The Waterfront Story

Recollections of an old sea dog — Captain Bill Shewell

Captain Bill Shewell — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 14:22:55 +0000

Sailing up the River Torridge to Appledore from Bideford in Dad’s small dingy in 1946 fired some deep unconscious desire that attracted me to sea life and an awareness of the “theatre of movement”. As an immigrant in 1948, my family was allocated an abandoned holiday house in Victoria Bay near George and after six months Dad found employment at the Gamtoos River Mouth holiday camp. The whole family worked there during holidays and I acquired a 16ft clinker rowing boat and earned 2 shillings a trip taking excited campers for rowing rides on the river to the mouth. I loved this and it was lucrative pocket money! It was a sense of the maritime life to come.

High school in Port Elizabeth was not a success and the City Council finally sent me to the General Botha training college at Gordon’s Bay on a grant. How I loved that!

After eight years at sea getting my Master’s Certificate and also meeting my future wife (a passenger on the Edinburgh Castle) I abandoned the ship life and started teaching the local fishermen how to reach Hout Bay from Cape Town without running their boats ashore. On the top floor of the Missions to Seaman Institute (today’s Waterfront Theatre School) without an Afrikaans qualification which upset the government of the day, I was teaching navigation to solid down-to-earth non-white crayfish skippers. This was seen as a threat to the Government of the day and I could not get accreditation and was closed down.

So off to the only job offered in the harbour service at Walvis Bay as relief mate on the tugs. Twenty four years later, through various port grades, I was promoted back to Walvis Bay as Port Captain and then Port Director with simple instructions to sort out Walvis Bay’s gremlins so that government would have an efficiently operating harbour ready for the political negotiations if the Walvis Bay enclave was to be returned to South West Africa.

Bill’s short CV

1968 -1978 — Senior Marine Harbour Pilot, Durban

1978-1985 — Assistant Port Captain, Durban & Richards Bay

1985-1986 — Port Captain, Walvis Bay

1987-1989 — Port Director, Walvis Bay

1989-1991 — Port Captain & Deputy Port Director, Cape Town

1991-2006 — Harbour Master, V&A Waterfront

I really enjoyed looking forward to a new challenge. Being the only English-speaking employee with a 90% white Afrikaans staff in itself raised many eyebrows. The harbour required urgent dredging of tons of fish scales, and the in-house staff did not want change. They were a small tight-knit community with no TV, and catching good fish was far higher up the scale of life than work.

Top management was very supportive, for upgrading everything from staff homes in the town and townships, to approving new sports equipment, etc, and that very quickly had all my apprehensive staff smiling. Walvis Bay town was divided strictly in half – the white half and the others. In this scenario my challenge as the only local staff I needed were in the other groups who lived in these sand-swept township homes, with no sport facilities nor a seaside beach. Here is where my challenge really emerged. What could I do? Fortunately, the SA Navy base commander understood my issues, so we became a good team.

At the far lagoon beyond the exclusive golf course and adjacent white yacht club lay a beautiful stretch of open protected beach bordered by some 50 traditional homes but frowned upon should any tourists from the other half dared to enjoy this beach on their weekends. Together with the Naval Commander, Town Engineer, fire department and the Mayor we decided to build an area for sport and leisure starting with a low-level simple jetty.

Now here were two senior mariners having no experience in building a jetty setting off with an idea. The 16 new naval diving recruits were given a new exercise – two to a wooden telephone pole each and jog 4 kilometres to the open beach. Tape measures and compasses as each pole was inserted into holes blown out by fire pump jets into the deep fish-scale/mud/sand, with each pole tilted into these holes. We came back the next morning to find all 20 poles lifted out with the rising tide. The second attempt succeeds as each pole is secured with connection joints and the top laid with planks carried out with enthusiastic trainee recruits.

The result was amazing and this area became the free weekend home-base for many of the less fortunate, bored families tucked into deplorable township areas. The mayor donated two huge palm trees and my challenge became my new phrase. Theatre of Movement. Open day, free braais, music and laughter showed one and all this was a free fun place which has been fully recognised by the town fathers, and remains the same 20 years later.

Walvis Bay port by 1990 had the potential for great expansion and results is history. Senior government politicians between Windhoek and Pretoria took over and I was offered a transfer to a similar post in the Port of Cape Town. I knew full well what politically was developing with independence etc, and it was time to move.

I was interviewed by well-known shipping reporter Ian Shipman on my second day as Cape Town’s Port Captain. I was asked, “What is your first plan?”

“Oh, get the seals and dolphins back over Table Mountain into the harbour,” I replied. “How will you do that?” Shipman asked. “Quite easy, during periods when the heavy mist hides the rivers flowing down the gorges, the seals will return in these rivers swimming down.” Incredibly polite. Shipman was completely taken in and, blow me down, printed these comments in his shipping section of the Cape Times. I’ve never been allowed to forget it, but the hidden reply really meant that until Duncan dock’s filth is sorted out, nothing will live in that water.

The port cleansing team of eight then swept from A berth on the west to
the east end of the Salt River mouth — the port’s limits — by removing every unidentified
item of loose equipment, selling useful scrap for the welfare home while the
rest into yellow DZ trucks. This also included two unidentified abandoned ships
engines and steel tug tow bars. It provided twenty-four full railway trucks of used dunnage!

Customs refused to clear unidentified trucks without documentation out the gates. In those days all senior Cape Town officials took their five day Easter break. The berthing staff team happily agreed to work over Easter on double overtime to have the trucks shunted to an end site beyond the Blue shed and build a bonfire burning all the used dunnage emptying truck by truck. This work continued day by day through Easter break till a returning fire officer called on Tuesday afternoon, annoyed that we had not posted a duty fireman or obtained their approval.

Well, by Wednesday 6 days later all railway trucks were emptied and my first goal to get the “seals” back was achieved.

Staff meetings followed with one senior official, reclining in his plush office, fired back at me after one of my rather tactless remarks. “Captain you see that mountain? Well, it’s been there long before you came here, and I’ve been here the same time and I am not changing my rules. Is that clear? Three months later a key change of personnel occurred and the next step for my seals had been achieved.

The marine budget was way overrun. My senior team meeting was taken aback when I apologized for disrupting them with my unexpected transfer to this top chair but assured them it was not my intention to stay here long, with one of them taking over when I get promoted. My four Assistant Port Captains looked alarmed after telling them we were going to operate differently. One volunteered to take promotion to Richards Bay, a second one accepted retirement, the third one moved to tugboat fleet management vacancy and fourth to marine pilot’s trainee officer leaving me with a leaner budget prospect. My newly appointed typist /manager/general secretary was delighted to now have her hands full while normal maritime pilotage and mooring duties settled down.

