Donald Grant pointed out that, while the Western Cape school system leads the rest of the country in many ways, it faces a significant number of challenges.   He highlighted that resolving these challenges can only be addressed through partnerships between the public and private sectors, and gave some examples of where this is already in place.

Dr Max Price summarised the main findings of the Green Paper on Post-School Education.  Chief among these is the pressing need to increase, at a national level, the participation rate in post-school education, as well as the importance of revitalizing the FET programmes.  He called on business to play its part in addressing some of the issues in education by, for example, helping expose more school-level students to their organisations, and by investing to a greater extent in their graduate induction programmes.

For the full detail on Dr Price’s presentation, go to : Green Paper post school and role post school in WC- Accelerate CT

The Centre is a partnership between the Cape Chamber of Commerce, the Africa Centre for Dispute Settlement at Stellenbosch University Business School and Equillore, a leading provider of commercial dispute settlement services. Seed capital for the Centre comes from the Provincial Government of the Western Cape, Department of Economic Development and Tourism. To view the full article please follow the link: http://capetownchamber.com/dispute-settlement/

Certainly tourism in Cape Town has had a busier start to the year than it did in 2011, with many previous records having been broken. This includes a record 6500 delegates at the Mining Indaba, representing over 1000 companies from 40 countries. This kind of presence of business leaders in Cape Town is very good for us, not only in terms of their immediate spending but more importantly in the increased awareness of Cape Town as a potential option in their African expansion plans. This was repeated more recently with Ernst & Young’s Strategic Growth Forum for Africa, which brought another 250 senior business leaders into Cape Town from around the world, and the perennially successful Design Indaba.

Of course, for Cape Town and the city region to grow as a global business destination, we need to get it right on a multitude of levels, which is why it is encouraging to see the growing levels of co-operation and co-ordination across the city and the province. Government agencies and private sector leaders are working hard to reduce duplication and collaborate, rather than compete, to a degree not seen for many years, and there is a growing focus on the importance of strengthening the economy as a solution to the many challenges we face. This is indicated by the continuing work to establish the Economic Development Partnership, under the stewardship of Andrew Boraine, which will be officially launched in April.

There is also a growing focus on long-term planning. Freedthinkers, the company that ran the process to develop Accelerate Cape Town’s Vision 2030 (see www.vision2030.co.za for more) has won the tender to develop Cape Town 2040, a long-term vision and plan for the city region of Cape Town and surrounds. We are certain that the solid economic thinking established in our Vision 2030 will be infused into the more wide-ranging Cape Town 2040 process, and we will have made a positive contribution to the City’s long-term planning. At the same time, the Province has launched Future Cape 2040 to run parallel to the City’s process, ensuring alignment and further infusion of the Vision 2030 values.

After 5 years, Accelerate Cape Town continues to go from strength to strength, and we have recently been further bolstered by the addition of Michael Spicer to our Board. Michael is the former CEO of Business Leadership South Africa and he is a Vice President of Business Unity South Africa, at the same time as sitting on several other boards. He brings a wealth of experience and an impressive network at national level and we look forward to benefitting from his knowledge.

As always, we look forward to working with you as the year continues at the rapid pace with which it started.

A quick glance at the schedule of the Cape Town International Convention Centre supports this view.  The Mining Indaba in February was the largest yet, and attracted over 6 000 delegates from around the world.  Accommodation and restaurant bookings were at a premium, and for a week, Cape Town was the focus of everyone associated with this key sector of the national economy.

The CTICC is also playing host to a number of other global events, however, reflecting a wide variety of industries.  The Design Indaba attracts the power players in the design industries to the Cape for a week, and any number of associated organisations have the unique opportunity to network with their mentors, their peers, and potential customers and investors.

The Cape Town Jazz Festival is also being hosted at the CTICC.  Undoubtedly Africa’s largest jazz festival, this year being held on 30 and 31 March, it attracts musicians and music lovers from around the world, and is a vital part of Cape Town’ s growing global reputation as an inspiring and innovative city.

Sports lovers will also recognise a number of world-class sporting events taking place in and around Cape Town over the next few weeks.  The Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour, the world’s largest individually-timed cycling race, has been difficult to ignore, for residents of the city.  The roads have been thronged with cyclists in training for months, as they prepare for the 110-km race on 11 March.  With commentators such as Phil Liggett and previous participants such as Lance Armstrong, this event enjoys a world-wide reputation and provides an undoubted boost to Cape Town’s presence on the world stage.

