SPEECH BY THE CITY’S ACTING EXECUTIVE MAYOR, ALDERMAN IAN NEILSON, AT THE COUNCIL MEETING ON 28 JANUARY 2016

28 JANUARY 2016

Mr Speaker,

I request that we have a moment of silence to remember those who have died in the Cape Town fires over the past two months.

For Bulelakile Ganta, a member of our Law Enforcement Department, and Zisanda Canca, a member of our Public Emergency Communication Centre, who died on 25 December 2015 while travelling home from their shifts.

I also call for a moment of silence for Councillor John Heuvel who died on 14 December 2015.

Good morning Mr Speaker, all Councillors and Aldermen, and to the visitors in the gallery.

I trust that you have used the Council recess period to prepare for and to focus on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in 2016.

Let us work in a constructive, dedicated and accountable manner to ensure that we make progress possible for all of our residents. Let the political importance of this year pale in comparison to our duty to deliver quality services and improve the lives of all our residents.

Although this is the first Council sitting for the year, our City directorates have continued to work non-stop to deliver basic and other essential services to our residents. Thank you to all our staff who worked tirelessly to keep the City functioning and safe while many people were on holiday.

I would especially like to thank the Fire and Rescue Service, our Human Settlements and Utility Services Directorates, our law enforcement agencies, and all of our volunteers and organisations who assisted over the past two months with the devastating fires that were experienced in some of our informal settlements and also with the large vegetation fires which occurred across the city.

The heartache and destruction caused by the fires in Masiphumelele informal settlement and others must remain the daily inspiration behind our efforts to upgrade our informal settlements and to embark on a new approach where innovation and partnerships are vital to transforming the sphere of human settlements delivery.

Despite the highest rate of urbanisation in the country, we are ready to take on this challenge.

Mr Speaker,

We have driven a vision of development of this city these past five years, some of the immediate outcomes of which are reflected in our 2014/15 Annual Report, which we are tabling today. The report chronicles many successes as we drive our vision of transformation of the City away from the apartheid land use model we inherited.

We have a positive growth model that focused on transport-oriented development in our transport corridors, matched with positive action to achieve redress, that will provide the physical means to transform Cape Town into a modern city for a modern era.

Furthermore, we have a range of strategies that deepen our ability to build a more sustainable city.

We are already regarded as a world leader for our climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts. The City has adopted energy and carbon emissions targets which pave the way for the implementation of a long-term Energy 2040 Goal.

These targets form part of the City's compliance with the International Compact of Mayors which requires that the City establish new carbon emissions targets. We were among the first to meet the Compact of Mayors requirements.

We are committed to conserving and managing our unique biodiversity and to using our scarce resources in a more sustainable manner.

For example, since the start of the traffic and street lighting retrofit programme, all 1 500 traffic lights in Cape Town have been replaced with more environmentally friendly  light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs and more than 25 200 streetlights have been retrofitted with more efficient high-pressure sodium lights.

Mr Speaker,

Due to the drought conditions, Level 2 water restrictions were implemented at the start of January. I call on all Capetonians to help us to manage the use of our most important resource during these testing conditions.

Through partnership with our residents and the implementation of the water conservation and water demand management strategy in 2007, the annual water demand is now growing at an average of 1,8% instead of the nearly 4% recorded in the period prior to 2001.

The City has managed to keep its overall water loss down to 15%. This is lower than all other metros in the country, which maintain a combined average water loss of up to 30%.

This achievement of lower water demand growth and loss reduction has enabled us to continue to supply water to our people despite the more than 30% increase in population in Cape Town since 2001.

The fact is: we are getting the basics right.

And we have been working hard to get it right for a decade.

Over the past five years alone, R22 billion has been invested in infrastructure, of which R9 billion was through our own cash flow, which shows the strong and sustainable financial status of the City.

We adhere to the National Treasury guidelines that around 40% of our capex is spent on the refurbishment of existing infrastructure. In addition to that, we now spend R3,8 billion a year on repairs and maintenance.

The results of this investment are: water supplied to all; good road surfaces; few potholes, which are fixed within 72 hours of reporting; street lights that work; and traffic lights that work or are repaired quickly.

We have reliable power and water supplies – in general, water and sanitation provision to our informal residential areas surpasses national benchmarks.