The harbour engineering team suggested fitting a cargo net over Adderley Street’s huge 4 metre square stormwater outlet beneath the Duncan dock wall and this was a huge success. It was so full of everything from tennis balls to running shoes and everything inbetween that the harbour crane was needed to lift and tip the net into waste trucks for the dump. Another step to allow for cleaner harbour waters, while daily scoops in the yacht club helped us in that area. A tight watch on vessels oil spillage kept the water surface clear, one more step for the seals.

I saw an opportunity to take over my very own harbour so I made an offer to David Jack to help develop the V&A basins, ensuring my permanence in Cape Town. Harbours Head Office suggested that I retain the post of Port Captain and look after shipping in the Victoria and Alfred basins. I appointed a relief Assistant Port Captain to manage shipping in the Waterfront. I had reached eligible retirement age and decided to retire from Harbours and formally accept a one year contract with the V&A Waterfront. i was given total freedom to run my very own harbour and make all decisions on maritime aspects on my own. This was my dream come true!

I was given an empty office room on second floor of the Old Port Captain’s Building by Derick van der Merwe, the financial director, with nothing but a chair to sit on and two windows looking out onto Victoria Basin – the one onto the tugs on Jetty One and the other across The Cut where the Penny Ferry operated.

I had just left a plush, fully-equipped 10th floor office with two Assistant Port Captains, secretary and typist, tea and coffee twice a day and two telephones. In the office across the passage, there was the equally plush Port Manager’s office and the appropriate staff. What on earth had I come to in my career in maritime services.? The Assistant Port Captain was retained by the Port Captain in a new position to manage the tugs, pilot boats and small craft inside the Victoria & Alfred sections.

I had a new career, a new life, with seemingly only maritime decisions to support the Waterfront management team. I had told them back in Head Office that I was going to apply for a position as a postman in the Eastern Cape — so much for ending my enjoyable 30-year career in the Transnet’s harbour division.

A knock on the door of my near-empty office and a nervous lady offered me a cup of morning tea on my huge old-fashioned desk — borrowed from the maritime museum where it had been standing covered in dust. I briefly wondered if I looked out of place on this floor with the furtive glances of a young office staff each with a computer in front of them.

Thus, as I pondered what next, the best thing seemed was just to go for a walk on my new quays, introducing myself as the new marine guy for the waterfront to anyone that did not look like a tourist. I soon realized that this historical harbour created on the beaches below Signal Hill was and is far greater than me. I had been offered to add something special to further develop the mandate of the development team, similar but not the same as the vacant open beach front at Walvis Bay.

I started with the ride on the Penny Ferry – the rowing boat that linked the old Pier Head to the Clock Tower and the new, very popular Bertie’s Landing pub and restaurant. Walks took in the Collier Jetty and the Portuguese trawler fleet, leaving me pondering how such an area would be incorporated for City inhabitants? Three hours later I was back at the office with my note recorder full, and a range of appointment messages waiting for me. My temporary secretary answered calls for me simply said he is out doing his MBA — Management By wandering Around. Progress with introductions to other department heads soon had my days very full.

One classic meeting involving the ship berths was to discuss the plans for the new Table Bay Hotel which showed a footprint that stretched on to my No 2 jetty. This was my first contribution and dispute. I objecting strongly as my jetty was for me to berth vessels and particularly the planned world-famous tall ships race where sailing ship spars would clash with the hotel bedrooms.

After much thought and trying my best to influence office-bound planners tactfully, the point was taken. (Tact was not my best asset) The hotel footprint was moved off my quay and I believe the many planners around that table realised David Jack had a new marine team member.

Now I had my own quay to entice ship’s agents to bring their own passenger vessels into our
waterfront instead of to the main harbour, with special attractions and deals low enough to win the day. Being a past qualified ship’s pilot I felt confident to repeat the history of the earlier Union Castle mailships which only berthed in the Victoria Basin — so why not modern passenger vessels with ultra-modern engines aided by advanced tugs?

Another meeting that week came from Royal Cape Yacht Club, asking me to consider the East quay area outside the breakwater for the use by yacht club members’ yachts. From time to time the Port long-term strategy was to better utilize their leased section. To me this anchorage development request would clash with my theory of a “Theatre of Movement” and a floating garage would risk safe entrance to Victoria Basin for other vessels. My decision did not go down well.

Ships & Charter Boats

The upkeep and cleanliness of the water area incurred expenses of both equipment and maintenance staff so the public on charter boats could enjoy the environment and take home a memory of good experiences. Most of these expenses were handled by the works and estate division. To keep their support, I had to create a fair financial return from all forms of boating and shipping activities while at the same time giving entrepreneurs their chance to be part of the waterfront activities I was after.

One of the very first social requests was for a lifeboat to use for the Itubha charity Christmas fund for deserving children and… would I also act as Father Christmas on the bow of the lifeboat full of presents and play the appropriate part? Here was I in full regalia thrown into acting as Father Christmas as one of my first jobs. The Port Captain also had kindly made available the huge port floating crane for Itubha activities, so from here I departed Itubha on the old Victoria, a clumsy old ship’s lifeboat, to arrive at the corner where the shopping centre was growing. Highly successful with hundreds of happy kids — an introduction to the use of a working harbour for simple but attractive charter boats operated by qualified skippers.

I accepted business proposals from interested sailors to build and operate their own charter boats with appropriate leases. I started with three operators with five-year leases and no turnover clauses. For the particular berth rate to cover my budget, the lease contract required each charter boat to be available to cruise throughout the year offering rides, annual maintenance periods excluded.

No boats could look the same above the waterline and each boat could only berth at its own designated site where ticket sellers would offer seats. The effect was that tourists could stroll along a quay without being harassed to buy tickets. This approach worked very well, and I was able to steadily increase berths for a variety of charter boats year to over six hundred bums on seats year-round with without the need for boats from other ports gate crashing the Christmas season. It recognised that the commercial harbour did not charter boats for the public. The bonus attraction always was the building of the sixty-metre floating pontoon jetty extending from the Clock Tower for Robben Island catamaran cruises. This catered for two hundred passengers a trip.

