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Cape Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Established in 1804, the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the oldest member-based business organisation in Africa. It is mandated to serve, enable and lead business. This is achieved through a multitude of services, networking opportunities as well as robust advocacy on behalf of business.

The Chamber represents business of all sizes and virtually all sectors. Our members count on us to be their eyes and ears in the Western Cape as well as on a national level, and we work tirelessly to ensure that we serve our members’ needs.

As a key player in the business landscape, the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry truly believes that we are Where Opportunity Meets.

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Upcoming Events

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Mitchells Plain Chapter Networking Event

26th September 2018 10:00

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Tygerberg Chapter Lunchtime Networking Event

26th September 2018 12:00

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Masterclass on “What not to do in business”

26th September 2018 12:00

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Lunchtime Networking Event - Winelands

27th September 2018 12:00

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Lunch Time Networking in the Helderberg

28th September 2018 12:00

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Employment Contracts - Workshop

2nd October 2018 08:30

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VAT 1 Beginners Workshop

2nd October 2018 09:00

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Visit of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Delegation

2nd October 2018 13:00

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Events

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LATEST NEWS

21 Sep
Visa regulations to be revised

Visa regulations to be revised

The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry has welcomed the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that visa regulations for tourists are to be revised to ease their entry into South Africa. This will make a big difference in the Western Cape which has invested heavily in its thriving tourist industry. The stimulus package is generally positive and it has certainly brightened the outlook for the country. What the visa changes show is that ways can be found to boost the economy without spending money. Sometimes all the government has to do is remove the hurdles and growth will take place. The Chamber would now like to see a systematic search for hurdles and red tape to free up the economy and give business the space to grow and create jobs. The visa problems and the solutions have been set out very clearly for the government only to be met with stubborn resistance and a refusal to understand the damage being done to the economy and job creation. Finally, someone has listened, but why do we always have to fight against brick walls? We’ve also welcomed plans to develop agriculture but warned against simplistic views on land reform. Successful agriculture depends […]

Featured Item Press Releases
19 Sep
Alan Winde as the DA’s candidate for premiership is a positive move for business

Alan Winde as the DA’s candidate for premiership is a positive move for business

The nomination of Mr Alan Winde as the DA’s candidate for the premiership of the Western Cape, is a positive move for business and the local economy. What we like about Winde is that he has stayed clear of the political scraps and concentrated on creating economic opportunities and jobs and that is what we need. He was also remarkable for his “open door” evenings in which he welcomed entrepreneurs and business people from all sectors of the economy. He is one of those rare politicians who spends more time listening to people than making speeches. His approach was to enable business and to remove the obstacles to growth such as unnecessary red tape. This policy, which was endorsed by the whole provincial cabinet, is one of the reasons why the Western Cape has performed better than other provinces and why our unemployment rate is significantly below the National unemployment rate. Technology is driving so many changes so fast that new approaches are required to anticipate problems and take early advantage of the opportunities opening up. Old style politicians are not very good at this so we need a new approach and Mr Winde may be the person to provide the […]

Featured Item Press Releases
19 Sep
Chamber welcomes Dan Plato as the City’s Mayor

Chamber welcomes Dan Plato as the City’s Mayor

The Chamber has welcomed the nomination of Mr Dan Plato as the City’s new Executive Mayor. He is well respected and he has more than 20 years of experience in local government both as an official and as a leader. We can now look forward to a calmer and more productive management of the City with fewer storms and distraction. Also important is that he has worked well with the Deputy Mayor, Mr Ian Nielson. Mayor Plato has done the job before and his experience in many areas of the City’s administration makes him the most knowledgeable “new” mayor for many years. In addition, his service in the provincial cabinet has equipped him well to deal with the new challenges the City faces. We need some major repair work to our image after the recent drought. We need to rebuild the film industry and get tourism back onto a growth path. The City and the Province have worked together well to grow the local economy and he is ideally placed to continue this work. The Chamber congratulates him and I would like to assure him that he has the full support of the Chamber and business for this important work. Janine […]

Featured Item Press Releases
10 Sep
Recent violent crimes against Metrorail passengers

