SmartCape Interview with the Mayor, Alderman Dan Plato

The SmartCape Web team was lucky to get an interview this month with Alderman Dan Plato, Executive Mayor of the City Of Cape Town.  We wanted to know more about him as a person, his role at the City Of Cape Town, and what are key issues he will be addressing in his role. 

The Mayor was warm and engaging, and had so much to tell us; he made it easy for us to forget that we were talking to the Mayor of our city.  He is very enthusiastic about reaching out to all residents of Cape Town, and enabling initiatives that will make a difference to even the most disadvantaged among us. 

Who is the Mayor?

He refers to himself as "a boy from the avenues", saying, "I had few advantages.  You can get far if you want.  You must not let circumstances stop you". 

He was born in Tiervlei and matriculated from Florida High School in Ravensmead in 1980.  His first job for the City was with the Fire & Rescue Services in the former City of Tygerberg. 

He says that his mother was a big influence in his life: "She encouraged me to look beyond my circumstances and towards my goals".  The Mayor loves to watch sport on TV, with his favourites being soccer, rugby and cricket.  These days however, he does not have much time for this. 

Favourite foods?  Fish, fish and more fish!  He evens cooks, though this happens rarely now, as his work keeps him so busy. 

Cited (with thanks): Contact - The Newsletter for the staff of the City Of Cape Town, no. 36, June/ July 2009

What makes him tick?

The Mayor has a background in Economic Development.  As such, he is very keen to address the job creation and unemployment needs of disadvantaged people.  He wants to identify simple and sustainable job creation projects that can be implemented quickly and easily for community development e.g. waste collection projects, bread baking out of containers etc. 

He believes that ward councilors should help with the identification of these projects: "We need to ask those questions, what is the ward councilor doing for us. The ward councilor might not be able to be an angel for everybody but the ward councilor needs to stay on the stage or on a podium to say 'you can quote me the way you like but look at there, there is a beautiful project I have started' that is what we want".

The Mayor's Key Priorities for the City of Cape Town

1. To drive service delivery to benefit all communities
2. "To break down racial divisions in the City of Cape Town through bringing communities together to ensure that Cape Town is a city for all people".
3. To drive housing development through the city "If we don't receive enough funding we cannot do more with regards to housing delivery and people don't bear that in mind; people believe that it is a City's duty to deliver housing needs. But I am saying I'm not happy with the manner in which it is driven".  He said that we need to start thinking more creatively about our housing crisis: "…we need to look at higher densities and we need to look at multi-storey buildings to house more people…"  In other words the Mayor believes, as many of us do, that housing delivery needs to be accelerated, and that since we have a limited amount of land for this purpose, we need to look at how to use this land more effectively to ensure that more people can be housed.
4. Community-based job creation projects.  This is s topic that is very close to his heart and he returned to it many times in our interview.  The Mayor has initiated several job creation projects throughout his career, and it is his intention to continue this.
5. To prioritise education.  This is not a municipal function, but is something that the Mayor feels very strongly about: "…education to me is the key to empowerment.  If people can see to that - parents need to see their children going to school and parents need to see that their children pass, parents need to see that they try to put the best foot forward for children to ensure good education. And I think that it is everybody's duty to ensure that."

The Mayor's Plans for SmartCape

The Mayor is well aware of the value technology can bring to your life: "You will need technology even to run a spaza shop; you will need technology even if you need to do stock-taking and calculations."

He knows that one of the biggest challenges to the SmartCape Access Project is that it is limited to the opening hours of the City Of Cape Town's public libraries, which host the project.  The difficulty is that most libraries are closed in the evenings, which is when students and adults need them most.  "We need to make provisions for disadvantaged areas and give them the necessary access to computers. If you can't do it in the library you have to look at other avenues to ensure access to computers for those people and that is where the concept of computer rooms could come in". 

The Mayor is trying to achieve this in his own ward (Ward 22) through the establishment of two Reading Rooms in Uitsig and Belhar.  Each Reading Room has 10 computers for public use.  He believes that this initiative should be expanded to other areas of need too.  He says of the Reading Rooms: "…it's a beauty to see how adults use them in the morning and how children use them in the afternoon. And I think and I believe technology could add a lot of value to change the mindset of the people and empower them as well".

He also believes in the power of technology to empower youth, helping to give them a greater purpose in life: "…what are the youngsters doing? Running around with tik because there is nothing else they can do to keep them busy.  If they can tap into the internet and that sort of thing, my question is why not?"

The Mayor's Message to SmartCape Users

The Mayor says that we should make use of all government facilities to assist us to get where we want to be.  He spoke of a training project he started with the SETAs, in which 300 unemployed individuals were training in the basics of construction work.  He was surprised and inspired by the numbers of young women who arrived, ready and determined to learn how to mix cement, how to use a level, how to read a plan etc.  80% of those trained passed and many went on to start their own businesses.  So his message to you is: "...undergo any training that can put you into a different category in your life.  You can use that to take your life in a new direction that is important for you".

Our favourite Mayoral Quote:

You can be whatever you want to be.  No matter where you come from, you can overcome almost any difficulty if you look to the future and not the past.

Cited (with thanks): Contact - The Newsletter for the staff of the City Of Cape Town, no. 36, June/ July 2009

Interviewing the Mayor was a pleasure for our team, and we thank him for giving us his time, and enabling us to bring you his thoughts and plans for our beautiful city.

Sources:

• Interview with Executive Mayor Dan Plato, 13 August 2009.
• Contact - The Newsletter for the staff of the City Of Cape Town, no. 36, June/ July 2009
• Who is who
• Capetimes

 Page Created: August 2009