/ 10 December 1997

Hertz returns to SA

TUESDAY, 11.30PM:

INTERNATIONAL car rental company Hertz on Tuesday officially returned to the South African market after a 10-year absence.

Launching Hertz Car Rentals at the Johannesburg International Airport, Hertz International president Antoine Cau said the South African operations are poised to become the group’s third largest franchise — behind Greece and Ireland — by 1998.

Hertz, which disinvested from South Africa because of its apartheid policies, came back via a partnership with the Cape Town-based Alisa Car Rental. JSE-listed black empowerment group New Africa Investments Limited bought a 50% stake in the company, and Nail’s chairman Nthato Motlana is the new chairman of Hertz Car Rentals.

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