Speech by the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Alderman
Patricia de Lille, at the full Council meeting on 29
February 2012
Mr Speaker,
Good morning, goeiedag, molweni.
Responsible and modern governments must have a vision for the future.
They must have an ideal destination – a particular society that they would
like to see realised one day as their defining goal. A strategic aim; a
motivating energy; a driving force.
They must have a vision of a better tomorrow: one in which everyone is
given the opportunity to thrive. Inspired by the potential of their people,
these governments must do all that they can to make the dream of a
better life a reality.
But we know that all dreams come from something we already know – the
building blocks of life that we put together in ways we never imagined to
make something new.
To realise our vision then, we must take stock of our past and the
experiences that we have as a people and a society. With this knowledge
in hand, we can change what we need to, replace what we must, and hold
on to all that which defines us.
This way of thinking has informed our approach to being the World Design
Capital in 2014. As an African city, we uniquely presented ourselves as a
place that still bears the mental and physical scars of Apartheid spatial
planning and social engineering.
We presented ourselves as a city that acknowledges its past and in many
ways is still challenged by it. But we also presented ourselves as a city
that knew we wanted to do more than we already are doing to change
this legacy.
This will to change is the key to our evolution from a city of the South
African past to a city of the African future and all that that future is
capable of being.
And so, we will use our designation in 2014 as the means to change our
city to that vision we have of the future.
Mr Speaker, I have had the privilege of explaining our approach to
hosting the World Design Capital this past week to stakeholders from a
range of sectors in society: from academics, to civil society, to designers,
to members of the public and beyond.
In my engagements, I explained that the City is the host to the World
Design Capital agreement and the signatory. As such, it was only right for
this Council, for the City to take the lead in these processes.
We have maintained the bid committee as a transitional arrangement but
it will be expanded as a broader steering committee that includes
academics, members of civil society, designers, and representatives from
other municipalities, amongst others, so that we have a truly broad and
inclusive team leading this process.
This Council still has to decide what the most appropriate institutional
mechanism is for handling the marketing, communications and project
management of the World Design Capital. We are exploring all options.
What we do know, however, is that as the leaders in this agreement, we
will provide the seed funding and then look for further investment from
the private sector. We will also want other sectors to get involved even if
they do not want to contribute financially.
2014 will truly be a year of all of us coming together from across society
to address our problems. 2014 will not provide solutions to everything. It
is also not the beginning of this process of change that has so far been
driven by this government.
But it is a unique opportunity for us to challenge our ways of thinking and
to explore new and innovative solutions to problems that we have already
been tackling.
We do know, however, Mr Speaker, that in as much as there is room for
dynamic solutions, there are also certain issues that we can address right
now. In so doing, we can take immediate steps towards a future we all
aspire to.
As a city government, we face the difficulty of keeping the balance
between many social pressures, business concerns, individual rights and
governmental responsibilities.
No issue represents the dramatic collision of these powerful forces coming
together more than the consumption of alcohol.
Alcohol consumption is an individual right and choice. The State does not
have a right to intervene in people’s personal lives if they are not harming
others.
However, it does have the responsibility to intervene where there is harm
and, where reasonable, put measures in place to limit the potential for
that harm.
As such, I do not believe that we should be under any illusions about the
harm that alcohol abuse causes in our society.
Half of the people who die in transport-related accidents have an elevated
blood alcohol level. There is a high correlation between alcohol and violent
deaths. 43% of firearm-related deaths are alcohol related. 54% of
assaults with a blunt object had alcohol as a factor.
In the Western Cape, substance and especially alcohol abuse are very
serious realities.
Furthermore, we have many establishments operating almost until the
sun rises in residential and mixed-zone areas, preventing inhabitants
there from getting rest and causing social disruption.
So we have consumption that causes abuse, death, traffic accidents and
social disruption.
On the other hand, we have people who do drink responsibly. We have
people who want to enjoy themselves and don’t drive themselves home.
We have citizens for whom violence is never an option, no matter how
many drinks they have had.
And we have businesses who are trying to give Cape Town the edge and
position us as a 24-hour city, where it doesn’t matter what time you
arrive here, the city is always thriving and open for business.
These are differing and competing pressures. As a government, we must
ask ourselves what we can do to satisfy them in those spheres where we
do have influence, most notably public places.
Mr Speaker, we have done just that in the Liquor By-Law Amendment
before this Council today.
This by-law is an improvement on the one passed in 2010 because
governments must always review how well their legislation is working.
They must listen to serious concerns raised and amend their plans
accordingly.
This version fixes many irregularities and inconsistencies. It allows for
champagne breakfasts. It allows for wine tasting. It allows for a range of
activities that were unnecessarily excluded in the previous version.
It regularises trade, restricting it where necessary, and the time that
trading can occur. It will allow for enforceability where there are social
disruptions and it will allow for a degree of preventing the kind of excess
that allows for abuse.
But there are also other key provisions. This By-Law makes the distinction
in trade between sale and consumption and prevents the former after
02:00 am.
