Building a Thriving Cape Town: Empowering communities through economic access

 

Editorial by Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, City of Cape Town

 

As we commemorate Workers’ Month this May, it’s a fitting time to reflect on the strategic actions the City is taking to unlock opportunities for the people of Cape Town. Driven by a mission to build a resilient economy that is accessible to all the residents we serve, the City is spearheading multiple projects. This work is personal for me — I’ve been on factory floors meeting workers, at community halls assisting job-seekers, and in boardrooms engaging with business owners who have used our support services.

 

Recognising the challenges faced by many in our communities in accessing employment opportunities, we introduced the Jobs Connect programme. This initiative was designed to streamline the job-seeking process, reduce associated costs, and provide a platform that connects work-seekers directly with potential employers.

 

Jobs Connect offers a platform (that is data-free on Vodacom and MTN) where individuals can create digital profiles, complete literacy and numeracy assessments, and access a range of job and training opportunities across various sectors including call centres, hospitality, manufacturing, and retail.  Recently, the City of Cape Town also started adding listings for municipal job openings.  To date, over 100 000 Capetonians have registered on the platform.

 

It’s been encouraging going to communities such as Manenberg, Atlantis, and Khayelitsha, and assisting unemployed people to sign up for Jobs Connect and to help them understand how to position themselves for the job market.

 

On the other end of the scale, I’ve worked with companies to ensure they understand the value of Jobs Connect in growing their workforce and ultimately bridging the gap between ambition and opportunity.

 

 

Driving Strategic Investment to Power Growth

 

We are building a profile of Cape Town as the most business-friendly city on the continent. Through Invest Cape Town, we actively market the city’s opportunities to global investors, highlighting our top sectors and advantages.

 

Through ongoing engagements with investors, trade delegations, and businesses, the Economic Growth Directorate’s my team and I work to ensure that Cape Town is top of mind when companies look for new markets. Our dedicated investment facilitation services are designed to fast-track applications, cut red tape, and help investors quickly set up shop.

 

Every investment secured, and every ribbon cut at a new facility is another step toward our goal of inclusive economic growth.

 

Supporting SMMEs and Entrepreneurs

 

Small businesses are the backbone of any economy. That’s why we’ve intensified our support through the City’s Business Hub, which in the past year alone assisted over 4 300 small businesses with services ranging from skills development to business registration support and navigating regulatory processes.

 

We make it a point to regularly meet entrepreneurs, listen to their challenges, and work to create programmes that respond to their real-world needs — whether it’s through the smart procurement and supplier development programmes, business skills workshops, assisting informal traders, or industry-specific support.

 

Partnering with Industry Through Special Purpose Vehicles

 

To drive sector-specific growth, we work closely with Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) — industry bodies that we fund and support to deliver targeted interventions across key sectors such as tech, manufacturing, clothing and textiles, green energy, and business process outsourcing (call centres). These SPVs act as agile, expert partners, helping businesses scale up, develop skills pipelines, and attract investment into their industries. Through their efforts, SPVs directly support business expansion and skills development, leading to the creation of thousands of new jobs across Cape Town’s economy. By deploying SPVs, we ensure that our economic growth efforts are deeply aligned with market needs, enabling Cape Town to respond faster, smarter, and more competitively to emerging opportunities.

 

 

Unlocking the Power of Industrial Areas

 

Industrial areas are vital engines of employment. Under our Business Retention and Expansion Programme, we have driven investment into upgrading key industrial zones such as Atlantis, Bellville, Epping, and Airport Industria.

 

I have walked these areas with stakeholders, identifying infrastructure needs and working alongside the City’s Property Transactions Department to unlock land and facilities for development.

 

Connecting Cape Town to the World

 

The City also continues to support projects to increase Cape Town’s global connections by air and sea because each new flight and cruise ship means more tourists, more cargo, and ultimately, more jobs. Prime examples of this are the City-supported Air Access and Cruise Cape Town initiatives, which are both administered by Wesgro.

 

Thanks to these programmes, Cape Town now boasts direct air connections to key hubs such as London, New York, Nairobi, Istanbul, Paris, Frankfurt, and Dubai. During peak travel periods, we land as many as 226 international flights each week, connecting Cape Town to 31 destinations worldwide. To keep these numbers growing, we’re running targeted place marketing campaigns in key source markets to drive arrivals and boost our tourism economy.

 

In addition, 76 ship calls are currently scheduled for the 2024/25 cruise season – up from 67 last season – demonstrating our growing appeal as a global port of call.

 

The Road Ahead

 

There is still much to do. But what gives me hope — and fuels my daily work — are the faces of the jobseekers, the entrepreneurs, and the workers whose livelihoods are tied to a thriving economy.

 

Cape Town’s economy is on an upward trajectory, thanks to the targeted and strategic actions we are taking. It is a privilege to lead these efforts, but it is also a responsibility carried by all who are invested in economic development in this city: to create avenues of opportunity for all Capetonians.

 

Through ongoing collaboration with communities, businesses, and government partners, we will keep building an inclusive, growing economy where more people can access the dignity of work.

 

In my view, skills development must be driven by the realities of the economy, not training for training’s sake, but to equip people with the right capabilities for sectors that are actually creating jobs. That’s why we work closely with industry to identify where the demand is, whether it’s in call centres, green tech, tourism, or manufacturing, and then align our programmes accordingly. My belief is simple: we must prepare a job-ready workforce that can step into real opportunities. It’s not enough to offer training, we must offer pathways to employment. This targeted approach is how we will meaningfully reduce unemployment and build long-term prosperity for our communities. This is also where the national government must step up because they have a critical role to play in shaping policy, funding, and systems that support industry-led training and ensure that skills pipelines are aligned with the economy’s real needs.