Some would argue, however, that the ‘real’ athletes in Cape Town have not been on their bicycles recently.  Those who are participating in the 56-km Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon on 7 April have also been seen training over every available hill at all hours of the day – but they have been running, rather than cycling.  Running has, in fact, become the focus of the Easter Weekend in Cape Town, with a number of other running events, such as the Two Oceans Half-Marathon and trail runs, catering for all levels and types of runners.   As is the case with the Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour, these races mean that a significant number of competitors and their families will spend time – and money – in the city, and so provide another boost to the local economy.

The Absa Cape Epic, held by some to be the world’s premier mountain bike race, takes place in the Cape from 25 March to 1 April.  This event, fully-subscribed within minutes of the entries opening, captivates the global audience as few other events of this nature can.  Taking in some of the Cape’s most beautiful – and demanding – scenery, the race serves as a postcard for the Western Cape and its abilities to host world-class events.

In terms of the business implications of the Cape’s event calendar – of which the above events are only a glimpse – it is clear that there is a great deal of potential lying untapped in the region.  The key is for local businesses to be able to connect with these visitors, many of whom are business leaders in their own right, and establish business linkages on the backs of these events.

Connect’d Cape Town is Accelerate Cape Town’s programme to help facilitate just such linkages.  With a website at www.connectdcapetown.com, and an office at the CTICC, it can help visiting business people find local expertise in the areas in which they are interested, and allows local businesses to showcase their offers online.  The office at the CTICC is also available as a meeting space, should one be required.  For more information on Connect’d Cape Town, contact Libby Ferrandi on Libby@acceleratecapetown.com, or on +27 (0) 21 408 7335.

There is also a strong argument to be made for actively working to extend this event calendar – which is where business can also play a role.  Scheduling events and conferences outside of ‘event season’ eases the burden on travel and accommodation providers, and smoothens the levels of activity around the region.

Ever since the 2010 World Cup, when international travellers were exposed to far milder weather than they anticipated, there is far more openness overseas to consider attending conferences and events during the Cape’s winter.  Business should consider capitalising on this trend – and on lower air ticket prices at that time of year – and plan to hold any global events when the Cape is not already over-subscribed with visitors and business people (and cyclists).

The Cape’s event season brings undoubted benefits to the city and the region.  It is up to business, however, to capitalise on it as much as possible, and to make every effort to extend the season well beyond its current end as the weather cools and winter approaches.

Equipment

• Old PC’s and Network equipment (in working condition) that students can take apart and/or configure.
• Servers capable of running Microsoft Hyper V or VMWare Virtual machines (2009 and later equipment)
• Some routers and/or ADSL modems to configure (old is ok)
• ISDN network cards (working)
• An old (working) Disk Storage Array or Network Attached Storage such as HP or Dell.
• A UPS with RS232 port or network connection (working)
• Older call centre equipment (Headsets/mic’s, control panels, software)
• IP Telephones (SIP Compliant)
• WiFi Routers such as Mikro Tik with antennas
• Laptops, with 3G if possible, and operating system/Office.
• Some Tablet PC’s (Samsung Galaxy/iPads) with networking support (3G/WiFi) will also be great.

The course will entail splitting the students into six teams of 5 each, and so will need about 6 of each of the items listed above. Please make offers even if you only have one or two!

Books
As this is a new course, UWC will also need some books for its reference library, and any contributions by partners/vendors will be appreciated. Books/manuals should cover diverse topics such as:A+

• N+
• ICDL
• Security+
• Microsoft Manuals (MCSE path)
• Cisco manuals (CCIE)
• Linux Manuals (Novell SuSE)
• ITIL Manuals
• CoBIT Manuals
• TOGAF Manuals
• IT Services Management
• ISO20000/1 Manuals
• BS15000 Manuals
• King III Governance Requirements,
• Sarbanes Oxley Act Requirements,
• ISO27001 Information Security Framework,
• IT Sourcing Strategies,
• IT Asset Management and IT Risk management and the
• ISO 27005 framework

UWC would also like to know about any industry partners willing to participate in this programme.

If you can assist, please contact Thabit Ishmail at CITi on 021 409 7000 or thabit@citi.org.za. You are also welcome to contact the lecturer, Walter Uys, on (021) 959 3246 or at wuys@uwc.ac.za or wuys@telkomsa.net). Please do try to keep CITi in the loop on all communications so that they know who to thank and acknowledge as sponsors.