Now with the continual movement during the day and evenings of charter boats berthed from the Aquarium to outer end of Victoria Basin, coupled to the harbour’s tugs, pilot boats, mooring launches and a giant crane with the Port on Jetty One made this a natural “Theatre of Movement” — for all our visitors, whether out on the pier head just gazing or enjoying a meal in full view of activities. Always a treat was the dragon boats their crews’ paddles clipping the water training hard for annual races, or even the youth training swimming to qualify for Midmar Dam amongst the seals in Alfred basin startled visitors. Great excitement captured every person as Pilots navigated the narrow Victoria Basin entrance with massive stately passenger ships to berth in front of the Table Bay Hotel Jetty, passengers lining the ships rails overawed by this sight and excited just to be finally moored here in the Cape of Storms. My special harbour was growing my way, but lots still to tell you and do.

Having a working knowledge of harbour pilots, (having been a marine pilot myself) I felt no quibbles in contacting ship’s agents to offer an equally competitive passenger ship berth inside the Waterfront on either side of Jetty Two. Also, this included any other type of vessel not loading or discharging freight ranging from Foreign Naval Squadrons to Antarctica suppliers or Research ships or whalers. All these smaller vessels fascinated the tourist while the ships crews loved the freedom to shops or enjoy music or local food within the sound and sight of visiting tourists pervading the area

Walking by day and long into the weekend evenings, I realised that my backwater needed much attention on the water to match the on-land activities of the emerging growing shopping centre or Bertie’s landing or Ferryman’s Tavern.

Recent new trips on charter boats such as the old ships’ lifeboat Victoria or sailing yacht Alter Ego or the catamaran Lady Jane or the open traditional brown sails open seats wooden yacht Esperance were all a safe variety to choose from and allow excited families to sail out to sea even beyond the breakwater, but more was needed.

A call to my humble office one day from a Consular Officer for a Berth Inquiry for a medium size British naval craft wishing to make a formal entrance with all their pomp and ceremony.

To me a perfect opportunity for their HMS Norfolk on Jetty Two followed later by the RFA Grey Rover then the two masted Polish training sailing ship STS Frederik Chopin and the French Frigate Germinal followed by the magnificent German Passenger liner Hanseatic. I raised no fee for such berths, they were a big attraction. Seeing all this from any city vantage point inside the first two months of the new year was a physical awakening for the tourists and especially for the excited waterfront staff. The city now realising access to their waterfront harbour was a real “theatre movement” including hidden secrets of ships, tugs, birds, seals, wind, chattering voices, sea smelling salt air all so close to the sea really urged me to improve an old historical backwater.

Passing alongside the shopping lane opposite the historic Union Castle building is Cape Union Mart in the shed of the original old slipway and boat repair yard and look closely during spring low tide clear water to see the old original wood slipway rails that will tell you of the hard work of those old seafarers. This seafront by activity proved it was always the start of our working harbour.

The New Basin

The removal of the empty fuel tanks started in 1991, and subsequent removal of the oil residue was remarkable and is a separate story. By using certain species of grass, nature’s sunshine and rain to consume the residue before allowing this huge hole to be filled with rubble up to Six meters depth and turned into a marina basin proved best choice.

Careful slope design of both the initial concrete rubble and topped with a sand fill to allow the natural flow of the basin water across the New Basin via the Bascule bridge opening into Alfred Basin was vital to avoid areas of stagnant water to accumulate. An interesting occasion with the assistance of HRH Duke of Edinburgh during his visit to South Africa when he was again invited (as his name’s sake did in 1860 to tip the first truck of rubble for the new Breakwater) to set off the explosives to crack open this New Basin wall to allow water inflow from Alfred Basin to equal the level of the New Basin.

Prior to the water input, contractors kindly sponsored twenty heavy concrete mooring blocks with steel ring eyelets below ground level in positions that could be used to ultimately anchor yacht bows head into wind. How useful that early move turned out to be for safely mooring large yachts.

Sets of floating mooring pontoons installed with water and electrical boxes allowed for a variety range of craft giving the Cape Grace hotel and Residential Units residents a peaceful atmosphere from yachts in the basin and a sustainable financial return for the large investment incurred. Unexpected problems such as an irate guest leaving a message to ask the Harbour Master to please control the seagulls screeching wildly at three in the mornings, or hotel guests unable to sleep when a fishing trawler came alongside to discharge their catch. Other complaints came in over the engine noise vibrations or refrigeration systems hum during the night.

This challenge we had to resolve as also at the number two Jetty passenger ship berths which we did by having heavy duty used tractor tyre fenders as insulation between ships hulls and the concrete structures.

During the planning and construction of the residential apartments surrounding the New Basin, the canal level had to be maintained while the New Basin level being tidal waterway canal was envisaged between the New Basin and the City centre entailed the design and building of a unique operational lock allowing a ferry boat and residential owners small yachts to exit the canal during set times. The lock level had to be at the canal level to allow boats entry to the locks, after which the operator had to bring the level of the lock water to that of the New Basin top open and allow exit of the craft.

Click on any of the images below to open a full-screen image gallery.

In 1998, an English Major student named Ms Lundgren shadowed Bill for a class project. Here is her story:

Bill’s thoughts on possible expansion ideas into the future.

Possible double story level above quay 7 opposite Cape Grace for relaxing restaurant facing the afternoon sun and sheltered from S.E wind.
No 2 jetty opposite Table Bay Hotel. The extension of the present building into two further double story sections with ground floor for marine student education facilities and meeting facility with essential upper floor for the maritime artifices now hidden in out of view store warehouse and liable to historical loss. Both facilities would be financially sustainable and contribute to the social conscious of the waterfront business. Neither building being a threat to the smaller non-commercial visitor ships yet a financial source. Note the Jetty already has ablution facilities connected underground to manhole at hotel area.
The creation of a huge satellite growth node between Salt River mouth and north beach line to Woodbridge island… combining the beach for a yacht club and motor boat club and sun blessed beach by walk-over road/rail bridge for residents of new high rise living facing sun, with SE behind, in areas now in use at Paarden Island. Time frame twenty-five to fifty years.
Hovercraft facilities from Milnerton to the main harbour or Salt River mouth.

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The Magic of Models

admin — Sat, 19 Aug 2023 08:55:52 +0000

In the 1980s and early 90s digital presentations were so bad that architects had to resort to two people in Cape Town to help share (and sell) their exciting visions and plans – Natie Terblanche for watercolour renderings and Bobby Serritslev for architectural models. These could take weeks and months to prepare but they were worth their weight in gold.

The first model built for the V&A Waterfront showed the whole site and was completed at the end of 1989 for the opening of the V&A Visitors Centre.

