1

Contents
Page
Abbreviations
Background and Framework
Conclusion
Sources and Municipal Websites Consulted
Annexure A: List of Agreements
Annexure B: International Trip Approval Criteria
Annexure C: International visiting delegation Template
3
4
17
18
2

Abbreviations
BRICS
CCT
DIRCO
EDP
EMT
ER & P
ER TT
GDCO
ICLEI
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa
City of Cape Town
Department of International Relations and Cooperation
Economic Development Partnership
Executive Management Team
External Relations & Protocol Unit
External Relations Task Team
Global Design Cities Organisation
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives
ICT
IDA
Information Communication and Technology
International Design Association
Mayco Mayoral Committee
OECD
SMMEs
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises
SPU
UCLG
Strategic Policy Unit
United Cities and Local Governments
USA
WCG
WDC
United States of America
Western Cape Government
World Design Capital
WESGRO The Western Cape Destination Marketing, Investment and Trade
Promotion Agency
WMBBWC World Most Beautiful Bays World Club
3

1. BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK
The Council of the City of Cape Town (CCT) approved the Strategic External
Relations Policy (hereinafter ‘the Policy’) in April 2013. It is stated in the Policy (City of Cape Town, 2013: 5) that: “The overarching outcome of the revised Strategic
External Relations Policy is to promote Cape Town as a competitive global hub for economic, social and cultural activity; one that values international connectivity as a means to facilitate job creation through private sector-led economic growth and is recognised for its open and competitive regulatory environment, which is overseen by a City administration that values cooperation and partnership to promote excellence and innovation in government.” The Policy (City of Cape Town, 2013: 6) also notes that the strategic objectives include, but are not limited to:

Attracting investment;

Promoting Cape Town businesses in South Africa and abroad;

Attracting visitors;

Attracting large strategic events;

Promoting Cape Town civic life;

Promoting the City of Cape Town as a model of excellence and innovation in government;

Gaining policy insights from other city and regional governments, and;

Shaping the social policy agenda in South Africa and abroad, particularly with regard to matters of redress, reconciliation, delivery and diversity.
The aim of this document is to provide an Implementation Framework (hereinafter
‘the Framework’) that would give life to the above-mentioned strategic objectives.
This Framework provides activities, coupled with tasks and guidelines for the City and its partners regarding how to effectively and strategically position the City globally. The Table below links the above-mentioned strategic objectives with specific activities and tasks as well as role players to implement the Policy. This is coupled with countries and regions as well as sectors, albeit not exhaustive, of where the City should ideally focus its external relations endeavours.
4

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1
– ATTRACTING INVESTMENT
Activity Tasks & Actions Timeframe Who Countries/ Regions Sectors
Foster mutually beneficial relations promote to economic growth through trade and investment by concluding bilateral, tri-lateral and multi-lateral agreements between external institutions and the City.
1
This could create new markets for Cape
Town products and simultaneously facilitate outward investment by
Cape Town based businesses.

File or propose renewal for dormant agreements.

Respond to agreement requests from other cities.

Initiate agreements with other cities.

All agreements will be considered or proposed by the ER Task Team as per the criteria for the three grades of partnerships as provided for in the Policy.

In addition, based on evidence based research, the
ER Task Team will decide which one of the five distinct types or any other types of agreement, the City will enter into.

Thus:
 ER & P Unit receives agreement request from a specific city or renewal/ initiation proposal from
Task Team;
 Research as informed by criteria is conducted;
 Assessment is drafted recommending to Task
Team whether to renew
(dormant or expiring

On-going
1 Also see Annexure A for a list of the City’s current Agreements

ER & P Unit

ER Task Team

Executive Mayor

Strategic Policy Unit
(SPU)

Legal Services

DIRCO

Partner Cities

Capital rich cities such as Shanghai
(China), Singapore
(Asia), and Kuala
Lumpur (Malaysia) in
Asia and Dubai in the
Middle East.

Dynamic, developing
African cities such as
Lagos & Abuja
(Nigeria) and Accra
(Ghana) in the West;
Nairobi (Kenya) and
Kigali (Rwanda) in the
East; Luanda
(Angola) & Maputo
(Mozambique) in the
South, and Rabat
(Morocco) & Tunis
(Tunisia) in the North.
These are the new investment locations and centres of innovation that are inspiring the next phase of exponential growth in Africa.

