CITY OF CAPE TOWN: SPEECH BY THE EXECUTIVE MAYOR ALDERMAN DAN PLATO: AT THE COUNCIL MEETING OF 09 DECEMBER 2010
Mr Speaker, Councillors, City Manager, officials, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker, the fire season is upon us again. I would firstly like to convey my deepest condolences to the families of the multiple victims of fires that have occurred over the past month. I urge residents to be especially careful during the hot summer season. We would all like to see a reduction in the unnecessary loss of life. Taking extra precautions can go a long way to ensure one's own safety and the safety of the community at large.
I am pleased to report that we have honoured the undertaking given earlier this year that Council would be able to consider a reformed Naming Policy at the final meeting of 2010. The documentation before us reveals that every opportunity to comment and craft a new policy was made available and I want to thank those who have engaged constructively. This is an extremely important milestone for Cape Town and we are confident that we will have better processes in the future.
A promise was also made to deal with the suspended process regarding certain renaming proposals. The list of 31 proposals submitted to Council over two years ago has been reduced to four names - each the name of a significant South African who deserves to be remembered in a special way. There has been no political point-scoring in this process and the DA has not put forward any name that was not presented to Council beforehand.
All of the other proposals will be referred to affected communities in terms of the new policy in the new administration. Let us now remove this football from the field in the run-up to elections in 2011 and deal with matters that materially affect the lives of every person in Cape Town.
Speaker, recent media reports of late have highlighted the fact that unless Cape Town starts making radical changes to our water consumption, we will suffer a severe crisis soon.
The City of Cape Town was the first metro in South Africa to develop and implement a comprehensive Water Conservation and Water Demand Management Strategy.
The installation of Water Management Devices is just one of several water conservation initiatives included in the strategy. The installation of the flow management devices results in a saving of about 156 000 kilolitres of water per month. This equates to R519 000 per month.
Speaker, the City implements water demand management projects on a daily basis - both technical and community-based, across Cape Town. Support and cooperation from the community is essential if these interventions are to be a success. Some of the achievements to date include:
- Pressure Management has been successfully implemented in at least 13 areas, including Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Atlantis, Belhar, Brentwood Park, Brown's Farm, Fisantekraal, Westbank, Mfuleni, Gugulethu, Delft, Langa, Pinelands, and Plumstead. Pressure reduction valves have been installed at 49 schools across Cape Town.
- 1 693 consumer meters were audited in an Automated Meter Reading Pilot project. A total of 1 775 consumer meters were fitted with automated meter-reading devices.
- Of the 22 wastewater treatment plants, nine have the capacity to extract the effluent before it enters the environment. Over 100 treated effluent users have been registered - which means that 120 Mega litres of potable water is offset every day.
- An industrial meter audit is currently underway in the Parow industrial area. A total of 220 meters will be checked, many of which are over 20 years old. Older meters tend to under-read, so audits are important. A pilot project conducted on 40 meters beforehand indicated the potential to save up to 100 000 Kl per year, which equals roughly R600 000.
- Over the last three years, a total of 20 574 consumer water meters were replaced as part of the Meter Replacement Policy; 17 998 consumer meters were relocated and fixed; and 70 652 water connection leaks were fixed.
- 160 Hlonipha Amanzi workshops were held, reaching 14 813 participants
- 341 school caretakers were trained, and leaks were repaired at 41 schools
- Council visited over 50 000 households as part of the Integrated Leaks Repair Project
- Awareness campaigns are ongoing, and focus on Water By-laws, blockages, Water Management Device, and tips for saving water
Speaker, the City of Cape Town is reaching out to struggling households, even households in arrears. If a house is valued at R200 000 or less, they will automatically qualify to have a water management device installed, and all their internal leaks fixed. If the homeowner is registered as indigent, they will also quality for an indigent grant, which is currently set at R38 per month. This grant will reflect as a credit on their account each month and can be credited to their water and sanitation account.
