SPEECH BY HELEN ZILLE MAYOR OF CAPE TOWN

FULL COUNCIL MEETING 
Council Chamber – Cape Town Civic Centre – 27 JUNE 2007

Speaker

I would like to welcome the councillors, City Manager, City officials, members of the media and the public.

There have been a number of significant incidents since this council last met, and I will mention some of these at the outset, because they are matters which concern all of us.

In die eerste plek, is die stad deur die ergste oorstromings in jare getref, en ons dink aan die duisende mense wat as gevolg daarvan haweloos is. Baie van ons het persoonlik gesien watter leed en verlies dit te weeg gebring het.

Ons rampbestuurspanne het deurentyd gewerk om verligting te bring en gaan voort om skuiling en kos te verskaf aan diegene in nood.

And many councillors worked round the clock as well. People like Councillor Matshoba and Councillor Gophe put in hours and hours looking after their constituents. You looked after our people well, and you served the city well. Thank you.

Terselfdertyd – en hiervoor maak ons staat op die Stad se amptenare en wyksraadslede – moet die boodskap aan inwoners oorgedra word dat hulle nie in gebiede moet bou wat as vloedrisiko’s geïdentifiseer is nie.

Met ons wintergereedheidsprogram doen ons ons bes om oorstronings te verminder.

Maar daar is sommige gebiede wat net te groot is om te dreineer, en waarop nie gebou kan word nie.

Ons vra ook dat veral die wyksraadslede in informele gebiede ons sal laat weet wanneer hulle verstopte dreine of duikers opmerk, sodat ons dit kan oopmaak voordat dit oorstromings veroorsaak.

[Firstly, the City has been hit by some of the worst flooding in years and our thoughts go out to the thousands of people who have lost their homes as a result.
Our disaster management teams are on high alert, and will continue to provide shelter and food to those in need.
At the same time – and for this we rely on the City’s officials and ward Councillors – the message must go out to residents that they should not build in areas that have been identified as flood risks.
We do our best to reduce flooding through our winter readiness program.
But there are some areas which are just too big to drain, and they cannot be used for building.
We also ask ward councillors in informal areas especially to let us know whenever they see blocked drains or culverts, so that we can unblock them before they cause floods.]

The second event that we acknowledge with collective bereavement is the death of one of our fire fighters on duty last week. Last week Mr Rushdi Langeveldt lost his life fighting a fire inside a textile factory at Crompton Road, Strand. He served the City as a fire fighter for nearly 10 years, and his death is a tragic loss. We greatly value the brave efforts of our fire fighters, and our thoughts go out to his family during this time.

Kule veki uceba Xolani Sotashe nabagadi bakhe wahlaselwa ngodlame.

Omnye wabagadi wasweleka, omnye walimala kakubi.

Ngoku ndisandul u kuva naye uswelekile.

These guards also have families who are now left destitute. Our thoughts go out to them. It is, in fact, unbelievable in a democracy that councillors have to go about their daily business protected by bodyguards.

Asifuni ukupolitika ngolu hlobo kwesi sixeko.

[This week also saw a violent attack on Councillor Xolani Sotashe and his body guards. The shooting left one of his guards dead and another severely injured. I have since learnt that the second guard has also died. This is not how we want politics to be conducted in this city.]

There have been too many incidents of political intimidation in Cape Town recently.

I think here specifically of the case of a certain councillor who has been issuing threats and engaging in other inappropriate forms of inducement as we approach the floor crossing period in September.

I would like to remind him and any other councillors that offering money in exchange for a councillor’s seat is now a criminal offence in terms of new anti-corruption legislation. Charges have already been laid with the SAPS against one councillor and an investigation has been launched by the City.

But we must not let these political side-shows distract us from our responsibility as councillors. Our job is spelt out in the Constitution. If we do it properly we will achieve our objective of infrastructure led economic growth.

Lo ngumsebenzi esibhatalwa ukuwenza. Yinjongo yethu.

[This is the work we are paid to do. This is our purpose.]

There are a number of items for council to decide upon today which support this goal. Some promote investment and job creation through infrastructure development. Some promote investment by improving security and cleanliness in our city.

Firstly, today we will vote on a proposal for the re-development of the Green Point Common as an urban park and precinct for the 2010 stadium.

Die plan om die Groenpunt-meent te herontwikkel, beloof om nuwe lewe te gee aan ‘n gebied van stedelike verval, met die nalatenskap van ‘n oop ruimte vir ons inwoners om te geniet.

Die voorstel vir die herontwikkeling van die Groenpunt-meent as ‘n sport-en-ontspanningspark omring deur wandelpaaie vir voetgangers, was pas die onderwerp van ‘n openbaredeelname-proses regdeur die stad.

