MEDIA RELEASE
NO. 723 / 2012
30 AUGUST 2012


The City of Cape Town has reinforced its commitment to developing the area of Philippi by making a third payment towards the Philippi East Development Initiative (PEDI). Council, at its meeting on 29 August 2012, approved a disbursement of R1 343 000,00 towards PEDI for the 2012/13 financial year.

The City believes the various economic, infrastructural and organisational assets of the area make it an obvious location for development.

“It is strategically located close to the airport and on main rail and road networks. There is suitable land available for development and the Metro south-east is home to a large number of job-seekers who would welcome employment opportunities near to their homes”, said Alderman Belinda Walker, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic, Environmental and Spatial Planning.

One of the City’s priorities is to facilitate sustainable inclusive economies at a local level by encouraging the economic participation of marginalized groups in targeted areas.

In order to achieve this, the focus is on initiatives which promote and support local enterprise, and supporting programmes that aim to retain and expand business activity and encourage private and public investment in marginalized areas.

Philippi was identified some years ago as a location with great development opportunities. It is the most important industrial land in the South East portion of Cape Town where unemployment is at its highest in the city.

For this reason, in May 2010 Council gave approval for a three year funding agreement for the PEDI. The initiative was formed as a vehicle through which the City will promote socio- economic development in and around Philippi.

“This R1,3m disbursement is the third and final tranche in the existing Memorandum of Agreement between the City and PEDI,” said Alderman Walker.

The CEO of PEDI, Thomas Swana, says: “I believe the PEDI is performing extremely well based on the projects and programmes we facilitate and those we have a more direct involvement with. This can be measured by the results achieved from the business plans we submit to be awarded the grant-in-aid payments we have received from the City.”

Job creation successes for PEDI include 400 jobs being created in the construction phase of Philippi plaza. It is estimated that 900 sustainable jobs will be created in the 40 retail stores in the plaza when completed.

A further 250 sustainable job opportunities will be created in Teguka Park, when it is completed by the end of October this year.

R1 billion in potential private sector investment was reported in the 2011/2012 business plan. Of this R1bn, Teguka Park is estimated at R250m and Philippi Plaza at R125m. This accounts for 38% investment made in the Philippi area by end October 2012 against the business plan estimate.

PEDI also identified through the facilitation of the establishment of the Philippi East CID / SRA an under-recovery of R250 million per annum dating back to 2009. It further also identified a population base of about 1 million against a City recorded figure of under 250 000.

“This has allowed PEDI to facilitate the improvement of strategic safety and security issues through more effective deployment of law and order services in the Philippi area,” said Swana.

The Memorandum of Agreement between the City and PEDI sets out the key deliverables expected of PEDI, to ensure the organization implements effective, efficient and transparent financial management and internal control systems in order to ensure that the City’s funding is utilized in accordance with the Municipal Finance Management Act.


END

ISSUED BY:
INTEGRATED STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION AND BRANDING DEPARTMENT, CITY OF CAPE TOWN

MEDIA ENQUIRIES:
ALDERMAN BELINDA WALKER, MAYORAL COMMITTEE MEMBER: ECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENTAL & SPATIAL PLANNING
CITY OF CAPE TOWN
TEL: 021 400 1307 CELL: 083 629 8031, E-MAIL: BELINDA.WALKER@CAPETOWN.GOV.ZA