Cape Town - Waste from litter and illegal dumping – weighing more than 150 adult elephants – was collected in the Cape Town CBD in the 2022/2023 financial year.
A total of 1 254 tons of litter and illegally dumped waste was collected and removed from the city centre by cleaning teams of the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID).
The company’s urban management department also removed 35 259kg of debris from stormwater drains in town, which were cleaned more than 3 400 times, along with 2 184kg of waste from channels and 26 200kg of debris from municipal drains.
The CCID’s Safety & Security team conducted 22 350 safety interactions in the year under review with its partners, securing 253 arrests and conducting 5 102 stop-and-search operations.
Speaking at the AGM, CCID chairperson Rob Kane said that the CCID had achieved its 23rd consecutive clean audit, and this excellent performance in the first financial year since the end of the pandemic was due to its clear focus, consistency, hard work, and ability “to get the basics right”.
Kane, who heads up Boxwood Property Fund, said the CCID’s mandate is to provide top-up services within a 1.6km² footprint in the Cape Town CBD in addition to those delivered by its primary partners – the City of Cape Town and the SAPS – to ensure the city centre is safe and clean, and a welcoming environment conducive to business and property investment.
“The four pillars of our CCID mandate have remained unchanged over many years, namely Safety & Security, Urban Management, Social Development and Communication.
“However, the CCID has retained its relevance to its community by constantly evolving and adapting to circumstances on the ground,” said Kane.
CCID CEO Tasso Evangelinos said the CBD had made an excellent recovery post-Covid. He praised the way retailers and business owners had weathered the Covid storm.
“While the CCID proved its mettle in delivering a crucial and stabilising service during the pandemic, the CBD’s post-Covid recovery demanded even greater effort and agility to support a growing inner city,” Evangelinos said.
An increasingly busy CBD came with some significant operational challenges.
Crime: CCID Safety & Security had to step up its crime-prevention measures and strategically deploy its 317 public safety officers to provide a visible safety presence.
Along with the City of Cape Town law enforcement officers, the CCID issued 6 630 fines to the value of R6.3 million.
City of Cape Town traffic wardens (funded by the CCID) issued more than 45 000 fines, totalling close to R12m.
Grime: Ever-increasing amounts of litter and illegal dumping called for constant, vigilant cleaning. Organic waste also posed a problem; the CCID Urban Management team removed 12 608 bags of leaves, which were collected for composting.
The CCID’s Social Development department also worked steadfastly to find safe shelter solutions, psychiatric support and work-based rehabilitation opportunities for the CBD’s homeless clients.
The team successfully helped 121 adults to find shelters and assisted 34 clients to reunite with their families. They also responsibly disposed of 11 000 used needles from public spaces.
In total, the CCID collected nearly R42 000 for its NGO partners through its Hope for the Homeless campaign.
“These three departments were ably supported by the Communications department, which promoted their work and achievements, securing media exposure worth more than R12m and reaching a potential audience of nearly 500 million people,” Evangelinos said.
Looking ahead, Evangelinos said he’s anticipating a year of strong growth and optimism, based on soaring business confidence levels from CBD local business owners, as well as the significant investment and development in the inner city right now.
The CBD skyline is peppered with cranes as hotels and new developments proliferate, indicating investors’ confidence that business is booming in Cape Town’s central city.
To access the CCID 2022/23 Annual Report, go to www.capetownccid.org.