Page 38 - Thetha Issue 6

BUSINESS

Her years of experience in It has also initiated geographical Transformation is another
corporate affairs, business strategy clusters, which are geared at imperative: small businesses make
and legal issues gave her a solid uniting efforts and resources to up 70% of chamber membership and
grounding for difficult times. address areas of common interest. there is an active entrepreneurship
Additionally sectoral clusters have desk. Mentorship is also key, along
Standing strong been set in motion and these with empowerment.
include renewable energy, mining, As Van Huyssteen says: “We
The next crisis came in the form of a high energy users and liquid bulk need a set-up that supports small
personal tragedy when her husband, operators. businesses, giving access to finance,
celebrated Bay artist Tertius van Projects such as “adopt a sub- tender documents, legal advice, and
Huyssteen, died in June 2017. station” see innovative business connections through events.”
Van Huyssteen and her daughter, and government partnerships, while On a side note, since graduating
Kayleigh, then 21, slowly picked up “adopt a school” and “adopt a leak” at Mandela University, Kayleigh has
the pieces, with Kayleigh going on to also unite disparate groups for a since become an entrepreneur and
complete her CA at Nelson Mandela common goal. runs her own fashion design label
University, her mother’s alma mater. The chamber has signed a “Jam and Cheese”. She is showing
Then, just as life started to memorandum of understanding a Van Huyssteen combination of
reshape into a semblance of with the University for possible business acumen and a creative spark.
normality, COVID-19 hit and with collaboration in research, Former GMSA colleagues of
that, the world of business was development, training and Van Huyssteen senior praise her
disrupted once more. dissemination of knowledge in for her work ethic and dedication.
In addition, water support of its strategic plan. The Along with her qualifications and
mismanagement has pushed Nelson goal is to build a strong relationship experience, this should equip her
Mandela Bay ever closer to the in establishing and adding value to not only to be a “crisis manager” of
dry taps of #DayZero, along with its BayGrow Hub through business today, but also to lead the business
increasingly erratic load-shedding intelligence-orientated research. chamber into the future.
and a city council in turmoil.
Disinvestment is
an ongoing threat “We need to
as companies look
elsewhere for a stability protect and
and growth.
She does not retain existing
believe these
challenges are new, businesses
however: “COVID just
exposed everything”. before we can
“I’ve got a lot
of support from the begin to grow
business sector,”
says Van Huyssteen the economy”
gratefully – essential
in the face of major
economic threats.
“We need to
protect and retain
existing businesses
before we can begin
to grow the economy.”

Action plan

To address this, the
chamber has task
teams homing in on
areas such as water and
electricity, transport
and logistics, and
safety and security.

38 | Thetha Edition 6 | 2022