Recent violent crimes against Metrorail passengers

The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been deeply shocked by the murder, robberies and brutal assaults on Metrorail passengers between Lynedoch and Eerste River at the weekend. What is bitterly disappointing is that it is now clear that the Passenger Rail Agency (PRASA) is falling down on its commitments to upgrade safety and security on the trains’. The details of the attack are sickening and reveal that criminals have a level of contempt for train security and vulnerable passengers that we have not seen before. Unfortunately, it has come at a time when the Province, the City and business have united to help PRASA and Metrorail deal with passenger safety and rail infrastructure sabotage problems. PRASA had signed an agreement to contribute R16 million to a R48 million project to train a new unit to enforce safety on the trains. The Province and the City made similar commitments and the City was busy training recruits at present, but PRASA had failed to come up with its promised contribution. PRASA is fighting a losing battle. The Chamber supports the call for a state of emergency to be declared so that more national resources could be released to counter the […]

Featured Item Press Releases
10 Sep
Relaxation of water restrictions following reasonable rainfall and rising dam levels

Relaxation of water restrictions following reasonable rainfall and rising dam levels

The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry has welcomed the slight relaxation of water restrictions following reasonable rainfall and rising dam levels. The Challenge now is to get the message out to tourists and the film industry so that we can revive these sectors. Unfortunately the drought and the Day Zero story made people look elsewhere for holiday destinations and filming locations. They may have liked the alternatives so we will have to fight hard to get the business back. The easing of restrictions on October 1 means that 50 litres per person per day now rises to 70 litres and the tariffs will decrease by 26.6% for those using less than six kilolitres per month. Those using between 10 and 35 kL will see tariffs drop by 56% while those using more than 35 kL will see a 70% reduction in tariffs. The tariff for commerce and industry will be reduced by 18% to R37.5 per kL. It’s unlikely that water use would return to the old levels once the dams were full as businesses and residents had learned to reduce water use and they had invested in water saving devices, tanks and other measures. All this puts us […]

Featured Item Press Releases
4 Sep
5c petrol increase a band aid for a broken leg

5c petrol increase a band aid for a broken leg

The Cape Chamber welcomes the decision not to increase the price of diesel and to reduce the petrol price increase to only 5 cents a litre but warns that this remedy may prove to be a band aid for a broken leg. The problem is that the rand has already weakened further to R15.22 to the US dollar and the price of Brent Crude oil increased to 78 US dollar per barrel. Both numbers are going in the wrong direction for us and it may not be possible to avoid shock increases in October. In addition, South Africa has slipped into a technical recession so a shrinking economy would make dealing with rising fuel prices even more difficult than it has been in recent months. Sadly much of the damage has been self-inflicted. There are international emerging economies problems, but what has really spooked investors is the land issue and expropriation without compensation. We could not have picked a worse time for the debate. This followed even more details on the mismanagement and the corruption in State Owned Enterprises and the country’s credit down-grades. One of the things we need to do to get out of this hole is to […]

Featured Item Press Releases
3 Sep
Cape Chamber Council and Staff sign Plastic Pledge

Cape Chamber Council and Staff sign Plastic Pledge

Members of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry have signed a plastic pledge to tackle the growing problem of plastic pollution. The plastic pledge commits members to supporting the goal of reducing the plastic footprint that is so damaging to our ecological environment. We will promote the drive toward attaining zero packaging waste in landfills, as well as the initiative to ensure that all packaging is either reusable or recyclable and the phasing out of single-use plastics. Awareness of the dangers from the overuse of plastic has increased dramatically in the last year or two and what is now required was a change of thinking. Anyone who recycles household waste quickly realises that most of the waste is plastic and paper and both can be recycled instead of being sent to landfill sites. In spite of this, the use of plastic, especially in the food industry, is increasing and in many shops it is virtually impossible to buy green vegetables that aren’t prepacked in plastic and polystyrene. There is a belief that this somehow adds value but it does not. It adds everlasting plastic to the environment. One problem is that there are many different kinds of plastic and […]

Featured Item Press Releases
29 Aug
14 of Cape Town’s brightest businesswomen heading to Shanghai, China for IWEC

