Entrance for adults is R60, pensioners pay R40 and children younger than 12 enter free of charge. The Expo will be open from 10h00 to 20h00 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and from 10h00 to 18h00 on Sunday.

For more information, phone (021) 511 2800 or log on to www.homemakersonline.co.za.

In addition to the costs, illegal dumping of waste has severe practical consequences for the CBD, which include clogged drains, the attraction of rodents, cockroaches and health hazards. These are proactively tackled by the CCID through its ongoing waste

From an enforcement perspective, the CCID, along with The City of Cape Town, J&M Cleaning Services and Straatwerk, a non-governmental agency, are working tirelessly to clamp down on illegal dumping to keep the public spaces of the Central City attractive and safe for those who live and work in the CBD as well as to visitors, and investors.

“To minimise the environmental and health issues within the Cape Town CBD, we have increased our vigilance in identifying illegal dumpers and will take action against them, whilst working with the City to uphold its litter by-laws. Over the past two months we have already issued R44 000.00 worth of fines for illegal dumping,” says Tasso Evangelinos, Chief Operations Officer of CCID.

“On average the CCID cleansing and maintenance staff manages to rid the city of 60 tons of waste a month, which they then transport to the recycling depot in Philippi.”

“In 2011 alone, this team managed to remove more than 1500 tons of waste from the Central City, this included  4.7 tons of waste cleared from 4100 channels and 22 tons of waste removed from 2700 fresh water drains. The removal of this waste is essential in keeping the drains and channels unblocked and rodent free, and is  over and above that collected by City services,” says Evangelinos.

Evangelinos adds that it is important for residents and business owners to take better care of their environments by ensuring that they dump their waste legally and appropriately. “We need residents and business owners to help us keep the CBD clean by disposing of their waste through the proper channels. World class cities are clean cities.”

The CCID says that simple steps can be taken by residents and business owners to dispose of their waste legally and appropriately:

Contain it

The City of Cape Town collects residential waste within the central city, from the green and black bins once a week during weekdays according to a scheduled programme. Residents are to place their waste containers outside their homes preferably no later than 06:00 in order to prevent waste pile up.

Drop it off

The public can make use of the nearest community drop-off facilities where they can drop off excess waste and recyclables for free. Note that residents are restricted as to the amount of waste they may drop off. For details on volumes of waste accepted at specific sites, and frequency thereof, please consult the drop-off table.

Service delivered

Retailers, corporates and other businesses not yet doing so must make arrangements for waste collection either by signing a service level agreement with the City or employing a private collection company. This will help plan and prevent having to put waste outside a few days ahead.

The City’s By-Law states that businesses must have sufficient bins to contain all their waste until collection day. If a business is unable to provide sufficient storage space for the required number of bins, it should make arrangements to increase the frequency of refuse collection, enabling it to get by on fewer bins.

No food zone

“With regards to the rodent issue in particular, other measures that can be taken to ensure that rodents do not thrive in the CBD are that business owners, especially those of restaurants and food outlets, should make sure that their waste is removed regularly and that their refuse holding areas are kept clean and free of food particles and other edible waste matter,” says Evangelinos.

“As a part of its overall urban management strategy, the CCID will be rolling out its annual drain cleansing and maintenance programme this month. The team has already cleaned 715 gulley drains in the last two months,” continues Evangelinos.

Three positions are currently available: a manager for the Central City Development Strategy programme, a staff writer, and a CCID night manager.

Opportunity #1: CCDS manager: The Central City Development Strategy is a shared vision for the future of the Central City, developed by the City of Cape Town together with Cape Town Partnership in 2008, and plotted until 2018. Specific goals of the programme include transforming the Central City into a premier business location; a high quality sustainable urban environment; a popular destination for Capetonians and visitors; a leading centre for knowledge, innovation, creativity and culture in Africa and the South; and a place that embodies the heart and soul of Cape Town. The CCDS manager will be responsible for the facilitation of CCDS-specific projects. Read the full job description.

Opportunity #2: Staff writer: Are you interested in how words and a well-turned story can create a social movement? Do you consider yourself a collaborator, a curator and a connector as much as a communicator? If so, Cape Town Partnership’s communications team is looking for a staff writer and wants to hear from you. Read the full job description.

Opportunity #3: CCID night manager: The Central City Improvement District is mandated to provide a supportive role to the City of Cape Town by helping ensure that the Central City is clean, safe, caring and open for business. The CCID night manager will be responsible for the three operational arms of the CCID (urban management, social development and security) after traditional business hours. Read the full job description.

