Proposed Mayco: The team to take Cape Town to the next level of government

It gives me great pleasure to announce the DA's proposed Mayor's Committee for the City of Cape Town. Working together with the council, other spheres of government, civil society and the private sector, we plan to make Cape Town an even greater city for all its residents.

I will make these appointments official on the 1st of June, when I am officially elected mayor.

The leaders with me here today represent the best that the DA has to offer the people of Cape Town. Together, they provide the right mix of experience and new energy that will provide the dynamic leadership this city deserves.

This process, which I have concluded after consultation, has not been one of easy decisions. However, thanks to the support of 61% of the people of Cape Town, I have been able to select from the talents of the largest DA caucus in the country, a caucus of 135 members.

Our priority over the next five years is to position Cape Town for growth and jobs, because that is the only sustainable way to overcome poverty and give every resident of our city the means to live a better life.

It is essential that we pursue the complementary aims of growth, development and inclusion at the same time. That is why our vision for Cape Town rests on five key pillars: building an opportunity city, a safe city, an inclusive city, a caring city and an efficient city.

I have kept those pillars in mind when constituting my Mayco. In fact, I have reprioritised the portfolios of the Mayco to better serve these key demands. With several new, expanded portfolios, we will be able to achieve our policy objectives.

The first of these portfolios is an expansion of the duties of the deputy mayor. The deputy mayor will be given a number of responsibilities. The first among these is the strategic integration of the city's policy agenda, and, most critically, assuming overall responsibility for driving the city's economic growth and development strategy. We have prioritised this aspect as it is absolutely essential in our drive to roll back the frontiers of poverty through the creation of jobs.
 
Other duties will include intergovernmental relations, with a special focus on building synergy with the provincial government through strategic interaction. The deputy mayor will also oversee the city's international relations as well as managing all internal audits and forensic investigations. I am pleased to announce that Ian Neilson will return as deputy mayor, in addition to serving as the Mayco member for finance, where he previously played a pivotal role in resurrecting the City's finances and ensuring that the financial management of the city is the best in South Africa.

The second expanded portfolio will be Economic, Environmental and Spatial planning. It is essential that economic development be linked to environmental and spatial planning to ensure that our planning environment enables sustainable growth and development. I am also determined that this administration remove the remaining bottlenecks that persist in city planning. This portfolio will aim to address these concerns with a new, strategic focus. It will be the responsibility of one of the most experienced and efficient members of council, Belinda Walker.

The third expanded portfolio will be Tourism, Events and Marketing. This portfolio will focus on building our brand as an investment, leisure and study destination. It will have responsibility for key City assets such as the CTICC and the Cape Town Stadium. This portfolio is thus also central to our focus on growth, development and inclusion. It will be led by Grant Pascoe.

At the heart of a growth, development and inclusion agenda is an integrated transport system that links people to economic opportunity and to each other. We are already in the process of rolling out the IRT, but an enormous amount of work is needed over the next five years to build on the start we have made. Brett Herron will lead us in this project as the new Mayco member for Transport, Roads and Storm Water.

I am also very pleased to announce that Social and Early Childhood Development will be a stand-alone portfolio. Throughout my political career, I have made caring for the poor one of my highest priorities. A social development portfolio will be the best means of ensuring that those who need the City's help receive it. I am pleased to announce that this portfolio will be the responsibility of Beverly Cortje-Alcock, a new member of the Mayco team.

During the campaign, I pledged to begin rolling out services to backyarders. The City has already initiated pilot projects surveying the infrastructure needs of backyarder communities in Langa and Hanover Park. I am pleased to announce that Ernest Sonnenberg will continue rolling out this work as the Mayco member for Housing.

I am also pleased to announce Shehaam Sims as the Mayco member for Utility Services. Shehaam will be responsible for ensuring that we extend even further the provision of basic services to all the residents of Cape Town and for managing a number of opportunity-creating apprecenticeship prorgrammes across utility services.

The City also has responsibility for primary health care in Cape Town. Lungiswa Gazi-James will serve as the Mayco member for Health. Lungiswa has extensive experience in working in primary health care and will be well placed to ensure that the already excellent levels of care provided by City clinics is further expanded and enhanced.

The City has a number of key facilities such as libraries, parks and sports facilities that play an important role in improving the quality of life in our city. These entities, together with markets and trading, will fall under the Community Services portfolio. I am pleased to announce that Tandeka Gqada, who has a strong business management background, will serve in this portfolio.

All of these portfolios require staff and resources, the kind of administrative backing that will ensure the proper operation of a City working to serve the people. Demetri Qually will be responsible for this job as the Mayco member for Corporate Services.

Finally, for his great experience and expertise, JP Smith will serve as the Mayco member for Safety and Security, where he can drive forward our agenda to make Cape Town a safer city for all.

The DA has been given a clear mandate to govern Cape Town. I recognise the responsibility of that mandate and I am committed to delivering on our pledge to the voters. We here today, as the proposed Mayco, will serve the people of Cape Town and ensure that through our hard work and dedication, we will make a great city even greater.

Background information on Mayco members:

Belinda Walker: Belinda has served the council for many years and served as Deputy Mayor during our brief stint in office during 2001. Alderman Walker was also the Mayco member for Corporate Services, where she served with distinction.

Shehaam Sims: Shehaam has served in council for five years and served as the Mayco member for housing.  She has an extensive background in community development, and worked as a senior council official for many years.

Ian Neilson: Ian Neilson has served the City of Cape Town for many years as a councillor.  He served as Deputy Mayor and the Mayco member for finance most recently, serving  in a range of portfolios prior to those.

Lungiswa Gazi-James:  Lungiswa has dedicated much of her time to community development projects, with a particular focus on job creation. She worked in health care for seventeen years. She has set up food gardens in Khayelitsha and sewing groups to assist unemployed women. She is the Chairperson of the DA's N2 constituency, and is a long-serving party activist and community leader.

Beverly Cortje-Alcock: Beverly is an experienced community and party activist, having had a decades-long involvement in various community initiatives across the city. She was first elected to the City of Cape Town as a councillor on the PR list in 2006 and is a former sub-council chair.

JP Smith: JP Smith has served the City of Cape Town as a councillor since the year 2000 and was the Mayco member for the safety and security portfolio. Under his leadership, the metro police and emergency services have been rebuilt, and now deliver an excellent and reliable service.

Brett Herron: Brett Herron was elected in the last council as a member of the ID. He served on the Mayco as the member for amenities and was recently re-elected as a ward councilor.

Tandeka Gqada: Tandeka has been extensively involved in community outreach programmes in her community, ranging from NGO work, to personal initiatives. A professional human resources expert, she has an MBA.

Demetri Quallly: Dimitri has served as a councilor since the 1990s and a councilor for the Cape Town unicity since 2000. He has had extensive experience in councilor training and development, having served as chairperson of the Association of Democratic Alliance Councillors (ADAC) and as a member of the DA's federal executive.

Grant Pascoe: Grant served on the previous Mayco and currently serves as the chairperson of the DA's Cape Town metro region. He started his career as a grassroots activist in Mitchells Plain and has been instrumental in the party's growth in that region.

Ernest Sonnenberg: Ernest has served as chairperson of the portfolio committee on the homeless, a committee unique to Cape Town, and also as PR councilor for Cape Town, where he served on the finance committee.

Statement issued by Patricia de Lille, DA Mayor-Elect of Cape Town, May 27 2011

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