In die omgewingsmagtiging deur die provinsiale LUK, Tasneem Essop, word hierdie proses as ‘n vereiste vir die bouwerk gestel.

Ek het al voorheen gesê geen gasheerstad vir die 2010 Wêreldbeker is al deur meer openbare prosesse en regsuitdagings in die gesig gestaar as Kaapstad nie.

Maar ons glo dit sal die moeite werd wees. En nie net vir die Groenpunt-omgewing nie.

Die Stad se investering in die stadion en die stedelike park, sal baie meer investering van nasionale en provinsiale regering, sowel as die private sektor, tot gevolg he. Ons huidige beraming is dat die opbrengs omtrent R10 miljard, en dit net in staatsfinansiering vir infrastruktuur. Privatesektor-investering (bv in nuwe hotelle) sal ook miljarde beloop.

[This plan promises to rejuvenate an area of urban decay in the metro, and will also leave a legacy of open space for our citizens to enjoy.
The proposal for the re-development of the Green Point Common as a sport and recreation park and pedestrian walkway precinct has just been through a public participation process across the City.
This process was a requirementin the environmental authorisation for the construction given by Provincial MEC Tasneem Essop.
I have said before that no host city for World Cup 2010 has had to go through more public processes and face more financial and legal challenges than Cape Town.
But we believe it will be worth it. And not just for the Green Point area.
National government is putting the majority of funds into the 2010 related infrastructure. Our investments will hook R10 bn alone in state funding for infrastructure. Private sector investment will also be in the billions.]

For this reason, I once again urge CEPA to reconsider their court action to stop the stadium, and think carefully about what they will cost Cape Town if they succeed.

We are making good progress, and contrary to arguments that the stadium will be a white elephant, no fewer than 29 sets of tender documents for the contract of post-2010 operator have been drawn. The interest in running and financing the stadium after 2010 is therefore substantial, especially considering that the tender process remains open until 10 July. The post-2010 operator will be required to run the stadium in a sustainable and effective way and also produce an income stream for the management and upkeep of the redeveloped Common.

Our progress on 2010 was acknowledged by FIFA President Sepp Blatter during his visit to Cape Town and the Green Point Stadium site last week. We gave him a detailed report on the stadium project. He expressed his full confidence in Cape Town as a key host city during the 2010 tournament. He also confirmed that nine matches including a semi-final will be played in the Green Point Stadium. This is more than any other single stadium in South Africa.

During his visit, we also launched the composite logo for 2010. It is simple and sleek to complement the busy-ness of the national 2010 logo. Cape Town is the first of the nine host cities in South Africa to do so.  The logo will be used for marketing Cape Town as host city from now until the event.

I am glad to say we are also moving ahead with the promotion of investment and economic growth through property management. Last Council meeting a number of key City properties that were sold or leased for industrial and private sector developments that will create thousands of jobs.

Today Council will consider the lease of an 8 hectare Erf 2877 in Ottery for the construction of a school for disadvantaged children, which will create opportunities for young people who have no other access to education and social care, and which will result in substantial foreign capital infrastructure investment in the city.

The proposal is to lease the erf to Christel House South Africa for a period of 30 years with two renewal options.

Christel House, a registered Independent School and NPO, has undertaken to spend no less than R30 million on the construction of the school buildings, sports facilities and recreational areas.

This will include the establishment of a privately funded school for disadvantaged children in Cape Town, a health clinic on site, a community development centre, a business development centre, a skills development centre, an orphanage and a substance abuse centre.

It was my privilege to assist Mrs Christel de Haan establish her first centre of excellence in Cape Town when I was MEC for Education, and I am honoured to be able to take this work forward in my current capacity.

We can also look forward to further sales and leases of key tracts of City land to investors in the near future.

In response to an overwhelming number of enquiries about the sale of Council-owned land, the City has compiled a pro-active land sale programme that involves marketing land parcels to the private sector, for the purpose of industrial and commercial development, not land banking.

Interested buyers will be able to bid for these properties at a market-related price, and in terms of certain conditions and parameters regarding the development of the sites.

Perhaps the most significant item on today’s agenda is the proposed write-off of R1,5 billion in arrears on rates, services and council rental charges accrued before September 2003.

Ons kon hierdie voorstel doen omdat ons daarin geslaag het om ‘n kultuur van betaling vir dienste in Kaapstad te vestig.

Meer as 120 000 mense het die afgelope jaar na vore gekom en òf hulle skuld vereffen òf reëlings getref om dit in paaiemente af te betaal.

Dit het finansiële stabiliteit in die Stad geskep, sodat ons kan bekostig om die oninbare (“slegte”) skuld af te skryf.

Ek moet benadruk dat die beoogde afskryf nie met die verhoging van belasting en tariewe verband hou nie.

