AFRICA MUSLIM PARTY

Serving the People

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF CAPE TOWN

 

 

A number of policy initiatives are already in the pipeline and to a large extent we will continue to support them as long as they are pro-poor and aimed at making our city a livable place for all residents. In the next 100 days we would like, however, to see increased emphasis being placed on interventions that will speed up job creation, skills formation and forging of stronger linkages between the first and second economies.  In the main, the interventions we are advocating should focus on the following:

 

 

The Economic Development of Local Areas

For most of our poor communities a large portion of what they earn or receive is spent outside of the areas in which they live

one effective way to get the virtuous cycle going in economic development is  through “plugging the leaks” – ensuring that money earned in, or brought into, poor areas circulates longer or turns over more often so that a higher multiplier is achieved.

 

 

Stimulation of small businesses

This is strongly linked to the first. Money will circulate more in a community if there is a wider variety of goods and services available and if quality, environment and security is similar to that found in the formal trading areas.

Use existing programs to make micro-finance more accessible, similar to that used by the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh

Link small business formation to procurement of goods and services by CT

 

 

Training and skills development

This should not only be aimed at improving the opportunities for people to get a job but also to diversify and broaden the base of the economy.  Here too there is a strong link between the first two – when people have skills useful to their community they are in a better position to start a small business and hire other local residents which, in turn, allows money to circulate longer before leaving for other centres of economic activity.

Even in the absence of money people can use skills as a way to trade or barter. We would like to experiment with the setting up of local talent exchanges through which people can develop a stronger sense of the skills they possess and thereby enhance their self-esteem.

Good marketable skills are also one of the strong drivers of outside investment

 

 

The utilization of CT property for poverty alleviation purposes

We must begin to put Council-owned property at the service of our poorest citizens. Through long-term leases we should be setting aside land for multi-purpose usage including residential, agricultural and commercial activities

 

 

Promotion of tourism in poor areas

Despite the high growth of tourism in CT, very few benefits have accrued to the poor and historically disadvantaged areas. We want to see resources being allocated to support the establishment of facilities for accommodation and restaurants in these areas and for training tour guides, cultural workers, etc. without compromising the safety of our visitors.

 

 

Support for growth initiatives that introduce innovations in environmental sustainability

We should be world leaders in solar and wind technology given our climate. Apart from the natural advantage that we enjoy, we should be undertaking these initiatives because the lives of our future generations depend on it and because the earth can no longer support our current demands for energy. Where possible we want to encourage the manufacture of energy efficient construction materials for housing and industry and the recycling of waste materials to produce new and socially useful products.

 

 

Spatial integration of first and second economies

We cannot continue to live in an economy that generates wealth at one pole and poverty at another. An economy that is skewed in this way is unstable and becomes the breeding ground for corruption and violence. The development of spatial corridors is one way of linking the formal and informal economies but we must also search for other solutions that will transfer assets from wealthy, established areas to poorer, under-resourced areas.

 

 

Renewal and regeneration of satellite economic nodes

Far too much of our main economic activity is concentrated in the CBD and a few select locations, to the detriment of other areas of our city. We would like to see resources allocated towards the renewal of other neighbourhoods in the city that would offer shopping, recreational and cultural amenities as well as state of the art health and educational facilities.

 

 

Increase and improve the social assets of our poor communities

We would like to live in a CT in which all communities enjoy a degree of equity with regard to access to affordable transport, health and educational facilities, housing, water and sanitation services, and basic communication technologies. This constitutes social wealth, which has been shown to form the foundation for economic growth and development in many other societies around the world. For this reason we would like to place a high priority on infrastructural provision and public works programs as a way of addressing inequitable access and overcoming the legacy of our past.

Draft Economic Development Plan