Philippi Village celebrates its first birthday

Cape Town - From an abandoned cement factory to a bustling commercial business hub employing more than 300 people, Philippi Village celebrated its first anniversary yesterday. Referred to as The Hub, it is said to be “the business catalyst for the Cape Flats area”.

It is situated behind Govan Mbeki Drive close to Nyanga, Crossroads and Philippi. Businesses are housed in brightly painted disused shipping containers which serve as places of employment for hundreds of people working for scores of entrepreneurs.

Inside the precinct are commercial businesses, non-government organisations as well as a library - which was moved across the road from Crossroads due to safety concerns.

Hub general manager Amor Strauss said the hub had grown immensely since its inception and had created a network for businesses in Philippi. She said the relocation of the library had been the catalyst of the growth with the amount of foot traffic it brings into the networking space.

“We’re incredibly proud with what we’ve been able to achieve during the last twelve months.

“Statistics speak for themselves. We welcomed 5 721 library users in January 2016, by June 2016 we had created 66 permanent jobs created 284 temporary jobs, hosted 15 events attended by over 1 000 people at the conference centre, enjoyed tremendous support from social media, welcomed an average of 78 cars on site per day - the list goes on and on. We couldn’t be happier with the results.”

She said plans to expand The Hub had already been approved, in the hopes of creating the largest container walk in Africa.

“The Philippi Village container walk recently added a further 72 containers to the 54-strong existing containers, which provide an innovative retail space for local artists and designers, as well as a unique shopping experience for visitors,” Strauss said.

Tenant Sylvia Nemani, 47, of S.N Clothing said her uniform sewing business had grown since she rented the container space. Earlier this year, she leased another container on the floor above her current business premises to use as a factory.

“More people are coming in to place uniform orders,” she said.

Before operating at the hub she used to work from home. “Working from home I used to struggle with getting my jobs done on time and would tend to neglect the business to take care of the household. At least now I have bigger space and can separate my work life from home,” said Nemani.

Another tenant, Nomachina Magodla, 49, of Delight in a Container said since renting the space in January, she has noticed an increase in her profits. “My baked foods are going off the shelf. People love food. They often make stops here.”

zodidi.dano@inl.co.za

CAPE ARGUS