En dit gaan ook nie weer gebeur nie. Dit is eenmalig. We will be continuing our policy of combining our generous indigency subsidies with an insistence that people pay their accounts.

[We have been able to make this proposal because we have succeeded in instilling a culture of payment for services in Cape Town.

Over 120 000 people came forward in the past year and either paid their debts or made arrangements to pay them off in instalments.

This has created financial stability in the City, so that we can afford to write off the bad debts.

I must stress that the proposed write-off is not related to the increase in rates and tariffs.

Uninzi lwabantu ekapa baqonda ukuba asikwazi ukuzisa iinkonzo ngaphandle kwemali.

Uninzi lwabantu ekapa ngabahlali abazimiseleyo abafuna ukuthatha inxaxheba ekwenzeni esi sixeko sibe ngcono.

[The majority of people in Cape Town understand that we cannot deliver services without funding.
The majority of people in Cape Town are upstanding citizens and want to be a part of making this a better city.]

Ek will dit beklemtoon.

Hierdie afskryf is ‘n eenmalige voorstel, en ons het besluit om dit te doen om meer mense aan te moedig om na vore te kom en te betaal.

Ons sal voortgaan om dienste te beperk indien mense weier om te betaal of as deernisgevalle registreer indien hulle nie daarvoor in aanmerking kom nie.

Deur skuld af te skryf wat moeilik, of selfs onmoontlik, is om in te vorder, gee ons Raadsamptenare die geleentheid om eerder fondse op te volg wat makliker ingevorder kan word.

En so sal ons ons finansies versterk vir dienslewering en belegging in infrastruktuur.

[This write-off is a once off proposal, and we have chosen to make this move in order to encourage more people to come forward and pay.

We will continue to restrict services if people refuse to pay or to register as indigent if they can’t.

By writing off debt that is hard, if not impossible to recover, we will free up City officials to pursue funds that are more easily recoverable. And so we will further strengthen our finances for service delivery and infrastructure investment.]

I mentioned earlier that in addition to infrastructure investment, we also need a clean, safe public environment to attract business and industry – which are the foundation of sustainable employment creation.

To this end, in the previous Council meeting we passed the by-law regulating streets and public places.

Today we will be bolstering safety on our roads by cracking down on speeding drivers.

The proposal that we are tabling will ensure that camera speed traps cover the most accident-prone sections of our road system.

Through the location of speed traps, and by making dangerous drivers pay substantial fines, we intend to reduce serious accidents on our roads and make them safer for everyone.

In this regard, I am also happy to announce that tomorrow we will be officially receiving in the City a wide array of new vehicles and equipment for the fire and emergency services.

We have a number of new fire engines, bush-fire vehicles and other items that will replace ageing equipment in the fire services. We hope that this will make the job of fighting fires safer for our staff, and make the City’s urban and rural environment safer for the public.

A further critical element of our overall objective of a clean, safe City is the Draft Operational Strategy for combating drug and alcohol abuse in Cape Town, which we presented to NGOs yesterday to mark International Drug Awareness Day.

This document will be coming to the portfolio committees and sub-councils after recess, and we hope to vote on it in Council by the end of October.

Here I would like to specifically thank Cllr Grant Haskin and Mr Wesley Douglas for effectively driving the formulation of this strategy.

The strategy proposes that the City commit itself to, among other things:

• The recruitment and training of new and existing permanent City staff members, who will remain specifically assigned to the prevention and treatment of drug use. This will also include
• Establishing outpatient drug treatment facilities in existing City of Cape Town Health Department clinics. The City will be launching four out-patient based treatment centres in the most affected communities, with the first facility located in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain. The next three centres to be established would be located in or close to Atlantis, Athlone, Belhar, Bishop Lavis, Manenberg, Bonteheuwel, Elsies River, Kuils River, Delft and Eerste River.
• Establishing a dedicated anti-drug unit in the Metro Police.
• Allocating a budget of R10 million for treatment centres, including the R750 000 that was diverted from Youth Day events. This does not include the operating and staff costs incurred to the City in its various departments such as the Metro Police and Health Services.
• The establishment of Local Drug Action groups in the 8 City health districts. These Local Drug Action Groups will consist of relevant City officials, leaders of community organisations and the local police, and will liaise with the Provincial Drug co-ordinating forums. This organisational structure will help to manage how substance abuse is dealt with across the various communities of the City.
• Toughen up regulation of shebeens
• Drug testing to accompany existing alcohol testing at road blocks
• Fast-tracking eviction procedures for drug dealers on council property

Following the conflict in Mitchells Plain last week, the City will be presenting this strategy for comment and discussion at an engagement session with religious leaders from the Mitchells Plain area on Thursday this week.

