22 OCTOBER 1999
Issued by: Government Communication and Information System
The Minister of Public Enterprises, Mr Jeff Radebe, and the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Mr Ronnie Kasrils, have announced that five bidders have been shortlisted for the acquisition of state forest assets. Detailed discussions and negotiations will now be undertaken with these bidders.
Bidders were invited to make offers on a total of 330 000 hectares of plantations and their associated processing plants. Bidders were invited to submit offers either for the asset as a whole or for any one of seven packages as set out below:
Northern Province - 18 825 hectares (planted) Mpumalanga - 120 250 hectares (planted) KwaZulu-Natal - 32 651 hectares (planted) Eastern Cape North - 57 936 hectares (planted) Eastern Cape South - 14 405 hectares (planted) Southern Cape - 70 209 hectares (planted) Western Cape - 17 766 hectares (planted)
The Ministers announced that:
These bidders have not yet been declared as preferred bidders and a final decision on the sale will only take place after the discussions and negotiations have been concluded. The negotiations will focus on the details of the bids including bidders' investment commitments and their ability to finance their proposals.
The government's main objectives priorities in this transaction are to help to revitalise the sawmilling industry and in particular to promote investment in wood processing.
Bidders are not being evaluated on price alone but also on their ability to create sustainable wood based industries in rural areas. Other criteria included expertise in forestry and processing, job retention and creation, black economic empowerment and human resource development.
No acceptable bids were received for the Western Cape or the Northern province packages. The strategy for these assets will be reviewed. Any other packages which are not sold after the negotiations process will be retained by Government pending further discussions.
The Ministers noted that the proceeds of the sale would reflect the fact that the Western Cape and Northern Province packages will not be sold in this process. In addition to the sale proceeds, Government will receive an annual income from the rentals on the lease of the land. These rentals will flow to successful land claimants in certain instances. In addition Government will achieve significant savings especially in respect of the forests managed by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry.
Contact:
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry Lael Bethlehem 012 336 8753 082 804 2866
Department of Public Enterprises Andile Nkuhlu 012 342 7111 083 675 8277