ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY

CITY PLANNING COMMISSION – 3rd QUARTERLY MEETING

MINUTES OF MEETING 29/10/2016

ICC DURBAN

PRESENT

Name and Surname Organization1. Ivan Turok - Chairperson Human Sciences Research Council2. Erick Mtshali Civil Society3. Akash Singh Durban Chamber of Commerce President4. Rory Wilkinson SAPOA5. Urmilla Bob UKZN –Dean of Research Full Professor in Geography6. Glen Robbins KZN Provincial Planning Commission7. Yasmin Rajah Civil Society8. Malcolm Mitchell Civil and Transportation Engineer9. Viv McMenamin Growth Coalition

10. Beauty Zibula Organized Labour, COSATU11. Adrian Peters Strategy Office12.

Mimmy Ndokweni EDU

13. Ajiv Maharaj EDU14. Puven Akkiah Strategy Office15. Bongumusa Zondo Strategy Office16. Ken Breetzke Engineering Unit17. Pamela Moonsamy Strategy Office18. Shivani Singh EDU19. Phumelele Sokhela BPCC20. Sohana Singh Communications21. Shunnon Tulsiram EDU22. Devoshini Konar Development Planning23. Roshini Bob CES Cluster24. Philemon Mashoko DCM Trading Services25. Nomfundo Phetha Governance Cluster26. Reggie Cele ODCM27. Cindy Naidu ODCM28. Eric Apelgren IGR29. Mandla Nsele Communications30. N. Govender PME

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Item.no

ACTION Resp. Person Due Date

1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIESThe Chairperson opened the meeting. Welcomed all present and indicated that this is an extremely importantn meeting, which is the third meeting of the year, as we move towards preparing our interim strategy by the end of the year.

The main item on the agenda was to look at the 3 thematic groups, the plans emerging from them and establish the following:-

o Whether they are endorsing the outline framework that was agreed upon in August?

o Whether there are any gaps in the priorities that were identified?o Whether they can point to any work in progress within the Municipality

Administration that the CPC can either endorse or indicate how it can be developed

In addition the emerging ideas around the Observatory and Demographic projections which feed into the plan will be discussed

We will briefly talk about the storyline publication and the Council’s endorsement of the Storyline.

The meeting with the Mayor and selected members of the Commission will also be discussed.

1.1 Apologies were received from;- Commissioner Lindiwe Rhakarebe Soobs Moonsamy Debra Roberts Jo Douwes Helene Epstein

Chairman

2. CONFIRMATION OF THE AGENDA & MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD 23 June 2016

Notes of the last meeting were approved with a correction from Commissioner Mc Menamin who confirmed her attendance at the last CPC meeting held in June.

The Chairperson noted that the :

The one day workshop in August was very useful. The subgroup on the Observatory has been meeting and has produced a

document which is on the Agenda. Demographics work has also been progressing. The 3 Work streams have been meeting and there has been progress in their

work. The Storyline publication features on the agenda as well.

3. MATTERS ARISING NOT COVERED IN THE AGENDA-ACTION LOGNo items were identified.

4. THEME 2: Bold and Participatory Governance The Chair mentioned that the thematic groups were asked to comment on the drafts that were produced from the workshop. 3 key questions were posed-What, Why, and How.

1. They needed to comment on whether they agree with the content of the outline and the way they were defined.

2. Were there any gaps what was proposed, priorities, actions, issues that were neglected or needed to be inserted?

3. Look in detail at what was already happening within their spheres of interest within the Municipality and what actions, plans or programs were being developed or already existed which addressed that particular priority that was emphasized

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The Chair indicated that the:- CPC is seeking to add value to the work. Need to be satisfied that sufficient depth, strategy is covered and that it is

adequate to be endorsed or strengthened. Is the description broadly correct and what work is currently in the pipeline to address the point.

Following a presentation by Bongumusa Zondo, the Team was then introduced to the house and the following questions/comments were made and duly noted :-

Bongumusa- A Working Group has been established with the support of the DCM Mr

Sipho Cele First met on the 27 August 2016 which was after the City Planning

Commission workshop Group would like to engage with Commissioners outside of the meeting

to get a better understanding of what is required.