The model for Bertie’s Landing was built in 1990 and here are the proud model builders at Serritslev Models — Charmaine and Richard Pullin. Richard is now making models in the USA.

Charmaine’s first contact with Royal Cape Yacht Club (RCYC) was when she built the model of Grinaker for Bertie Reid before starting the Bertie’s landing model. After 15 years at Serritslev Models, she spent five years in fashion retail and then embarked on a career in hospitality, opening several successful restaurants.

She managed RCYC’s restaurant and became a member in 2009, when she started sailing to overcome her fear of the ocean.

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The future of Granger Bay

admin — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 08:03:37 +0000

Ever since investigations for Cape Town’s new small craft harbour started in 1979, Granger Bay was regarded as the cherry in future development, but one with considerable challenges. At that time, Granger Bay was regarded as the only available location for a small craft harbour although there were calls for SA Transport Services to make Victoria Basin available and to flood the old quarry for additional moorings.
(This is a story in progress.)

A 1:80 model of Granger Bay had been built at the behest of the Fisheries Development Corporation (then responsible for SA’s small harbours) at the CSIR’s wave-modelling facility at Stellenbosch. That team was headed by Prof. Deon Retief (also a member of the Minister’s Waterfront Steering Committee). They tested viable breakwater configurations and wave surges in the deeper waters.

In 1982 a presentation and report was given to Dr Gerrit Viljoen, minister of sport. The illustration of the proposal for Granger Bay was prepared by Louis Karol Architects working with the late Rob Meek from GAPP and Royal Cape Yacht Club (RCYC).

It was essentially a new and permanent home for RCYC and base for the Cape-to-Rio yacht races — one of the few sports SA could still participate in at that time.

All the V&A’s planning over 18 years — from 1989 until the Atkins Report prepared for the foreign owners in 2007 — showed revised options for the development of Granger Bay. The Atkins proposal was never adopted by the V&A’s board because it was not financially feasible. But this was a board that never invested anything into the development of V&A Waterfront. In fact, the only investment the foreign owners made into V&AW was the $100,000 that the Atkins Report cost in professional fees. (There is a QR code link to the full report in the print & eBook versions of The Waterfront Story.)

The following are some of the designs produced between 1989 and 2006 (click on an image to open a slide show and please note that the dates on some of the images are incorrect):

What is expected for Granger Bay’s future now?

While the Atkins Report was declared financially not feasible, the planning environment has changed too. Land reclamation from the sea has been moved from a Provincial responsibility to a National responsibility, which could make permissions far more difficult to achieve. Black economic empowerment conditions could also limit, top-end, exclusive apartments and the viability of the marina.

The Heatherwick Studio — responsible for the redevelopment of the old Grain Silos for Zeitz MOCAA — has been appointed to prepare proposals for the development of Granger Bay. David Green doesn’t like talking about a project until it is a fait accompli, so the public can’t expect to see any more planning proposals until it is cast in stone.

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ARCHIVES: The first 10 Years

admin — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 11:50:08 +0000

Written and published in 1999 by Carl Momberg, and followed on The first 5 Years which he wrote and published in 1994. It tells the story of the phenomenal growth and success of the V&A Waterfront since work started in 1989.

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Energy Observer

admin — Sun, 25 Jun 2023 18:40:33 +0000

Energy Observer combines both expeditions and innovations, whilst developing solutions, which prove that another future for energy is possible, an optimistic future that is more respectful of the planet and the people who live there.

The Energy Observer project was created in 2013 through the commitment of Victorien Erussard, an offshore racer and merchant navy officer, with a single aim: to build the first autonomous vessel capable of drawing its energy from nature whilst preserving it.

This vessel was designed to push the envelope with regards to zero emission technologies. From hydrogen to sun, wind and tidal power, all manner of solutions have been experimented with, tested and optimised here with a view to making clean energies a practical reality that is accessible to all.

Criss-crossing the oceans for 7 years without creating atmospheric or noise pollution amidst the marine ecosystems, Energy Observer makes stopovers in numerous metropolises and capitals in a bid to meet up with the women and men who are devoting their energy to the creation of sustainable solutions for a more harmonious world. This mission is all the more essential in a world where humanity has realised how absolutely vital it is to protect ecosystems and respect the Living world.

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Cape Town toasts a record 2022/23 cruise tourism season

Wesgro media release — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 08:19:54 +0000

Cape Town and the Western Cape achieved a record-breaking cruise tourism season, dominated by high-spend source markets including the USA, Germany, and the UK.

Commencing in October 2022 and wrapping in May 2023, the past season has welcomed 145,000 cruise passengers as well as 42,000 crew members to the Cape’s shores.

In total, the 2022/2023 season welcomed 75 ships with 41 turnaround visits – this is double the number of ship calls when compared to the last complete season in 2019/2020, which saw 39 ship visits with an estimated 42,000 arriving passengers.

(more…)

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CSI was R11bn last year. But is business staying usefully connected to social need?

admin — Sun, 14 May 2023 09:41:46 +0000

The Rotary Club of South Africa recently invited V&A Waterfront’s head of social impact, Henry Mathys, to join a panel of distinguished speakers that also included Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Judge Dennis Davis. In this extract from Henry’s talk, he engages with the evolution of understanding about business’s social responsibilities. (From solve.waterfront.co.za)

Since 1997, there has been a more than threefold increase in the number of NPOs and civil society organisations stepping in to try to compensate for government’s failures to address social issues. The Department of Social Development reports that from approximately 70 000 registered NPOs then, there were more than 220 000 by 2020.

The corporate world is stepping up, too. Trialogue’s Business in Society handbook for 2022 says total CSI spend last year amounted to R10.9bn, a more than seven-fold increase from 1998’s R1.5bn.

But how is that working for South Africa?

FROM CHARITABLE GIVING TO ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT

What used to be referred to as Corporate Social Responsibility has evolved significantly. From an initial focus on straight philanthropy, which involved companies making charitable donations, today’s Corporate Social Investment (CSI) shifts the focus to active investment in social initiatives that aligned with a company’s business strategy.

With CSI, companies began to factor in how investments in social initiatives could have a positive impact on their own long-term success, driven by an acceptance that businesses have a responsibility to contribute to the communities in which they operate. In 2019, 75% of South African companies had a CSI budget, with the majority allocating between 1% and 3% of their net profit.

More recently, the concept of Shared Value has emerged as a further evolution.