14 of Cape Town’s brightest businesswomen heading to Shanghai, China for IWEC

Fourteen of Cape Towns brightest businesswomen will be heading for Shanghai, China, next month to look for opportunities in Asia and to meet with another 291 outstanding business women from 39 countries. The occasion is the annual conference of the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) and award ceremony. IWEC is a New York based non-profit company with a mission to connect and develop a global network of successful women business owners. The delegation will be led by myself, Janine Myburgh, President of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and includes seven women who have all won IWEC awards in previous years. Also in the party will be Jaqueline Naughton, owner of the BYC Group, who will receive an award this year. The second Cape Town winner, Jill Bysshe, is recovering from a recent motor accident and will not be able to make the trip. IWEC conferences provided a wonderful opportunity for women to inspire each other, exchange ideas, build new business contacts and explore export markets. The women at the conference own businesses which generate a combined revenue of 26.6 billion US dollars a year. I think these numbers tell us that we will be meeting some very dynamic […]

Featured Item Press Releases
29 Aug
2018 IRP is the first credible plan for the country’s energy future

2018 IRP is the first credible plan for the country’s energy future

The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry has welcomed the new 2018 IRP as the first credible plan for the country’s energy future in decades. We have not yet been able to study the details but we recognise a new realism and an understanding that new technology will bring fundamental changes to the electricity industry. The Chamber has argued at public hearings before the obsolete 2010 IRP was produced that assumptions on the increased demand for electricity were exaggerated, the cost of nuclear power understated while the cost of renewable energy had been overstated. The new IRP has vindicated the Chamber’s view. The old IRP lead to bad planning and when you add the cost of corruption the result has been crippling increases in electricity tariffs that has seriously undermined economic growth and made alternatives like gas and solar water heating viable alternatives to electricity. We are now using 30% less electricity that the 2010 plan said we would be. The new projections for 2030 look balanced with coal providing 46% of the electricity, wind and gas 15% each and PV solar about 10%. When hydro power is added to the mix roughly half our electricity will come from renewable […]

Featured Item Press Releases
22 Aug
Deliberate destruction of public transport infrastructure

Deliberate destruction of public transport infrastructure

Cape Town is facing a deliberate attempt to destroy its public transport infrastructure and this could have a devastating effect on the local economy. The comment comes after yet another Metrorail coach was torched this week. If you put these arson attacks together with attacks on the signalling system and copper theft which paralyses the rail service it is difficult to draw any other conclusion. Last month there were three arson attacks and a failed one. In July 32 coaches were damaged in attacks which inflicted more than R50m of damage to trains and rail infrastructure. In addition, both Golden Arrow and the MiCiti bus services have lost vehicles in arson attacks. The cumulative damage to Metrorail is staggering for it is now down to just 50 full trainsets and this means it has lost more than 40% of its trains over the last few years and we still don’t know why. Some of the attacks had taken place in the main station in the CBD where one would assume security was good. We are also looking at a failure of law enforcement as neither the Police, the Railway Police or the private security companies employed by Metrorail have been […]

Featured Item Press Releases
21 Aug
The huge role the business community has played in the battle to defeat Day Zero

The huge role the business community has played in the battle to defeat Day Zero

The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry says it is time to recognise the huge role the business community has played in the battle to defeat Day Zero and equip the city to deal with future droughts. This month we have seen the announcement by Old Mutual that they have taken their whole office complex off the water grid and they deserve our thanks and congratulations. Last month Growthpoint properties took its District building in Woodstock off the grid and announced that it planned to do the same with other buildings in the city. Tsogo Sun is building a desalination plant to supply water to its Cape Town hotels and the V&A Waterfront will do the same. Sea Harvest and the Oceana Fishing group have both built their own sea water desalination plants. The airport company is in the process of taking the entire airport off-grid using underground water, their own filtration plant and they will also inject flood water back into the boreholes. Golden Arrow are using the vast roof space of their bus sheds to collect rain water for their own use. These are just the projects we know about and I have no doubt that there are […]

Featured Item Press Releases
15 Aug
Cape Town named in yet another list of the worlds greatest cities