Eric Apelgren- They now have traction in terms of support to Bongumusa and

Nomfundo.- Within the Governance and Inter-Relations cluster there are a number of

key units that enhance the Cities governance systems.- It would be beneficial for the commissioners to get a sense of who they

are and what their mandates are.- A new Governance and Human Resources Portfolio Committee chaired

by a member of EXCO has been established, accountable to bringing in the new council into the work of the commission.

- Trying to reinforce the intergovernmental relations portfolio- There are plenty of potential services that he could provide to the Commission around benchmarking and good practice processes.- Find ways of how to synergise all these IGR forums.- Risk register and internal audit support have a lot of valuable

information. Nirmala

- A governance review for the municipality was done recently by Internal Audit.

- Looking forward to establishing critical areas that need to move on in terms of governance for the IDP.

- They have come in the middle of the process and need more time to digest the information.

- Nomfundo

- A baseline to work from is needed, this involves looking at what has been done over the past 5 years, looking at the IDP and how it informs the work that was done by the previous administration.

- Looking at the IDP against the manifesto of the leading party. Reggie Cele

- Despite the organograms that they deal with, the productivity levels within the Municipality are also assessed.

Ken- There has been a huge gap on the ability to engage with provincial and

national departments around alignment of physical planning.- There are a lot of opportunities of setting up meaningful working

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opportunities with these departments.- There have been poor relations between some of these departments.- Request for Eric to pull in some resources from his department to assist

the spatial planning theme. Chairman

- The governance Team needs to be very active and engage in the group.- Need to get up to speed with decisions that have been made.- The team was requested to work on the existing information.- They need to list the top priorities that the CPC is going to endorse that

would lead to sustained action ahead.- Need to take this document seriously, interrogate it flesh it out then

come back with a written document. Commissioner Bob

- Initial Stages were about status quo- Governance was one of the key and least understood aspects in the

challenges that the City faced- We seem to be stuck with what the challenges are but we need to move

beyond that to inform a plan.- The inconsistencies would need to be tackled head on.- The governance clusters plans were very technical.- Requested that the commissioners get the indicators that were used, this

will assist in knowing if they were more strategic or operational indicators. A strategic analysis is required.

Comm. Tsautse- Concrete timeframes are needed so that the team responds at the next

CPC meeting. Comm. Mitchel

- Agreed not too much detail required, don’t want to get lost in detail.- Some areas need improvement.- Leadership is stuck at No.3 which should be at the top.- Effective Institutional arrangements are very important- Contact with Citizens not adequately addressed. The story out to the

people should be that the Municipality wants to interact with its citizens.

Adrian- Adrian reminded the meeting of the 3 deliverables and timelines:-

1. Storyline/Diagnostic2. City Development Plan – plan was to get a complete

document by end of this year, after discussions at last meeting , the final document will be ready In 2017

3. Implementation strategy- Looking to prepare by March 2017, at the last CPC meeting, it was decided that an interim product will be prepared.

- Headway needs to be made with the governance document since the team joined in late.

- The outline strategy needs to be ready by the 25th of October before the meeting with Mayor.

Chairman- Took us through the 4 aspects of good governance:-

1. Relationships with Citizens – relationships between the citizens and council is very poor needs to be strengthened

2. Partnerships with stakeholders- Build relationships and trust with other stakeholders. Partnerships with business, and civil

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society3. Bold and visionary leadership-being able to take risks, Being

Strategic, being more creative in the way decisions are made.4. Competence and capacity- Ensuring that systems are in place to

improve the quality of service delivery, to co-ordinate and integrate across silos, tackle the erosion of skills in the municipality

- We need a strategic and selective document,- Need the real priorities to be lifted out so that they get the attention that

they deserve. Commissioner McMenamin

- Requested clarity on who will be co-ordination the Governance Theme work and how will it be done from the C.M’s office

Adrian- Nomfundo Phetha from the office of DCM Cele should take the lead in

coordinating. Comm. Mitchell

- Institutional arrangements- Can this be an additional Theme/Sub theme? Chairman

- Requested that Adrian works closely with Sipho Cele on his theme to ensure progress and delivery.

Comm. Singh- Would like to hear from the Theme members, let’s put some timelines

and a concrete road map.- The governance theme must be inclusive of both administrative and

political governance. Comm. Robbins

- Informal chats should happen between the Theme groups to ensure Co-ordination.

Chairman- Clarification of the tasks

Flesh out the outline scheme-point out work that is already happening in the municipally and indicate items to be endorsed.

