Open letter to Hosken Consolidated Investments

Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI),

Messrs Golding and Copelyn,

Thank you for your letter to the Councillors of the City of Cape Town, dated 4 April 2013. I am glad that we are debating the issue of public transport in this city publicly. I think that we all depart from the premise that the future of Cape Town, and its people, is reliant on the operation of an integrated, multi-modal public transportation network (see BDLive report).

Let me take this opportunity to repeat the statement that I made in the last full Council meeting regarding the legal processes that the City of Cape Town and the Golden Arrow Bus Service (GABS) are engaged in:

‘This government respects the rule of law and we will respect the outcome of these legal processes.'

As a democrat, I respect the Constitutional framework that governs our country. I respect judicial processes and their outcomes. I respect the right of any person or organisation to take its grievances to a Court of Law.

But I must clarify that, inasmuch as it is my duty as a public servant and political office-holder to adhere to our legal framework, such adherence does not abrogate my other duty, as a public servant and political office-holder, to pursue the advancement of public policy within that legal framework according to the democratic mandate that I have received from my electors.

Part of that mandate, as you know, is to ensure that the people of Cape Town become connected to one another by means of a world-class public transportation service, fostering a degree of social and economic mobility and, in so doing, building an Inclusive City.

I am proud to say that we have made great strides in fulfilling this mandate, though much work remains. The City will continue to work with all of our partners until we complete this long-term project.

You are well aware of how open I am to partnership. HCI has approached me on several occasions, in accordance with the law and with process, to intervene, where I am legally permitted, in perceived challenges with the City's processes and regulations.

While I respect that GABS has a long history of public operations, I am certain that GABS and HCI respect that, at a national level, there has been a major public policy shift in recent years to allow local governments to take greater ownership of public transportation within their boundaries. As much as we must take cognisance of tradition and experience, we must also be mindful of new strategies and approaches to accommodate changing times.

Those new strategies must also take into account the full cost of public transportation. Concerns raised about the cost of the City's service conveniently ignore the fact that the GABS service is not viable without a substantial government subsidy and that no major public transport service in the world is viable without subsidisation.

Further, the MyCiTi project includes the installation of decent public transport infrastructure, which is capital intensive. If we were to factor this as an expense factor into the cost of GABS operations, which benefit from public infrastructure, there would be a substantial increase in overall expenses. Indeed, expenses of any public transportation system are only reduced once one has built up sufficient economies of scale.

I appreciate the list of HCI's activities in as far as corporate social responsibility, community development and BEE shareholders are concerned. I understand and value any investment in our communities. I also understand and value the nature of shareholders and the role of a corporation in driving their interests - for instance, the interests of the HCI majority shareholder, the COSATU-affiliated South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU).

My shareholders, of course, are the people of Cape Town and it is my job to drive their interests. Not everyone agrees with my approach when I do so, such as the leader of the ANC opposition in Council, who is also the provincial secretary of COSATU in the Western Cape. Indeed, it is of some interest to note how the ANC's opposition to MyCiti would appear to run almost parallel to the GABS strategy.

While we may have different motivations given the nature of our businesses, I know that I must always measure my actions against my imperative of improving the lives of the people of this city.

It is with this imperative in mind that I have advocated for a new, integrated public transportation service in Cape Town and will continue to do so with all partners, while adhering to and respecting all legal processes.

This article by Patricia de Lille first appeared in Cape Town This Week, the online newsletter of the Mayor of Cape Town.

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