If there is one thing to learn from the recent taxi strike it is the value of constructive and regular stakeholder engagement
As the voice of business the Chamber has a vital role to play in this regard, particularly when confronting problems impacting on the economy. While there are no guarantees of success, persistence generally bears fruit in the form of an action plan aimed at resolving whatever the problem might be.
A prime example of the Chamber’s troubleshooting role was a recent Chamber-led workshop to address truck congestion at the Port of Cape Town – a longstanding problem affecting many businesses needing to move goods in and out of the Port. By facilitating dialogue around this problem the Chamber is happy to report progress on this front that should accelerate a much-needed solution in the form of a new truck stop to alleviate ongoing trucking bottlenecks.
The dialogue also owes much to the City of Cape Town and its Business Retention and Expansion Unit which conducted surveys in affected areas, notably Atlantis, Blackheath, Stikland and Epping. Businesses in these areas identified truck congestion as one of their key challenges, prompting the City to start preparing a proposed solution.
At the advice of the business community the City incorporated Paarden Island into the process.
The Chamber then stepped in to facilitate stakeholder engagement which also involved Transnet National Ports Authority, the Provincial Government and the Truckers’ Association.
Many minds make great work and the inevitable outcome was an in-principle agreement to investigate the idea of a new Paarden Island truck stop that could complement TNPA’s own efforts to reduce truck congestion.
The Chamber is encouraged to note that our optimism around this initiative is shared by the City, in particular the City’s head of the Business Retention and Expansion Unit Gerschwin (Gershwin?) Williams who spoke to us following the workshop. He outlined how the Unit plays a key role in investment promotion and assistance, and conducts regular surveys to better understand the most pressing challenges. “Business decides which of these (challenges) deserves a level of priority and we then create action teams which can start looking jointly at them,” Williams said.
“Ultimately these types of conversations are about unlocking and stimulating a thought process, like shaking a tree, to get momentum and a level of responsiveness.”
“Ultimately it is something we can start working on as a collective. That’s the positive spin on what came out of here today – that there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
“These types of conversations provide some level of confidence that we as the City are doing something,” Williams said.
We look forward to more confidence boosters in the coming months as the Chamber continues to facilitate engagement wherever the need arises.
John Lawson
CEO of the Cape Chamber of Commerce & Industry