Shared Value goes beyond CSI, as it also involves creating a sustainable business model that benefits both the company and society – it identifies areas where a company’s business objectives align with the social needs of the community, and develops initiatives that create value for both. Additionally, and critically, Shared Value looks at the entire ecosystem, recognising that no entity can solve an issue alone, but that interdependent role-players need to collaborate to address these issues together. It’s a more complex approach, but also provides more systemic solutions.

It’s been widely adopted by, for example:

Old Mutual’s Masisizane Fund, which has invested in over 170 small businesses
the Woolworths Farming for the Future programme, which has supported over 500 farmers
the Nestlé Creating Shared Value programme through which the company has invested the equivalent of over R4bn in more than 1 000 projects around the world ranging from sustainable agriculture to improving access to water and healthcare
Pick n Pay’s programme which reaches into education, health, food security, community development and sustainability and environmental initiatives

My own company, the V&A Waterfront, formally adopted a Shared Value Ecosystem strategy, and established SOLVE@Waterfront to show how the approach can work in practice. SOLVE offers a framework for collaboration between stakeholders from the private sector, government, academia, and civil society who are able to use the Waterfront neighbourhood as a ‘petri dish’ to develop and test solutions. Examples are access to employment opportunities, and addressing inequities in the food ecosystem and the oceans economy by leveraging technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Many more of South Africa’s blue chip corporates have bought into the shared value approach. These include Absa, Investec, Hollard, Sasol, Volkswagen, Tiger Brands, and FNB.

Over time, the CSI/social impact sector has evolved into a professional and mature space. Companies now have dedicated divisions, and many organisations are taking a systemic approach, working to understand the underlying issues, and collaborating to develop solutions. Although reporting remains a challenge, there is a noticeable shift from a “tick-box” mentality to genuine engagement.

STAYING CONNECTED

At the same time, it remains essential that grassroots organisations and community projects be involved. Typically, they have a deep understanding of specific needs and can deliver targeted solutions. They are often the first point of contact for community members, and are uniquely positioned to provide support where it’s needed.

And they fulfil a unique function in arresting the decline of our country’s moral fibre, a complex issue. Our long history of racial segregation and inequality has created deep social and economic divides, which in turn have contributed to a lack of social cohesion and a breakdown in moral values. I believe it it is crucial to sustain community centres and grassroots non-profits as they play their vital role in rebuilding social cohesion.

They need financial support: 78% of South African NPOs have an annual income of less than R1 million.

This may in part be because as the private sector focus shifts to larger, strategic partnerships, it may have left smaller grassroots organisations with fewer resources, in turn leading to an increase in NPO numbers as communities band together to address their challenges, with each getting a smaller slice of the pie. I would argue that corporates need to consider this, also incorporating and funding smaller, community-based and grassroots organisations as delivery partners. In so doing, corporates will also support job creation and stimulate localised economic resilience in areas that historically have been marginalised.

At the Waterfront, we have found what we consider to be an elegant mechanism for this which we call the Our Community Programme. Through this programme, we provide small grants for which our staff members – indeed, any member of the public – can apply. The intended use can be anything from renovating a community centre to supporting a child’s educational bursary. Effectively, this puts CSI into the hands of people who are closest to social challenges, with clear projects and funding to support them.

This was also the inspiration behind the evolution of our Busker’s Programme into a focused entrepreneurship and development programme through which buskers access skills development, music workshops and mentors/coaches. We are extremely proud that last month (April 2023) one of our buskers, Micaela Kleinsmith, won Apple TV+s’ inaugural “My Kind of Country” competition, a Reese Witherspoon production.

The recognition that ecosystems, societies, and economies are interconnected and require holistic solutions is an important step forward. And the rewards are great.

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Review of The Waterfront Story by Peter de Tolly

Peter de Tolly — Mon, 01 May 2023 09:02:40 +0000

Cape Town’s former deputy city planner, Peter de Tolly, submitted the following review of The Waterfront Story (based on the role he played in the early years, his interests and his priorities). The nature of a book and the restrictions on space do not allow everything that happened to be included, so we are grateful for his efforts in expanding the story to include in the limitless world of cyberspace, where it is indexed by search engines for posterity. — Author

Generally: I have read The Waterfront Story and it tells an interesting story of a very special place. It contains a lot of information on the V&AW’s history and evolution as a rehabilitated place, and as a business. This it does discursively, in a chatty and visually appealing way. It clearly is designed to communicate to a non-academic audience. It largely steers clear of controversy. As such, it is not an urban history of the V&AW and its contexts – physical, institutional, cultural, and political – in any academic sense. Clearly, this it was not intended to be.

On the Structure: Given the attention that has been given to the organisation of the book, it is surprising that the book just ends precipitously, as opposed to discussing the possible futures based on the use of the unbuilt floor area.

Basis for my comments: The following comments/criticisms stem from my involvements as an active, ongoing participant, from my return from Toronto in 1980 to join the then City of Cape Town that July, through to when I was seconded in 1996 to the Cape Town 2004 Olympic Bid Company to prepare the Olympic Plan. During this time, together with various colleagues I was very involved with the planning for Granger Bay and with the many attempts made to convince central government to give the historic Victoria & Alfred waterfront area back to the city. My views and planning approach stem from my experience over seven years of coordinating four levels of government in planning the future of Toronto’s Central Waterfront.

Inevitably, my views and memories of the early days of Granger Bay and the V&AW will differ with yours, which I see as stemming from our very different roles.

Your book is your view of the waterfront story. I wish you had included more ‘story’. I think that the book would have been enriched if you had spread your interviewing (Author’s Preface) more widely. You outline the sequence of key events during the ‘80’s leading up to the launching of the new V&AW Company on 24 November, 1988. In between were some significant events and products. You briefly mention the City’s 1985 report The Development Potential of Cape Town’s Historic Waterfront on page 29, showing its cover. It was for its time an unusual document in the way it analysed the business potentials/implications of rehabilitating the historic waterfront. The report was not simply one produced by Council officials. It benefited from the active participation of The South African Property Owners association (SAPOA), the Federated Hotel Liquor and Catering Association of South Africa, the Fisheries Development Corporation and Irvin & Johnson. Surely, to bring people together from those organisations and from Council would yield rich oral history!

From the formation of the new company through 1989 and 1990, the demands on Council’s officials and on the V&AW’s planners, urban designers and other professionals was acute. Getting David Jack, Ken Sturgeon, myself and a few others together would be both revealing and entertaining about those times, what they demanded from us and how we achieved the results we did in what was an extraordinarily short amount of time?

Omissions in Milestones on the road to V&AW: This useful ‘snapshot’ section on pages 28 and 29, has omissions born of its abbreviated format.

