at the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), which points to the value Mr Zulu brings in terms of exposure to the investment facilitation sector.

Most recently Mr Zulu has served as a Director-General in the Department of Energy. We are confident that he will ensure that our efforts aimed at positioning RBIDZ as a site for energy infrastructure are strengthened.

Over the past few weeks, our shareholder, MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube emphasized the importance of RBIDZ as a driver of socio-economic development in response to challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic and the need to restart the economy.

She has been reiterating the fact that government designed Special Economic Zones for a specific developmental purpose being to develop export-orientated industries, attract foreign direct investments, ensure technology transfer and achieve the generation of employment opportunities.

In addition to job creation, she said the SEZs should also help in broadening the municipal revenue collection base to improve the quality of life in the municipal areas, as well as the quality of municipal services.

We are therefore confident that Mr Zulu will ensure that RBIDZ delivers on the vision outlined by MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube who is a shareholder on behalf of KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government.

We wish to welcome Mr Zulu to the RBIDZ family.

Equally, we express our deepest gratitude to Mr Kaya Ngqaka who has served this organization with dedication since 18 November 2019. Mr Ngqaka was seconded from Dube Trade Port SEZ to act in the position of the Chief Executive Officer.

We shall forever remain indebted to him. His professionalism and hardworking ethics was a source of inspiration to the staff. We wish him all the best as he returns to our sister-entity – the Dube Trade Port.

Issued by The Board of Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone