BLACK-owned Motseng Investment Holdings’ new chief investment officer, Bruce Zungu, says he will be focusing on growing its property asset base.

Zungu, appointed as chief investment officer in January this year, says Motseng — 85% black- owned — is the largest black-owned property services group in SA and wants to “move up the value chain” and “own properties in addition to managing them”.

He says the group will be looking especially to acquire properties in the retail, commercial and industrial sectors.

“On the property side, we want to build significant property assets. In the next couple of years, we would like to build up a property portfolio of a R1bn,” says Zungu.

He says the company will also be looking to develop properties.

Also, Motseng’s focus will not just be on acquisitions in SA — Zungu says that it will be “looking in SA and beyond” to “Pan Africa”.

As it now stands, Motseng is a property services business with a focus on property and facilities management, as well as developments. It also has an investment vehicle that invests in other companies. But up until now the company has not been a property- owning business.

The company will also be looking for investment opportunities in nonproperty sectors.

Zungu has previously worked for Rothschild and HSBC investment banks in Johannesburg, as well as CIT Corporate Finance in New York and CIT and Black & Veatch in Kansas City.

There have also been two other key appointments confirmed at Motseng during the past couple of months.

Its division Motseng Property Services has appointed Lynette Ntuli as GM of the Pavilion Shopping Centre in Westville.

The appointment is in effect as from March 1.

The group says that Ntuli is the “first black woman (in SA) to head a super-regional shopping centre”.

Another woman, Fundi Mazibuko, has been appointed by the group to be the GM of Mdantsane City Shopping Centre, in Eastern Cape.

The centre, which opened on April 24, is the largest shopping centre in East London.

Source: Business Day