Cities are complex environments; they are sites of constant change and evolution. Cape Town as a city has gone from rural settlement to colonial outpost to cosmopolitan metropole. City Views talks to stalwart institutions, retailers and change makers in the Central City about the transformation they have witnessed first hand.
Mullers Optometrists: Peter Muller
“The iconic Mullers building, on the corner of Parliament and Longmarket streets, has seen many changes over the past 100 years. Some positive and some negative. The Cartwrights Corner development saw the beginning of a slow change in the dynamics of the CBD with the ‘centre’ moving away – towards the Foreshore. The exodus of major businesses such as Old Mutual and Permanent Bank and the closure of the post office further changed the dynamics of the East City precinct for the worse. Fly-by-night traders and informal businesses held sway.
“Fortunately, the development and ‘residentialisation’ in the last decade of the Old Mutual building, along with Cartwrights Corner and Mandela Rhodes Place, has seen resurgence in the zone and an improvement of the retail business being offered. Security has improved alongside!
“Stalwarts such as Wooltru and Truworths have remained true to the area and the improvements made to the Groote Kerk square have made the area a pleasant one to spend time in. The link to Parliament has been vital. If only the old post office could be improved … We are confident that the area will continue to move forward with its eclectic mix of businesses, hotels and residential buildings. It is a wonderful mix of African businesses and entrepreneurs. The old buildings with their traditional shop fronts and architecture keep the link between the old and new very visible.”
Central City Improvement District: COO Tasso Evangelinos
“As a born-and-bred Capetonians who grew up along the neighbouring Atlantic Seaboard, the Central City has always been part of my stomping ground: from family visits as a young boy to the indoor conservatory that used to exist in The Company’s Garden, shopping expeditions ‘to town’ with my friends and family, to the tearoom ‘bioscopes’ where for 35c you could watch movies all day long, and to my first job.
“When I joined the CCID in 2000, the Cape Town Central City was besieged by rising crime levels, fleeing capital investment and falling tenancy rates. I am proud to say that, 13 years on and together with our partners, the City of Cape Town and the Cape Town Partnership, we have been able to turn these problems around and have created a lively, thriving CBD. As can be seen from the numerous construction sites dotted across the CBD, a great deal of investment has returned.
“Since 2000, crime has been reduced by 80 to 90% and, according to a recent independent survey, over 80% of people say they feel safe in the Central City. Of course, a successful CBD is a great attraction for many different people, and the work of our social development team embraces the plight of the homeless within our boundaries. In the past year we’ve reunited 82 people with their families and staged over 300 interventions with children and adults living on the streets. One of the projects of which I am most proud is the CCID’s job creation project, run in tandem with our partner NGO Straatwerk, and which today supports 300 people.”
Cape Town Tourism: outgoing CEO Mariette Du Toit-Helmbold
“Cape Town has seen major transformation over the past few years. The Central City has become more efficient, more inclusive and more aesthetically appealing. Residents are actively involved in city developments and there is a focus on citizen wellbeing, the metropole is better connected than ever before, design is being used to solve real problems and there is the more effective and inspirational use of public spaces. All of this, keeping in mind the city’s close proximity to mountain and sea, adds immense value to our urban tourism offering.
“Times have changed, Cape Town has changed and travellers have changed.
“There has been a monumental shift toward urban tourism, where 80% of international tourists are now in search of genuine cultural and urban tourism experiences.
“There is an increasing nod toward Responsible Tourism, whereby travellers and industry professionals look to fair and sustainable travel offerings that assist people and planet.
“And, with that, more change is on the cards for tourism in Cape Town. After years at the helm of Cape Town Tourism, I will stand down at the end of July and Enver Duminy will take the lead. Thank you to everyone who has shared this journey with me. I look forward to continuing alongside you on a more personal voyage.”
Sturk’s Tobacconists, Greenmarket Square: Abe Bravo
“This shop has existed since 1793. I owned it myself for 17 years until 2011, when Alan Phillips took it over. I think I’m too old to remember all the changes here, there have been so many. I think the city is more cosmopolitan and diverse now, but then I think people are so nice. There have been wonderful friendships formed in this shop, people come from all over just to visit, locals and people from overseas too.”
