E Rasool: Diplomats Brunch following State of the Nation Address

10 February 2007

I think that this brunch has evolved and we try to use this opportunity to
give the Ambassadors and the High Commissioners exposure to varying, different
and lovely parts of the Western Cape. The first year we were at Lanzerac,
Stellenbosch.

Last year at Groot Constantia and this year we thought maybe we take the
Waterfront for granted and we think that people know about it, but let us show
them the Waterfront because I am told that High Commissioners and Ambassadors
are not allowed to sleep in the Table Bay Hotel because this is reserved for
your head of state when they visit.

So we thought let us show you the Table Bay Hotel. I think it us also a very
nice way to be able to speak to the High Commissioners and the Ambassadors
because since last year when we met at Groot Constantia there have been some
major changes in the Western Cape.

We were anticipating a local government election, now a year has gone by
since that local government election took place and there have been major
changes since that election. The local government elections have been eventful.
They have presented us with challenges. They have created 'scrambled eggs' that
we have to manage, but more importantly I think that people often wonder
whether we are able to maintain enough political stability in Cape Town and in
the Western Cape in order for us to move forward.

I want to say to you that the system of governance in this country and
particularly in the Western Cape is such that it really does not matter who is
the Mayor and who is governing, because there is one vision for this country.
There is one strategic path that we are on, and the job of the Premier and
Provincial Government is to make sure that there is always this connection
between the objectives set at the national government and the work done at
local government level. And so whether Mayor Zille likes Minister Richard
Dyantyi or not, we still have to be able to do the work that must be done.

Sometimes we debate in very colourful ways, but we always co-operate on the
big issues. I think that there is one thing that we are of one mind, and that
is that this Western Cape is potentially one of the most prosperous provinces
anywhere in the world and that we all have to be the custodians of this
province and to look after it in the best interests of all the citizens. So
whatever you read in the newspapers, you must know that there is a solid
direction that is unshakable, because there is a system of governance that
makes sure that we move in the same direction. We will sort out the politics at
the election, but on governance we agree. So there is enough stability for us
to do the kind of work.

And I think that the interest in the Western Cape and particularly Cape Town
as a foreign direct investment destination has shown that investors can see
through the politics and they can see the opportunities that are emerging.
Since we have spoken the last time our work for World Cup 2010 has begun to
take shape. You now know that we have solved the money problems on the stadium;
that on 23 February we were able to appoint the contractors, by March we will
be able to start building and we have now even not only saved some money, but
saved some time as well. And so we will be ready for World Cup 2010 with our
stadium. And certainly as time goes by we will be able to show you that the
face of Cape Town will substantially begin to change as we come closer to World
Cup 2010.

I also want to tell you since we last met at our brunch last year this time
at Groot Constantia; the Western Cape has performed phenomenally at the level
of economic growth. At that point Ismail Dockrat, the CEO of Wesgro was telling
you what the plans were for investment, for the economy for the year. I tell
you that we can now report to you that we have recorded in the last quarter the
highest growth rate anywhere in the country, in the Western Cape. The President
has set us all the target of growth at least six percent by 2010. We have set
ourselves in the Western Cape the target of eight percent growth by 2010. In
the last quarter the Western Cape stood already at 5,7% economic growth. And
that is what we are going to build on and we believe we are on target for that
growth.

What that says to all of you as Ambassadors and High Commissioners and
Consul Generals is that when we promised you last year that the Western Cape
was open for business, we meant it. We know where we are going to, what sectors
are growing, where avenues for investment are. We can now engage with all of
you in a far more focused way. Before we spoke about sentiment, we said it
would be nice to co-operate, it would be nice to do business. Now we are able
increasingly to tell you how we can do business, where we can do business and
what the opportunities are. So I think that this brunch allows us to point to
some of those things.

So the last part of what I want to do is to begin to just give you a glimpse
into where we think we are not doing it for the whole Western Cape, just for
Cape Town, where we think Cape Town is going to and what it will begin to look
like by 2010. What we will show you are the glimpses into what will happen in
Cape Town by 2010. Because we have embraced Acceleration Shared Growth
Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) to accelerate that share growth initiative
and we have used that initiative grown by the Deputy President to say let us
change Cape Town not just for the rich, but also for the poor; not just for
White, but also for Black; not just on the seaboard, but also on the Cape
Flats; not just in the residential areas, but also in the informal
settlements.

And so I think that for the first time our minds are working together and we
can begin to show you a very confident map as it unfolds for 2010. You have
seen we have started the upgrade of the airport. That is going to bring in a
total of R1,3 billion into the Western Cape and transform the airport
completely by the time World Cup 2010 comes into a complete international
airport. We have announced that this year we start building the film studio out
at Macassar and that I think begins to say that all the film activities that
you will see will multiply at Macassar and that I think begins to say that all
the film activities that you will see will multiply like never before as Cape
Town takes up its place as a major location and destination for films.

I think the Philippi market, Minister Dowry and his ministry are driving
this process. There has gotten a lot of agricultural input and we think that
that is going to be absolutely critical. The Cape Town Station upgrade is
already happening because if you want people to use rail, you have to have a
good station and we are starting with the Cape Town upgrade. The port
extension, we are just waiting for the environmental impact assessments so that
the port becomes absolutely critical.