CITi are also looking for host companies to accommodate interns from July onwards. Please contact Nancy Mina at CITi on 021 409 7000 or nancy@capaciti1000.org.za if you are interested in participating. More information is available on the CapaCITi 1000 website at www.capaciti1000.org.za.

The speakers at the meeting focused on the two aspects of job creation : public sector efforts via the Jobs Fund, and a number of case studies from the private sector which focused on enterprise development.

Xholani Ndungane, of the Development Bank of South Africa, told the story of the Jobs Fund.  Announced by the President in February 2011 and launched in June 2011, the Jobs Fund is aimed at piloting, and scaling up, existing innovative approaches to employment creation.

From the outset, Ndungane was very clear in describing what the Jobs Fund is NOT – such as a rescue mechanism for distressed companies, or a facility for cash advances, for example.  Instead, he explained, the Fund focuses on four key areas :

1. Enterprise development
2. Infrastructure investment
3. Support for work seekers, and
4. Institutional capacity building.

Ndungane also explained that the Fund applies to a broad range of beneficiaries – the public sector, business enterprises in the private sector, and the non-government sector, typified by NGO’s.

The overall aim of the Fund is to create 150 000 jobs through the allocation of R9 billion, with the bulk of the jobs planned to stem from enterprise development.

The Fund benefits from a robust set of criteria for project approval, as well as a detailed application process to which a great deal of thought clearly has been given to ensure transparency and objectivity.  To date, most of the applications have come from Gauteng, but the Western Cape has given rise to 333 applications (out of the total to date of nearly 2 600).

Ndungane also shared some valuable insights into what has proven critical to successful applications.  He explained that proof of innovation, a clear linkage to a significant number of jobs, and a robust funding model,  among other criteria,  have been crucial for applications to succeed.

Ndungane finished by clarifying that the second call for applications to the Jobs Fund is imminent.  Organisations wishing to apply have a variety of options in terms of finding out more.  They can go to www.jobsfund.org.za, email info@jobsfund.org.za, or call 086 100 3272.  In the Western Cape, Dieter Hoffman, at Dieter.Hoffman@pgwc.gov.za will assist with application queries.

Enterprise development remains one of the private sector’s key mechanisms to drive SMME growth and reduce unemployment.  Noxolo Mbana, of British American Tobacco SA, spoke eloquently of her experiences there and at a number of other employers in this area.

She explained that many companies are still not comfortable with the practicalities of Enterprise Development, and remain unsure of its potential effects on their B-BBEE scorecard.  They are also largely unaware, outside of their small teams of Enterprise Development practitioners, of the scale, locations, and efficacy of such programmes under their care.

Mbana identified the critical success factors for Enterprise Development programmes as the need for flexibility, adequate resourcing, mentorship, and – crucially – the need within organisations for acceptance of the longer timelines associated with the successful delivery of these programmes.

A number of other organisations in the room, such as Woolworths and SAB Miller, also gave some details of their Enterprise Development programmes, and issued a call for practitioners in this area to collaborate more than has been the case to date.

Guy Lundy, CEO of Accelerate Cape Town, undertook to help facilitate such a forum.  For further details, call Accelerate Cape Town on (021) 408 7255 or email Libby Ferrandi at Libby@acceleratecapetown.com .

I agree with MEC Alan Winde and Councillor Grant Pascoe that the decision by Home Affairs to disallow the disembarking of cruise liners under 200 metres at the V&A Waterfront is unacceptable, especially since it appears to have been a decision based on narrow bureaucratic interests and taken after many years of precedence.

The Queen Mary 2 is the largest cruise liner ever to enter Cape Town, and at 345 metres she is way too long to fit into the Waterfront anyway.  But having been invited aboard the last time she was in Cape Town, berthed on the Eastern Mole,  I have seen the conditions under which passengers (many of whom are very old) are expected to embark and disembark, picking their way over railway lines and stepping across potholes and around bollards.  It is a disgrace that one of the world’s most beautiful ports expects some of the world’s wealthiest travellers to accept these conditions.

The irony of the Queen Mary 2’s berthing is that the Port had indicated that E Berth would be available, an offer the Port likely views as a great concession, and which ended up being turned down by the ocean liner company.  The problem is that the current facilities at E berth are also unacceptable and real effort will have to be made to upgrade the existing building to make berthing acceptable.

The reality is that for Cape Town to benefit from cruise liner tourism, it needs a dedicated cruise line terminal in the main harbour.  Preferably this should be as close as possible to the CTICC and the Waterfront, with a direct connection at top deck level (several storeys above ground level) into a handling facility much like an airport.  This is what one finds in world class ports such as Barcelona.