- Timelines Would be helpful to have an outline strategy before the

meeting with mayor. Get inputs for a draft document prior to the meeting We have 2-3 Weeks, by at least the 22nd of October 2016

- Accountability and coordination- Adrian to work along with Bongumusa and Sipho Cele’s team

Ken- Need to ensure cross pollination within the City it terms of decisions

being made.- There are huge gaps strategically with implications for other committees.- There are issues around political reporting structures and around which

some projects are more important than others.- There are different critical decision making bodies, e.g. Municipal

Tribunal EXCO caucus, DCM’s forum etc. Chairman

- Increasing co-ordination and integration across Silos- We don’t need a perfect solution; this is a very broad and complex matter that affects most of the country.

- Let’s work on it for 4-6 weeks then come up with something that will

Adrian

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help with progress.- Should be strategic, bold and realistic.- Need to add value and make progress in the work groups

Eric- In Agreement with Comm. Mitchell’s suggestion about institutional

arrangement. This issue needs to be looked at.- The Mayor would appreciate some recommendations about the

institutional arrangements.- As a team we need to look at some benchmarking practices with other

countries. Nomfundo

- Interest has been expressed in working with the commission.- Would like to request a meeting with the team in a week’s time with

some members of the commission,- They need to get a full appreciation of what is expected of them and to

clarify time frames Comm. Bob

- Need to be careful about the theme being in the Governance Cluster because it’s a major cross cutting theme.

Adrian- All of these themes are transversal, but there are pros and cons around

formulation of the themes.- The theme at hand was run out of the governance cluster and has had

difficulties.- Need to find a balance between getting the clusters involved but making

sure we don’t lose them.- Will meet with Nomfundo on Friday- Adrian to work with the group on information for the Mayor. Adrian

5. THEME 3: Spatial integration and Quality place makingFollowing a presentation by ken Breetzke, the following comments were made:-

Ken- They worked strictly according to the outline that was provided by the

chair- Input from spatial planning and land use management was provided.- It’s important that you get input from both of these departments.- They tried to integrate inputs in the best way they could.

Chairman- Made reference to a report on King Shaka airport that was approved

without a feasibility study.- ACSA was under pressure to sign off politically- It’s now running 33% of capacity. There is a court process the reveals

that ACSA was forced to proceed with the process for political reasons.- This is an example of what needs to be avoided, projects that proceed

without proper technical assessment.- The template was accepted.- It seems that the “how” cut across many of the 4 thematic principles.- Single spatial plan – There is a huge amount of content, need to know if

there are items that have been left out. Comm. Wilkinson

- Endorsed the Chairs comments. Fundamental changes need to happen regarding transport.

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- We are still driven by Motorization instead of public transport.- Quality Spaces and space integration are 2 different things.- There is a direct link between governance and spatial integration. Spatial

intervention is at the heart of everything.- Proper planning and budgeting is needed with regards to Program

management.- There should be Catalytic interventions.- Specific spacial interventions should benefit the economy.- Need to make a mind map and develop a structure.

Comm. Mitchell- Proper planning needs to be done in co-ordination with financial

resources- Require alignment of implementation programs with other organizations

such as PRASA, Public Works etc.- Warned not to put all eggs in one basket. Need to be realistic. PRASA are

full of empty promises. They seldom deliver- Need to be realistic regarding changing to public transport.

Comm. McMenamin- Need to know the long-lasting principles that would guide operational

interventions and spatial planning.- Spatial principles to be elevated.- Why don’t we get the Municipality behind these plans?- The Head of Planning said that before something is improved, it’s

circulated to get a buy in, so why is it not working?- We need the right forum and need to understand why there is this mis-

alignment- The City has all these forums but why is this not working?