During the 2014/15 financial year, we received our 12th unqualified audit opinion from the Auditor-General and our third clean audit on legal compliance and reporting on predetermined objectives.

We are getting the basics right because we have in place an accountable and progressive political and administrative leadership that actively clamps down on corruption; we have focused on the acquisition of necessary and scarce skills; and we have pushed infrastructure-led growth and have put in place measures to create the enabling environment which is needed for business and investment to grow and for job creation to be unlocked.

Being a well-run city, free of corruption, is the greatest homage that we can pay to our residents. Only by being well-run, can we be a caring, safe, opportunity and inclusive city.

After more than a decade of hard work to get the basics right, we are ready to step up our efforts to address the deeper structural challenges that face our city, such as the legacy of apartheid-era spatial planning.

We have a long way to go but we are determined to face these challenges head-on.

As such, our densification and transport-oriented development strategies are increasingly becoming our foremost consideration when looking at our city over the next decades. We have to ensure that residential opportunities are built along the main transport routes and that economic opportunities exist close to residential areas.

We also continue to roll out a world-class, affordable public transport system to ensure that all of the people of Cape Town have access to opportunities and are included in the economy.

Making this city attractive to investors is key to achieving the social and economic stability, redress and sustainability that we seek.

Only with large-scale foreign and domestic business investments can we see the kind of job creation that we need to make our city South Africa’s best good-news story.

In 2007, the City began working on the first phase of an Integrated Rapid Transit system in Cape Town, aimed at significantly improving public transport in the city, and the MyCiTi service was rolled out in May 2010.

We have rolled out 28 routes, 36 stations and more than 500 bus stops, while more than 190 peak buses transport over 46 600 passengers every week day. Over 30 million passenger journeys have been recorded since the inception of the MyCiTi service.

Furthermore, we have made considerable progress in the roll-out of what will eventually be an estimated R1,3 billion multi-year infrastructure investment programme to establish a broadband network across the city. We have already installed more than 650 km of fibre-optic cable in the City’s own network. We will continue to invest in the infrastructure that is necessary to increase the competitiveness of our city and which links our previously disadvantaged residents to the opportunities that technology and innovation bring.

During the year in review, we provided almost 8 500 housing opportunities as a means to enable redress and empowerment of our more vulnerable residents. The housing need, however, dictates that a business-as-usual approach can no longer be afforded and we are ready to take our housing delivery model to the next level.

As at the end of June, we had transferred more than 14 100 historic title deeds to previously disadvantaged residents since dedicated measures to eradicate the backlogs with title deed transfers were put in place in 2012.

In addition, more than 99% of our informal settlements received a door-to-door refuse collection service, while almost 950 additional taps and 3 090 toilets were provided during the 2014/15 financial year.

In the same year, we installed nearly 5 100 electricity connections. The City is also funding 20 000 Eskom electricity connections in informal settlements and emergency accommodation areas.

Our Safety and Security Directorate remains key to our commitment to being a safe city. Our investment in infrastructure and staff training is yielding good results.

In 2006, the number of operational staff was 1 890. Today, we stand at 2 485 permanent staff members, assisted by hundreds of contract workers, volunteers and reservists, which means that our safety and security complement is approximately 3 500 strong.

We have also invested more than R130 million in the City’s Fire and Rescue Service over the last 10 years.

During the 2014/15 financial year, 83% of emergency incidents were responded to within 14 minutesfrom the initial call.

We have started rolling out roaming safety kiosks in communities such as Hanover Park, Manenberg, Grassy Park, Delft, Mitchells Plain and Tafelsig.

Our Metro Police CCTV Unit monitors feeds from more than 560 CCTV cameras in total.

Our Ceasefire Programme has delivered a steady decrease in the number of gang-related murders and attempted murders in Hanover Park.

Furthermore, 6 943 inspections were conducted to clamp down on the illegal drug and alcohol trade, while the Metals Theft Unit conducted 4 762 inspections at scrap metal dealers.

The Traffic Services Department issued more than 1,9 million traffic fines.

As with all of our operations, success can only be achieved through the cooperation and support of members of the public.

Our Mayoral Urban Regeneration Programme, which aims to to uplift formerly neglected under-invested areas which are regressing rapidly, is also yielding good results.

