Cambridge Kwapeng

Attendance

Present

62

Leave of absence

1

Absent without leave

1

Arrived late

3

Left early

1

Reasons given for leave: Private business (1).

"Absent without leave" means the signed minutes of a meeting held while they were on council neither list them as present nor excuse them, and no similar name appears that day, so misspellings in the minutes don't count against anyone. Each square links to the minutes.

In the chamber

From the 10 sittings transcribed so far in their term. Times are approximate, to the nearest transcript line.

Not present when called

2

Times given the floor

1

Average wait to start

21 s

Average greetings first

21 s

Apology or leave of absence (1)

• 25 Jun 2026 · 00:50:42Family responsibility. ANC caucus apology for family responsibility. sitting

Not present when called (2)

• 30 Sept 2026 · 02:29:32Not responding when called on item 32; he joined moments later. sitting
• 26 Aug 2026 · 07:30:01Cllr Mulelu said he would speak on behalf of Cllr Kwapeng. sitting

In their words

Every time the chair gave them the floor in a transcribed sitting (1), newest first. The words are the AI transcript of that stretch of the livestream (Argon), so they can include the chair or an interjection; the time link is the place to check.

• 30 Sept 2026 · 02:29:39Item 32: Economic Growth Strategy and Implementation Plan · 10 min 8 s

  Read what they said (1033 words)

  Speaker! Greetings, Speaker. It's Councillor Kwapeng here.

  Thank you, Councillor.

  Yes, uh Speaker. Uh greetings to you, Executive Mayor, members of the Mayoral Committee, and fellow Councillors, officials, and residents of Johannesburg.

  I rise on item 32, the Economic Growth Strategy and Implementation Plan. The first point that you must place on record is that this is an approval item. The council has been asked to approve the Economic Growth Strategy and its implementation. This strategy therefore provides more than a statement intent. It establishes the framework through which Johannesburg intends to organize its economic development intervention. If the strategy's thrust is job opportunity creation and sustained economic growth, that focus is particularly relevant in the current economy.

  Statistics South Africa reported an official unemployment rate of 33%, 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026 with 8 million unemployed people. Youth unemployment stood at 47.4%. This figure demonstrates why it is important we need to do the strategy.

  Councillor, switch off your phone.

  Okay, we'll do that Speaker.

  Okay, I'm back Speaker, sorry about that. The figure demonstrating why economic development must remain focused on productivity, economic participation, unemployment and enterprise development. Honourable Speaker, the strategy vision is to position Johannesburg as a high tech, sustainable, inclusive and innovation led economy. It seeks to achieve this through industrial diversification, strong local value chains, township economy digitalization, infrastructure renewal, skills development, investment partnership and inner city revitalization.

  The strategy is structured around five pillars, an enabling nodal development, cluster development, linkage and corridors development and inclusive economic development. SMMEs and entrepreneurship development cuts across these pillars and these are important direction.

  But the real test begins after the approval. Honourable Speaker, one of the strength of the strategy is recognition that the economic development must be evidence based. The strategy undertook a policy review, situation analysis, spatial analysis and opportunity analysis before moving towards strategy prioritization. Projects are then subjected to categorization, prioritization and this strategy identifies critical inputs including economic growth, spatial planning, transport, social inclusion and governance.

  Projects are then assessed and prioritized according to the strategy importance. This is important because the city cannot implement every possible economic project simultaneously. Therefore, the prioritization is important. There must be prioritization, there must be readiness, there must be feasibility, there must be funding and there must be an accountable institution responsible for delivering this.

  Honourable Speaker, the strategy makes an important distinction between municipality outputs and economic outcomes. This city can directly influence certain outputs. For example, service reliability, project preparation, business support, investment facilitation, land use coordination, urban management and access to municipal markets. But economic outcomes, investment, productivity, enterprise expansion, employment and household income cannot simply be assumed.

  They must be measured. This principle should guide our implementation and oversight. A successful economic development program is not simply one that holds workshops, signs agreements and launches programs. We must ultimately ask: Did the business expand? Was an investment mobilized? Were jobs created? Did enterprise enter the value chain? Did the household income improve? Did the intervention change the economic condition of the targeted areas? Those are the questions that should inform the council oversight.

  Honourable Speaker, the strategy also recognizes infrastructure as a fundamental of economic development. Business cannot operate effectively without reliable infrastructure.

  Water, electricity, roads, storm water, transport and digital connectivity all influence the cost and reliability of doing business. Strategy therefore proposes infrastructure led economic growth, particular economic nodes and high potential corridors. This requires a strong coordination across the city. Economic development cannot attract investment while other parts of the municipality system are unable to provide the infrastructure that investment requires.

  The strategy itself recognizes the need for the stronger interdepartmental coordination, clear mandates, reporting lines, reliable data, effective project management. This is therefore not only economic development strategy. It requires a citywide implementation approach.

  Honourable Speaker, the strategy also places significant emphasis on small SMMEs and township economy. This is particularly important. Economic inclusion should mean more than counting how many entrepreneurs attended the program. The city should measure whether businesses become more sustainable. Can they access the market? Can they access finance? Can they enter formal value chains? Can they supply large businesses?

  Can they participate in the public-private procurement? Can they employ more people? These are the outcomes that matters. The same applies to township economy development. Township economy development should not be treated as a separate from the mainstream economy.

  The strategy emphasis on value chain integration creates an opportunity to connect township enterprise to larger markets and economic system. Honourable Speaker, the strategy also identifies digital transformation, green economy development and the skills as important components. This is particularly relevant as the economic structure changes. The city must prepare residents and enterprise for emerging opportunities in technology, logistics, green industry, digital services, tourism, creative industries and other identified growth areas.

  However, skills program must also be linked to actual economic demand. Training people without creating pathways into employment or enterprise is inefficient. The city should therefore measure relationship between skills demand, skills provided, placement, enterprise creation and unemployment.

  Honourable Speaker, the strategy financial framework also requires careful oversight. It proposes public-private and blended financing. It seeks to use catalytic public funding to unlock large private and donor investment. This can help the city leverage resources. But the council must distinguish between projects that has identified funding pathway and the projects that merely appear in the strategy.

  The strategy itself provides an important safeguard by proposing a staged project development process, apologies. Projects should progress from concept through pre-feasibility,

  30 seconds, Councillor.

  feasibility and procurement. Speaker, while we as the ANC would like this item to be approved, we wanted to come back to Councillor Nkomo not to compare Cape Town with Johannesburg because in Johannesburg all areas that we govern are all treated fairly. He must go check Langa, Hanover Park, Khayelitsha before he says the DA is doing good in Cape Town because there are two DA's.

  There are two DA's there. There is a DA that doesn't service areas where there is

  15 seconds.

  and there are DA that is also servicing only the capitalists that are there. Thank you.

Spoke on

• 30 Sept 2026 · 02:23:09Item 32: Economic Growth Strategy and Implementation Plan