The Port of Durban is way ahead of Cape Town with regard to the establishment of a new cruise liner terminal.   They have identified a site and they are currently preparing a Request for Proposals from terminal developers.

But the fact remains that cruise liner operators will base their decisions on whether to deploy to South African waters on the sort of reception they get, not only in Durban or Cape Town, but at all stopovers along the coastline.  We need a comprehensive national policy directed at realising the benefits that can be achieved for the whole country.

It is important for South Africans to realise that attracting cruise liners here will not only benefit Cape Town but the entire country, as the well-heeled tourists will be exposed to all of the charms of the country as a whole.

What most Capetonians don’t realise, however, is that we essentially have no say at all about whether or not we should build a cruise liner terminal.  This decision sits squarely with Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), a national state-owned enterprise based in Johannesburg (bizarre as that may seem, being nowhere near the sea) that owns and controls all the major ports in South Africa.

This company is mandated to make money out of its operations, and plans its use of the Port of Cape Town according to the most profitable activity.  It has no interest in or obligation towards what is most beneficial to the broader Cape Town economy.  The most profitable activity for TNPA happens to be the movement of containers, and as a result the pressure is constantly on for the expansion of container handling capacity.  Other activities such as other cargo handling, ship repair or cruise liners fight it out for space elsewhere in the harbour, and cruise liners get shifted from berth to berth as they arrive.

Because TNPA makes very little money per metre of quayside out of cruise liners, they have no incentive to change this situation.  They argue that they cannot justify building a cruise line terminal when only 10-15 of them arrive each year, but this ignores the fact that if there was a dedicated terminal and a solid cruise liner industry strategy then this number would undoubtedly grow.

What is required is for potential private sector investors and local, provincial and national government departments to come together with Transnet National Ports Authority to identify a site, secure investment and a long lease, and build the terminal.  There is, in fact, a company in existence, known as the Ocean Liner Terminal Development Company, which has been trying for many years to negotiate with TNPA and other stakeholders to achieve exactly this, but to no avail to date.

It is likely that the only way for TNPA to finally move on this is for the people of Cape Town, particularly the tourism industry, and even the national Minister of Tourism, to make as much noise as possible about this and to insist that TNPA comes to the party on building what will undoubtedly be beneficial to the broader Cape Town and South African economy.  They have already built into their long-term plans a potential site where a terminal could go, but they need to be pushed to make this happen now, not in 15 years’ time.

Most economic commentators, including the UN, suspect the world may be heading for another recession.  In the latest UN World Economic Outlook, it states that “…a serious, renewed global downturn is looming because of persistent weaknesses in the major developed economies related to problems left unresolved in the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2008-2009.”

Because of this economic hardship, people – and companies – are shopping around for deals. We must be prepared to discount, be more flexible, price right, and expect to negotiate hard, especially when it comes to dealing with India and China.

There is an economic and political shift underway globally, from the North and West to the South and East (witness the COP17 spats between developing and developed countries): China, India and Brazil are where most of the action is taking place, followed closely by our African neighbours.

It is in response to this shift that SAA has just launched direct flights from Johannesburg to Beijing.  In Cape Town we must open up much more to visitors from these new markets, for instance by adapting our hotel and restaurant offerings.  Australia recently committed A$30 million to marketing to luxury Chinese tourists over the next three years; we should consider doing something similar.

It is vital that our planning, however, does not focus solely on the other BRICS countries.  Much of South Africa’s economic growth will come from serving the much faster-growing countries of Africa.  Other African countries are keen to challenge our hegemony on the continent and now have the growth in population, middle class and resources to do so.  Even conservative estimates of economic growth put Africa’s at 6% per annum, which makes it an attractive customer and economic partner.  We must also be vigilant of the growing Chinese influence across the continent, not only economically, but now even militarily.  We risk losing our edge in Africa.

To facilitate business in Africa from Cape Town, more flights are needed to new regional markets.  The recent commercial launch of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner will revolutionise Cape Town’s prospects as a global airline destination. Boeing has taken the opposite strategy to Airbus.  The Airbus A380, which carries up to 850 passengers, is designed to fly large numbers of people between two major hubs, such as London and Johannesburg.  The Boeing Dreamliner has much the same range (around 15,000km), but carries far fewer passengers (up to 250) and uses much less fuel because of its smaller size and carbon fibre construction.  This means that non-hub destinations like Cape Town will become more attractive for long-haul flights from places like Hong Kong, Singapore or New York, as a smaller plane is more easily filled.  Encouragingly, there are currently more than 800 Dreamliners on order.