Comm. Tsautse- Spatial planning cannot happen outside all the challenges that the city is

facing- The Inner City rejuvenation program cannot happen without other

department’s inputs.- We tend to make our decisions based on the political leader’s decisions.- Need to ask ourselves what people want and not to be led by the ruling

party.- City can play a vital role, when the Port project takes off, they need to be

prepared.- There are huge issues regarding responsibilities between the Port and the

City. Comm. Bob

- Catalytic projects- doesn’t believe that they are Catalytic. They are more of re-generation projects than Catalytic

- Agrees with Comm. Mitchell, need to figure out how to resolve alignment and co-ordination

- We seem to be sweeping safety and security under the carpet- City Spaces need to be designed for safety and security

Nomfundo- Requested that we consider having a brief explanation under the “what”

some sort of problem statement on the template. Adrian

- Adrian Confirmed that he is setting up a meeting with the Theme groups tomorrow, where Nomfundo’s issue will be dealt with

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- Part of the frustration with going through these documents is that the Theme groups were asked to capture the initiatives that are on the table in order to respond to the “what” but they haven’t done that.

- We need to ask ourselves how to deal with transversal management.- Currently busy with a World Bank project around Transversal

Management.- Cape Town has done very well with this initiative. They are busy with

restructuring of the City based on Transversal Management.- We have a combination of problems where integration is required:-

1. Planning2. Program management3. Infrastructure asset management

- We often don’t get the right people attending the meetings, and they don’t attend regularly.

- The methodology of prioritizing gets ignored; need to make sure that the systems put in place get traction in the organization.

- If we are able to itemize all the initiatives that respond to all the sub themes and the “how” we will be able to present these to the commission to examine effectiveness

- Adrian would like to present on work related to the Port in future.- Our biggest problem is visibility and knowledge sharing.

Comm. Bob- With catalytic projects, the criteria is not important. The problem is

allocating resources to the priority projects.- Need to make sure that we endorse a prioritization tool.- The methodology often gets ignored. We need to make sure these

initiatives get traction.- If we get traction as a Commission we will be able to test and find out if

it can work Chairman

- Need to develop prioritization criteria. Adrian

- We also n eed to deal with existing nodes and challenges. Tis is where Urban Management comes in.

Ken- There are many formats that can be used. He is happy to continue with

existing format.- Extent of engagement is an issue.- The work doesn’t start early enough because they need to wait for other

departments to comment.- There are competing priorities.- There are huge issues around lowest common denominator.- The Economic Development DCM has not been attending the

Commission. He is central to the economic theme and catalytic projects.- There are massive projects on the Catalytic projects list. We are not sure

if we can afford all of these projects.- Been trying to resolve prioritization criteria for the past 6 months, some

projects drift to the top and others to the bottom of the list.- Processes don’t reach final resolution because of competing pressures.- There needs to be a work stream around prioritization criteria, we need

to have all the information on these projects.- Budgeting process impacts on plans and is not coherent.

Chairman

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- We need to be more realistic about decisions being made; we are looking for collective judgments.

- Need to meet halfway in order find a plan, we are heavily dependent on the officials judgments

- What needs to be prepared, by when and who are the critical players will come from the officials.

- Collective judgment and a workable plans are required.- Need to place something on paper in order to obtain political support.

Comm. McMenamin- Does the commission want to represent the lowest common

denominator projects or rather look at the prioritization tool?- Inner City is one of the biggest Catalytic projects underway.- The commission needs to be informed about how big these projects are,

reasons and principles are required.- Need to be aligned to the framework that can be defended.- Projects around transversal management should be supported.- Need to put our fingers on who exercises what leadership in the City.

Adrian- In agreement with Comm. Mc Menamin, must find a balance between

good and effective leadership.- Reference was made to circular 77 which provides for mandatory

feasibility assessments for projects exceeding a certain threshold.- Need to reflect on what is happening in these spaces.- Effective recruitment is required.

Devoshnee- A lot of programs to speak to Strategic Spatial Planning.- Cross sector integration is a big issue. The Commission must play a role

in bringing the plans together.- Facilitation is missing.

Comm. Mitchell- Need to distinguish between leadership decisions and prioritization.

Chairman- The Commission’s work needs to be selective otherwise it won’t get

traction.- It’s essential to focus on quality and robustness, our selectiveness has to

be backed by principles and facts.- We have very little control over leadership. Having strong leadership is

very risky because they can also be wrong.

5.1 Comments on Single spatial plan- First Phase of Kens Document Adrian

- Comments on catalytic projects should be around safety. Do we have safety systems in place?

- Process started but its incomplete, commitment from key role players is required

- Proposed that the first principle should have some rationale,- These projects can be run through a filter process to ascertain which

ones are more valuable. Ken

- One needs to agree on the methodology, there needs to be commitment from the key role players; we will need people from different sectors.