For instance, since the start of the programme, 17 capital projects have been implemented to the value of approximately R100 million in Harare, Khayelitsha, while the Mitchells Plain Town Centre upgrade has entailed investment of approximately R200 million.

To cater for our most vulnerable residents, we have doubled our interventions to assist street people, while more than 1 820 new clients were screened at our substance abuse outpatient treatment centres during the year in review.

Furthermore, City Health has achieved a cure rate of 81% for new smear-positive tuberculosis and its health practitioners made more than 14 000 visits to informal settlements during the year in review.

As part of our commitment to being a more inclusive city, we sustained Blue Flag Status for eight Cape Town beaches and opened a newly upgraded smart park in Khayelitsha during the 2014/15 financial year.

As at 30 June 2015, we had installed 124 FreeCall lines, while our call centre answered almost 900 000 calls.

In addition, over the past few years, we have invested more than R250 million in 68 public spaces in an effort to create inclusive, community-friendly spaces – especially in areas characterised by apartheid-era low or no investment.

Mr Speaker,

Cape Town’s Adjustments Budget, which will be tabled today, again demonstrates our commitment to service delivery, sound financial management, and the balanced and dynamic approach that is required from government to ensure a sustainable city.

Our financial prudence and zero-tolerance approach to corruption means that we can achieve top levels of service delivery.

As its parent entity, we are today also tabling the Annual Report for the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). The CTICC has delivered an exceptional performance in the 2014/15 financial year. In fact, it is the best financial performance in its 12-year history with a year-on-year near doubling of its net profit from R24,5 million to R42 million. In addition, the CTICC has delivered its highest economic contribution, adding R3,4 billion to the GDP and R3,1 billion to the GGP while sustaining a record 8 058 direct and indirect jobs.

This achievement is no accident. It is the result of hard work and careful governance and I thank all involved for making these results possible.

Mr Speaker,

This city is growing and if you look at the value of building plans completed in Cape Town in the third quarter of last year, our residents have confidence in their city. During this quarter, the value of building plans grew by 77% year-on-year, amounting to R3,9 billion. This accounted for 26% of the total value of building plans completed in South Africa’s larger municipalities.

But our city is not immune to the economic, social and political problems of South Africa, the low and negative citizen and investment mood, and the uncertainty about the future.

Added to this, it is an election year. We can already see how public sentiment and narratives are being moulded for short-term political gain. We should, however, remember that our politically-instigated actions will hold great and enduring consequences for our city and for our country. We must build South Africa together and we cannot allow a few months of election politics to set us back for decades and to break down what we have achieved already.

Let us drown out the political noise of the coming months and really listen to each other in a constructive and reconciliatory manner.

Above all, let’s remember that the people of Cape Town are our foremost responsibility.

We fought to overcome apartheid.  But it is in many ways still with us today, not only in the physical land use form that I discussed earlier, but also unfortunately in the attitudes of many of those who live among us.

Racism surrounds us and demeans and divides us all.

But the majority have taken a journey away from the past and towards racial conciliation.

It is time to close this wound. We cannot just ignore those who spew racial hate and prejudice. They do not speak for us and we will challenge them at every turn.

Reconciliation is never an easy road. Those who do not want reconciliation to succeed are many, because they have an investment in racial struggle and want to milk the benefits of racial discord to promote their politics.

But we will not stand by and let them do so. We will build a society where people know their rights and stand up for them, where they can pursue the future of their dreams.

The members of the DA caucus in this Council have signed an anti-racism pledge, which reads:

‘I pledge to uphold the values of the Constitution, to cherish its vision for a united, non-racial, democratic South Africa, and to nourish this vision in my personal conduct.

I acknowledge that apartheid was an evil system, and recognise that its legacy remains reflected in the unequal structure of South African society today.

I reject discrimination in all its forms, and pledge to help root it out wherever I encounter it in South Africa.

I will not perpetuate racial division, and will never undermine the dignity of my fellow South Africans.

Instead, I will commit myself to working to overcome inequality and achieving shared prosperity.’

Mr Speaker,

This administration is ready to take on the challenges of this year.

We will pursue freedom, fairness and opportunity for all. Together.

Thank you very much.

Issued by the City of Cape Town, 28 January 2016