The Mall of Tembisa which consists of farming co-op on the site, restaurants, franchises, gym, food courts and bank branchesis opening tomorrow at Olifantsfontein road in Tembisa.
McCormick Property Development (MPD) managing director Jason McCormick said the mall is 44 800 square metres and has costs R726 million to construct. McCormick said community members were given a chance to apply for vacancies at the mall on empowerploy.co.za website.
“We hired over 70% of employees during construction from Tembisa. A total of 2 500 local construction jobs were created. As the mall is about to open, 80% of staff at the mall will be local residents as well”, he said.
McCormick said local farmers have been farming on the farming co-op for many years. He added that the mall has formed a cooperative called Siyakhula with those farmers.
“We are creating a market for them as they plant vegetables such as spinach, beetroot, assorted herbs and many more. The farmers will also supply the mall’s main restaurant anchor called Imbizo Shisanyama with vegetables that will be served. They will also sell their vegetables at the taxi rank”, said McCormick.
It seems like the mall opening in this area is coming with a lot of opportunities which youth should grab. McCormick said they have also formed the Kasi-CoLAB, which will cater for township designers.
“Kasi-CoLAB will be situated on the retail spaces at the mainentrance of the mall. CoLAB hosts 10 local designers and entrepreneurs such as Uhuru, 4IR Ini, Pozie and Ska’ Wara to mention few. We commit to support local creatives by assisting them in showcasing their brands. There is a lot of creativity in townships which lacks financial assistance, these entrepreneurs need support to reach their business goals”, he added.
