South African investor begs for land discount

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SOUTH AFRICAN investor has approached Kwekwe City Council seeking a land sale discount to enable him to start constructing a shopping mall in the city

A SOUTH AFRICAN investor and director of a local firm Africa Advance Holdings, has approached Kwekwe City Council seeking a land sale discount to enable him to start constructing a shopping mall in the city.

BY BLESSED MHLANGA

Brennan De Bruyn said he was planning to build a 15 000m² mall in Kwekwe, but was shocked council was refusing to give him a 6% discount on the sale of stand 7612, measuring 3,0894 hectares for the project.

“Our client notes with some consternation the position by your council that no discount was to be offered nor made in the selling price of the said stand.

Consternation, because the city council has in the past sold property in the CBD at discounted prices to certain banks, institutions and individuals,” De Bryun’s lawyers Patel Ferrao and Associates said in a letter presented to councillors during a recent full council meeting.

The councillors, however, have refused to budge, saying they had given De Bruyn a sweet deal by offering him a discount on a cash price, where he could buy the stand at $16,67/m², which would translate to $514 900, and costing $20/m² in instalments.

The lawyers implored council to review their resolution, saying a review would show visionary leadership and would make Kwekwe investor friendly.

“We believe that the visionary leadership you have shown in the past is now needed and your council should endeavour to accommodate our clients’ investment and make it financially appealing and attractive for him as an investor,” read the lawyer’s submission.

The councillors, led by Bekezela Ndlovu, did not take lightly De Bruyn’s move to engage lawyers, saying it was an intimidation tactic, which was meant to push them into awarding the discount.

Councillor Weston Masiya weighed in, saying De Bruyn was receiving suspicious support because all his requests that defied council rules and regulations were always forced on councillors.

“This letter is not on the full council agenda and did not come through the appropriate committee, I don’t know why this matter is even being discussed in this meeting, what is so special about this investment that other investors were not given?” Masiya queried.

Town clerk Emanuel Musara, whose daughter is employed at Dazzle Super stores, owned by De Bruyn, tried to convince councillors to offer the discount, arguing engaging lawyers was not intimidatory, but a sign of professionalism.

“He is actually begging and not intimidating council, he has put himself under your shoes and is moved by your visionary leadership,” he said, but the councillors refused to budge.

The councillors further said they feared De Bruyn did not have the financial capacity to complete his ambitious project, but was seeking to hold the land for speculative reasons and therefore selling it to him on credit and at a discount could be suicidal for the local authority.

The businessman, who, recently invested $4 million in Dazzle Super stores, said he would not hold the land, but develop it in record time.

“Your council should note that De Bruyn is a man of action, as evidenced by his recent investments and portfolio and you can be assured that he would implement this project timeously as planned and proposed,” his lawyers wrote.