Business & Financial
Services

Gas & Oil

Arts & Culture

ICT & Broadband

Tourism & Events

Sport

Finance

Agri-processing

Transport

Education & Skills

Aquaculture

Green Industries

Health services

Rural development

Infrastructure, including corporate head offices

Governance
5

agreement); accept
(agreement request from a city), or proceed to initiate (new agreement with a particular city);
 Task Team makes a decision, which in turn guides ER & P Unit to respond or proceed in accordance;
 If agreement request is declined or dormant and expiring agreement is not renewed, the ER Unit drafts a letter for the
Executive Mayor’s signature and is forwarded to partner city in question;
 If agreement is renewed; agreement accepted; request agreement proposal approved by
Task Team, (i) an agreement is drafted; (ii)
Both the SPU and Legal
Services as well as the
Department of
International Relations and Co-operation
(DIRCO) are consulted for their inputs; (iii) draft agreement is forwarded to partner city awaiting
 their response.
Once all parties concerned are satisfied, the agreement is signed and enacted.

Mid-size cities such as Curitiba (Brazil);
Qingdao & Hangzhou
(China); Monterrey
(Mexico); Ahmedabad
(India), Jakarta
(Indonesia); Hanoi
(Vietnam), and
Houston (USA) with a comparable policy context.

Cities with similar approaches with regard to climate change mitigation, such as Izmir
(Turkey) and New
York (USA).
6

 Agreement is shared with
DIRCO.
 Agreement is loaded on
ER website.
 ER Unit to ensure that agreement is adhered to.
 Agreement to be proposed for renewal or cancellation at least six months before it expires.
7

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2
– PROMOTING CAPE TOWN BUSINESS
Activity Tasks & Actions
Leverage current relationships and build new ones by promoting
Cape Town business by (i) maintain or enter into new agreements and
(ii) embarking on international visits. These serve as specific and important mechanisms for inter-municipal relations.

With regards to agreements, see tasks as listed under
Strategic Objective 1.

Pertaining to international visits:
 Receive invitations, and if strategically aligned with the
City’s objectives, accept.
 Strategically choose through our existing platforms (e.g. agreements and BRICS), coupled with a strong African and both North and South
American focus by focusing on regional synergies, the destinations for these trips.
 Add destination(s) to Mayoral international trip schedule.
 Draft background briefing document for Mayor’s ease of reference.
 Manager: ER & P to discuss destination(s).
 Mayor indicates willingness to travel or nominate relevant official to attend on Mayor’s behalf and event organiser and/or destination city is notified accordingly.
Timeframe Who Countries/ Regions Sectors

On-going

Executive Mayor

Deputy Mayor

Mayco Members

Councillors

Executive
Management Team

ER Task Team

SPU

ER Unit

Economic
Development
Partnership (EDP)

Wesgro

Cape Chamber of
Commerce

Cape Tourism

Cape Town-based businesses

DIRCO

Diplomatic Corps

Specialist hubs (i.e. mid-size cities with populations between
1-5 million) whose growth is linked to development natural of resources and/or industrial hubs, where new markets for Cape
Town products could be established.
Examples
Aguascalientes are:
(Mexico); Ahmedabad and Hyderabad
(India); Recife
(Brazil), and Wenling
(China)

Cities with markets for Cape Town products, such as
Hong Kong and Delhi
(India) for ICT &
Broadband; Izmir
(Turkey) for organic agricultural products;
Shandong Province
(China) for wine and
Bavaria region in
Germany renewable initiatives. for energy

Oil & Gas

Green Industries

Financial & Business
Services

Petroleum

ICT & Broadband

Agriculture

Aquaculture

Viticulture

Small, Medium and
Micro-sized Enterprises
(SMMEs)

Hospitality

Medical technology

Tourism and Events
8

 International trip approval criteria are populated and approved.
2
 DIRCO is notified of intended international visit and applicable country report is requested from DIRCO.
 Travel; accommodation, and land transport arrangements are made.
 Itinerary is drafted and discussed with Mayor.
 Extensive briefing documentation is prepared by the ER & P Unit in consultation with the SPU, for the Mayor and her delegation or official as nominated by
 the Mayor.
Mayor and Mayor’s delegation embark on international visit.
 Upon return, an International
Trip Report is completed and sent for the Mayor’s attention and approval within two weeks.
 Mayor:
 Approves Report and it is loaded on ER website OR
 Disapproves Report
2 Also see Annexure B for the international trip approval criteria.
9

 and request amendments where after Report is submitted again; approved and loaded on ER website.
Follow Ups are conducted as per the
Mayor’s, coupled with the
ER Task Team’s instructions.
10

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3
– ATTRACTING VISITORS
Activity Tasks & Actions Timeframe Who Countries/ Regions
Showcase Cape
Town by (i) producing promotional material, (ii) creating social media platforms , and
(iii) hosting a
Mayor ’s Mayors of the World
International
Conference .

