By Lebone Rodah Mosima
The Municipal Employees Pension Fund (MEPF) has expanded its hospitality portfolio with a R350-million hotel and convention centre in Middelburg.
The Destiny Exclusive Hotel and International Convention Centre was officially opened by Mpumalanga Premier Mandla Ndlovu on Friday. It was developed by Akani Properties on behalf of the MEPF.
Akani said ahead of the opening that the investment had taken MEPF’s total hospitality exposure to about R529.6 million, adding to its existing investments in the sector.
The development comprises 150 hotel rooms and a 1,000-seat convention centre, together with a spa and wellness centre, gym, restaurant and bar.
The project highlights an investment strategy aimed at taking institutional capital into secondary and peri-urban markets rather than concentrating property assets in South Africa’s largest cities.
Ndlovu said at the opening that pension savings could play a bigger role in developing infrastructure in the communities from which fund members come.
“For far too long, the retirement savings of African workers have been used to develop massive buildings in Sandton or foreign financial markets, leaving the communities where those workers live and work without infrastructure development,” he said.
“Today, we salute the revolutionary foresight of the MEPF that backed this mega-project. The MEPF has demonstrated the true definition of ‘capital with a conscience’.”
Ndlovu said it was a “worker-led development”, and that municipal employees — clerks, technicians and administrative staff — were, through their pension fund, owners of the investment.
MEPF is an autonomous pension fund registered under the Pension Funds Act. It manages contributions from local authorities and members to generate investment returns and provide retirement benefits.
Steve Tshwete is situated in Mpumalanga’s mining and energy economic hub, and is the third major contributor to provincial GDP.
The provincial government is also seeking to use the new convention centre to capture a larger share of corporate travel, conferences and events and to link that spending to Mpumalanga’s established leisure tourism industry.
“The official opening of the Destiny Exclusive Hotel and International Convention Centre here in Steve Tshwete Local Municipality will position Middelburg as a destination for business tourism, conferences, exhibitions and major events,” Ndlovu said.
“Every conference delegate, tourist and visitor who comes to Middelburg creates opportunities for local restaurants, transport operators, retailers, tourism establishments, informal traders and other small businesses. The economic benefits therefore extend far beyond the hotel itself.”
Mpumalanga’s seventh administration is targeting R50 billion in investment and looking to infrastructure projects to help draw additional capital into the provincial economy.
“We cannot achieve our R50-billion investment target if we do not possess the infrastructure to host the investors and innovators who will bring that capital to life,” the Premier said.
He said the hotel and convention centre could create direct and indirect employment, increase demand for local suppliers and SMMEs and generate additional economic activity in Middelburg.
“This is precisely the kind of investment that can help us move from statistics of unemployment to a future of opportunity, dignity and sustainable livelihoods.”
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