Speaking of energy efficiency, any planning for 2012 must take energy into account.  There is increasing focus on this area, with approved renewable energy projects about to start up, as well as the issuing of a R1 trillion tender for new nuclear power.  With Eskom recently warning that there could be more rolling blackouts this year, there will be significant pressure to complete the massive new coal-fired power stations currently under construction.  Energy shortages may also be a major factor in the decision of whether to allow fracking in the Karoo, as economic pressures potentially outweigh environmental sensitivities in the current charged political environment.

In times of economic upheaval such as these, extremism tends to creep into politics, as with the rise of fascism and dictatorships in the 1930s after the Great Depression. This is already evident in the Republican presidential race in the United States, the rising influence of the Tea Party there and the comeback of the far-rightwing in Europe. This extremism is likely to play out in South African politics too this year, with the ANC’s Mangaung conference looking like it may be as hard-fought as the 2007 Polokwane conference that spelled the end of Thabo Mbeki. With Julius Malema officially sidelined, he and the ANC Youth League may fight back through more extremism, continuing to focus on nationalization and other previously discredited populist policies, and potentially using scapegoats such as whites and immigrants to back their arguments.

Economic and social pressures from unemployment, demand for housing and competition from massive numbers of better-skilled African immigrants will increase the social unrest we saw last year and could even lead to a resurgence of xenophobic violence.

Socially, there may even be a reduction in “bling” and conspicuous consumption globally as people feel self-conscious about others’ hardships.  Historically, trends such as this come coupled with a yearning for nostalgia and history, as well as a back-to-basics approach.  Cape Town Tourism has already tapped into this trend with its new marketing campaign, “You don’t need a holiday, you need Cape Town”, because here, the campaign suggests, you will be revived and re-inspired.

There are also a number of Western Cape-specific issues that 2012 planners would do well to keep in mind.  Politically, while the ANC fights its internal battles nationally, the DA may likely want to quietly consolidate gains in the Western Cape by trying to prove that it can deliver quality education and healthcare to the poor, and create economic growth and jobs.  One potential wildcard, though, is the question of how strong the new alliance between the DA and the former Independent Democrats remains. The alliance includes two very strong women at the top, as Premier and Mayor, and both will want to demonstrate their mettle.

There is very good news in the massive increase in bandwidth commercially soon to be available in the Cape, with the West African Cable System (WACS) and the African Coast to Europe (ACE) cable both expected to be ready for commercial use this year.  Both cables land at Yzerfontein, just north of Cape Town. This puts the Cape in the strong position of being closest to the cables, while other parts of the country still have to rely on land-based infrastructure to get their data here first. The price of connectivity should finally decrease with the increase in competition, while connection speeds will increase and outages should be reduced due to the increased network redundancy.

With pressure on jobs in the current economic climate, more people are starting their own businesses.  This could be good for Cape Town, because if you’re going to start something you may as well do it in a place you like.  This is one of the reasons Cape Town is already ranked far above the rest of the country by the Global Entrepreneurship Measurement Study for its entrepreneurial nature.  The ongoing improvement in bandwidth also benefits us by enabling bright, young innovators to base themselves here while bringing the world’s customers closer.

The new bandwidth could also assist with the ongoing spread of access to social media, especially since all Western Cape public libraries are now wired to the internet.  The increasing importance of social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube means that the image of a place becomes more dependent on word of mouth.  We all need to spread good news about the Cape and ensure that visitors and residents alike feel welcome here.

Currently Cape Town is on a winning international media streak, through winning the World Design Capital 2014 bid, Table Mountain ranking as one of the New 7 Natural Wonders of Nature, and even Coldplay using Cape Town in its hit “Paradise” music video.  We need to keep up this momentum to stay in the international business and leisure markets’ minds.

Cape Town, as a city, is also planning for 2012 – there are several significant planned improvements to Cape Town’s offering to the world, including the beginning of the expansion of the CTICC, improvements to the Waterfront by its new owners, the completion of the Century City Connect high speed bandwidth ring, which is the first open access fibre optic network of its kind in South Africa, the ongoing expansion of the MyCiti bus system, and the consolidation of the Fringe design precinct in the East City.