But I think that that will be tied up to the other initiative around the
V&A Waterfront. We know that Dubai World and London and Regional has just
purchased this area that we are on for R7 billion. They have agreed to the
further development of it for a further R7 billion before World Cup 2010. So
take a picture of the Waterfront with you now. It will be completely different
by the brunch we have in 2010. So that is going to happen. We will see
passenger liner terminals, resorts, more hotels, everything else coming onto
the Waterfront.

The Cape Town International Convention Centre will be expanded. We are
already running out of space. That is the first layer of what will happen to
Cape Town over the next few years.

The second layer is the fact that we just made the arrangement around the
Somerset Hospital site in this week. It is what Minister Fransman calls a
revolutionary initiative. I will simply stick to innovative, but the face of it
will change substantially as we bring Black people into houses, into the City
Centre for the first time and we begin to get the hospitality infrastructure
developed with hotels and restaurants and so forth. So the Somerset Hospital
site is very important and Black ownership through BEE will be embedded in that
entire process.

We are hoping that the District Six initiatives will now start taking root.
We have got at least 100 houses in the pipeline and we hare trying to excite
some private sector companies to get involved in and heal the scars that
apartheid has left. We are negotiating around the Culemborg site, about its
future this site will also come to market quite soon. Conradie has already been
sold off. All the defence force sites are under discussion now about what can
be done with them, especially around housing for example.

And then this is the heart of what Minister Dyantyi is doing with the N2
Gateway. I think the N2 Gateway is beginning to change that area as you now
start coming from the airport along the N2, 705 housing units already there.
The second and third phases will now be unfolding and the N2 Gateway is not
just there. It goes all along the N2 into District Six. And so that is going to
be much of the kind of housing development that we are speaking about
there.

And then issues around bulk infrastructure; we have got to redo the sewage,
the water and the electricity grids throughout. And we are putting 2010 and
2014 as some of our deadlines. And what is driving it is directly the sports
infrastructure for World Cup 2010. And so for example we have got agreement on
the Green Point Stadium. That is worth at this point probably R2,7 billion. The
Athlone Stadium has been completed.

That will be the major practice venue for World Cup teams. Philippi is under
discussion. The Minister is just holding on to it because it belongs to the
police at this point, he is holding onto it a bit longer than he should, but
Minister Fransman says he is being persuaded very rapidly. And then a further
practice venue out in Stellenbosch.

So the reason we put that one last is because if you are spending say R3
billion on the stadium, that is almost as I would describe it as the cheese in
the trap. It is meant to catch something far bigger than that piece of cheese.
And the far bigger thing that it catches is all of these other developments
that are happening because we are able to put all of that together as we
go.

And then the last one is the public transport that is going to be redone.
Minister Fransman, you would be very happy to note that the President has
expressed his faith in the Klipfontein Corridor process, so he is got a
deadline to lay the foundations. The KIipfontein Corridor will change the face
of the Cape Flats with public transport. The Central City transport system will
facilitate movement in the City itself not by cars, but by an intra-city
transport network.

Those of you who come from the airport will know that already the N2 is
being widened so that those bottlenecks will be eliminated and similar work is
taking place along the entire road network. Minister Fransman is also busy
working on reconnecting a rapid rail between the airport and the City so that
your cars with the D number plates does not have to fetch you anymore; there
will be a nice first class carriage. You can get off the plane onto the rail
and into Cape Town. That is where we are beginning to move to by 2010 and the
Khayelitsha rail extension is already on the go.

So rail will become the primary mode of public transport in the Western Cape
and to that extent Minister Ramatlakane has been the first out in training the
new railway police so that all rail becomes very safe at the stations and on
the trains. So that we can with confidence ask people to leave their cars at
home and get onto the train on all the lines. So that is the kind of change
that is happening, and then of course the upgrade of all the different kind of
rail linkages on that side.

And then together with that is the taxi recapitalisation. Minister Fransman
promised us that by 2010, if you buy one public transport ticket and you get on
a taxi at your house, even a minibus taxi, you get on a taxi and you show the
card, you can get off at the bus stop, get onto a bus with that same card; stop
at the station and get on a train with that same card and come home in much the
same kind of way. So a single ticket for all the public modes of transport is
what we are planning for Cape Town by 2010.

So I thought that I should, rather than do a political speech, just give all
the High Commissioners, the Ambassadors and the Consul General, just a view of
what we are working towards.

So that really is what I wanted to say, and again just to end up, I hope
that you leave this brunch inspired that there is work happening, that there is
a balance happening between rich and poor, Black and White and that there is
development in Cape Town and that any fears that you have about whether we will
be ready for 2010, that you hopefully go and you are able to report to your
principals all over the world, especially those who are still hoping that they
can pick the World Cup up from us like the Australians, and say no, no, no, if
you can judge by Cape Town, then we know we�re onboard.

So we just wanted to use this to inspire confidence in all of you. So thank
you very much, and thank you very much again for having attended the
brunch.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Western Cape Provincial Government
10 February 2007