Opportunity #4: Creative Cape Town Programme Manager: The Creative Cape Town programme is facilitated by the Cape Town Partnership and seeks to bring the best out of Cape Town’s vibrant creative industry. The Creative Cape Town Programme Manager will work to mobilise the industry as a key economic driver for the city and the region. The application deadline for this position has been extended until 31 May. Read the full job description.

Barring the Creative Cape Town Programme Manager position, all applications need to be in by Friday 18 May at 16h30, and should be sent to ayiesha@capetownpartnership.co.za.

The long term objectives of the surveys are to ensure that City authorities:

• deliver a high quality of services to Cape Town’s residents, to people who transact in the City and to those who visit it as tourists or holiday makers;
• are known as an efficient, effective and caring government; and
• actively contribute to the development of our human and social capital.

To do that, the City needs to:

• regularly identify and confirm residents’ and businesses’ needs;
• measure and improve satisfaction levels; and
• prioritise areas for action.

The perception survey measures in which areas the City is doing well so that they can continue their performance, and where possible, enhance levels of service delivery. It also measures areas in which the City can improve. The information that the survey provides is invaluable as it assists authorities to strategically identify and work to meet the needs of all Capetonians.

The City of Cape Town has received the 2011/12 results of the independent survey, which was conducted by TNS. The survey was scientifically conducted to ensure a representative sample across the City. It took place in October and November 2011, and comprised 3 000 face-to-face interviews with residents of Cape Town and 700 telephonic interviews with businesses in Cape Town. It also included five focus groups with residents to probe and investigate issues in depth.

Overall performance trends over the past five years have been positive and represent a general upward trend in residents’ satisfaction.

In terms of residents’ and business’ interaction with the City, most scores have shown significant increases both in the short- and long-term.

The results of the survey are now being presented internally and assessed with the objective of further enhancing service delivery and planning.

It is pleasing also to note that perceptions of the mayor and of senior City management in dealing with City issues have improved.

The information below is a summary of the 2011/12 survey results.

What did residents say?

• 63% of residents said that overall, the City of Cape Town’s performance was good, very good or excellent (up from 62% in 2010/11; 57% in 2009/10; 54% in 2008/9; and 50% in 2007/8).
• 62% of residents rate the City of Cape Town as good, very good or excellent in fulfilling its role as a public service provider (the same as 2010/11 and up from 58% in 2009/10; 54% in 2008/9; and 46% in 2007/8).
• 69% of residents rate their level of trust in the City of Cape Town as fairly strong, very strong or extremely strong (up from 66% in 2010/11 and 2009/10; 61% in 2008/9 and 50% in 2007/8).

The areas of strength that have emerged from the survey are as follows:

Essential services remain a relative area of strength for the City overall, particularly water provision, sewerage and sanitation as well as refuse collection.

• Stormwater drains being regularly cleaned and prevention of stormwater flooding has shown improved ratings by residents in the past year and continue as a positive upward trend.
• In terms of Community Services, Parks have shown an improvement in both the short- and long-term, while library services continue to be rated by residents as good.
• Law enforcement scores have improved overall both in the long-term and in the past year. Illegal dumping, illegal land settlement and noise have again been identified as being important to residents.
• Environmental and conservation services have improved across most categories, with cleanliness of the urban environment in particular showing a significant improvement.
• Fire and Emergency Services continue to be a priority for residents and these services have shown improvement in response times to emergency situations.
• The provision of affordable transport has shown an improvement in the long term with all other perceptions on transport remaining stable both in the long and short term.

The areas needing improvement that have emerged from the survey are as follows:

• Roads: the maintenance thereof; the maintenance of the surrounding grass areas; and traffic congestion on the roads.
• Civic halls, recreation and community centres, swimming pools and sports fields have all shown a very small decline in rating over the past year.
• The City provides extensive health services through City clinics. Whilst this is an unfunded mandate and a service that overlaps with other spheres of government, it is in keeping with our commitment to being a Caring City. Due to the quality of care provided, City clinics are placed under pressure through greater demand for their services. As a result, areas of improvements exist particularly in terms of waiting times at clinics.
• Residents have expressed dissatisfaction in the area of human settlements. The City has a database of which around 380 000 households have expressed a need for a housing opportunity. The reasons for this are complex and include the divided historical past of the city and legislative and budgetary constraints. In our commitment to being an Inclusive City, we will continue to look for innovative solutions to the housing backlog and to ensure that we maximise the provision of housing opportunities.

 What did business say?

