LETTERS | Cape Town builds for future generations

A “national campaign manager” for a political party should really do his homework before writing to a national newspaper. (Grant Pascoe, “Cape Town’s DA mayor piles up debt for the future”, Sunday Times, June 15).

Pretty much the only thing he gets right is that I am determined to invest much more in basic infrastructure that makes the city work better for all who live in it, especially those in poorer communities. I’m glad he recognises that. 

Everything else he says is just false.

• He says we are borrowing in Euros and our loans carry currency risk. The fact is that municipalities in South Africa are forbidden from borrowing in foreign currency. Cape Town’s loans are in rands, and repayments are in rands. They carry zero currency risk.
• He says we have not disclosed the terms and conditions of these loans. The fact is that all of the terms and conditions of our loans are tabled at our full council meetings, are public documents, and are available online at www.capetown.gov.za 
• He wonders aloud who secures these funding deals. We go to market with public calls for proposals for this funding, and these requests are also public documents. Many of our loans are at concessional rates given by global development finance institutions such as the development agencies of the French and German governments. The terms they offer are far cheaper and better than any local finance institution is able to offer. 
• He says we are piling up debt. The fact is that Cape Town is the least indebted city in South Africa and we only spend 1.8% of income on debt service costs, with an overall debt to revenue ratio of 11,8%. By comparison, Tshwane has a debt to revenue ratio of 56%.  

There is a final important point about intergenerational fairness. We are building infrastructure that will benefit millions of Capetonians for decades to come. Those who benefit from these new water plants, sewer upgrades and public transport routes in 20 or 30 years' time should also help us pay for them. 

We fund these investments using our city’s cash savings, loan finance and from current income from ratepayers. Using loan funding helps to spread the cost over many years, so that all who benefit from the infrastructure help pay for it. Does he really want all of these major investments to be paid for upfront by current ratepayers? If so, what he is actually proposing is enormous rates hikes. 

A national campaign manager with such poor basic knowledge of how government works, and who doesn’t do his basic homework? Not good.

— Geordin Hill-Lewis, Mayor, Cape Town

Was Jacobs bought by McKenzie? 

Liam Jacobs' sudden and totally unexpected defection to the PA begs the question: Why? The only explanation I can find is that he has been bought by PA leader and sports minister Gayton McKenzie to shut him up after he asked difficult questions of sporting authorities, exposing them as corrupt and responsible for massive maladministration.

Of course Jacobs is allowed to cross the floor, but nothing else comes close to explaining his incredible volte-face. And nothing excuses the manner in which he executed his treachery after all the DA has done to mentor and support him and — at the young age of 24 — give him the opportunity of a lifetime by making him an MP. He has spat in their faces and snuck off to join the PA like a thief in the night.

— Mark Lowe, Durban

BEE article exposed hypocrisy

S'thembiso Msomi’s article was insightful (“BEE under the spotlight”, Sunday Times, June 8), and exposed the hypocrisy of the so-called liberal formations and right-wing organisations when it comes to black empowerment. Clearly buoyed by the Trump administration’s assault on South Africa's redress policies, they have been on an offensive lately.

It is common knowledge that successive generations of the white population, especially the Afrikaners, are beneficiaries of apartheid policies. Surely it is a no-brainer that it will take policy interventions to try to level the playing field. In trying to fix this unsustainable situation, we often have to contend with misleading statements, such as those attributed to the Free Market Foundation’s Nicholas Woode-Smith, who is quoted as saying BEE hinders investment. It is the same argument put forward by those who oppose labour laws, who would like us to believe that there are investors hoarding lots of money, just waiting to invest in the country as soon as we abolish workers’ rights.

It is disingenuous and insulting that Woode-Smith equates BEE with corruption. This is synonymous with racial prejudice.

Opponents of B-BBEE seem to be fixated on the ownership aspect of the policy, to the exclusion of all other elements. They conveniently forget to talk about the potential of the policy to uplift black business suppliers, to create a crop of black executives and managers, and to uplift previously disadvantaged communities.

The right conversation we should be having is how to further strengthen B-BBEE, so that we eventually create an inclusive society.

— Lwando Norman, via e-mail

Work doesn't always mean a payslip

The article headlined “Distorting Employment Data Dooms the Poor” (Sunday Times, June 15) by Lindiwe Mazibuko resonates with me, to an extent. Accurately defining and measuring employment is crucial in shaping policy and providing support where it is needed, hence the debate about what work is. GG Alcock's book, Kasinomics, highlights the phrase “I work, but I don't have work”, illustrating how many individuals don't consider themselves employed without a payslip.

My experience working in township areas as a councillor aligns with Mazibuko's background as an MP but I've seen that despite high formal unemployment rates, people in townships manage to earn a living through entrepreneurship. I don’t share her view that this is anything like the unpaid labour women perform in the home. It is closer to Steve Jobs starting a business in a garage with all the risks and lack of job security that entrepreneurship entails. As much as we ought to celebrate and acknowledge the unpaid work women do in the home, we ought to celebrate and acknowledge the work done by entrepreneurs whether they are in the townships or in the suburbs.

The City of Cape Town’s policy to support micro-developers, particularly in lower-income areas, recognises the importance of enabling investments in townships and supporting those already involved. But for these and other policies to be truly effective the extent of economic activity must be properly measured. We need to move away from the old-fashioned idea that getting a payslip for 40 years, and then retiring on 40% of what you couldn’t survive on when you had a payslip, is the only economically viable activity available.

Calling for proper recording of economic activity, whether it is selling amagwinya at the local taxi rank or making kotas in a back room rented from someone who built it by using a hundred bricks a month, isn’t about hiding issues or doing away with support. It’s about calling for greater support for entrepreneurs who are making a difference in their own lives, hidden from the view of some in business and government who don’t recognise the existence of the hidden economy. Inaccurate measurement of economic activity, wherever it takes place, doesn’t enable effective policy or decision-making.

— Stuart Pringle, councillor, City of Cape Town

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