A Durban business project has aligned the ANC and Inkatha against the ANC’s traditional allies — union and civic organisations, writes Farouk Chothia
THE ANC has found itself on the side of the Inkatha Freedom Party with its traditional allies ranged against it over its support for Durban City Council’s ostentatious building projects worth hundreds of millions of rands.
The ANC and the IFP are shareholders in a private company formed to re-develop Durban’s run-down Point Road area in just one of several multi-million rand projects aimed to boost tourism and kickstart the economy.
But representatives of the ANC’s traditional allies — Cosatu, the South African Communist Party, South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) and the Independent Civic and Development Association (Icada) — re-iterated opposition to the projects on grounds that plans to make Durban the “oyster of the world” will be done at the expense of black upliftment.
The city council’s showcase project is the building of an International Convention Centre at a cost of R200-million, scheduled to open in 1997.
A disclosure this week by the Greater Durban Marketing Authority that it has already booked 26 international conferences worth R184-million has not persuaded critics of the need for the convention centre.
Sanco regional organiser Sydney Madida said: “We don’t think the economy will get a boost as a result of the convention centre. If it does, only certain individuals will benefit. The money will not go to the people — and that is where we have the most pressing need.”
To gain credibility for the convention centre project, the Durban Infrastructural Development Trust was formed in January with trustees including, amongst others, ANC southern Natal chairman Jeff Radebe — now national Minister of Public Works — Cosatu regional secretary Thami Mohlomi — now an ANC kwaZulu/Natal parliamentarian — IFP kwaZulu/Natal leader John Bhengu, and city councillors Richard Moore and Alec Gilbert.
The trust set up a company, ICC Construction (Pty) Ltd, which it formed to “focus on the development, design and construction” of the ICC.
The ANC’s Radebe believes the convention centre project is in line with the government’s reconstruction and development programme.
In a recent public speech, he described the project as one that will put Durban on the “world map” by attracting tourists and boosting the economy of the entire region. The other controversial project aims to upgrade the run-down Point Road area on the beachfront with shopping complexes and recreation facilities.
While the chief executive officer of the Point Waterfront Development Project (PWDP), Ian Wilson, refused to put a figure on the project, he said it would be a “significant multi-million rand undertaking”.
A clue to the extent of the cost emerged this week with news that Malaysian investors are willing to pump R850-million into the project.
Wilson said a company has been formed which has as its shareholders Transnet, the city council and “civics” — a reference to the ANC and IFP.
Former ANC southern Natal treasurer Mzi Khumalo is the co-chairman of the company. The IFP’s Bhengu is also a key figure in the company.
Wilson added that profits generated will go to the shareholders who will “decide how best to utilise it. Without a fear of doubt, the money will go into deprived communities”.
To develop the Point Road area, the company will purchase about 55 hectares of land owned by the city council, Portnet and central government, Wilson added.
The two projects clearly indicate that the city council, the business sector, along with the ANC and IFP, see tourism as the engine of economic upliftment.
Durban’s director of Urban Development, Alec Gilbert, said the convention centre alone will “attract a new breed of big-spending super-tourists to the city” and will create “at least 1 100 new jobs within the tourism industry alone”.
“It will give the thrust needed to revive and expand Durban’s depressed and lacklustre hotel industry.
“It will also bump up off-season trade by creating year-round visitors volume,” said Gilbert.
“It will create countless opportunities for self- employment and self-entrepreneurship, from low-skill to specialist,” added Gilbert.
But SACP spokesman Jean Middleton is not convinced. “There is a limit to the number of tourists Durban can attract. It’s not the only city in the world,” said Middleton.
She also doubts that it will alleviate unemployment. “It will be architects and construction bosses who will benefit. If more people are employed, it will be on a temporary basis,” she said.
Cosatu southern Natal secretary Paulos Ngcobo warned that the much-hailed projects could backfire as there is no serious attempt to spearhead development in black townships while an overemphasis on urban development for tourism could lead to an even greater influx of poor blacks from under-resourced rural areas into the city. “People would come to the city for greener pastures but they would be disappointed. There won’t be enough jobs for them and that will create problems. It is already happening,” added Ngcobo.
The Urban Foundation estimates that 26 percent of the region’s 4,7 million population lives in informal settlements, mostly in the greater Durban and Pietermaritzburg area.
Icada secretary Praveen Amar Singh said stability would be created if money earmarked for the city projects was used instead for building homes in the townships.