Produce a DVD showcasing
Cape Town as an example of good governance as well as an attractive destination for tourists.

Create awareness of the
City’s External Relations via profiles on social media platforms such as Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, and
Instagram.
 Organise and host a Mayor’s
Mayors of the World
International Conference focusing on Design to ensure alignment with Cape Town being the 2014 World Design
Capital (WDC).

Promotional
Material:
August
November
-
2013

Social Media
Platforms:
August
November
-
2013

Conference:
November
2014

Executive Mayor

Deputy Mayor

Mayco Members

Councillors

Executive
Management Team

ER Task Team

SPU

ER Unit

Destination

Marketing
Branding
Communications and
Unit

World
Capital Unit

Economic
Design
Development
Partnership (EDP)

Wesgro

Cape Chamber of
Commerce

Cape Tourism

Cape Town-based businesses

Globally
Sectors

Governance

Design and Architecture

Business Services

Arts & Culture

Tourism

Sport

Marketing

Real Estate

Education

Hospitality
11

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 4
– ATTRACTING LARGE STRATEGIC EVENTS
Activity Tasks & Actions Timeframe Who Countries/ Regions Sectors
Showcase Cape
Town as an important gateway and service hub into
Africa by inviting and hosting international visiting delegations who in turn could aid in attracting large strategic events to
Cape Town. In addition, undertake international visits; establish partnership agreements and produce promotional material. (See
Annexure C for the template for completion by international visiting delegations)

See Strategic Objectives 1-3 for tasks related to international visits; agreements and the production of promotional material.

Pertaining to visiting delegations:

Respond to requests for, or initiate visits by international delegation.

Ascertain how the visit will be aligned to the City’s strategic intent.

Send international visiting delegation form to prospective visitors.

Arrange and plan programme based on information as provided on the above-mentioned form.

Notify the applicable Embassy in
Cape Town of the impending visit.

Request Mayor to meet with delegation.

Assist visiting delegation with any ground transport, if requested.

Host delegation and highlight, amongst others, the City’s capability to host big events.

Strategic follow ups as per required and/or per the Mayor’s instructions.

On-going

Executive &
Deputy Mayor

Mayco
Members

Councillors

EMT

ER Task
Team

SPU

ER Unit

Destination
Marketing

Branding and
Communicatio ns Unit

EDP

Wesgro

Cape
Chamber of
Commerce

Cape Tourism

Cape Townbased businesses

WCG

Globally, however as informed by the strategic objectives noted above and in the Policy.

Conferences

Trade shows

Trade missions

Exhibitions

Sport Events

Marketing

Governance

Business Services

Arts & Culture
12

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 5
– PROMOTING CAPE TOWN CIVIC LIFE
Activity Tasks & Actions Timeframe
Promote Cape
Town civic life by exposing the
City’s officials and its people to civic and similar networks through memberships of international associations.
Also, these associations provide crucial networking opportunities enabling the City and its people to keep abreast of technical, professional and international trends in local government.

Initiate memberships or assessed membership invitations by considering the factors as highlighted in the

Policy.
Once a proposed membership has been deemed acceptable in terms of these factors, the membership is proposed to the ER Task Team.

If approved by the ER Task
Team, an official application letter is drafted for Mayor’s signature.

Signed application letter is emailed, faxed and sent via
 the post.
Once membership is confirmed, City officials and sport and arts & culture institutions and initiatives will be encouraged to represent the City at the activities of these International
Associations.

On-going
Who Associations Sectors

Executive Mayor

Deputy Mayor

ER Task Team

ER & P Unit

SPU

Executive
Management Team

City officials and people as per the
Mayor and/or ER
Task Team’s discretion

Sport institutions
(e.g. teams)

Arts & Culture initiatives

Will include, but are not limited to:
 Global Design Cities
Organisation (GDCO)
 United Cities and
Local Governments
(UCLG)
 International Council for Local
Environmental
Initiatives (ICLEI) –
Local Governments for Sustainability
(LOCS)
 World Most Beautiful
Bays World Club
(WMBBWC)
 International Design
Alliance (IDA)

Sports associations

Arts & Culture associations

City Design

Sustainable governance

Sustainable Urban infrastructure solutions

Preservation of bays and oceans

Design and Architecture

Sport

Arts & Culture
13

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 6
– PROMOTING CAPE TOWN AS A MODEL OF EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION IN GOVERNMENT
Activity Tasks & Actions Timeframe
Promote the City as a leading city with respect to governance and innovation exposing potential by its and strengths through (i) agreements; (ii) international visits; promotional
(iii) activities material; hosting international and
(iv) delegations; (v) memberships of international associations, and (vi) accepting awards honours. and

See tasks for activities (i) through to (v) above.

