Region
Free State
South Africa

Sector
Infrastructure
Manufacturing
Property

Summary:

The Free State Province is actively driving new investments and job creation initiatives into the province through the Free State Development Corporation (FDC).

Contact
Lesley-Anne Welman

Email
lesley@fdc.co.za

Tel
+27 51 400 0800

Driving new investments and initiatives
The Free State Province is actively driving new investments and job creation initiatives into the province through the Free State Development Corporation (FDC). The corporation was traditionally responsible for enterprise and property development. However, with the incorporation of the investment and export facilitation services, the FDC has become a driving force behind the economic growth programmes of the province.

Diverse property portfolio
The corporation administers a diverse property portfolio and offers small, medium and large industrialists and businesses, premises at affordable rates. The following incentives are offered to enterprises making use of the FDC commercial and industrial premises:

• Subsidised rental rates
• Rental holidays of up to three months
• Special incentives and discounts for BEE companies or individuals 

The corporation has some 940 properties in which the FDC provides business premises such as offices to the general public and government departments, as well as retail and manufacturing space to enterprises who want to either establish a new business or re-locate their existing business. The corporation also provides warehousing in its industrial estates.

Thabo Mofutsanyana Properties, eastern Free State
The 102 600-square-metre industrial estate at Industriqwa, Harrismith in the eastern Free State, hosts varied manufacturing enterprises which include manufacturers of plastic bottles, furniture, school uniforms and baby foods. The town is half way between Johannesburg and Durban on the N3. 

Available space ranges from 500 to 4 000 square metres and is leased at approximately R7.50 per square metre. Vacant land is also available for new developments.

Phuthaditjhaba, also in the eastern part of the Free State, located on the N5 route, approximately 80 kilometres from Bethlehem, has extensive commercial and industrial estates which host enterprises in clothing, furniture and plastics manufacture. Spaces ranging from 500 to 5 000 square metres per factory are available for rent at competitive rates, from R7.50 per square metre.

Properties in Mangaung Metro
Botshabelo, about 55 kilometres outside Bloemfontein, and Thaba Nchu which is about 10 kilometres further on the N8 in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, have a wide range of commercial and industrial properties available for companies wishing to establish close to the capital of Bloemfontein. Between them, the industrial estates of Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu have a total of 317 500 square metres of space for commercial and industrial activity. Rental is approximately R5.50 per square metre in Thaba Nchu and R7.50 per square metre in Botshabelo.

Excellent rail and road linkages
The province’s excellent road and rail linkages to KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, the Western Cape and the Northern Cape afford many opportunities to investors. An initiative by the FDC has resulted in a collaborative partnership between the Free State government and Transnet Freight Rail.

The agreement also includes re-opening dormant rail lines in the Free State in an effort to reduce freight-truck numbers on the province’s roads, and thereby contribute to a reduction in road maintenance costs and improved rail infrastructure for enterprises wishing to establish in the Free State.

The substantial property portfolio makes FDC one of the biggest property owners in the Free State with residential, manufacturing and warehousing space in the areas mentioned above. The corporation is also in the process of off-loading properties that are not key to its mandate, which include vacant land in the industrial and residential estates, as well as identified small shopping centres.

For more information about these opportunities, contact:

Lesley-Anne Welman
Email: lesley@fdc.co.za
Tel: +27 51 400 0800