- This is why the DCM for Economic development is required. Chairman

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- Suggested that we have a prioritization system by December 2016, next year more detail will be added.

Adrian- We should look at which budget cycle are we looking to have impact

1. Get prioritization system adopted2. See if there is any interim guidance? Could the commission give

some early guidance?3. Bring comprehensive input into the IDP

Comm. Robbins- Feels that we have settled on the Catalytic projects issue without

interrogation.- The City could invest on more feasible investment projects than

Catalytic projects.- City should rather invest in e.g. bulk water treatments or sewer

treatment facilities. Comm. Bob

- CPC was established because they wanted a committee that is external in order to think beyond the City.

- Suggested a workshop where the commission can sit and draw charts and look at what is going to help them drive the City

- Need to go back to stakeholders- Need to think outside the box

Chairman- We are obliged to present by December an interim product focused on

the Municipality which will feed into the IDP and other processes.- The agenda for the next meeting is to get some clear principles and

systems in place.- Our agenda must be long term, visionary and old.- We want to be relevant and make an impact on provincial processes.

Comm. Mitchell- Do we really need to list specific catalytic projects?- These projects are very different eg. reference was made to C3 corridor

and Inner City.- We shouldn’t list them because we run the risk of getting them very

wrong. Chairman

- Proposal for the interim product: Vision on the spatial theme:1. Identify Principles –what we think should be elevated.2. Prioritization process systems.3. Obvious priority area projects that need political support.

Comm. McMenamin- All the items that mentioned by Adrian should be surfaced, need to

make them more explicit, reinforce and replace.- Level of decision making must be raised.- Need to ask what are the social and economic impacts?

Mimi- There is an existing catalytic template that gets updated every month.- Endorsed Ken’s comments regarding DCM’s presence in the CPC

meetings.- There is a prioritization matrix in place that identifies all these projects.- Need to elevate the principles.

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Comm. Singh- Sometimes we tend to over plan things.- Need to ask yourselves why it hasn’t it been implemented in the past

years. Ken

- Happy to look at what needs to be developed and applied- Willing to look at prioritization criteria but for that process to happen we

should get buy in from DCM of Economic Development- Its important that we have a plan with key areas and the prioritization

criteria- This criteria has to be applied to the projects, for the prioritization to be

implemented. Adrian

- Need a prioritization system to be developed.- Officials value independent, external expert advice from the City planning

Commission.- If there is an endorsement it becomes very important because it will give

greater traction within the political and administrative spaces.- On a periodic basis we should have a group from the Commission

attending EXCO meetings. Philemon Mosheko

- If we are going to prioritize projects we should come up with time bound priorities or themes.

- We need to start looking at transversal impacts of projects. Ken

- We can work on the prioritization criteria.- This work needs to be more collaborative.- There is insufficient cross pollination. The work needs to be jointly

owned.- The commission needs to throw some weight behind it, start reporting

back to the administration.- A strategic view is more important.

Chairman- Need to have something by December from the Commission

Adrian- There are a lot of dynamics, let’s be mindful of that- The issue of the DCM of Planning and Dev. not being here is irrelevant as

there are Forums for reporting back and obtaining inputs.- There is whole range of other dynamics that make DCM’s not come to

meetings.- Maybe we need to strategize for the meeting with Mayor.- There needs to be a spatial plan that goes together with a written

document.- There are 2 important inputs into the preparation of the Spatial Plan

1. Demographics2. Spatial allocation of growth

Comm. McMenamin- In the development of principles the process of prioritizing should be

collaborative- She understood that there was a DCM meant to attend but there are

already very significant role players in the room.

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- If Adrian can make sure that the key parties that should be involved really do get involved.

- Let’s try to make sure that there is collaboration.Adrian

6. THEME 1: Growing an Enabling and transformative economyFollowing a presentation by Mimi Ndokweni, the following questions/comments were made :-

Ajiv- Leadership is a transversal issue. There needs to be more substance to it.- There needs to be greater capacity at leadership level in understanding

economic development.- The ability for economic development to have any real impact is severely

limited in terms of finance.- We are going into 3 silos again but no real objective has been defined.- A lot more research should be done concerning Catalytic Projects in

terms of the impacts.- Need to do proper interrogation through research.

