Mphephu Plaza finally opens its doors for business

The much-awaited Mphephu Plaza on the R523-road in Siloam, Nzhelele, finally opened its doors on Thursday, 25 March, after unforeseen delays because of the national lockdown.

Fifteen of the 33 stores, including Shoprite, KFC, OBC Chicken and Capitec Bank, will open their doors for business this week, while the remaining 18 shops will commence business during the Easter long weekend.

Thovhele Nkhaneni Ramovha of the Malnet group thanked the community for their patience. “We approached the community in 2010 for a piece of land, then started with the Sasol garage,” he said. “The community was very patient with us until now. We are proud to have created 145 permanent jobs so far; our target is to reach 300.”

Because of the Covid-19 regulations, no big opening ceremony will be held for the new plaza, but Thovhele Ramovha nevertheless invited local shoppers to come and enjoy the grand opening specials that will be on offer.

Rofhiwa Mudau, a local Uber driver, said he was very optimistic about the new plaza and what it would mean for business. “I am hopeful and excited that I will have more customers,” he said.

A taxi driver from Tshavhalovhedzi village, Rendani Singo, said he could not wait for the shopping centre to open. “This Mphephu Plaza will make us taxi drivers smile, because the R523-road will now be very busy with people travelling back and forth.”

Kundani Lishivha, a resident of Dopeni village, thinks that the mall was a good idea. “It will be very convenient to the Nzhelele villagers. To take a taxi to Thohoyandou or Louis Trichardt just to make a deposit was a waste of time and money. Now we can do our groceries or go to fast-food restaurants here in Nzhelele.”

Date:25 March 2021

By: Maanda Bele

Maanda  Bele, born and raised in Nzhelele Siloam, studied journalism at the Tshwane University of Technology.

He is passionate about current news and international affairs.

He worked as part of the Zoutnet team as an intern in 2017.

He is currently a freelance journalist specialising in news from the Vhembe district.

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