With regards to accepting awards and honours; Once notification of award/ honour has been received:
 The international standing and prestige of the award/ honour will be investigated;
 The cost implications of accepting the award/ honour will be investigated. The City will disregard any award/ honour if the City has to pay for it.
 The Mayor will have full discretion and the final say whether an award/ honour will be accepted or not.
 The organisation conferring the award/ honour will be notified in writing of the City’s decision.
 If accepted, the same tasks apply as in the case of international visits.

On-going
Who Countries/ Regions Sectors

Executive Mayor

Deputy Mayor

Mayco members

Councillors

Executive
Management Team

Globally, specifically but where there are examples of international best practices and excellence. For example, Singapore in terms of strategic planning and e-
Government;
Qingdao (China) for
Good Governance, and; Izmir (Turkey) for Institutional capacity enhancement.

(e)-Governance

Innovation

Policy Research

Strategic Planning

Good Governance

Institutional capacity enhancement
14

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 7 - GAINING POLICY INSIGHTS FROM OTHER CITY AND REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS
Activity Tasks & Actions Timeframe
Encourage and maintain learning and external strategic cooperation through consultation, exchanges and participation by means of (i) agreements; (ii) international visits; (iii) hosting international delegations; (iv) memberships of international associations; (v) clearly focused study tours/ policy learning trips , and (vi) information, research knowledge sharing .
and

See tasks for activities (i) through to (iv) above.

With regards to study tours/ policy learning trips:

Return on investment and human capital development should be at the fore when deciding on study tours/ policy learning trips.

The above-mentioned tasks for international visits are also applicable/ to be followed.

On-going
Who Countries/ Regions Policy Learning Areas

Other city and regional governments as per their expertise in relation to the strategic objectives as identified in the
Policy

Consulates based in
Cape Town

International institutions (e.g.
OECD)

Think tanks (e.g.
Brookings
Institution)

Globally, but preferably mid-size cities such as Curitiba
(Brazil); Qingdao &
Hangzhou (China);
Monterrey (Mexico);
Ahmedabad (India),
Jakarta (Indonesia);
Hanoi (Vietnam), and
Houston (USA) where the policy context is comparable and the policy lessons are easier transferable.

Investment

Business services

Tourism

Events & Entertainment

Civic Life

Good governance

Policy Research

Policy Agenda Setting

Policy Making
15

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 8
– SHAPING THE POLICY AGENDA IN SOUTH AFRICA AND ABROAD
Activity Tasks & Actions Timeframe
The City’s external relations should have a direct bearing on its economic, social technological and development.
Interactions through all the activities mentioned in this
Framework could ultimately shape the City’s policy agenda and direction, which could aid the City in its quest to improve people’s quality of life.

See tasks as mentioned above for all the other strategic objectives

On-going
Who

Executive Mayor

Deputy Mayor

Mayco members

Councillors

SPU
Countries/ Regions Policy Learning Area

Globally, as insight is acquired by undertaking international visits, study tours and hosting delegations. visiting
However, cities such as Kigali (Rwanda) and Nairobi (Kenya) with similar histories with regards to diversity, reconciliation and redress and how to ensure good service delivery against this background, would be good starting points.
In addition, New York
City (USA) with its immense cosmopolitan community could also aid in terms of lessons in diversity.

Policy agenda setting

Policy Making

Redress

Reconciliation

Diversity

Service Delivery
16

2. CONCLUSION
The Policy is long term in nature and its implementation should be a coordinated effort, requiring the commitment and collaboration of a range of stakeholders. In addition, both the Policy and its Implementation Framework are subject to regular performance measurement and review practices that will further seek to ensure complementarity with both provincial and national strategies. For this reason, the countries/ regions and sectors identified in this Framework provide possible, although not exhaustive, examples, which should be amended as circumstances change to ensure that those chosen are strategic and add value to the endeavours of the City. This will require continuous research to stay abreast of the dynamics of proposed and chosen countries/ regions and sectors as well as international associations.
17

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22