Shunnon- Enabling business environment, tourism and entrepreneurial

environment should be spelled out more- Areas beyond EThekwini’s control should be strengthened.- Need to decide if we are spectators or if we are going to play an active

role concerning Ports along the East Coast- The City has a skills academy but we haven’t had any response from

them. Chairman

- There hasn’t been any thought to the document- There is a lot of confusion around responsibility, economic development

and local government.- Very confused about the nature of responses.- The issue of procurement and tertiary education was very useful but City

initiatives were not listed- Social development should be discussed more intensely.

Comm. Singh- Maintenance of infrastructure, cost of doing business, creative and

enabling environment should be elaborated.- It would be useful to grow the economy by focusing on domestic

investment promotion and land development Adrian

- There are a lot of initiatives that the City is working on that are not being mentioned in discussions.

- Reference was made to the World Bank survey, SAPOA report, State of Cities report and National Treasury benchmarking exercise.

- SIPTU is working on how we get the Port logistic system working so that there are no bottlenecks on the City’s side.

- There are Cross cutting issues around procurement strategies. Comm. Bob

- The City’s youthful population is increasing; there must be a plan on how we are going to deal with skills.

- Need to put innovation on the table Comm. McMenamin

- Do we need an external person to come and summarize the evidence regarding an enabling environment

- Resilient cities need to think about bringing in a partner to assist- Need to ensure that we have sustainable growth, the outcome should

generate growth and general jobs as well. Chairman

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- Glen to work with the economic development team. Ajiv

- The problem we have is that the work is going around in circles.- Strategic outline- they were not given any input on this but they were

only meant to comment.- The brief wasn’t clear a detailed brief is needed, going forward they

would like to request a road map in order to understand what is expected.

- There needs to be a project plan that sets out what the road map is so they can make meaningful input to the process.

Chairman- Ajiv needs to take more ownership of the task, they didn’t ask for

assistance.- Glen is keen to take an active role.

Adrian- Suggest that this gets resolved tomorrow 30th September 2016.

Shunnon- Moving forward we need to ask ourselves the following:-

1. What are things that are within our control?2. Where can we facilitate?3. Where do we advocate and prioritize?

Chairman- Key assets are very important should be a separate Theme.- The Port is unambiguous as a key asset, Universities, the Durban ICC,

football stadium, King Shaka Airport etc. Adrian

- Industrial areas are key because they are big picture fixes; need to look at how we make greater value out of them.

- There is a Urban M<anagement program running for the town centers. The CBD is very significant.

Puven- Part of the problem is that the theme members don’t link up the theme

papers to the storyline Comm. McMenamin

- We need to look at what infrastructure needs to be prioritized. Chairman

- Evidence required in thinking through the connection between key sector and key infrastructure.

- We don’t want a long list of obvious items; we want sophisticated judgment of where we get a bigger bank for the buck.

- A list of employment generating growth, key interventions infrastructure etc.is needed.

Comm. Mitchell- Durban seems to be developing as the sporting Centre in S.A.- We have all of the facilities for the Common wealth games; if we are

looking for a short term political gimmick we can use that. Chairman

- Made reference to the automotive sector, Toyota funding MBA to be located in Durban, fully funded by Toyota

- Having Toyota in Durban is a tremendous asset.- If you can get your private sector players to go beyond their own

businesses it would generate more success. Comm. McMenamin

- Local government’s biggest impact is in the tourism industry.- Local government can make a difference in specific areas to all of the

industries.- Getting the basics right has to be a part of what we put on the table.

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Shunnon- Clustering of businesses should be industry driven but within the city

providing support.- Using the city as a platform in leveraging funding from other spheres of

government would be useful.- The city has found success in that although audit might not be in favor- In terms of studies, Durban is the most preferred destination.

Chairman- Need to support industry driven clusters and key clients.- Would like to see Durban as the most preferred destination flagged up

in the document.- It’s a labor intensive industry.

Comm. Singh- Tourism is definitely the low hanging fruit; the convention bureau has

been a priority by the industry for the last few years. Commissioner Bob

- Training, skills and capacity building doesn’t always have to be on a high level.

- We can’t continue to think about traditional modes of training.- There has been talks about MBA’s and how irrelevant they have become- Doesn’t believe that the types of skills needed are always in a formal

sector. Comm. McMenamin

- There is a shortage of engineering skills; we end up getting engineers from outside of the province and paying a premium for them.

