July 4, 2013
Speech at the opening of the Industrial Showcase
Good morning
Ladies and gentlemen
Welcome to all, and especially to those who are visitors to Cape
Town.
Here in Cape Town, we mean business.
We mean to build an Opportunity City by creating an economic
enabling environment in which investments grow.
We mean to redress past imbalances and give people the
dignity that comes with having a job.
We mean to create an environment that allows the people that
call our City home, the chance to reach their full potential.
In doing this; we mean to build an even greater City.
Of course, we cannot, as things stand, change National
Government policies that sometimes strangle investments and
economic growth.
And so we have to do what we can, with what we have, right
now.
Large investments are an unlikely possibility in cities that are
seen as wasteful or corrupt. Any efforts to create economic
opportunity must have their foundation in clean and efficient
governance.
The City of Cape Town this past year, received its 8th
unqualified audit. This is unprecedented in a South African
Metro and points to the high level of financial management in
this City.
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This sound financial management helps us to ensure that the
lights remain on and the water is running – something that is
essential to creating and growing business.
So, why should business want to come on board with us – as
we set about making this great City, even greater? Well, we
have gone to great lengths to find out what spurs business on
and what frustrates it – and are working hard to respond to
these findings.
We have an approach to building a platform for economic
growth, of which the key legs are infrastructure, efficient
regulation and working institutions.
Over the past five years, the City has invested R20 billion in
infrastructure, focussed most heavily on that required for
economic growth – electricity distribution, water, sanitation,
waste disposal, roads and public transport.
We have learnt that red tape, and the delays that this brings, is
a major deterrent to investors who want to get ‘stuck right in’
to the projects they have invested in without having to be
shafted from pillar to post by the municipality.
Whether it be acquiring a business licence or acquiring business
premises and the associated applications for zoning, approval
of building plans and compliance with OHS standards, getting
all the I’s dotted and t’s crossed can be a real pain in the
proverbial!
And so, as any good municipality that is open for business
should do, we have put in place a number of initiatives to
streamline the process for potential investors.
These red tape reforms include a combination of small simple
changes to the process and longer-term strategic reforms.
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We have collapsed 27 old and complicated zoning schemes into
one single, modernised scheme, with simplified and consistent
rules across the entire metro.
So where once you and your planning or legal departments
might have had to contend with 1507 pages of regulations,
we’ve trimmed it down to 185.
The City of Cape Town is currently in the process of drafting a
new Municipal Planning By-law. One of the principles adhered
to in the drafting of this law is that procedures must be
streamlined and red tape minimised.
This by-law will aim to improve enforcement mechanisms and
to resolve issues relating to the imposition of development
contributions. The City is looking at ways to speed up
applications whilst at the same time ensuring that everyone
has a reasonable opportunity to influence the process.
The City’s Spatial Development Framework has been approved.
With the approval of the Cape Town SDF, property developers
will no longer need to apply for time-consuming ‘Guide Plan’
amendments.
They will be able to make better investment decisions as the
Cape Town SDF indicates very clearly where urban
development should take place and where it should not. It also
proposes a phasing of development that will support the
efficient roll-out of infrastructure, services and social facilities.
There are a number of policies which have been developed or
reviewed to ensure that decision making is adequately
supported: Some examples include the Urbanisation policy, the
densification policy, tall buildings, sky bridges, pedestrian
bridges, Outdoor Advertising Policy, Informal Trading Policy,
Incentives Policy, SME Business Support Policy. As you can see
they range from large scale to the very specific – but each are
important in guiding how quickly and efficiently applications
can be processed.
We are currently developing an electronic plan approval
system. Electronic plan passing and permitting forms an
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important part of this drive towards greater efficiency in the
City’s regulatory processes.
An electronic application system will yield many efficiency
benefits. Applications will be able to be sent to various
departments simultaneously instead of the current linear
system which will speed up turnaround time considerably. Also,
applicants will be able to track their applications online.
A fully electronic system which includes all relevant
departments will allow for bottlenecks to be better managed.
Currently, it is difficult to assess where an application is being
held up, as applications are passing through a range of
departments. An online system will have an in built tracking
system which will allow for the monitoring of performance by a
department.
Another, already operational, initiative of our ‘red tape to red
carpet’ approach is the Integrated Spatial Information System.
This is an integrated property data management system that
allows the City to better manage the transactions relating to
the various properties located within the municipal area.
ISIS integrates the City's property information and property
records management systems into one system, in order to
improve the reliability of property data and streamline the
different systems which were previously used to capture, store,
maintain, disseminate and manage information about all
properties in Cape Town.
Part of the data clean-up in this system enabled us to reduce
the number of accounts posted from 1.6 million per month to
just under 1 million per month. Our e-portal is operational and
customers can choose to have their bills emailed to them and
register to access their billing history.
