Speech by the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Alderman
Patricia de Lille on the occasion of a meeting between
the City of Cape Town and the Cape Chamber of
Commerce
Members of the Mayoral Committee,
Members of the Cape Chamber of Commerce,
Honoured guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning, goeiedag, molweni.
In order to do business, parties must be fully aware of the terms of an
agreement.
There is no way to guarantee outcomes.
But you can guarantee that everyone will do their best to achieve results
by acting according to their roles in an agreement.
This is the essence of partnership and the foundation principle of the
complex issues of contract.
I believe governing is like a contract. Elected representatives govern
according to agreed plans.
If they do not live up their side of the bargain, they must be called to
account.
This happens in a range of forums, forums which are not always places of
comfort for governments.
I know that not everyone abides by this philosophy.
There are those who think that the results of one day every five years are
something like a blank cheque, a catch-all mandate to do anything
whenever, wherever.
That is not the City of Cape Town’s way.
We govern with our partners, be they members of civil society, ordinary
citizens, other governments, or members of business.
We are held to account and change where we need to.
And I truly believe that the City of Cape Town is, for various reasons, held
to a higher standard.
And we accept that as part of a contract of excellence.
As you know, I am not afraid to admit when we make mistakes.
Sometimes some communities are not always satisfied with our
performance.
We evaluate these claims and accept we can improve.
Transparent and honest government must always be able to look itself
and its citizens in the eye.
I am sure that there are those within the business community who are
not entirely satisfied with our level of performance.
We unfortunately cannot please everyone all of the time.
But I am proud to say that in maintaining our relationship with business
generally, we have stuck to our terms of the contract.
I am proud to report back to this forum on commitments that we made
last year.
We are in the process of formalising a budget that continues with the
development strategy of infrastructure-led growth.
This sees us prioritising spending on maintenance upgrades and backlogs.
With a capital budget of almost R5 billion, we are well-placed to continue
in our efforts to provide the basic infrastructure that allows for a
crowding-in investment effect with the private sector.
I believe that such interventions help Cape Town maintain our competitive
advantage as a reliable provider of services in South Africa.
Last year, I promised a development agency that would make the private
sector partners in our development.
I am pleased that the private-sector led Economic Development
Partnership (EDP) is now fully operational. Bringing together business,
labour and government, it will prioritise development plans and
coordinate our efforts to build a stronger city-region economy.
If you have not joined the EDP yet, I encourage you to do so.
We have almost finalised our development plan for the next five-ears, the
Integrated Development Plan (IDP), that sees us assess delivery
according to our government’s five pillars: the Opportunity City, the Safe
City, the Caring City, the Inclusive City and the Well-run City.
With a public participation process that reached over a million people, we
have crafted a real strategy document that will lie at the heart of the
City’s management.
And of course, we continue to provide a high level of social services, the
best in the country, with the past year seeing the introduction of
innovative policies, such as providing services to backyarders, proving
that Cape Town takes the constitutional imperative of achieving both
economic and social development to new levels of understanding.
Our review of the City’s by-laws to ensure constitutional compliance will
be reported on in the coming months.
And we are making steady progress in moving from red tape to red carpet
treatment for business.
This issue, and the planning environment in general, is of such
importance that Alderman Walker has been asked to give you the full
details of our progress in her presentation as a stand-alone subject.
But we must keep the terms of our contract alive by renewing our pledge
to support business.
Our future development plans include a range of new ways of thinking
that will help us break out of the old boxes of thinking about citydevelopment in South Africa.
We have started to address development spatially and have realised that
city nodes must be invigorated to encourage development.
The Mayor’s Urban Regeneration Programme takes the lead in these
matters.
Identifying several points in the city, special task-teams have been
assigned the duties of revitalising areas to ensure that general decay and
abandon become things of the past.
This includes our unique approach to dealing with social problems
transversally, a methodology developed through the Violence Prevention
through Urban Upgrade (VPUU) programme, which is being constantly
refined.
This thinking has also allowed us to think of revitalising all business
districts throughout the city, following on the success of achievements in
the CBD.
This sees us prioritising the Vooortrekker Road Development Corridor and
starting our area action committees in a range of areas including:
Manenberg, Hanover Park, Lotus Park, Bishop Lavis, Valhala Park,
Bonteheuwel, Kuyasa, Atlantis, Athlone, Oceans View and Mitchell’s Plain
Town Centre.
Addressing decay and social problems in the Bellville area will help keep
existing businesses there and attract even more.
This will spread development investment across nodal points in the city,
between the West Coast with its private developments over the past
decade; the CBD with its clean-up over the past decade, the south-west
with increased social spending and the northern areas with a renewed
focus on urban regeneration.
Furthermore, our broadband infrastructure programme, to which we
assigned R75 million this year, is aligning with that of the province to
ensure that, without prejudicing the private sector, we will, over the next
few years, build-up extra data capacity in Cape Town that will further add
to our competitive advantage.
This roll-out should be seen as the twin of our transport system, which is
being delivered in stages to provide affordable transport for people in the
coming years in an integrated service that combines taxis, buses and
Metrorail, which may have a different relationship with the City in the
future.
I will allow Councillor Brett Herron to expand on those points.
And, as you know, planning for development also requires long-term
strategies, something that your businesses will appreciate.
That is why we are in the process of reaching the final stages of our City
Development Strategy, a combined project with the provincial
government that will map development for the next 30 years.
Many of you will have been part of the CDS process.
When it is completed, with a span of quite revolutionary thinking, we will
be happy to share it with this chamber and discuss the process of
implementation for our combined future.
I believe in the integrity of this contract and those partners who are party
to it.
We firmly believe that we need business to succeed in our city, especially
considering that city-regions are the engines of international economic
and social development.
I reaffirm our commitment to this contract and sign on for the next year.
The terms we agree to as equal partners: a responsive government and
cooperative businesses.
In conclusion, let us ensure that we all stick to the same terms, with the
deal being Cape Town’s development and success.
And let us be a business and government compact that continues to
provide an example to other South African cities.
Thank you.