Cape Town - In a quarter of a century, the rundown Victorian end of Table Bay docks has gone from being a place Capetonians rarely visited to the jewel in the crown of South African tourism – and the country’s “biggest commercial real estate success story”.
Back in the day Capetonians considered those behind the V&A Waterfront project to be “idealistic dreamers”, but it now boasts 23 million visitors a year.
In a conference paper last year, Pieter van Zyl of the Western Cape government’s Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning recalled that no financial institution would provide finance for the project when it was announced in 1989. Yet in the past decade, the Waterfront had pumped almost R200-billion into the national economy.
Expansion projects continued, with the Silo Precinct currently under construction. Just over 60 percent of the 123 hectares of land had been developed and the Waterfront was expected to inject up to R700-million a year over the next decade to develop the rest. Van Zyl said it was estimated that the Waterfront would be completed by 2023.
Alan Winde, MEC for Economic Opportunities, said: “The V&A Waterfront is South Africa’s number one destination, attracting the most visits per annum of any attraction in our country. Over the past 25 years, it has become an icon of our tourism industry, providing world-class experiences to visitors, employment for many locals, and a significant boost to our economy.”
Mayor Patricia de Lille said the Waterfront was widely recognised as “the best development of its kind in the world” and one of Africa’s leading tourist destinations.
“The V&A Waterfront has for many years been an inclusive and world-class leisure destination for locals and for international visitors. (It) is a valuable part of our tourism offering and with more events being held at the Waterfront, this is a further benefit to the city as we position ourselves to become the events capital of Africa.”
Celebrating the development’s 25-year milestone on Wednesday night, its chief executive, David Green, said: “ It’s taken a lot of hard work, bravery and passion.” Growthpoint chief executive Norbert Sasse said: “It must have taken incredible vision and foresight to create what is here today.”
Cape Argus