New shopping centre for Duncan Village

Some stores are already up and running.

The complex will be centred around Boxer Superstores, with eight shops in total; including a liquor store, clothing store, fish and chips shop, hardware, electronics, software, hairdresser and a Nedbank loan centre inside the supermarket.

Imperium Developments, based in Berea, is the driving force behind the centre, owned by Duncan Village Investments Pty Ltd - a joint venture between the company and developers based in Pretoria.

Property developer at Imperium, Mark Povey, said he came up with the idea when he ran into a representative of the Spar group a few years ago.

"They said if I ever find anything in that area they'd be very interested. I heard the old Sizwe building was up for sale and I approached Spar, but they turned it down.

"Then I approached Boxer Superstores, which has been taken over by Pick n Pay, and they did a study of the demographics and decided it would be a good site for them. This was at the end of 2010."

Renovations began in March last year. Besides the shopping centre, a taxi rank will be built on the site as well.

Currently, the only taxi association which operates within Duncan Village is the East London Taxi Association, and as such that will be the only taxi association at the rank.

Xolile Ngwendu, secretary at the association, said the new taxi rank would be of tremendous help to them as they would be closer to commuters.

"We will be able to get them from the shops to their homes without them risking losing their goods on the way."

Ngwendu said though it was not yet clear when construction would be complete, the new rank meant they would increase the number of operating vehicles, therefore increasing the number of drivers and creating jobs.

Povey said there were a total of 50 jobs created during construction, with some posts in security, community liaison and general labour filled by Duncan Village residents.

Povey expected close to 120 jobs to be created once the centre was up and running.

"Every shop will try and get people from the community. While on site, people have also been coming in to hand in their CVs, and people can progress from a casual job to a permanent job," said Povey.

Mlungiseleli Jambela, a Duncan Village resident, said he appreciated the new centre as it would decrease unemployment.

However, he would have liked more community involvement in the project.

"Sadly, as a community, we don't own that centre. Not even 5% of its workforce comes from Duncan Village and that's a big insult to us."

However, Povey said all communication with the community had been conducted through councillors and they had assisted in the community's participation in the project.

Once the taxi rank and parking lot have been completed, the centre will be in full operation within the next two weeks.

Source: Daily Dispatch