LIKE Cape Town, the heart of East London has a huge hole in it. And, like Cape Town, the city’s leaders have battled to work out what to do with the bonanza.
Cape Town’s hole is District Six, an area cleared in terms of apartheid ideology but never used. Its development is complicated by issues of restitution and land claims.
Ours is Transnet’s so-called sleeper site just a stone’s throw from the beach, the railway station and the city’s main street.
Transnet is reportedly on the verge of handing ownership of the site to the Buffalo City Municipality.
Both cities have plans going back at least 15 years to develop these open tracts of prime land to the best advantage of their residents. Neither has been able to get anything significant off the ground.
The latest proposal to develop the East London site involves the University of Fort Hare and the suggestion of what planners call a “triple helix” development linking academia, government and the private sector.
This would see the site developed partly as a university campus with accommodation for students, partly as a commercial site with space for shops and offices and partly as a government project with space for the city’s staff.
If it is well-planned and executed, it could be the genesis of a new life for the city of East London and, as a consequence of that, for the entire Buffalo City Metro and its environs.
It could also enhance the Fort Hare brand, which already has rich historical significance and a very strong identification with the Eastern Cape.
The project has caught the imagination of Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, who mentioned it in his address at Monday’s Dispatch business breakfast, which was co-hosted by the Eastern Cape Development Corporation.
He said he would be meeting BCM mayor Zukiswa Ncitha to talk about the proposal.
The Dispatch is aware that senior officials from the National Treasury visited East London before Gordhan came and discussed the idea.
Treasury, we hear, is on board to help East London develop a state-of- the-art university campus with spin- offs for the rest of the community.
The big question now is whether the city managers and local business have the vision to drive the plan to a successful conclusion.
If BCM decide not to go with the triple helix proposal, they must come up with a more credible alternative immediately.
If, as the Dispatch would recommend, they go with the plan, we urge the Treasury to ensure it is a vehicle for the enrichment of the entire community and not just for a few connected individuals.
BCM has to drive vision
Cape Town’s hole is District Six, an area cleared in terms of apartheid ideology but never used. Its development is complicated by issues of restitution and land claims.
Ours is Transnet’s so-called sleeper site just a stone’s throw from the beach, the railway station and the city’s main street.
Transnet is reportedly on the verge of handing ownership of the site to the Buffalo City Municipality.
Both cities have plans going back at least 15 years to develop these open tracts of prime land to the best advantage of their residents. Neither has been able to get anything significant off the ground.
The latest proposal to develop the East London site involves the University of Fort Hare and the suggestion of what planners call a “triple helix” development linking academia, government and the private sector.
This would see the site developed partly as a university campus with accommodation for students, partly as a commercial site with space for shops and offices and partly as a government project with space for the city’s staff.
If it is well-planned and executed, it could be the genesis of a new life for the city of East London and, as a consequence of that, for the entire Buffalo City Metro and its environs.
It could also enhance the Fort Hare brand, which already has rich historical significance and a very strong identification with the Eastern Cape.
The project has caught the imagination of Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, who mentioned it in his address at Monday’s Dispatch business breakfast, which was co-hosted by the Eastern Cape Development Corporation.
He said he would be meeting BCM mayor Zukiswa Ncitha to talk about the proposal.
The Dispatch is aware that senior officials from the National Treasury visited East London before Gordhan came and discussed the idea.
Treasury, we hear, is on board to help East London develop a state-of- the-art university campus with spin- offs for the rest of the community.
The big question now is whether the city managers and local business have the vision to drive the plan to a successful conclusion.
If BCM decide not to go with the triple helix proposal, they must come up with a more credible alternative immediately.
If, as the Dispatch would recommend, they go with the plan, we urge the Treasury to ensure it is a vehicle for the enrichment of the entire community and not just for a few connected individuals.
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