This means that on top of the free 350 litres a day or 6 kilolitres per month, the indigent homeowner will receive what is effectively an additional 10 kilolitres of free water per month. Once the leaks are fixed and the device installed, the water and sanitation arrears will also be written off. This system makes it easier for the homeowner to manage their future water and sanitation accounts. If more water is required, this can be arranged with the City's Finance Directorate, with the owner required to prove they can pay for the extra water.
Awareness and behaviour changes are the most powerful tools for saving one of our most precious resources: water. If all of us realised the limits of our water supply, we could contribute on a daily basis by:
- washing dishes with less water
- switching off taps
- taking shorter showers
- re-using water, and
- implementing water-wise gardens
There can be a tremendous saving on water if all Capetonians make small lifestyle changes - we can all do it.
The City will continue with its efforts, assistance, interventions and awareness programmes. Saving not only water, but other natural resources must become a way of life. Over the festive season, I appeal to all residents and visitors to appreciate the relaxation and refreshment that water provides, but to be very careful not to waste it. Water is about conserving resources, not fighting or making politics. I would like everyone to please do their bit conserve water and to assist the City in conserving water.
Speaker, as everyone in this chamber is aware, we are trying to encourage Capetonians to drink tap water. There is no reason for Capetonians to drink bottled water because the Cape Town tap water is safe, clean and healthy. Bottled water costs more, but it is not healthier or of a superior quality to our local tap water. Everyone will be receiving a water bottle today and I ask you all to fill it with only tap water and encourage foreign visitors to do the same.
Speaker, my recent visit to Singapore and China provided a valuable insight into their strategies for the provision of water and sanitation services.
As an island, Singapore has limited catchment areas, so they have managed to harness 2/3 of their land to provide water. In addition, they obtain water from mainland Malaysia and have also constructed plants for the advanced treatment of wastewater which supplies water to industry and is blended into the potable supply. A sea water desalination plant with a capacity equal to approximately 60% of Cape Town's present water demand was recently constructed and a further installation will go into production by 2012. There is universal metering of consumption with strict water demand management controls in place.
Singapore, like Cape Town, is a water-stressed city and constructive engagement took place during the visit. I am excited to see the fruits of the trip being rolled out in Cape Town over the next few years.
Speaker, climate change poses a serious challenge to our society, communities and the world. Cape Town is leading the way in moving from debate to action. Globally we have moved beyond the debate as to whether global warming is fact or fiction and we now have to move past the comforting feeling that human ingenuity and technology will save us from any significant adverse effects of climate change.
The reality is that it is too late. Even if we completely halted carbon emissions today, we would not be able to escape the legacy of carbon-rich human activity in recent years. Global mean temperatures will rise by an average of approximately two degrees within the next few decades, regardless. In the Western Cape it is predicted that we will likely experience warmer temperatures, reduced annual rainfall and an increase in the frequency and severity of storm events.
Speaker, as leaders we need to plan and implement appropriate plans to play our role in reducing our carbon emissions, adapting to the new circumstances by building a resilient city, and paying particular attention to those disadvantaged communities which are most vulnerable.
At the recent Mayors' Climate Summit held in Mexico City as part of the build up to the 16th United Nations Conference on Climate Change, the Executive Director of the Climate Change Secretariat in Bonn, stated that: "from Amsterdam and Cape Town, cities are leading the way in combating climate change and making commitments".
Cape Town has positioned itself as a leader in the Energy Efficiency and Climate Change sector over the last decade. For example, we proudly adopted the City's Energy and Climate Action Plan in June this year and we participated in the Climate Summit, where Cape Town was recognised as one of only five cities to have already made a meaningful contribution to the Mexico City Pact.
And while the outcome of the bid to host the Climate Change Convention Conference of the Parties, COP 17, next year might not be what we had hoped, the City of Cape Town will pull out all the stops to participate actively throughout the year, particularly at the convention, to underline our commitment as one of Africa's leaders in mitigating against and combating climate change.
There is significant potential for the City to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by COP 17 being hosted in South Africa - both within and outside the city. It would be desirable and beneficial for the City to be actively involved in high profile events linked to the inputs and outcomes of COP 17. "Climate Smart Cape Town 2011" is how we are going to do it. This is an innovative campaign in the making and we will learn more about it early in the new year.
