PE’s Coega to take on Cape tourist sites
Province’s offer spurned as parastatal is handed upkeep of Robben Island
ROBBEN Island and several other Western Cape tourist sites have been handed over to the Coega Development Corporation for maintenance and upgrades, much to the surprise of some local authorities.
The move was prompted by capacity constraints within the Department of Public Works.
In addition to Robben Island, Coega will take charge of infrastructure development at 13 small harbours, including three in Cape Town — Kalk Bay, Hout Bay and Gordon’s Bay.
The Western Cape has for years offered to assist public works with crumbling infrastructure on Robben Island, which hosts more than 200 000 visitors a year.
The province has also declared an intergovernmental dispute over the disintegrating small harbours and is drafting a bylaw to have them integrated into local government.
The Sunday Times has established that:
Robben Island infrastructure maintenance was quietly handed to Coega in April last year;
Last month, the parastatal was appointed to take charge of the harbours under Operation Phakisa, an infrastructure development programme aimed at stimulating economic growth and creating jobs. Sources said the move was delayed due to disagreement over whether to appoint Coega or the South African Maritime Safety Authority; and
Coega Development Corporation, formed in 1999 to develop the Coega industrial development zone outside Port Elizabeth, is growing a large national footprint, with work ranging from solar installations for royal households in KwaZulu-Natal to rehabilitation work at the parliamentary village in Cape Town.
Alan Winde, Western Cape MEC for economic opportunities, expressed disappointment this week at Coega’s Robben Island involvement.
“This move raises serious questions. Who is actually in charge? What does this decision mean for the role the [Robben Island Museum] board plays?” he said. “The board should set the rules and put the operation out to tender.”
Robben Island’s administration has drawn criticism in recent years for, among other things, poor maintenance and ferry problems.
Robben Island spokeswoman OFFSHORE: More than 200 000 people a year visit Cape Town’s Robben Island, now maintained by a PE-based parastatal Nomonde Ndlangisa confirmed Coega’s appointment “to facilitate the delivery of facilities maintenance [and] infrastructure development” including capital projects. She said the museum and Department of Arts and Culture had been consulted.
Coega’s involvement in the harHowever, bours also potentially complicates a long-standing disagreement over harbour management involving the province and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Although the province has welcomed the harbour upgrade plan under Phakisa, it has pushed for cooperative harbour management, a proposal agreed to by public works. FISHY: Public works, which has been struggling to develop and maintain Kalk Bay harbour, will be assisted by Coega
premier Helen Zille claimed this week that a vital memorandum of understanding required to formalise the co-operative arrangement was being blocked by the fisheries department. She said it was refusing to disband defunct harbour steering committees to make way for the new co-operative arrangement.
“They are exerting an undue influence over the future management of our harbours with no credible reason for doing so,” Zille told the Sunday Times.
“If what we are being told is correct, [fisheries] are now tossing their nose not only at Operation Phakisa, Treasury and [public works], but indeed the constitution itself.”
Zille said she had no problem with Coega’s appointment as implementing agent at the harbours, which could only benefit fishing communities. However, the fisheries stance meant the province had no option but to push ahead with legal means to transfer control of harbours to local government structures.
“We cannot disagree that [public works’] management of the infrastructure upgrade at our local fishing harbours may well benefit from the use of the expert services provided by Coega — it appears to be a credible choice for the job at hand,” Zille said.
Fisheries spokeswoman Palesa Mokomele said its role was to ensure that projects in the harbours prioritised by public works and Coega were “in line with the needs of [the department’s] stakeholders, communities and the fishing industry”.
This move raises serious questions. Who is actually in charge?