The meeting will also include a presentation on the City’s policy of evicting drug dealers from council property by the City’s head of legal strategy, Mr Lungelo Mbandazayo, and a presentation by the Metro Police.

The Muslim Judicial Council and other religious organisations have recently called on government to step up its fight against drugs. We will do so, and we also want to make religious leaders part of the solution.  We will seek guidance from religious and community leaders based in affected communities, and will appeal to them to communicate to residents that a practical solution for reducing drug abuse is possible.

I also invite all councillors in areas affected by drug abuse to attend this meeting – and that is all areas.

I am happy to say that once we establish Local Drug Action Committees, community leaders will be able to enter an active partnership with the City and Province in terms of the National Drug Master Plan.

I would like to encourage members of this council to become actively involved in debating and shaping this document. Together with the City’s new by-laws regulating streets and public places, and our treatment facilities for homeless people, the strategy to combat drugs will help to make a healthier and safer Cape Town.

We do appreciate, as the editorial in yesterday’s Argus pointed out, that no strategy on its own is enough to deal with a complex issue like drug abuse, no matter how well implemented. By appropriate policing and by drug treatment, we are targeting the symptoms, not the cause, of Cape Town’s drug epidemic.

We are obliged to deal with the immediate crisis of drug abuse and other burdens on our society, and that is why we have this strategy. But the deeper solution will take time to realise.

Until we have a society where all people, especially parents, accept and meet their responsibilities, until there are enough opportunities for all the people, and until our education system is able to empower the people to grasp those opportunities, social decay will always be a factor in this City.

We cannot intervene in education, because it is not a local government competence, but we can influence the environment in which opportunities are created, as I have already outlined.

We can also influence the quality of life for the communities we represent, especially when it comes to establishing infrastructure and housing, and giving communities the opportunity to come together in established suburbs.

It is because of this imperative that the City has applied for accreditation to act as a housing agent.

Housing accreditation, which is done in terms of Section 10(2) of the Housing Act 107 of 1997 would give us direct access to National subsidies for the provision of housing opportunities, without going through Province.

When this council last met, I mentioned that the National Department of Housing had already made R1.2 million available for the City of Cape Town to establish capacity as an accredited housing agent.

However, Housing MEC Richard Dyantyi has still not granted authorisation for phase 1 of accreditation, even though we applied last November. We submitted a business plan to him, and re-submitted it after he asked for changes to be made. Months have passed, and nothing has happened, despite repeated requests.

I am therefore going through the processes required to declare a formal intergovernmental dispute with the Provincial Government on behalf of the City of Cape Town. This will be handled in terms of the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act 13 of 2005.

I hope that we are able to resolve this matter before it proceeds to the courts. But we cannot afford to delay this important step for development in Cape Town any further.

Given our focus on economic growth and development, some commentators have questioned today’s proposal to give notice of the termination of Cape Town Routes Unlimited’s contract at the end of June 2008.

I would like to make it clear that this proposal was considered after reviewing the independent assessment of CTRU’s performance. The assessment revealed that CTRU was not meeting the requirements of the service level agreement with the City.

It would be negligent to allow tourism, which is an important sector of our economy, to be poorly promoted at ratepayers’ expense.

This notice is also intended to send a clear message to the Minister responsible for CTRU in Province that the status quo cannot be maintained.

We will monitor the progress made by CTRU for the next year, and based on that performance we will make a final decision on whether or not to terminate the contract.

Speaker, a final issue that I would like to raise today before we proceed to question time is the street renaming process.

As many of the councillors here know, the City’s name change panel have carefully sifted about 300 proposals that were submitted by the public. They used the City’s name change policy, and their own expertise as cartographers, historians and so forth, to arrive at 36 positive recommendations for name changes. They have also left further possible name changes on the table. These recommendations will now go out for extensive comment.

Despite some complaints from the opposition about this process, it has been entirely democratic. The proposals came from the public. The nominations for the name change panel came from the public – and no nominations were received from opposition parties.

A number of name change recommendations from across the political and cultural spectrum are on the short list, and the public will now have another chance to give formal input, before each name is put to the vote individually in Council.

We are doing this because we believe in an open society. We believe in involving everyone.

Most streets and public places in Cape Town were named in a former dispensation.
Those who named them ensured that only their heroes and symbols were reflected - and effectively ignored all other sectors of our complex plural society.

We don’t want to make the same mistake again.

We also do not want to make the same mistake as Durban, which had to retrace their steps on name changes in the face of public outrage. Of 176 changes that municipality tried to make, 126 were proposals from the ruling party, and included names without direct links with South Africa - such as Fidel Castro.

We will avoid that route, and we will try, as far as possible, to accommodate everyone, as difficult as that may be.