Essentially the campaign will seek to bring the message of global warming, including techniques for mitigation and adaptation, to our citizens. It will outline the role they can play at home and at work. The campaign will promote and endorse important events, including "Local Climate Solutions for Africa" - a critical summit for African leaders, to be hosted in Cape Town in March.
In fact, Climate Smart Cape Town has already begun, with the Deputy Mayor's attendance at the Mayor's Climate Summit in Mexico City. At this conference, Cape Town became the first city in Africa to sign the important Mexico City Pact, committing cities to certain actions and reporting procedures in respect of their emissions.
Speaker, I am delighted that the parties are all talking to one another in an attempt to resolve the issues in Hangberg in a meaningful way. The City is supportive of the election process and I am hopeful that this matter will be resolved amicably.
Speaker, on Tuesday, the City of Cape Town once again attempted to re-install and enclose the 65 toilets in the Makhaza area, as it has offered to do for many months, and is now required to do by a court order issued by Judge Nathan Erasmus in the Western Cape High Court last week.
For the fifth time this year, members of the ANC Youth League stopped City staff and contractors from commencing with their work. They did so despite Judge Nathan Erasmus confirming to the City and their own lawyers by e-mail that the Court order requires immediate re-installation.
The ANCYL's actions, governed by their local leader Andile Lili, are in contempt of court. These actions also serve to expose their real agenda which is purely political in nature and has been since the start. They have no interest at all in the well-being of the 65 people who are currently using communal toilets in the area - residents who could have had their own toilets if it were not for the ANCYL's continued destructive political interventions.
The City's attempts to comply with the court order and to ensure the immediate return of the toilets (as well as their enclosure) was blocked by the ANCYL - who would not even allow City officials to speak to residents and hear their views. The ANCYL will not let the community speak for themselves. Residents pay the price as the ANCYL continues to drive its relentless political agenda.
Legal representatives of the parties in the matter will be preparing papers for a possible contempt of court hearing before Judge Erasmus. This hearing is likely to be early in the new year. The City is very disappointed that despite repeated efforts to install the 65 toilets we have been prevented from complying with the court order by a small group acting selfishly without care or thought for the residents in the area.
Speaker, the festive season is upon us and Cape Town welcomes all visitors to our city we are truly Africa's greatest city, ready to welcome the world.
The City of Cape Town's Sport, Recreation and Amenities Department has made every effort to ready all of its summer amenities for the upcoming festive season, with a special focus on beaches and public swimming pools. The Department launched its Summer Readiness Programme at Muizenberg Beach last week.
The Summer Readiness Programme provides a clear plan of action as the City prepares for the usual flood of residents and local and foreign visitors to its beaches, pools and resorts over the festive season.
The City services 72 beaches along Cape Town's 307 km coastline, from Silwerstroom Beach near Atlantis, to Kogel Bay. In addition, the City assists in the ad-hoc maintenance of satellite recreational areas created by the public such as the Danger and Melkbos beaches.
The City has been awarded Blue Flag Status for six of its beaches as part of the prestigious Blue Flag Programme, namely: Clifton Fourth, Muizenberg, Mnandi, Camps Bay, Bikini and Strandfontein beaches. This places the City at the top of the ranks, along with the Hibiscus Municipality which also received six Blue Flags.
Beach-friendly wheelchairs will be made available at ten City beaches this festive season. At least 3.5% of the city's residents are disabled and it is important that they enjoy easy access to Cape Town's beautiful beaches. The provision of the wheelchairs is part of the City's commitment to enhancing access to our natural resources for all of our citizens.
The City, in partnership with Lifesaving Western Province, has deployed 120 additional surf lifeguards to City beaches and swimming pools across Cape Town to ensure the safety of bathers. The partnership adds about 40 000 hours of lifeguarding services to the beaches every month, while also improving the City's Blue Flag applications.
This means that during the festive season 250 trained and accredited lifeguards will be deployed to render life-saving services at all beaches between 10:00 and 18:00 daily from 01 December 2010 to mid-January 2011 when the schools re-open.