Crucially, the new Economic Development Partnership (EDP) that is currently being designed and which will be launched in April, should help to pull all of this together.  The EDP aims to work closely with existing agencies and businesses (and not, happily, to create further duplication) to create a more efficient, easily accessible and better promoted economic ecosystem in the Cape.  Cape businesses should certainly be keeping an eye on EDP developments, and considering how best to align their plans with the EDP programmes as they are announced.

Taking all of this into account, it is to be hoped, as we finalise the last details of our plans for the year, that we arrive in December 2012 as intact as – and hopefully wiser than – in December 2011.

CEO of Accelerate Cape Town, a business think tank made up of 45 top corporates in the Cape Town region.

This coverage focused on a number of areas.  These included the final Accelerate Cape Town Inspiration Session of 2011, a speech Guy Lundy, CEO of Accelerate Cape Town made at the South African Wine Index meeting at the end of November, an opinion piece in the Cape Times on the cruise liner docking issue in early February, subsequent media follow-ups, and a prominent opinion piece by Guy and Libby Ferrandi, Marketing Manager of Accelerate Cape Town, in the Cape Times in mid-February.

The Inspiration Session on 1 December with Guy and two panellists, motivational speaker Timothy Maurice Webster and former Miss South Africa and TV personality Jo-Ann Strauss, attracted significant media coverage.

The Session, co-sponsored by Allan Gray and Bowman Gilfillan, was structured along the lines of a master class on how to network effectively, and was featured in the Cape Times Society pages.  It also featured in the news section and website of the New Age newspaper, on the respected pan-African business website How We Made It In Africa, and in a two page glossy piece in 2012’s first edition of Black Business Quarterly (BBQ), and on the BBQ Online website.

See the online coverage here: http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/nine-tips-on-how-to-network-like-a-pro/13755/; http://www.thenewage.co.za/36916-1008-53-Cape_Town_needs_you and
http://www.bbqonline.co.za/articles/other/470-tips-in-etiquette-and-personal-branding.

How We Made It In Africa also published an extract from Guy’s message about personal branding at the session in a follow-up piece a week later. Read it here:  http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/don%E2%80%99t-let-social-media-damage-your-personal-brand-career/13921/.

Picking up on the theme of retention of black talent in Cape Town at the Session, veteran journalist and author Liz McGregor (author of Touch, Pause, Engage!: Exploring the Heart of South African Rugby) wrote a column about her views for Business Day in mid-December. It was titled “Cape must accept blacks or they will simply move on” and elicited some heated comments. Here is the link: www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=161229.

The retention of black talent in Cape Town and the positive role Accelerate Cape Town is playing in helping to find practical solutions to the issue, again came to the fore in a long feature article by Solly Moeng in Black Business Quarterly, which appeared in the online version in late January. This was in addition to the detailed article on the Inspiration Sessions in  the magazine.

On a different note, Guy’s speech at the South African Wine Index (SAWI) meeting in late November at the 12 Apostles Hotel attracted positive coverage in www.hospitalitymarketplace.co.za and in respected winemaker Peter Finlayson’s festive season letter on the Bouchard Finlayson Wine Estate website, which was published in English, Afrikaans, German, French, Spanish and Italian.

Guy was also invited onto the Guy MacDonald show on Good Hope FM to comment on the erection of office buildings on Chapman’s Peak on 18 January.

In late January the New Age newspaper also quoted Guy on investment in the Western Cape, in an article about Premier Helen Zille’s speech at an Oxford Business Group function.

Guy wrote an opinion piece for the Cape Times, which appeared on 1 February, about the issue of whether Cape Town needs a dedicated cruise liner terminal. The piece was picked up by the popular Cape Town city development blog, Future Cape Town, here: http://www.futurecapetown.com/post/16971834616/cape-town-needs-a-dedicated-cruise-liner-terminal.  The debate was also continued on air when Guy was invited onto the Midday Report with Chris Gibbons on 567 Cape Talk. The audio clip was picked up by Soundcloud.com, a social media network for audio clips.

And finally, the biggest piece of coverage of the year so far was published on 13 February in the Cape Times. The piece titled “A Year of Potential, good and bad” was co-written by Guy and Libby Ferrandi, and was featured prominently in the Cape Times opinion page.

Most of the Accelerate Cape Town media coverage is also duplicated on the Accelerate Cape Town website – www.acceleratecapetown.com, and can be reused with permission.  Please contact Libby Ferrandi on Libby@acceleratecapetown.com for details.

The video clip is fascinating, compelling, and an invaluable tool for understanding the NPC’s role in South Africa.  Click here