May 13, 2003
By Thomas Thale
BILLED as a blueprint of the city's economic development over the next three decades, the Joburg 2030 plan has taken off and now informs many aspects of city management, including the way city Departments disburse their budgets.
When it was unveiled to the public last year, Joburg 2030 sounded like a far-off plan, completely removed from the city's short and medium term economic development. But a team of experts has been assembled to oversee the implementation of the grand plan.
Joburg 2030 is an ambitious city plan to direct and stimulate long-term economic growth by encouraging the development of designated sectors of the economy. The plan projects that by 2030, the thriving economic sectors in Joburg will mainly be in the areas of ICT, finance, business services, wholesale and retail trade, chemicals, food and beverages, printing and publishing. The plan is premised on a resolve by council to play an active role in stimulating economic growth.
The appointment of a team to oversee the implementation of the Joburg 2030 plan underscores the centrality of the plan to the city's long-term economic vision.
Located in the Economic Development Unit, the team is responsible for providing better focus on economic development for the entire city.
Now steps are underway to translate the plan into a concrete, realisable objective.
In January, a new Directorate for Economic Development was established. The directorate oversees the implementation of Joburg 2030 and other issues related to economic development. "It covers a whole spectrum of economic development issues," says Lael Bethlehem, director of the unit. The task of the directorate, according to Bethlehem, is to ensure that the whole organisation is aligned to 2030. "Everybody, every department and agency."
The team has already come up with a number of projects to be implemented in the short term.
Safety and Security Strategy is a strategy aimed at coordinating the activities of all law enforcement agencies in the city to make them more effective in combating crime. The project manager works closely with the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department and the South African Police Service to develop the city's safety and security strategy. The idea is to develop a single strategy which informs policing in the city, and to prevent duplication of activities and turf wars between various agencies. The strategy will help to streamline the activities of various units. "The idea is for all law enforcement agencies, including the SAPS and the provincial government, to be coordinated under a single strategy," says Bethlehem
Skills development project is designed to create partnerships involving the Gauteng Department of Education, tertiary institutions in Joburg and the city in identifying and addressing skills considered to be in short supply. Part of the project entails promoting maths and science education in disadvantaged schools.
A Higher Education Summit to explore the role of higher education within the city was recently held at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton. Technikon Witwatersrand, Technikon South Africa, Vista University, Rand Afrikaans University and the University of the Witwatersrand were represented at the summit. The summit resolved to form a steering committee, facilitated by the Council on Higher Education and composed of representatives from the institutions as well as the City of Johannesburg, whose first meeting will result in a memorandum of understanding between all parties being signed. The city has also entered into a partnership with CIDA University, contributing R100 000 to promote educational programmes offered by the institution.
The economic sectors project has been launched to work out support strategies for economic sectors playing a large role in the City of Johannesburg, with particular attention on the ICT, finance, business services, wholesale and retail trade, chemicals, food and beverages, printing and publishing. This is done with a view to get the sectors to invest more in the city in the long term. The 2030 team is currently conducting scoping studies to establish the needs of these sectors. According to Bethlehem, a pilot project is to be launched before June.
The team has also set up an Economic Regeneration Project to work out ways of uplifting parts of the city that are decayed or at risk of degeneration or which provide opportunities for economic development.
Singled out for attention in the short term will be areas such as the inner city, Soweto and the Randburg CBD. The 2030 team has formulated a strategy for developing these areas. As part of the strategy, the city's better buildings programme aimed at upgrading derelict buildings in the city will be reviewed.
Transport: Although the city is not directly responsible for the provision of transport, it is taking steps to assess the state of transport in particular parts of the city with a view to improving the transport network. The City Deep node, which is a crucial source for cargo coming in and going out of the city, will receive attention.
Particular attention will also be paid to rail and road transport linking Soweto to the city. The 2030 team will work closely with other players in the transport sector, including Transnet. The improvement of transport infrastructure will make the city more accessible to areas which provide labour force for many industries around the city. "Delays experience on the rail line linking the south to the city centre," says Bethlehem, "impact negatively on the employers and on the economy."
The city will commit resources to investigating the problem, but it will be up to the public transport providers to upgrade their infrastructure. "We must make sure it happens, even if it's not something that we manage directly," explains Bethlehem.
Telecoms: The 2030 team will look at the telecommunication infrastructure in Johannesburg to assess whether it meets the needs of people doing business in the city. Initial research, says Bethlehem, indicates that business has the correct technology, "but there is a need to establish how many lines the city has and their capacity. We will approach Telkom about this so that we can have a better understanding of the telecommunication capacity of the city".
The 2030 team will also be conducting Informatics studies to establish how information is used within the City Of Johannesburg. "At the moment, information in the city appears to be fragmented. We will work closely with the Information Technology Department on this," explains Bethlehem.
One of the goals of the 2030 team is to produce research and analysis covering overall economic data, including economic indicators.
"The vision is sound but will be reviewed from time to time and adjustments might be made in response to the changing environment," Bethlehem concludes.
The 2030 team is made up of an economist, Dr Thami Madinane and six project managers: Nazira Cachalia, Thokozani Thwala, Li Pernegger, David van Niekerk, Vinod Singh and Sean Dinat.