84% of businesses said that overall, the City of Cape Town’s performance was good, very good or excellent (up from 80% in 2010/11; 77% in both 2009/10 and 2008/9; and from 69% in 2007/8).

• 83% of businesses rate the performance of the City of Cape Town in fulfilling its role as a provider of municipal services as good, very good or excellent (up from 81% in 2010/11; 77% in 2009/10; 75% in 2008/9; and 70% in 2007/8).
• 84% of businesses rated their level of trust in the City of Cape Town as fairly strong, very strong or extremely strong (up from 81% in 2010/11; 80% in 2009/10; 78% in 2008/9; and 72% in 2007/8).

The areas of strength that have emerged from the business survey are as follows

• The interaction of the City with business has shown a significant improvement in the past year.
• According to businesses surveyed, law enforcement has improved significantly since 2007/8 and there has also been a significant perceived improvement in the safety of the environment in which businesses operate and adequate measures being in place to address corruption in the City in the past year.

Results by district

The results were also analysed by district.

In 2011/12, there has been an improvement in the perception of the overall performance of the City in the Khayelitsha, Klipfontein, Mitchells Plain, Southern and Western districts, with the Western district showing the biggest improvement.

The district of Klipfontein showed improvement with 52% of respondents rating the overall performance of the City as good, very good or excellent. This result needs to improve even more – and this administration will continue to work to further deliver in this area.

Although the Tygerberg and Eastern districts ratings have shown a decline in perception compared to last year, the overall trend shows significant improvement.  The Northern district is still rated the highest in terms of overall perception of the City with 80% of respondents rating the overall performance of the City as good, very good or excellent.

The next steps:

“The 2011/12 survey results are encouraging. The annual Customer Satisfaction Survey will be used by the City’s leadership to inform and refine the planning and implementation of municipal services. And we will continue to deliver as much as we are able to all our citizens – especially to those most in need of assistance in line with this government’s commitment as expressed in the Integrated Development Plan to being a city of opportunity – which is well-run, caring, inclusive and safe,” said Alderman Qually.

New in-depth report due in August:

The Central City Improvement District and the Cape Town Partnership are collaborating to release the State of Cape Town Central City report which will, each year, reveal insight into the economic realities and trends of the Central City as the economic heart of the region. Look out for it this August.

Image: Shaen Adey

According to statistics by the City Law Enforcement unit responsible for the CBD, the majority of infringements attended to in the Company‘s Garden and surrounding areas involved contraventions of minor by-laws, such as loitering.

“Our objective is to proactively prevent the occurrence of these misdemeanours so that people can enjoy incident-free visits to the Garden. We believe that by enforcing the basics we can ensure that more serious incidents do not occur. The essence of our strategy is based on vigilance, an approach which has been enormously successful in ensuring that the CBD is the safest in the country to live, visit and work,” says Tasso Evangelinos, Chief Operational Officer of the CCID.

What is the Economic Development Partnership and why is it needed?

The EDP is an independent, non-partisan, membership-based organization that is being established to lead, co-ordinate and drive the economic development system of the Western Cape towards achieving more inclusive and resilient economic growth. It has been launched as a regional and local response to the countrywide imperative that economic growth is linked to jobs and is sustainable.

The EDP model is influenced by new types of intermediary organisations and cross sector partnerships that have emerged globally in the past few years in response to the scale and complexity of new economic, sustainability and urban transitions. Speaking at the launch, EDP convener, Andrew Boraine said; “Many of our public and private institutions are no longer suited to address the step-change necessary in our economy. We are looking for a new breed of organisation and a new type of collaborative leadership”.

Boraine explains further; “The EDP will make a difference to the extent to which it can harness the mandates, power and constituencies of its members and partners, build a culture of collaboration, and find new ways of doing things”.

Boraine cautioned that meaningful change will not occur overnight, “The role of the EDP will be to build effective partnerships for inclusive growth. This will require a commitment to shared values, vision and action, and time. There are many things that can be done right now to accelerate employment creation; however, it will require at least a ten-year commitment to generate sufficient labour-absorbing growth to make a significant difference to poverty, inequality and unemployment. We are asking EDP members to make that commitment”.

Creating opportunity through collaboration

Western Cape MEC for Economic Development and Tourism, Alan Winde said that the EDP will add value to the work of all three spheres of government; “The role of government in the economy is to get the basics right – education, infrastructure, health, skills, sound macro and micro economic policies, an enabling regulatory framework, and to make sure that this is done in a ‘whole of government’ way. The EDP will provide a platform for much needed innovation and experimentation. This is why the Western Cape Government has also entrusted the Future Cape 2040 process – a visioning and planning process for the regional economy – to the EDP”.