The City is also engaged in the development and
implementation of overarching strategies and policies to
promote and facilitate major and strategic projects. The City
has a Development Facilitation Unit which facilitates and
coordinates major projects.
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This Unit promotes major developments on Council-owned land
and markets and promotes the City as a desirable investment
location for property development projects in partnership with
the private sector.
Whilst creating an environment that encourages investors to
the City is important, we believe it is equally important to
support entrepreneurs as much as we are able.
In doing so, we contribute to making someone’s business
dreams come true, encourage the creation of jobs now, and
support our big investors of the future!
The City of Cape Town hosts the Telkom Entrepreneurial week
annually during which start-ups can network and get guidance
on the challenges they face.
The City has also ensured that in all our libraries, free internet
access is available so that young entrepreneurs can be
competitive in this digital, fast-paced business climate we are
in.
In the longer term, Cape Town and the Western Cape
Government have various programmes in place to ensure
better access to Information and Communications Technology.
In addition to facilitating the private sector networks, the City
has in the process of rolling out a city-owned fibre network.
The complete Broadband infrastructure project has a projected
cost of R1.2 billion.
To-date, some 300 km of fibre are operational. The installed
network covers our city core business zone from Green Point to
Bellville, and also extends from Atlantis to Khayelitsha and
Mitchells Plain. Investment in broadband infrastructure will
help drive economic development, especially in previously
disadvantaged areas. The City is in discussion with a range of
private ISPs and businesses to provide services to the public
over the city network. We are investigating a Wi-Fi mesh
network for Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha and hope to have
that operational within a year.
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The Cape Town Activa initiative, which is supported by the City,
promotes a multi-stakeholder network which will make it easy
for entrepreneurs and individuals seeking employment support
to navigate and make use of the services and access resources
from public and private support organizations while also
bridging the gaps in service provision. In this regard work is
well advanced on our interactive Portal which will not only
provide a central source of information, self-help tools,
integrated events, competitions and training calendar, and so
forth but also on concluding shared service agreements to
establish contact points and programmes across the City with
partner organisations such as The Business Place Philippi and
the Raymond Ackerman Academy.
We know that to be a City that is truly open for business,
efficient and affordable public transport is essential in order for
people to access the economic opportunities that you create for
them.
Cape Town is a sprawling city, with low densities, which do not
always support efficient public transport. The city has adopted
a policy of densification and has implemented a system of
dedicated bus lanes.
In addition, it is in the process of establishing its own Transport
Authority. This authority will manage an efficient and effective
public transport network with a “one ticket, one public
transport network” motto; a first for South Africa. Various
routes have been added to the MyCiti bus routes, and the
services from Atlantis and Mamre to the City centre will be
operational soon, with feeder services within Atlantis and Table
View. There are local feeder services within the City Bowl area,
extending as far as Salt River. This service will also extend
along the Atlantic Seaboard to Hout Bay. We will also soon see
the N2 express route added that will link Khayelitsha and
Mitchells Plain with the Civic Centre station.
As part of our redress programme, we want to grow
investments in areas that previously were marginalised. This
area based approach to economic development allows us to
delve into what makes these areas tick – what is there
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comparative advantage – how can we unlock the potential that
is already there and attract the right kind of economic activity
to these areas.
The Khayelitsha Community Trust for instance was established
by the City in 2003 to facilitate the development of the
Khayelitsha CBD through the establishment of commercial,
residential and community facilities in the area that would
benefit the broader Khayelitsha community.
The City funds the administrative requirements of the KCT. And
we have agreed to make City-owned land available to the Trust
so that they might use it for development of the Khayelitsha
Business District.
The KCT has proved very successful with such projects as a
McDonald’s to move into the area and negotiating the building
of a private hospital.
The Atlantis area, situated about 30 kilometres from Cape
Town is an area that the City wants to encourage investors to
consider. We are offering financial incentives such as holding
time-of-use electricity tariffs at last year’s levels. In other
words, there have been no increase in this financial year for
time-of-use electricity tariffs in Atlantis Industria.
Synergy Income Fund Limited has recently announced it will
acquire the Atlantis Shopping Centre on the West Coast, for
approximately R334m. This acquisition complements the City's
initiatives designed to boost this region.
It is this kind of initiative and attention from all sectors that will
see areas like Atlantis, once economically neglected, receiving
financial injections and increasing employment in the area.
Many have commented that, even though we are just coming
out of difficult economic times, the construction activity around
the City is noticeable.
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This gives us confidence that the streamlining of our processes
and our sound government principles and policies are already
paying off.
We have an open door policy – and a desire to cater to your
specific needs rather than have a ‘one size fits all’ approach.
That is why the Mayor will soon be appointing an Investment
Facilitator in her office who will drive major applications
through the administration on behalf of the Mayor.
I urge you all to make use of this, and the other initiatives that
the City has put in place as we welcome you to Cape Town –
the business destination.
Thank you.