Cape Watch, Church Street: Ian Smith
Ian Smith, otherwise known as Reggie, has been working for Cape Watch for 27 years: “Back when I started, about 90% of our trade was for mechanical watch parts; we would supply watchmakers in many other parts of the country and in Africa too by postal order – sometimes we had to make three trips to the post office in one day. Today it’s different; everything is computerised and we mostly supply hobbyists. I have also seen town change a lot. When we were on Long Street it was much quieter; now it is much busier.”
Cape Watch has called the Central City home since it first opened its doors in 1962. Then the store was located in Burg Street and the mechanical watch industry was booming in Cape Town. In 1974 the LCD screen revolutionised the watch trade, and Cape Watch started focusing more on the supply of tools and equipment to local jewellery makers. These precision tools, often miniature in size, soon attracted the interest of the local hobby and electronics markets, and today Cape Watch is known as a specialist tool supply store as well as a specialist in diamond weighing and grading.
The store has relocated three times: from Burg Street to St George’s Mall and later to Long Street, before finding a home in its present location on Church Street, where it has been operating for more than 15 years.
Cape Town Partnership: CEO Bulelwa Makalima-Ngewana
“Over the past 14 years since the Cape Town Partnership was established, we, along with our partners, have worked to contribute to co-create positive urban renewal for sustainable and accessible socioeconomic development in the Central City.
“We believed then, as we do now, that a flourishing Central City will contribute to a stronger metro region. So we have worked to make it cleaner, safer and more caring; we have actively promoted the Central City as a place for business and for people, we continue to celebrate and activate its public spaces for a more liveable and livelier city.
“We’re also continuing to engage with our partners on the realities of this space; the need for diversity in housing options, the need for social development, the need to work with communities as local experts and to enable all to participate in shaping the city of our collective visions of the future. Because ultimately cities are for people and the measure of our impact will be if Cape Town is a place where a diversity of people choose to live, work and play.”
Oranjezicht City Farm: Sheryl Ozinsky
“One of the physical changes to the city and how it works that stand out for me is the ongoing rollout of the long-awaited MyCiTi public transport system to all parts of the city. But probably the most significant change for me is one within. I realised that the ability to make things happen in our city rests with all Capetonians, communities and civil society, and not only with politicians or CEOs. Enthusiasm is infectious and will motivate people to help make the change; indifference on the other hand is deadly.”
Cape Town International Convention Centre: CEO Rashid Toefy
“The CTICC is very much the front door through which many visitors to Cape Town first enter and experience the Central City. Over the last decade three million delegates have visited Cape Town to attend conferences and events, so I believe the CTICC has played a role in Cape Town’s growing reputation as a global city.
“The CTICC has also transformed the physical landscape of the CBD. What was considered the dusty end of the Foreshore is now a thriving business hub and I think the CTICC had big role to play in that. But, beyond creating infrastructure in the Central City, I also think that you can’t underestimate its economic influence in stimulating the economy of the CBD and developing jobs. In fact, while many people first consider the role of the CTICC as a tourism asset, I believe its power really lies in its role of economic development.
“Lastly, in terms of the life of the city, I believe spaces like the CTICC are invaluable as spaces in which people can mix and mingle. In a very real sense such spaces are the cathedrals of modern cities. Personally, I look back at the last decade as a time when Cape Town became more of a global hub, although I do think there is more to be done in terms of making it an inclusive city. As a Capetonian I don’t think it’s too much to say that this city on the tip of Southern Africa can and will play a central role in the continent’s development.”
Service Dining Rooms, Canterbury Street: Operations manager Greg Andrews
“Doris Syfret founded the organisation in 1935 after an experience of meeting a beggar on the streets. She wanted to offer a meal instead of giving money. It used to be called the ‘tickey meal’ and the clients paid effectively 30% of the cost of the meal. The original price was aimed at luring people away from alcohol while still providing a sense of dignity in paying for their meal. The cheapest drink at the time cost a tickey.
“The price of the meals has changed slightly over the years. Today 5c covers less than 1% of the cost. The balance of the cost of the meal has always been possible through public donations. Today most of our funding comes from bequests and trust funds.
“It’s hard to think of ways Service Dining Rooms has changed Cape Town: so much has changed around Service Dining Rooms, while it has stayed the same. Perhaps as a constant, physically present reminder of the plight of the majority of our citizens, Service Dining Rooms has served to move individuals to respond. As part of a collective of organisations that have served those left out of mainstream society, Service Dining Rooms constantly reminds the City that our job is not done until all of us have a place here.”
This article first appeared in the July issue of City Views: Cape Town as a changing city. Read it online.