How can you get involved?

Currently in a membership drive phase, the EDP already has around 40 key organisations that have formally signed up for membership, including Accelerate Cape Town, Agri Western Cape, Provincial Government of the Western Cape, The City of Cape Town, Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut, WESGRO, Fabcos Western Cape, NAFCOC Western Cape, Western Cape Black Business Unifying Initiative, the Cape Higher Education Consortium, the George Municipality and George Business Chamber, Men at the Side of the Road, Oudtshoorn Business Chamber, Overstrand Municipality, SAPOA, SA Oil & Gas Alliance and Swartland Municipality.

Start-up capital for the consultation, organisational design and establishment phase has been provided by provincial and national government. In the long term, the EDP will be funded by its members. Both the Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town, amongst others, have made financial commitments to the EDP.

Says Boraine; “Our stakeholder mapping process has shown that there are approximately 60-70 key stakeholders that drive the regional economic development system. However, to ensure that the EDP is an inclusive process, we have sent membership application forms to over 250 organisations.”

Any organisation that plays a role in the Western Cape economic development system, and that falls into one of the 12 categories of membership, may apply to join the EDP by completing an Expression of Interest for Membership form, which is available at www.wcedp.co.za. Members are also invited to participate in the EDP Board nomination process.

Join the conversation on Twitter: @WCEDP

Read the full report and access presentations from the day.

Images: Yasser Booley

Bookings are essential
Call: 076 679 2697
Tickets are cash only: R60 per show or R100 for both. Students: R40 per show or R70 for both (proof of Student ID required) 

After touring South Africa, the original production of Kat & the Kings was invited to the Tricycle Theatre in London in November 1998 and was then transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre in London’s West End by British producers. The production won the Olivier Awards for Best New Musical and the entire cast won the award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1999 – a first for a South African production. The production then transferred to Broadway and was nominated for a Tony, a Drama League and 3 Drama Desk Awards.

Kat & the Kings previews start from the 1st May with tickets from R100 to R150 via the Fugard Theatre box office on 021 461 4554, and 0861 915 8000, with generous discounts available for the Friends of the Fugard. Patrons who are not yet signed up members of the Friends of the Fugard program can do so by clicking onto www.thefugard.com or by calling the theatre’s box office. Performances run Tuesdays to Fridays at 8pm and on Saturdays at 5pm and 8:30pm.

Lemn Sissay is a poet and playwright. He is the Associate Artist at Europe’s largest arts complex, the Southbank Centre, and is the first poet commissioned to write for the 2012 Olympics. His poem “Spark Catchers” is etched into a transformer on the Olympic site. He is an honorary Doctor of Letters and curated the world’s first Literature Festival of The Sea.
Badilisha Poetry X-Change is a project of the Africa Centre.

Dates: 21 April 2012
Venue: Slave Church, 40 Long Street
For more information: www.badilishapoetry.com

For media queries contact: Isla Haddow-Flood at  the Africa Centre.
Cell: 071 491 4101
Tel: 087 150 5446
Email: islahf@africacentre.net

This absurdist-style play centres on five people waiting in a queue, none of them seemingly know what they are waiting for, but all are desperate to get first place in line. The drama unravels as they squabble, trick, fight, and betray each other to get ahead. It is a character-driven play making a profound statement about society and human behaviour.

‘Stephen’, played by Bjorn Steinbach, is the flamboyant ‘wanna-be’ genius who always seems to get first in line. Leon Clingman, who at one time directed LINE in New York, plays ‘Flemming’, a dim-witted baseball fan. Marlisa Doubell portrays Molly, a woman who uses her sexuality to get ahead, while Gavin Werner plays her tormented husband, ‘Arnall’. The shady ‘Dolan’ is played by Aidan Whytock. Award-winning director Yvonne Copley heads the team.

Written by the acclaimed Jewish-American playwright of over 70 plays, many of which have been translated and performed worldwide, Israel Horovitz’s LINE is currently in its record-breaking 38th year at the 13th Street Repertory Theatre in New York, and it has been staged in over 25 countries and translated into over 35 languages.

Venue: Little Theatre, Orange Street, Cape Town
Dates: 18-28 April 2012
Price: R80 (Students/Pensioners R60)
Tickets available through Computicket
Cast: Bjorn Steinbach, Leon Clingman, Marlisa Doubell, Gavin Werner, Aidan Whytock
Director: Yvonne Copley