p>During negotiations major shareholder, former Drakenstein mayor Herman Bailey, set strict conditions to his German partners.
The company, with 51% South African Black ownership, will be based in Wellington. It will be direct foreign investment. There will be local job creation and there will be skills transfer, with experts from Germany flying out to Wellington to provide training.
With its motto “symbols create contacts” the company, Fahnen Fleck, is passing that test with flying colours.
On Friday a 13m long container snaked its way into Fontein Street in Wellington where CEO Bernard Bailey and a team of workers eagerly awaited its arrival.
It held 250 aluminium flag poles, from 5 to 10m long, and 1900 flags of 113 countries, from large ones for fluttering on poles, to smaller desktop flags.
The flag poles are fitted with an anti-theft device, a key unique to each pole. The flags can only be hoisted and lowered with the specific key. The rope is protected inside the pole so that it does not hammer against the metal, nor can it be cut by thieves.
A vertical extension bar at the top of the pole is fitted with a bolt that turns 360 degrees. Not only does it ensure that the flag is always visible, irrespective of the wind direction, but it also prolongs the lifespan of the flag.
Digital strike-through screen print makes for even colours on both sides of the material and prevents fading.
The container is the first of three such consignments from Germany. The next container will hold machinery for the manufacturing of flags – in Wellington.