However, it realises that some areas are recognised social spots with
minimal disruptive potential and thus allows for trading beyond prescribed
hours upon application and under prescribed conditions.
It is thus the synthesis of the needs of freedom, the requirements of
safety and society, the rights of individuals and the practices of business.
And, as with all of our practices and laws, it will constantly be monitored
for fairness and effectiveness.
If passed by this Council, this By-Law will take our past of trying to deal
with these issues and perhaps not quite succeeding to a new terrain of
fairness, balance and enforceability.
This is indeed a model of how we can realise the future by making the
changes that are possible now.
Mr Speaker, I am also pleased that this is an approach that we are taking
towards housing in Cape Town.
We know that in South Africa, we have a past of extreme difficulties and
shortages regarding housing. This brings with it the problem of market
distortions and the need for affordable Gap Housing. Coupled together,
we face problems of overcoming our spatial legacy and building truly
integrated communities.
Our Scottsdene Housing Project is one such example of how we are
working to build these communities.
Starting in January this year, this development in the Kraaifontein area
will create a balance of 550 RDP units; 340 Community Residential Units;
300 Open Market Rental Units; 840 Gap units; and 210 Affordable
Housing Units.
The idea behind this development is to not base housing solely on a
reliance of government funds, but to draw in the private sector to balance
the forces of the housing market as well.
In total, there will be 2 200 new houses. Half of these are to be funded
through bond finance. Low income individuals who qualify for a small loan
will be offered the units for purchase.
These units will be affordable for these individuals and their families
because of the fact that we have given a discount on the land price. The
other half is directly State-funded, of which there will be a balance
between free-hold and rental units.
This development is an example of taking the problems of our past and
transforming them into a vision of the future we want to achieve: one of a
truly Inclusive City.
And in building that inclusion, we must do all that we can to ensure that
we do not go off course back into the past.
That is why we continue with our efforts to ensure that the peace accord
in Hangberg – which has the status of an order of the High Court –
between the City, the Peace and Mediation Forum (PMF), the Provincial
Government and SANParks, is respected and maintained.
The PMF, the Provincial Government and the City meet once every two
weeks to ensure that the terms of the peace are being adhered to and
that delivery is happening.
I want to appeal again to all Councillors to respect the terms of the peace
accord and to help us implement it. In doing so, we can try and move
beyond the past that prevented Hangberg from truly being part of our
great city.
If we put our future above our political rivalries, we will build a future that
we can all enjoy.
Part of that future must be the ability to access opportunities. Especially
economic opportunities. However, while we still deal with the structural
problems of our past and build the conditions for future opportunity, we
must do what we can to provide immediate relief.
As such, I am pleased that the Mayor’s Special Job Creation Programme
has already received R9 million back from the National Government as
part of our success in creating jobs through the Expanded Public Works
Programme (EPWP).
Indeed, the total number of projects approved thus far in the City
benefitting from this programme is 188, which will create an expected 10
339 job opportunities.
But Mr Speaker, while this government has a vision of the future, such as
in our Integrated Development Programme which will soon become before
this Council, we know that our ability to see has some limits.
All governments need to see further, to have a longer view, beyond terms
of office and to what our city will be like for very different generations.
This comes in a context of cities having to plan with limited resources,
changing environmental conditions, and changing economies.
If the past few decades have taught us anything, it is that accepted
realities of development can become completely inverted. Indeed, in the
21st Century, the developing world is being led by dynamic emerging
markets to become the drivers of global economic growth.
These are exciting changes built on quick responses to gaps in the market
and ever-changing circumstances and economic factors.
They are also a measure of the success of those cities and regions that
have planned for population and other social pressures as well as thinking
about how they can maintain their economies and their people in a
sustainable manner.
Because a city can certainly experience great surges of growth but in that
surge, create the very limiting conditions that prevent future growth
because of a lack of foresight and adaptability.
As such, development thinking has grown to accommodate longer
strategic views – ones that consider a range of factors over the coming
decades and attempt to provide guidance on future big choices that have
to be made.
But by having such a strategy in place, cities can make hard budgeting,
planning and other choices to satisfy an end goal and satisfy the
imperative of governing responsibly and for the future.
As such, the City is embarking on a research process to gather inputs to
develop a City Development Strategy (CDS) for Cape Town, known as
Cape Town 2040 to form the basis of a 30-year development strategy for
the city.
It will consist of a long-term collective vision, goals and interventions. As
there is no such thing as a value-neutral vision, it will be informed by
certain initial pre-conditions, goals and ideals, such as the need to create
opportunity and inclusion for individuals to realise their full potential.
But those goals will then be part of a broader research and public
participation process with local input and inclusion from a broad range of
stakeholders in society.
We will start this process of consultation in March and will work from that
point towards a consolidated long-term vision and strategy.
This is part of our driving force, our motivating energy, our vision for
Cape Town.
We must take all inputs and experiences from our past and present and
work towards the future that we want. And in so doing, we will govern not
just with tomorrow in mind, but for all those days after tomorrow so that
our city and our people can continue to thrive and do better than the
generations that came before them.