1984: Your 1984 ‘box’ describes Mayor Sol Kreiner’s setting up a Mayoral Steering Committee “in the face of the stalling project”. The first meeting of this committee was on 5 September 1984. It was preceded by a meeting on 3 May 1984 which Mayor Sol Kreiner convened between City and SATS officials. That was followed by a lunch with the Minister of Transport and the General Manager of SATS. Mayor Kreiner was very persevering on the issue of the Victoria & Alfred Basins, and he had the full support of his planning and engineering officials. We all knew that we would need to continue to inform and persuade SATS that change was inevitable. The word ‘stalling’ does not convey what was actually happening at the time.

The Rating of State Properties Act created a new impetus for change as unused harbour and railway land in an urban area could be subject to paying rates.

1985: You show the cover of the City’s November 1985 report: The Development Potential of Cape Town’s Historic Waterfront, outlining the contents of this submission to the newly formed “Burggraaf Committee’. You completely neglect to say that it was a crucial input to that committee, eventually persuading Arie Burggraaf to recommend the rehabilitation of the Victoria And Alfred areas for new mixed-use development.

[Author: Arie Burggraaf and Fuzz Loubser (head of SATS Business Development Division) had considerable input into the book and read the drafts. They informed the focus I presented.]

The milestones report, drawing on expertise from SAPOA and other such organisations in the tourism industry, contained fully costed proposals. It took a very different approach from the Granger Bay proposals:

It realised that the real economic potential was utilisation of the historic harbour.
It could be done without negative impacts on the fishing and shipping industries.
Retention of the working harbour and heritage would be major contributors to a successful development

The outcome of this report deserves mention by you.

1982: For instance, 1982 was more than the Laingsburg floods in so far as Granger Bay is concerned. March 1982 saw the publication of the City’s report: Granger Bay Project Assessment.

This report methodically assessed the “Granger Bay Waterfront Development, Report 2, dated January 1981. It exhaustively examined the Granger Bay proposals contained in Report 2 and it discussed the Victoria Basin and the need for linkage to the CBD. To illustrate this potential, it showed a very imaginative UCT student scheme.

This report which was adopted by Council contained recommendations that were to inform all subsequent City participation in the planning for Granger Bay and the Victoria Basin areas. Recommendation 2.4 refers to long-term objectives that explicitly address the need for the Granger Bay and Victoria Basin areas to be linked to the western part of the central city. “The dockland should combine compatible commercial activities with residential and recreational activities to ensure a rich and diverse environment. For example, the small fishing boats in the Alfred Basin should remain to ensure that this part of the dockland remain a working harbour accessible to the public…”

Recommendation 2.5: “The Council should inform the Minister of Transport of the evident desirability of linking the Granger Basin area with the Central Business District by the rehabilitation of the Victoria Basin and land to the south, and that I be authorised to discuss this with officials of the South African Transport Services”.

Numerous meetings with SATS harbour staff ensued albeit with limited results because their official attitude at that time was that the Victoria Basin area was for port purposes. I had meetings with Brian (Maginot Line) Whitfield, the then Harbour Engineer, the dates of which are in my diaries of the time. Maginot Line was our nickname for Whitfield as he really believed that the forces of change could be held at bay. Arie Burggraaf was to prove him wrong.

The City’s 1982 Granger Bay Project Assessment report deserves to be slotted into your book.

1988: This was a momentous year.

February saw the newly formed Waterfront Working Group meeting.

You state that at a March meeting with Transnet, City Officials “wanted to drive the project”. That this was “turned down”. I think that you need to revisit Appendix 1A of the Milestones report which contains a chronology of waterfront development 1971-1985. The events of 1985 are more nuanced than your single statement.. A sequence of meetings was held between City Officials and SATS officials during the year. David Jack, Larry Aberman and I met with the Burggraaf Committee on 9 August.

In April I was invited to a SA Harbours Conference in Sun City to present a paper entitled: Redevelopment of Cape Town Harbour: A Two Continent Local Authority Viewpoint. This was very well received. It’s conclusions bear repeating for what they said at that time:

“Cape Town is now faced with some of the problems and opportunities of other western port cities. It has a mix of facilities developed over 300 years, in response to changing needs: sail, steam, passenger and break/bulk cargo, containers and piping of liquid bulk commodities. As the harbour has grown so has the city adjacent to it. With that growth and change has come the belief that urban waterfronts formerly committed to purely industrial use should be reclaimed for more diversified activities planned to attract people seeking recreation and entertainment as well as opportunities for distinctive residential environments.

“Granger Bay, Victoria Basin and the land that connects them to the Central Business District provide challenges and opportunities that need to be addressed and resolved now, drawing from the history and experience in South Africa as well as from overseas”.

1988 saw Rudi Basson take over as Port Manager and he brought a completely different mind-set to his predecessor.

In May, the then transport minister Elie Louw accepted Arie Burggraaf’s recommendations. These were:

Recreational use of water areas only at Pierhead
Flooding of lower Tank Farm should be considered
Endorsed proposed land uses for Pier Head area
Housing etc on Upper Tank Farm
Include Portswood Road strip
Use Dock Road areas to link City to Waterfront
Development of Granger Bay

According to you the Minister’s acceptance was with the “directive that development should start as soon as possible”. One has to wryly observe that it was a bizarre directive given government procrastination over many years.

The City had in 1988 acted proactively by already initiating a number of transport studies with the V&AW in mind. One dealing with the Power Station site and surrounds involved Hawkins, Hawkins & Osborn. The other was a Pre-Feasibility Study for a CBD-Waterfront Transit System in Cape Town. The City was also considering how to deal with the planning of the new Victoria & Alfred Waterfront areas, in terms of plan approvals, zoning and institutional arrangements. These actions are omitted by you.

1988 also saw the publication by the City of a couple of Cape Town Historical Walks publications. This one was designed to bring the public into the historic waterfront areas.

The new company, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront (Pty) Ltd. was formed in September and launched publicly on 24 November. All of this period is excellently covered in Rory Birkby’s The Making of Cape Town’s Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.

Waterfront 1.0: The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront becomes a reality

Thank you Arie Burggraaf as at least one of your three success factors recognises the contributions of the City Council: “City Council created new processes to realize the project …”

I once wrote in an article entitled Cape Town’s Central Waterfront, published in the May-June 1992 issue of Architecture SA: “The V&A did not just happen. Market forces did not magically transform the V&AW on their own. The V&AW happened because of a City Council-derived process that inspired the planning and design; because of up-front financial commitment by Transnet, because its management and Board understood what makes for successful waterfronts, and because the City Council has been co-operative and facilitative.”

