A solid working partnership between the City and the private sector is the key to sustainable socio-economic development in the City of Tshwane.
These are the sentiments shared by the Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane, Solly Msimanga, as he outlines his vision for the private sector to come on board in transforming the City and ensuring that its apparatus work to provide our people with a life of value.
The notable of these partnerships is the cooperation between the City and property management company City Property which marks the beginning of change within the CBD of Tshwane. Through the company’s various urban renewal initiatives, it seeks to capture the inner-city spirit of Tshwane and let the old city live again in the splendour of the new South Africa and the culture of its people.
The City acknowledges that it could not do any of the transformation work without the support of the private sector. “That is why we assisted City Property in the approval of their development applications, specifically by fast-tracking their building and site development plans” said Msimanga.
“From the City’s side, specific initiatives have been commissioned to clean the city, broken and defective streetlights have been identified and are in the process of being replaced to improve lighting. We have trimmed trees in the CBD, managed to have the streets painted for the first time in years and managed the clean-up Brown Street. This is a clear indication that the new administration is committed in improving service delivery to its residence” said Msimanga.
Following City Property’s redevelopment of Centre Forum (now known as Sharon’s place), the majority of the space has been let to blue-chip national tenants and is an indication of the confidence that tenants have in both City Property and the City of Tshwane’s DA-led multi-party administration.
Sharon’s Place will consist of 400 modern city apartments with a choice of bachelor, 1 and 2 bedroom units, plus 289 parking bays on two levels. This development is ideally situated for people who will be working at the newly built Tshwane House and other government tenants in the vicinity of Lilian Ngoyi and Struben Streets. This development caters for young urban families, with an extensive leisure area on the podium level.
“700 job opportunities have already been created owing to this project alone and is demonstrative of how many more can be created through the rejuvenation of our inner city and the confidence that instils. This number over 30% is from the local labour force and this include painters, plasterers, bricklayers, plumbers and electrical workers. A further 30 permanent jobs were created in the property administration industry. This includes security, cleaning and building staff. Additional jobs will be created by a variety of retail tenants, including the anchor tenant Shoprite” added Msimanga.
The Urban Barista recently found a home at 012central, the multi venue precinct in Helen Joseph Street. He is serving locally roasted and freshly brewed caffeinated drinks from 07:00 – 16:00 Monday – Friday. This small business employs two up and coming baristas that through the transferring of skills will be able to run the spot on their own.
012central is a space for locals to enjoy the monthly market, events and conferences. TEDx Pretoria chose 012central as its base in 2016 and 012central will again host its mind-shifting short talks in November. It is the ideal space where creativity lives, where entertainment thrives and where the people it serves can feel at home. By facilitating this investment with the private sector the City managed to unlock more than 730 jobs and it will continue its efforts in a concerted way in order to position its economy as an ideal investment destination.
The foundation of inner city rejuvenation is a clean city and concerted efforts have been made by strategic stakeholders within the CBD in order to improve amongst others the cleanliness and viability of the City.
It is our commitment to harness the R2.3 billion in investment announced last week to ensure that we continue you to bring this steady creation of job opportunities to more and more people of Tshwane and to ultimately realise a safe and inclusive Tshwane teaming with opportunity.