EThekwini Municipality in partnership with the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry has launched an initiative aimed at focusing on the Inner-City Regeneration Programme and the Point Precinct.
On Wednesday, 27 November, Mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda along with members of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, property developers and the business community launched the “City Means Business” initiative at the Greyville Convention Centre.
The “City Means Business” is a series of engagements developed by the City, in partnership with the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which aims to create a platform for interactive discourse with relevant businesses and stakeholders related to advancing employment, development and social inclusion in the city. The debut of these series started with the Inner-City Regeneration Programme with particular focus on the Mahathma Gandhi Precinct.
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Within the inner city there are 80 bad buildings of which 33 fall within this precinct. Bad buildings have plagued the city for many years, as they develop into drug dens, brothels and homes for vagrants. The Mayor plans to unpack strategies to deal with these challenges that have become synonymous with the metro.
The municipality said the programme will address social and economic challenges and transform the inner city into a space that is inclusive and attractive to international and domestic investors and tourists and ensure that it is a place where residents can play, live and work safely. To achieve this, it has committed to work with various sectors including business, non-governmental organisations, residents, both local and foreign, and intergovernmental departments, to build opportunities and the potential of the inner city. Included in this is the eradication of bad buildings through rehabilitation, renovation, rejuvenation, carrying out of remedial works, or new developments to make the inner city an inclusive place for investment.
Commenting on the initiative, Kaunda said: “There is no doubt that the tipping point has arrived. This will be a great inner city, one that will be unmatched in South Africa. The District Planning Model led by the Presidential Office is currently being piloted in eThekwini and supported by a range of partnerships from the public, private, NGO, academic and research sectors. This inner city will become a place of investment and innovation. It will demonstrate cultural heritage, tourism offerings that make it a must-visit city of the South including mixed-use and mixed-income living; supportive of those that are economically and socially marginalised.”
Palesa Phili, chief executive officer of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “The Durban Chamber is pleased that the City has partnered with us as a representative of organised business to create this platform for public-private engagement, and we look forward to eThekwini Municipality presenting and unpacking its Inner-City Regeneration Programme.”
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She said this series of engagements is a unique platform for organised business, as a crucial stakeholder, to provide inputs to and be part of the discourse around the Inner-City Regeneration Programme as well as understand the full roles and responsibilities of the private sector in ensuring that the programme is successfully implemented.
“We actively encourage our members and the business community at large to actively engage and participate in the City Means Business series of engagements as this represents an opportunity for local government and organised business to lay the foundation for forming collaborative partnerships that will ensure that the City’s economic and developmental goals are achievable, inclusive and sustainable,” concluded Phili.
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