During this time, the Cape Town City Council was a constant, very positive force: in the decision of the then central government to commercialise its ports and harbours, in the creation of the V&AW, in its early planning and development, and through setting up planning, financing and management arrangements that have stayed the course over the evolution of the V&AW until today. These contributions are readily available.

You would never know this from your book.

Timeline: This very useful graphic could add one very important contextual date: 11 September 2001. Following these attacks governments world-wide adopted measures to protect maritime transport and ports against terrorism. The Cape Town public could no longer enjoy its historic access to Duncan Dock. Thank goodness that the V&AW rehabilitation happened when it did.

Start small in the biggest possible way: There are omissions and inaccuracies in this section. For instance, you make no mention of the City’s Draft Contextual Framework for Cape Town’s Central Waterfront in September 1988. This report was adopted by the City Council on 1989-09-28.

This report was broad in its focus. The V&AW was put into the context of a larger geographic area, where opportunities and needs for change were identified. (Many of these disappeared after 11 September 2001, as mentioned above). It defined the land-use and transport contexts to the V&AW. It also contained a policy framework for the central waterfront and its sub-areas, starting with the V&AW. The following are the policies contained in the Contextual Framework report:

The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront area: Without this Council-adopted report and its sub-area policies, there would have been no basis for the new company to proceed with its planning, and for its first planning product, the V&AW Development Framework report. These policies guided the V&AW’s planners in the preparation of not only the Development Framework, but the Precinct Plans that then ensued. Also, the City’s planners and development control staff used these policies to evaluate the V&AW proposals. I do think that these policies should be encapsulated in one of your snap scans.

The late Ivor Prinsloo in his article entitled “The Persistence of Vision” in Aquapolis 3-4 2000, Cape Town where Africa’s two oceans meet, summed up a primary focus of the Contextual Framework. He wrote: “The City Council of Cape Town (CCC) published a Contextual Framework in 1989, which shapes the city in the greater context with the theme of an integration between mountain, city and sea.”

This section of the book focuses on ‘The Development Framework & Package of Plans’. This misconstrues the sequence of what actually happened. The Development Framework was preceded by the Package of Plans. It had to be because prior to the Package of Plans being adopted by the City Council, the new V&AW Company would have had to prepare some form of master plan in accordance with the then Town Planning Scheme and Provincial Planning Ordinance.

I know because I was there and was responsible for the development of the Package of Plans. Rory Birkby in his chapter ‘The Package of Plans and Heads of Agreement’ gets it right. Other than his “The Package of Plans was largely the work of the Deputy City Planner, Peter de Tolly….” I assume that the ‘largely’ was because I was assisted by colleagues in Council, and by Ken Sturgeon of MLH, but the basic concept of an inter-locking hierarchy of plans, giving predictability to the authorities and direction and flexibility to the land-owner and developer, was mine.

I developed the procedure as a result of the experience I had in Toronto. One aspect of this work was being part of the evolution of the planning for Harbourfront, a Federal Government predecessor to the V&A W. Toronto had a somewhat Byzantine zoning scheme (as did Cape Town) and I watched with great interest as Harbourfront’s planners wrestled with how to somehow break free of it. I applied lessons learnt.

Regarding the planning of the V&AW, I have written: “The solution was a new planning procedure, called the ‘Package of Plans. Following on from discussions with the Company’s planning and urban design consultants which resulted in an agreed-on way forward, I sent them a letter dated 1989-07-14, in which I wrote: “… that a package or hierarchy of plans needs to be developed as part of a Master Agreement between the City, the V&AW Company and SATS which will cover planning, servicing and financial matters. The key planning need is to meet the agreement condition of the SATS Act No. 65 of 1981; as well as to provide the V&AW Company the flexibility it needs operationally; to form the basis for the marketing, lease or sale of land by the Company; and to form a set of management tools by which the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront area will be planned, developed and managed over time.”

The procedure was designed to have broader applicability to state land holdings elsewhere. ‘This approach was designed to ensure that development of state land, be it either for operational or commercial purposes, would be positively integrated into the structure and form of the adjacent city, and into its management. It sought to reconcile the key interests of each of the public and private sectors (the landowner, the local authority, prospective investors and developers, and the public generally) It created a set of tools by which land could be allocated, marketed, leased, sold and managed by government on the basis of agreed objectives and policies; by which land could be integrated legally and physically into the adjoining municipality; and by which the private sectors interest and involvement would be attracted and creatively focused.”

Many involved with the V&AW over the years have commented on how essential the procedure was to the V&W’s success; Piet van Zyl and Neil Schwartz are only two examples.

Your book refers to the Planned Urban Development (PUD) system, and to Cardiff Bay, Wales. “In the USA, major projects follow a Planned Urban Development (PUD system, and the Waterfront modelled its approach on that.” It did not. I drew no inspiration from PUD precedent, nor from Cardiff, of which I was unaware.

[Author: David Jack was very aware of the overseas precedents and MLH Architects & Planners was appointed to pursue an alternative to a Master Plan. The V&AW Development Framework was based on Cardiff Bay’s. I assumed that you would have known about wider overseas precedents but it is to your credit that you drove your process based on your experience in Toronto. The last major development in Cape Town’s CBD was the Foreshore which had a Master Plan — with all its shortcomings. The City refers to these shortcomings in the Preliminary Comments on the Draft Report: V&AW Development Framework.]

You write: “Peter de Tolly…worked with Ken Sturgeon at MLH Architects & Planners. Using what was happening overseas, they evolved their own system which De Tolly named the Package of Plans Process.”

This is not true. I drew up the Package of Plans, with its components – Contextual Framework, Development Framework, Precinct Plans, and Site Development Plans, for each of which I outlined the contents. I sent Ken letters containing my thoughts over some months and we worked through what he thought would work for the V&AW, as I did, with my colleagues for the city. You must remember that the City early on set up an Inter-Departmental (Peter Lever and Mike Marsden, representing the finance and engineering specialisms) Waterfront Working Group which I chaired, and also a Waterfront Planning Group in the Town Planning Branch (when I was Director of Planning). Without this genuinely collegiate approach in difficult circumstances, I doubt that we would have been able to move as quickly as we did. MLH made a really significant contribution to the Package of Plans procedure with the diagram they developed, which you use on page 36, as well as with the ongoing suggestions and criticisms that I received. There were many in the Town Planning Branch who contributed, notably Larry Aberman.