Cape Town named in yet another list of the worlds greatest cities

Seeing Cape Town named in yet another list of the world’s great cities is an important boost for business confidence at a time when there is a shortage of good economic news. Cape Town was featured as the best city of opportunity in Africa and the 24th best in the world, in a report compiled by the international auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers. I think one of the main reasons for this new success is the co-operation between the private sector and local and provincial government in industries like tourism. We are fortunate in that a lot is being done to create a more enabling environment for business and to reduce red tape. This makes the city more attractive to investors and that creates further opportunities and jobs. Cape Town’s other great advantage is the way in which it connected to the world particularly in the age of the internet. The world is shrinking and that means we are no longer an isolated city on the southern tip of Africa. It’s clear that this connectedness will increase and pointed to the redevelopment of the International Airport. In 10 years most of the international airlines will operate from Cape Town and we will become […]

Featured Item Press Releases
6 Aug
Dispute between Mayor and DA comes to a satisfactory conclusion

Dispute between Mayor and DA comes to a satisfactory conclusion

The Chamber is pleased that the dispute between the Mayor of Cape Town, Ms Patricia de Lille and the DA appears to have come to a satisfactory conclusion. It means that we can once again concentrate of the really important issues for the City rather than these distracting sideshows. We’ve assured the City of the Chamber’s support for good governance although this support could take the form of constructive criticism where necessary. Note that Ms De Lille said she would concentrate on land issues in the three months until her resignation came into effect. I hope this means that there will be a focus on the three old and underused airfields in the City. Young’s Field, Wingfield and Ysterplaat are ideally situation for housing within easy commuting range of the City and the main industrial areas. The Defence force doesn’t need them because it has a modern airfield at Langebaan Road and the main airport is to be enlarged and upgraded. This underused land is an opportunity to solve one of the City’s biggest problems that stemmed from apartheid special planning. Making this land available for housing would also be a massive boost for building, jobs and the local economy. Janine […]

Featured Item Press Releases
3 Aug
Two Chamber Members selected for special mentorship programme

Two Chamber Members selected for special mentorship programme

Two future winners of the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) have been selected for a special mentorship programme to improve their business skills. Both women, Denise Stubbs and Judy Sunasky, are already running their own multi-million rand companies and both businesses are growing strongly. Ms Stubbs, is Managing Director of Thokozani (which means celebration in Zulu), a wine company started as a Black Empowerment venture to create a sustainable business for farm workers. Besides wine it is also a conferencing, hospitality and property business. Denise is active in many women’s and industry organisations and has won several awards for her work. Thokozani has also won awards in the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s annual exporter competition. In 2014 they received the award for the most transformed exporter and last year the company was adjudged the best small exporter. Judy Sunasky is the owner and MD of Blendwell Chemicals which specialises in the manufacture and sale of green and food cleaning products. Blendwell also offers own label manufacturing services to local and international clients. She has brought innovation into the green cleaning space and won awards and recognition for her work. She is an enthusiastic supporter of women in the […]

Featured Item Press Releases
2 Aug
Law enforcement fights back against criminals destroying rail service

Law enforcement fights back against criminals destroying rail service

The fight back against the criminals destroying our vital suburban rail service gathered new impetus this week with the start of recruiting of 100 new law enforcement officers to protect passengers and rail infrastructure. In welcoming the development, the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry congratulated the City, the Provincial Government, Metrorail and PRASA on the joint initiative which they are also funding. I am delighted to see that recruitment is already underway and that many of the candidates will be selected from those who already have law enforcement training. The faster we can get the officers on the trains and stations the better. What makes the initiative so significant is the way everyone is working together with the Railway Police and the S A Police Service. Metrorail has lost 149 carriages since May 2015 with the last two arson attacks causing damage estimated at R51m. This is the kind of destruction one would expect to find on a battle field, not in a peace-time city. What we need now is support for the new force, especially information or intelligence that will enable them to anticipate problems and to follow the trail of the stolen items, scrap metal and copper wire […]

Featured Item Press Releases
2 Aug
Government pressing ahead with changes to constitution

Government pressing ahead with changes to constitution

Its with huge disappointment that the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry has learned that the government is to press ahead with changes to the constitution so that it can expropriate land without having to pay for it. We are also angry because the problem is not the lack of land available for transfer but that the process of land distribution has been so badly mismanaged. We feared that property rights would be undermined, now President Rhamaposa has confirmed to the world that this is indeed the case. South Africa will pay a heavy price in terms of investment and jobs. The land problem is also misunderstood. The demand is for urban land near to jobs and opportunities and both the Government and the municipalities have this land and could make much of it available for housing. In Cape Town the Defence Force is sitting on three disused and underused airfields that are ideally positioned for large housing projects. The Air Force does not need these airfields because it has a modern airport at Langebaan Road, but the people of Cape Town do need this land. A great deal has been said about the effects of Apartheid spatial planning and […]

