HRMP opens R17.5mn warehouse at Dube TradeZone 2

HRMP, a 100 percent South African-owned logistics company, specialising in the transport of heavy duty break-bulk, opened its R17.5 million warehouse expansion at Dube TradePort TradeZone 2 on June 14, 2024.

"For the past six years, HRMP has leased warehousing from a third-party developer at Dube TradePort TradeZone 1. However, with the ongoing expansion of its business across the value chain, acquiring a 5,600 square metre site through a notarial lease to build their own warehouse became a viable option providing an expansive property," says a release from Dube TradePort.

Musa Makunga, CEO, HRMP Logistics says: "Dube TradePort’s leasehold model and the willingness of Ithala Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) to fund a leasehold property development was the primary reason for building at Dube TradePort."

Makunga points out that leasehold ownership enables the right to use a property for a set period of time "as if you own it" but is the most misunderstood concept. “It effectively means that an entrepreneur can develop a business without buying the land upfront, and at the end of the long term lease, hands the land and premises back to the original owner."

Being based at Dube TradePort has helped HRMP Logistics to grow from micro to a small to medium sized business, says Makunga. “From the first time I contacted DTP in 2017 looking for warehousing to now, they have worked with us finding solutions to our challenges.” HRMP Logistics is a subsidiary of HRM Holdings, started in 2002 by Makhunga.

When HRMP Logistics started in 2018, it had two employees, was leasing 2,000 square metres of warehousing at DTP TradeZone 1 and hired vehicles from other logistics businesses including Dube TradePort's AiRoad. Now it employs 10 people, has its own premises and five trucks capable of transporting up to 34 tonnes of cargo each, the release added.