Ca1st undertaking: We want to be the engine of transformation in Cape Town.
Our manifesto states the following in this regard:
If Cape Town continues to grow at the rate that the United Nations expects cities to grow over the next 30 years, the 4.6 million Capetonians will grow to close to 7 million Capetonians by 2050, and the numbers of unemployed and homeless and working poor will continue to grow.
- The city is both the problem and the solution. Intelligent leadership will understand how these two issues are harnessed to build a successful, inclusive and prosperous 21st century city for all its residents.
- If the Cape Town City Council continues be managed in the way that it currently is, the only areas of growth for that additional 2.4 million people will be in slums and ghettos. There is not enough housing to accommodate the current population, and not enough planned housing to accommodate the expected increase in population. There are not enough work opportunities to enable those who are looking to work, and there is not enough economic development to accommodate those who are still to come, who will seek work in this city. That is the current City Council’s problem!
- If the City Council is to become the solution, it needs to recognise that the building of housing, the development of roads and infrastructure and the provision of services, the production of green energy, and effective waste management are themselves both productive activities, that will provide employment opportunities and individual growth, but are also investments in the city of the future, that works for all.
- If the City Council of Cape Town is to become the solution, it needs to recognise that the land that it owns and disposes of for short-term revenue generation, are assets that, if they were developed by the City Council, could create sustainable revenue to the Council, for the benefit of all its citizens into perpetuity.
- If the City Council is to become the solution, it needs to more aggressively pursue the creation of an environment that encourages large enterprises to create work opportunities here, and, at the same time, enables small businesses and entrepreneurs to get off the ground; thrive and be sustainable.
- The City of Cape Town has the potential to be the engine of transformation of itself. Yet, there is nothing in what it is currently saying or doing that informs Capetonians of that vision, and nothing that invites Capetonians from all walks of life to be a part of it. The CA1st has the vision of Cape Town being the engine of transformation in every Capetonian’s mind, on every Capetonian’s lips, and in every Capetonian’s heart. We will put all our energies into advancing the narrative of Cape Town’s being a humane, caring, and entrepreneurial City that has the interests of all its citizens at heart and treats everyone with respect and actively push back against this ugly divide that is taking root in Cape Town.