- This filters all the way down to the artisan level.- In the formal manufacturing sector (senior level) we do want people with

management qualifications often MBA”s but won’t look at local MBA’s.- Most MBA’s get rated, local ones are not considered. GIBS, Harvard etc.

get rated. Commissioner Bob

- There is a shortage of institutions in South Africa and a shortage of professionals in huge demand.

- We have to work together because, it’s about the ethics of quality vs. quantity which is a very important debate in South Africa

Chairman- Diversity and enhancing creativity in the education and training sector is

emerging as an important element.- The culture of learning and well as innovation and creativity are also

important issues.- Embedding initiatives like MILE is important.

Shunnon- Suggested that eThekwini create a broader platform of engagement with

Academia and business and for EThekwini to deal with some of the mismatch issues.

Adrian- There are 2 parts, to respond to the earlier sub-themes - Supply and

demand Chairman

- 25th October Meeting with the Mayor- 30th October meeting with the Theme Owners

7. OBSERVATORY Mimi

- Worked closely with the Commissioner subgroup on the document.- They have produced a draft on an implementation strategy for

eThekwini; this draft has been circulated to members.

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- They first engaged CPC members that were part of the subgroup.- They were advised to talk to City’s network- There has been work done towards creating a draft business plan of an

urban observatory for EThekwini.- A subgroup meeting should be arranged, to finalize by second week of

October.7.1 Following a presentation by Mimi Ndokweni, the following comments were made :-

Chairman- There is a lot of emphasis on Data, he would be inclined to play that

down to emphasize the role of intelligence, knowledge and understanding

- There is a lot of debate going on about the role of a knowledge broker between knowledge producers and knowledge users.

- The idea of an observatory would be to try and get closer dialogue between the 2 worlds, to encourage conversation and to make sure that it’s relevant.

Comm. Mitchell- Will data be universally accessible?

Mimi- It would depend on whether its municipal or privately owned in term of

funding.- Not sure on what basis access would be granted.

Adrian- Thought that the question was very premature. Mimi is still going

through a process of what form it going to take.- The business model may need to look at whether the data will be

provided for free or whether its charged for.- Also has to go hand in glove with open data policy.- We would have to subscribe to all the acts of the country including

protection of people’s privacy Commissioner Bob

- This process must dovetail with MILE, regarding the information data portal.

- Her understanding of an observatory is reporting, monitoring and evaluation. There shouldn’t be dashboardreporting.

Adrian- What is being presented is work in progress. A draft has gone out to the

task theme members.- Once Mimi gets to the point of formulating the topics and funding the

commission would need to get involved in terms of giving the City guidance. M Ndokweni

8. DEMOGRAPHICS Adrian

- Brian O’Leary was not present but it’s just a progress report displaying that there is still ongoing engagements with stats S.A.

- Hopefully by the next meeting we will have something tangible.B O’Leary

9. STORYLINE PUBLICATION Adrian

- Sohana had left the meeting.- Document was published in a glossy format and was made available to

the commissioners.- Was taken to the launch of the state of Cities report, but we haven’t

officially launched it for comment or placed in on a website.- 3 of the 5 action steps haven’t been done. One of reasons for the delay

was that the Communication’s Department decided to wait for new political leadership.

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- On the 25th let’s take the opportunity to bring new Mayor up to speed with the document in terms of the agreement that we had with the old Mayor.

Comm. Mitchell- It’s Important to release it to the publicly, the grater society in Durban

doesn’t know what’s going on; if we want to get support for an event or strategic plan we need to start filling people in.

Chairman- Will raise with the Mayor in a months’ time. Chair

10. WORK PROGRAM Chairman

- It won’t be a glossy comprehensive plan.- Meeting with the mayor- a smaller intimate meeting would be more

productive.- Adrian and the Chair decided on how they can convey representation of

the commission, it’s not an open invitation, 2 or 3 people. Mimi

- Inquired if the storyline has been translated into IsiZulu. Adrian

- Adrian will request communications department to translate.- Reasons why the interim product is going to be focused on Municipal

action is because we need time to engage with the stakeholders so that they can develop their own actions to make their own actions, this might happen in 2017.

- This is how we will move from the interim product to the final one. Chairman

- Next meeting will be on the 1st of December 2016.-END-

Adrian

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