Bureaucratic bungling brings Cape Town’s growth to halt, says chamber of commerce
Developments worth billions of rand have been abandoned because of delays caused by mountains of red tape
22 May 2019 - 16:09
byDave Chambers
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A plan to develop Cape Town's foreshore and deal with its unfinished freeways fell apart in July 2018 over tender irregularities. This is an artist's impression of part of the development. Picture: MITCHELL DU PLESSIS ASSOCIATES
Municipal red tape is strangling growth and job creation, the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry says.
“Our city council is supposed to enable business and encourage good development but they have now become a disabling force,” said chamber president Geoff Jacobs.
He said he had been alarmed by a conference of the Western Cape Property Development Forum last week, where it was disclosed that developments worth billions of rand had been abandoned because of bureaucratic delays.
This had contributed to a crisis in the construction industry in which hundreds of thousands of jobs had been lost.
An example given at the conference was the R1.6bn former Christiaan Barnard private hospital in the city centre — now replaced by a new building — which was aborted as a result of bureaucratic delays and “incompetence”.
Jacobs said: “We have also seen how the whole Foreshore freeway project was called off after several firms and consortiums had spent many millions of rand on some outstanding proposals. Investments would have poured into Cape Town but we lost out because of municipal bungling.”
The redevelopment of the Foreshore and resolution of its unfinished freeways was scrapped in July 2018 amid challenges to the awarding of the tender.
Jacobs said in some cases, planning approval for developments could take four to eight years.
“The city council seems to have no idea of how much these delays cost and how they destroy viable projects,” he said.
Melissa Whitehead, the head of Cape Town's Transport and Urban Development Authority, has been suspended on full pay of more than R3m per
year for more than a year. Picture: YOU TUBE/AFRICAN CITIES.
There had been a major forensic investigation into the Transport and Urban Development Authority. Its head, Melissa Whitehead, has been “sitting at home for more than a year on suspension drawing a salary in excess of R3m a year while questions about expensive Chinese electric buses and Volvo bus chassis remain unanswered”, he said.
Jacobs said the heart of the problem was “over-regulation and red tape administered by a growing staff of fabulously well paid officials who are simply not doing their jobs”.
“The situation is unacceptable.”
Electric buses built for the City of Cape Town have been languishing at a depot in Blackheath, Cape Town, for more than a year pending resolution of a wrangle about a tender awarded to Chinese firm BYD. Picture: DAVE CHAMBERS
Last week, the city council municipal public accounts committee was told six investigations were being conducted into the Transport and Urban Development Authority.
They relate to:
Alleged unauthorised transactions relating to cash management;
A tender for professional services on nonmotorised transport projects;
A tender for construction of MyCiTi bus infrastructure;
Concerns raised about the cancellation of a tender;
Noncompliance with supply chain rules over the procurement of electric buses; and
Noncompliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act over the first two phases of the MyCiTi bus project.
The City of Cape Town has been asked for its response to the chamber of commerce criticism.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Bureaucratic bungling brings Cape Town’s growth to halt, says chamber of commerce
Developments worth billions of rand have been abandoned because of delays caused by mountains of red tape
Municipal red tape is strangling growth and job creation, the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry says.
“Our city council is supposed to enable business and encourage good development but they have now become a disabling force,” said chamber president Geoff Jacobs.
He said he had been alarmed by a conference of the Western Cape Property Development Forum last week, where it was disclosed that developments worth billions of rand had been abandoned because of bureaucratic delays.
This had contributed to a crisis in the construction industry in which hundreds of thousands of jobs had been lost.
An example given at the conference was the R1.6bn former Christiaan Barnard private hospital in the city centre — now replaced by a new building — which was aborted as a result of bureaucratic delays and “incompetence”.
Jacobs said: “We have also seen how the whole Foreshore freeway project was called off after several firms and consortiums had spent many millions of rand on some outstanding proposals. Investments would have poured into Cape Town but we lost out because of municipal bungling.”
The redevelopment of the Foreshore and resolution of its unfinished freeways was scrapped in July 2018 amid challenges to the awarding of the tender.
Jacobs said in some cases, planning approval for developments could take four to eight years.
“The city council seems to have no idea of how much these delays cost and how they destroy viable projects,” he said.
There had been a major forensic investigation into the Transport and Urban Development Authority. Its head, Melissa Whitehead, has been “sitting at home for more than a year on suspension drawing a salary in excess of R3m a year while questions about expensive Chinese electric buses and Volvo bus chassis remain unanswered”, he said.
Jacobs said the heart of the problem was “over-regulation and red tape administered by a growing staff of fabulously well paid officials who are simply not doing their jobs”.
“The situation is unacceptable.”
Last week, the city council municipal public accounts committee was told six investigations were being conducted into the Transport and Urban Development Authority.
They relate to:
The City of Cape Town has been asked for its response to the chamber of commerce criticism.
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