Featured Item Press Releases
1 Aug
Eskom problem is no longer an industrial relations problem

Eskom problem is no longer an industrial relations problem

The Eskom problem is no longer an industrial relations problem but something more sinister. We know, thanks to World Bank research, that Eskom is overstaffed and overpaid. The staff have received above-inflation increases for a decade and the benefits they enjoy are on a par with the best, so it is most unlikely that there are any genuine work-related grievances. From the outside it looks very much as if they are simply abusing their power for their own gain. In the process they’re forcing up the price of electricity and load-shedding is endangering the jobs of other workers and undermining the economy of the country. Eskom is an essential industry and that means that strikes are illegal. Even worse have been the reports of sabotage and preventing deliveries of coal to power stations. This is criminal behaviour and it is time it was treated as such. It’s also suicidal behaviour because it means higher tariffs for electricity will simply encourage many more customers to generate their own electricity. This is already happening and there will be a great deal more of it because the cost of solar power continues to fall while Eskom power gets more expensive every year. It’s […]

Featured Item Press Releases
31 Jul
Failing rail system a major threat to local economy

Failing rail system a major threat to local economy

The failing rail system in Cape Town had become a major threat to the local economy and it was now time for drastic measures. There is a pattern to the arson attacks on trains and we must ask why and who is behind it. Who can possibly gain from this destruction? We need criminal intelligence so that we can go after the organisers and chop off the head of this monster. There should be many people in a position to provide vital information. They may be passengers, union members or other criminals. We don’t know but we must start pressing for their information. We also need to talk to people like the scrap merchants because they may well have vital information. They know and understand the scrap industry and how it works so they are the people most likely to have useful information. I appeal to them to come forward and help us save our trains. Earlier this year the Chamber conducted a survey of its members to find out how the ongoing crisis was affecting business. More than 86% of respondents said the situation threatened the sustainability of their businesses. Since then the situation has gotten worse and losses […]

Featured Item Press Releases
18 Jul
Foreshore freeway development plan cancelled for legal reasons

Foreshore freeway development plan cancelled for legal reasons

The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry has noted with concern that the call for proposals for the Foreshore freeway development plan has been cancelled for legal reasons. What this means is that the way the City went about the proposal call and its evaluation of the bids fell short of legal requirements. Preparing a bid of this nature is an extremely expensive undertaking. The six bidders employed dozens of planners, architects and other top professionals to prepare their submissions and it has all come to nothing. When developers take part in projects like this they understand that there will be no compensation for the losers but it is a chance they are prepared to take. When the final decision is made they congratulate the winner and move on. What they do not expect is that all their proposals will be thrown out because the City got it wrong and the whole process was in some way illegal. This raises two questions. The first is whether there will be some form of compensation for all the bidders and the second is who made the mistakes and will there be consequences? Senior City officials earn massive salaries (more than R3m a […]

Featured Item Press Releases
16 Jul
Mandela Day Campaign: Sanitary towels and/or old clothing

Mandela Day Campaign: Sanitary towels and/or old clothing

A MANDELA DAY REQUEST FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE CHAMBER Young women need to be spared the indignity of not having access to sanitary towels, and with Winter upon us, there are many marginalized people in our community who are in dire need of your used clothing. So, please assist us in this month of July which would have been Madiba’s 100th birthday, by dropping off any of the above at the Chamber offices at 33 Martin Hammerschlag Way, Foreshore, or if you’re in the Bellville area, please feel free to drop it off at my address: Myburgh Attorneys, 12 Second Ave, Boston. Yours faithfully Janine Myburgh President, Cape Chamber of Commerce & Industry

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ABOUT CAPE CHAMBER

Established in 1804, the Cape Chamber of Commerce is the oldest member-based organisation in Africa. The Chamber has remained contemporary and relevant with a wide range of services, including information, training, networking, trade facilitation and robust advocacy on behalf of our members. We are the voice of business.

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