Opportunities for property developers will arise from the state's disposal process, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said
 
Speaking at a Property Investors Conference in Port Elizabeth (PE), the minister said that state owned enterprises (SOEs) were divesting themselves of assets and enterprises "that are no longer integral to their business operations, as their activities become more focused."
 
"My department, the Department of Public Enterprises, has established a Joint Projects Facility to identify optimal ways to dispose of non-core property and to manage the disposal process.
 
"Non-core properties have been identified by the SOE and classified as commercial or non-commercial portfolios. The properties have been further classified under the following broad categories indicating optimum disposal options namely, sale, housing, disposal to government departments and development.
 
Erwin said that his department was currently engaging with the Department of Housing to identify properties which have the potential to alleviate the national housing shortage and a sales agreement would be concluded in due course.
 
"The Department of Education has also expressed interest in the list of properties that have the potential to be used for public interest purposes and a bilateral negotiation is imminent. We have also set aside vacant or undeveloped land of a strategic nature around ports or Central Business Districts for public development."
 
Once the public sector disposals have been concluded, the remainder of properties will be put out to the market, Erwin stated.
 
He added that any enterprise bidding for SOE property will need a BEE verification certificate from an accredited BEE verification agency.
 
"In order to obtain a certificate, enterprises will be measured against the dti's BEE Scorecard and accordingly allocated a BEE status level," he added.

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Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge