Cape remains upbeat

CAPE Town authorities say that provincial resources are stretched to the limit and continue to urge national government to come to the party in the attempt to track down the perpetrators of recent bombings. While obviously impacting tourism, understood as the economic backbone of the province, the damage to the city's reputation is not, however, only felt in the tourism industry, cautions Michael Farr, chief executive officer of the Cape Town Partnership (CTP). "The city's perceived lack of stability and safety also has a serious impact on the city's ability to attract investment from regional, continental and global markets," he said. "This inevitably means that the region will find it increasingly difficult to meet its economic growth and job creation needs. Given that the CTP's focus is on the establishment, positioning and promotion of Cape Town as a globally competitive city, it means that we have to redouble our efforts. One route reportedly being considered is for security checks to be placed at all roads leading to the inner city area (as was done in London in the late 80s and early 90s) but until such time as extra human resources are made available this is a logistic impossibility, said Farr. On a more positive note, he added that - with the number of development investments that are currently taking place in the city, all of which show confidence in the city of Cape Town and help to create much-needed jobs - there remains much about which to be confident. (Elizabeth Sheridan)