You may wish to refer to the paper I wrote for SAPOA, published in SAPOA NEWS December 1991, entitled Optimising government-owned land. In it you will find my explanation of why the procedure was developed and how it is seen to be applied.

You remark on how the Package of Plans procedure has been used for other developments. This is very much the case, and the procedure has now been incorporated into both the City of Cape Town’s and the Western Cape Government’s regulatory schemes, to be a mandatory requirement for certain types of developments.

As an amusing aside on the pervasiveness of the P of P process, an architect has been retained to design a new family house up in the vineyards overlooking the Groot Drakenstein Mountains. Responding to the plans submission, the Winelands Municipality has asked for a Site Development Plan!

At the time in 1989, we argued that “Properly undertaken the ‘Package of Plans’ approach should provide both strategic direction and operational flexibility, and result in development of quality and appropriateness, which takes full account of its special location, conditions, environment and history, and which becomes integrated over time into its adjoining city.”

The bulk of your book from ‘Making it happen’ could be said to show that the above statement has been realised.

Other documents provided by Peter de Tolly:

2009: Cape Town’s central waterfront: past, present, future: challenge and change — Peter de Tolly

April 1994: Mike Smuts letter

October 1990: A Proposed Approach to the Planning and Development of Government Owned Land by the City Of Cape Town

September 1989: Final Comments on the Draft Report: Victoria & Alfred Waterfront Development Framework

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Cruise liners flock to Cape Town

Wesgro — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 16:46:46 +0000

Cape Town gears up to welcome 7,000 passengers and crew at the Cape Town Cruise Terminal, which is managed by the V&A Waterfront, this weekend.

On the 24th of February, the Costa Deliziosa arrived in the Port of Cape Town with 1,554 passengers, as part of their 115-day roundtrip itinerary to Rome

On 25 February the port welcomes the Artania, which will arrive with 1,024 passengers from East London before heading on a 10-day voyage to Dakar

MSC Sinfonia is arriving on the same day, bringing 1,848 passengers from Walvis Bay before departing on a 2-day “cruise to nowhere” from Cape Town

This season so far (October – End Jan) has already seen a great number of ships arriving, with almost 75,000 passengers passing through the port of Cape Town to date.

The cruise sector holds a strong economic significance for Cape Town, which looks forward to welcoming more visitors to our shores for the remainder of this bumper season.

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A response to Tony Jackman’s Daily Maverick rant

admin — Sat, 18 Feb 2023 19:57:54 +0000

Daily Maverick published a story by Tony Jackman titled “WHEN CHARACTER DIES: V&A Waterfront: consuming itself, a greedy bite at a time“.

“It’s the Monaco of Cape Town, a playground for the super-rich in a city infamously neglectful of its poor. Cut off, more than ever, from the city of which it is supposedly a part, it has become obsessed with itself and its advancement, the sybarite at the dinner table, the narcissist you once thought you knew. It’s time to hit pause.”

Let’s start with what the V&A’s initial aims were, way back in 1989. Firstly, it was to seamlessly reconnect the city to the sea — to the CBD at the southern side and residential Green Point at the western side. It’s doing that pretty well.

Secondly, the V&A was to respond to market demands but be responsible for its built heritage. It was not planned as a static and sacred memorial, with polite cobwebs to remind you of that.

And thirdly, it had to be profitable. (Today, it is owned by of the Government Employees Pension Fund with more than 1.2 million active members and over 490 000 pensioners and beneficiaries — who enjoy above average returns on their investment. It has become the most valuable property on the African continent.)

No-one had any qualms about those aims. But these are facts that Tony Jackman cannot grasp and what can only be called a loquacious rant was published by Daily Maverick. It’s almost two years to the day since Branko Brkic, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Maverick, had to publish an apology to readers for the fictional story by Jacques Pauw accusing the V&A of mistreatment. Daily Maverick has failed again.

Jackman’s writing seems inspired by Alice in Wonderland:

“How could there be so much of everything? How do you find your way any more? Any focus has long perished; in its place, a perplexing maze of brick, steel and glass, punctuated with bobbing boats with their skippers touting for your custom, almost everything designed to enthral and inspire. But collectively its effect is to overwhelm and confuse.”
Jackman is obviously more at home in Cradock than he is in Cape Town. Cape Town is a thriving, bustling city. And age brings its own challenges, like accepting that the only constant in this world is change, which happens even faster in retail spaces.

“Everything is expensive. The clothes are expensive… even the Coke.” This is nonsense. Food & beverage chains do not have separate pricing for the V&A. And if Jackman can’t afford where wealthy tourists spend their money, there’s always Mr Price V&A. “The Cape Wheel is moving, making way for a piazza to accommodate public transport.” Not correct. Cape Wheel was relocated to reduce congestion in that part of the V&A, and certainly not for public transport. There are more factual faux pas.

Jackman’s attacks on the V&A are not new and go back 33 years — the V&A is not 31 years old as Jackman states — when he wrote a scathing column after his wife complained about costs and service. @GordonKling, Cape Times editor at the time, will probably remember the incident since he became involved.

Jackman muddles on at length about the old Food Market in the old Electric Light & Power Station which is being replaced by a Time Out Food Market. The Food Market’s lease had come to an end. The operator was responsible for his traders. It catered for a mish mash of traders and two years ago someone in the V&A’s retail section said that, based on what it had learned from the Watershed, the company would have managed it better. It had become a little seedy and tired. So when a globally-admired brand made an offer, it was a no-brainer. Jackman’s conclusion seems to be that Time Out should be given a different location, while he decries new development, and that existing traders should still be accommodated.

Sure, the V&A is not everybody’s cup of tea and if there is an informed and intelligent criticism to be made, it should probably focus on crass consumerism and all malls should be the focus of that criticism. The real problem is society but Jackman can’t get off his three-decade-old hobby horse long enough to mention that the V&A is the greenest property on the African continent, or give any level of support for praiseworthy food initiatives like Makers Landing (which Jackman, as Daily Maverick’s food editor, should be applauding). The V&A is trying very hard to make a difference — in the right direction — points Jackman is blind to.

“Go away from the Waterfront for five minutes and when you return there’ll be another new development, another renovation, another innovation. Something will be gone, something new will be coming soon, all manner of other things will be pending.”
This is from an author who shared his endeavours, his new kitchen windows, his new interiors, his revamped patio, and his changes to the toilet and passages on Facebook.

The Daily Maverick article is pure click bait. It’s unprofessional drivel. It’s self-indulgent bile wrapped in loquacity. Tony Jackman should stick to writing cook books.

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