December 21, 2004
By Sheree Russouw
Zhang Dao Hong believes his ancient city in the heart of China could "learn a thing or two" from Johannesburg, even though the two cities are separated by a distance of more than 10 000km.
It is the first time that Dao Hong, one of six vice mayors of Xi'An - the "third-strongest city" in China - has visited Johannesburg. On such visits, he and his small delegation peer at its towering skyscrapers and bustling city streets, fascinated and curious all at once.
"We are already in partnership with 17 different cities across the world, but we don't have any agreements to share our city's experience with cities in Africa," says Dao Hong. "We have great expectations of Johannesburg and are interested in its economic development and arts and culture programme."
Xi'An is one of 17 cities across the world which the Johannesburg City Council hopes to partner with in future by becoming its "sister city".
This will see them teach each other about their pioneering work in the field of economic growth, arts and health as well as learn from each other's failures. For now, though, Johannesburg and Xi'An are still courting each other before entering into the official marriage of a twinning agreement.
It is up to the Johannesburg Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (Jike), together with the City's External Relations Unit, situated in the office of the City Manager, to identify and arrange these partnerships, which cross borders and oceans.
Jike was created in June 2002 as part of the Johannesburg City Council's "institutional response to defining and nurturing innovation and knowledge resources" with cities across the world, says Pakiso Harvey Phalatse, Jike's specialist in knowledge exchange. In the past, Jike has also recognised innovative projects by Council departments and utilities.
Says Phalatse: "The aims of Jike are to build systems that harness knowledge in the city, share what we know with others and bring external expertise into the City."
He says foreign delegations are usually keen to engage the Council on Johannesburg's economic development, its transformation since 1995, health and arts and culture. The Council's message, he says, is to show other cities how it is striving to become a world-class city in Africa.
"We emphasise that our city is the business hub of South Africa - that it hosts 74 percent of corporate head offices, 59 percent of IT enterprises and the large majority of accounting, legal and media firms. We also have sophisticated IT, banking and retail and property sectors."
The Council has already "twinned" with Addis Ababa, London, Birningham and New York. But relationships that span geographical boundaries take time to nurture, says researcher Nkosinathi Dhlomo, from the External Relations Unit.
"Other municipalities in the world don't have the autonomy that we have. We only have to consult the Department of Foreign Affairs on which city we should link up with and sign our own treaties. But in other countries, interested cities have to apply for approval from their national governments," says Dhlomo.
The Council's External Relations Unit usually enters into partnership agreements with other cities, while Jike does the groundwork. Says Phalatse: "Jike facilitates preliminary discussions, while exploring possible areas of partnership between Johannesburg and other African or international cities.
"Thereafter External Relations takes these discussions further and develops draft memorandums of understanding for consideration by both cities. Once agreements have been signed and concluded, it is up to External Relations to service these partnerships."
The idea behind the partnerships, says John Singh, Deputy Director of Internal Relations in the External Relations Unit, is that poor people in both cities benefit from links that share knowledge in local government.
"We aim to promote economic growth through trade, investment and tourism. We also strive to enhance social development, poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability in Johannesburg. Our broader aims are to foster global understanding, solidarity and co-operation."
Johannesburg also enters into special projects with foreign cities, which will see them working together on an HIV/Aids project or hosting a cultural day in the inner city.
"We do research and see what the cities that we'd like to partner up with are good at," says Dhlomo. "We don't manage the project - we manage the relationships. If a project has been identified with New York to help our Metro Police, someone from the Police Department will be a project leader, not us."
He says Mayoral priorities set the trend for the Council's relationships with potential cities abroad.
"If Addis Ababa wants to learn something about our housing policy, for example, we can do that through our knowledge exchange programme. We share information on everything to do with economic development, HIV/Aids, arts and culture and economic development," says Dhlomo.
The Council hopes its relationships with similar cities across the world will stand the test of time. "Since we seek a long and fruitful partnership that will be mutually beneficial, we do not set a time frame for the relationship," says Singh.
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