The City is also working hard to ensure that its 37 public swimming pools are in top condition for the festive season. A total of 284 lifeguards will be on duty at the City's pools over the peak period.
Beach-goers are reminded that liquor is not allowed on any beaches along our coastline. Any person found in possession of liquor, or persons found to be intoxicated on the City's beaches, will be prosecuted.
I would like to thank all the staff that will be sacrificing time with their families to ensure the safety of all Capetonians this festive season in advance. We sincerely appreciate their commitment.
Speaker, over the past five years Province and City have each spent around R15 million on supporting minstrel events. This is more than the funding allocated to any other cultural event in the Western Cape.
The City and Province have decided to work together as one team to combine our funding and support for the minstrels this festive season, with the aim of growing minstrel events. This will make minstrel troupes more sustainable and more likely to attract sponsorship.
We will also invest in minstrel events by offering training in events management, as well as assessments in accordance with international standards and proper allocation of public funds. We want to ensure a safe and enjoyable event and establish a longer-term support framework.
The minstrels will use the same route for the 2011 road march as they did in 2009 and 2010. The route runs from Kaizergracht, Darling Street, Adderley, Wale, and as far as Bree Street due to safety and security considerations. Media reports that the march would go through the Bo-Kaap and fan walk to Cape Town Stadium were based on preliminary discussions and options that were not finalised.
The City and Province met with representatives of all Minstrels Boards and Malay and Christmas Choirs on 25 November 2010. At the meeting, a date for the march was discussed. Discussions were based on safety and security considerations, the assessment of potential risks by the South African Police Services, and potential disruption of business areas and traffic. Based on these considerations Saturday, 1 January 2011 is the most viable date for the proposed road march.
The minstrel event started small. However, in recent years, the event has grown considerably. This growth means that logistical requirements are more complex, the need for funding increases, and more stringent safety and security measures, along with additional staff, are required.
This year, 46 000 participants took part in the Tweede Nuwejaar road march, with over 100 000 spectators lining the route. Allowing this number of people to march through the narrow and confined Bo Kaap area would be a serious safety and security risk. The current rule is that only troupes who live there can march there. The Safety at Major Sports and Recreational Act, Number 2 of 2010 places more onerous responsibilities on government and this has a significant impact on event-planning and requirements.
We remain confident that, together with Province, we can work with the minstrel groups make the event even more successful, sustainable and most importantly a safe and fun day out that recognises the important role of the minstrels in Cape Town's heritage.
Speaker, the Dial-A-Ride Public Transport Service was conceptualised in 1995 as a demonstration project to provide transport services for special needs users. The initial service was implemented for the Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain areas, but the service was later expanded to cover the entire metropolitan area.
There are currently 5 000 registered users who are eligible to use this service. The current funding and investment into the service is not meeting the needs of people with disabilities who cannot use mainstream public transport. The current service is provided through a three-year service contract at a cost of R20 million per year.
As part of an assessment of the service the City is calling for a new registration period in order to update the existing Dial- a- Ride database, identify new applicants and potential users, and inform the review of the existing service. The City emphasises that the service is not being cancelled or changed. The current service and operations will continue in their present form, until there is clarity on the number of people needing the service and how the City should proceed.
In building a case for an effective Dial-a-Ride Public Transport Service, the City is looking at reviewing the current business plan by benchmarking it against international best practices and trends; aligning it with mainstream public transport networks; reviewing the fare structure; reviewing the provision for trip types; and lobbying for additional funding from our business partners and affected stakeholders.
A multi-disciplinary team with representation from the National, Provincial and City Departments of Transport, Health, Education and Social Development, and organised business and disability networks, will provide input into the process for the review and design of the new service.
The City encourages organisations representing the affected parties to participate in the upcoming processes.
Speaker, as we look back on this year, we celebrate a high point in the history of Cape Town. We hosted an incredible 2010 FIFA World CupTM. Although we were blessed with generally good winter weather and no significant crime or incidents, our success was still the result of meticulous planning, sheer hard work and the "gees" and hospitality of Capetonians. They proved that Cape Town is "Africa's greatest city" and that we were indeed "ready to welcome the world".
