February 15, 2005
By Thomas Thale
TELKOM is to help turn the City of Johannesburg into a competitive home of smart industries, boasting world-class telecommunications infrastructure, over the next 25 years.
This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by senior managers from the City and the telecommunications group on Monday, 14 February.
The memorandum, which has been a year in the making, commits the two parties to working together to stimulate economic growth in designated sectors and to improve Johannesburg's telecommunication network. This will help the City realise the objectives of the Joburg 2030 development plan.
Joburg 2030 is the City's long-term economic development plan, which anticipates that its economy will be progressively dominated by the service industries.
One possible area of co-operation noted in the memorandum was the conversion of the Hillbrow Tower into a tourist attraction, with related restaurant facilities and branding.
As part of the agreement, Telkom will help the City to stimulate the growth of information and communication technologies, the call centre industry, and small, medium and micro enterprises that offer telecommunication services.
Telkom and Joburg's utilities will also set up a forum that will ensure the parties share information on related issues, such as digging trenches across the city.
Pascal Moloi, the city manager, hailed the signing as a historic development. "This agreement will ensure that Johannesburg continues to thrive as a hub of financial and business services. It will also give a big boost to ensuring that the city is easy to access during major international events, like the 2010 World Soccer Cup."
The partnership would cement Johannesburg's position as a gateway to the African market, he added.
The agreement commits the two parties to meet regularly "to share and exchange information about existing and planned infrastructure and in particular to consider projections of likely development directions within the city".
Sizwe Nxasana, Telkom's chief executive officer, said the agreement would help his company "to know where the city is heading spatially. This will create the necessary ingredients to enable the City to realise its vision of 2030". Telkom was well positioned to offer the benefits of ever-changing telecommunications to the city, he added.
As Johannesburg grew to the north and to the west, it would become increasingly important for the company and the City "to share plans and tactics, in terms of where to invest so that we are geared to meet the telecommunications needs of a rapidly growing city", said Nxasana.
Lael Bethlehem, the director of the City's economic development unit, said telecommunications were central to the creation of a "well functioning, world class and innovative city" envisioned in the Joburg 2030 plan. "Communication is vital to the quality of life, business prospects and economic growth we anticipate."
The team that
signed the agreement
Senior managers from both the City of Johannesburg and Telkom witnessed the signing.
They are, from left, Nkenke Kekana, group executive for regulatory and public policy at Telkom; Lael Bethlehem, director of Johannesburg's Economic Development Unit; Pascal Moloi, Johannesburg's city manager; Sizwe Nxasana, Telkom CEO; Mlungisi Mavana, Telkom's chief sales and marketing officer; Amanda Nair, Johannesburg's executive director of planning; Thabo Makhakhe, Telkom's managing executive of business and government markets; Mally Mokoena, councillor responsible for planning; and Sol Cowan, councillor responsible for the inner city.
Photo: Enoch Lehung
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