Programme Summary

Western Cape Property Development Forum‘s (WCPDF) 7th Annual Conference

20 & 21 August 2020

THEME: 20/20 VISION FOR GROWTH
TOWARDS COLLABORATION, IMPLEMENTATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY

 

ABOUT THIS YEAR‘S THEME:

Last year, our sold-out conference (The Perfect Storm: investment and jobs or bureaucracy and stagnation), addressed the crisis in the property and construction sector by calling on local, provincial and national government to form partnerships with the industry, or risk seeing the entire sector fail.

 

One year later, the 2020 Conference will look at which collaborations have been successfully formed and implementations begun (for example, progress with the Western Cape Government Economic War Room), what is still needed, and how far we have moved towards accountability on all fronts (public and private sectors) in order to plot a workable vision for economic growth into the future.

 

Along with the sharing of information and critical debate, the 2020 conference will also showcase a number of best-practice collaborations, particularly between South African companies and governments abroad.

 

The programme with its subthemes is as follows. It is anticipated that the full speaker list will be published by the end of July. Early bird bookings are now open.

 

DAY 1: 20 AUGUST 2020, CTICC

07h30-08h30 Registration & refreshments
08h30-08h40 Welcome by MC Bruce Whitfield (Financial journalist/speaker/facilitator)

 

SESSION 1: THINKING GROWTH

08h40-09h30 Address by Western Cape Premier Alan Winde: South Africa and the Western Cape in the next 10 years
09h30-10h10 Industry Response by Deon van Zyl, Chairperson, WCPDF
10h10-10h40 Refreshments
10h40-11h20 International speaker: What‘s in a vision?

 

SESSION 2: PLANNING FOR GROWTH − Collaboration [Public/Private Partnerships (PPP)]

11h20-12h00 International success story: Doing business elsewhere in Africa in the property development arena
12h00-12h40 Western Cape success story: The R300 Interchange
12h40-13h40 Networking buffet lunch. Afternoon MC Bafikile Simelane to welcome delegates back into the room.
13h40-14h20 Panel discussion: How to achieve more positive and progressive collaboration
In a discussion to be moderated by afternoon MC, Bafikile Simelane, four panellists will present examples of highly successful Cape Town PPP collaborations that resulted in significant economic growth within the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape, with debate to ensue as to how this would be achieved once again under current circumstances. The projects to be featured will include the CTICC, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Cape Town Film Studio and bringing Amazon to Cape Town

 

SESSION 3: DEALING WITH THE OBSTACLES OF GROWTH

14h20-15h00 Presentation: Legislative changes − Report back on the Commission on Legislation
15h00-15h30 Refreshments
15h30-16h20 Discussion: What‘s happening with the Public Private Growth Initiative?
16h20-17h00 Panel discussion: Where do all roads meet? National, Provincial & City Roads
A panel discussion with high-level representation from the City of Cape Town, Western Cape Government and SANRAL
17h00-19h00 NETWORKING COCKTAIL PARTY

 

DAY 2: 21 AUGUST 2020, CTICC

07h30-08h30 Registration & refreshments
08h00-08h30 Annual General Meeting of the WCPDF
08h30-08h35 Welcome by MC Bruce Whitfield (Financial journalist/speaker/facilitator)
08h35-08h50 Overview of Day 1: Rob MacPhail, Treasurer, WCPDF

 

SESSION 4: ESSENTIALS OF GROWTH

08h50-09h30 Government Address: The success of the Department of Public Works
09h30-10h10 Presentation: The cost drivers in getting close to the market − congestion, time and land price
10h10-10h40 Refreshments
10h40-11h20 Presentation: Procuring for growth − best international practices

 

SESSION 5: CREATING CAPACITY FOR GROWTH

11h20-12h00 Presentation by Stellenbosch University: Principles of investment for growth − how to spend R2.1 billion in two years
12h00-12h40 Presentation: Transformation and succession in the South African industry
12h40-13h40 Networking buffet lunch. Afternoon MC Bafikile Simelane to welcome delegates back into the room.
13h40-14h20 Presentation: Enabling micro developers
14h20-15h00 Presentation: Self Certification
15h00-15h30 Refreshments
15h30-16h10 Panel discussion: Lessons learnt from the Western Cape Government Economic War Room

CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

Due to Covid-19, we recently changed the date of our annual conference from May to August 2020. However, in light of the recent announcement by the Western Cape Provincial Government to convert the Cape Town International Convention Centre into an 800-bed Covid-19 hospital, as well as the ongoing prohibition of all public gatherings, we are faced with cancelling this year’s conference.

The impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on our industry has been and continues to be severe. Ironically, the need for the industry conference is now greater than ever since there will have to be serious deliberation on the actions required to resurrect the property development and construction sector. Since this cannot take the form of a physical conference we are currently investigating alternative platforms and liaising with professionals who specialise in online conferencing, webinars and networking.

More information will be announced in due course. We thank you for your interest and support and hope you can join us online soon.