I acknowledge that as the Mayor of Cape Town I am both proud and subjective. It is still my considered view, however, that Cape Town was the best World Cup Host City in South Africa. What made it so? I would guess that it was the magical mix of gees-filled fans, a world-class stadium, an incredible fan walk, the FIFA Fan FestTM, the Waterfront, and wide variety of entertainment- all within a 3 km radius.
We learned so much from hosting the World Cup. It took our events experience and operational capability to a different level. Our new stadium attracted a capacity crowd for the Bafana Bafana versus the United States game, and sell-out concerts for U2 and Neil Diamond next year. We also gained R13 billion worth of new and upgraded infrastructure in the form of transport, facilities, and public spaces. Millions of viewers across the world saw our beautiful city, its people and places.
It is time to capitalise on all of that. Cape Town would be happy to bid for the Olympic Games in future, but not for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. We will deal with our service delivery priorities first, build our public transport infrastructure, and ensure our capacity to be an even more successful and desirable events capital.
We will continue to build a portfolio of sports, entertainment, arts, culture and other events, not just at the Cape Town Stadium, but at our wide variety of venues and natural locations. We will assess events in terms their contribution to our development goals as a city and legacy benefits for our residents.
We are therefore considering a bid for the World Games in 2017. This is the world event for all non-Olympic sports, although it is held under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. The first World Games were held in 1981. At the last World Games, held in Kaohsiung in Taiwan in 2009, more than 80 countries participated in 37 different sports. Around 3 400 athletes and 1460 officials took part. The event attracts considerable international media coverage. Unlike the Olympic Games, the host city is not expected to build new facilities. Existing facilities can be used or adapted to host the various sports. The formal bidding process will start in 2011.
Speaker, we are celebrating an important birthday. It is not the birthday of a Councillor, although I must wish one of our journalists in the press gallery today veels geluk. But, it is the birthday of our city in its current form.
On 04 December 2000 the Unicity was formed. Seven former administrations were combined, namely Blaauwberg, Oostenberg, Helderberg, Tygerberg, Cape Town and South Peninsula. This first decade has seen numerous changes, some difficult times and many successes, culminating in the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World CupTM.
The first major challenge was to merge the staff, functions, systems, and infrastructure of seven administrations into one. After several important milestones the vast Organisational Re-alignment Process was completed in February 2009.
We introduced new Sub-Councils, ward committees and the first municipal SCOPA.
In terms of lows we had disastrous fires destroying around 1000 homes in Joe Slovo in March 2004 and another 1500 homes in January 2005. In May 2008, xenophobic attacks saw 20 000 foreigners displaced. Towards the end of 2005, the Western Cape experienced rolling blackouts after problems at the Koeberg power station.
In terms of highs, the Cape Town International Convention Centre opened in June 2003. We opened a new Transport Management Centre, upgraded the Grand Parade and Drill Hall library, built a new stadium, urban park, and new road interchanges, renovated Greenmarket Square, and started work on an IRT system and corporate call centre.
The City Police was established which later became known as the Metro Police. Massive General Valuations were done. In 2002 the City's SAP system, the largest such municipal system in the world, went live.
Cape Town hosted the opening ceremony of the World Cup Cricket in February and March 2003 at Newlands. We watched the Olympic Torch relay through our city in June 2004, and hosted the Final Draw for the World Cup in December 2009.
The City received many travel and destination awards as well as awards for service delivery in respect of water, electricity, cleanliness and housing.
Ten years hence, Cape Town has weathered rough storms, achieved major successes and is poised for exciting things. Happy birthday, City of Cape Town!
I would like to wish all Capetonians a restful period over the festive season. I wish everyone a happy festive season and my plea is that everyone takes extra precautions during this time. And please, don't drink and drive. May you come back rejuvenated and ready to take on the new year.
Thank you.
Issued by: Communication Department, City of Cape Town, December 9 2010
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