Sometimes controversial City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee member for Economic Development and Tourism, Simon Grindrod, has resigned as Deputy Leader and member of the Independent Democrats, to join the newly formed Congress of the People (COPE), reports the Cape Times. Grindrod loses his Mayoral Committee position, and his tourism role.
Grindrod first attracted the industry’s attention when he listened to industry feedback about its dissatisfaction with the inefficiency of Cape Town Routes Unlimited (CTRU) in marketing Cape Town and the Western Cape, and appointed consultants to investigate the organisation’s ability to meet its funding mandate. The City of Cape Town was a 50 % funder of CTRU at that time, with the (ANC-run) province of the Western Cape. Grindrod did not like the consultants’ report about CTRU, and last year received the Mayoral Committee support to give CTRU the required 12 months’ notice that the City would be withdrawing its R 24 million funding from CTRU, and giving it to Cape Town Tourism from 1 July this year instead. The industry was shocked by the boldness of Grindrod’s actions, yet has warmly embraced Cape Town Tourism’s ability to market Cape Town in a more focussed and efficient manner.
Similarly, Grindrod has threatend to pull the plug on its shared funding of the investment trade and development agency Wesgro, and the funding of the new film studio. It is uncertain if these threats will be implemented, given Grindrod’s departure.
20
3070
27k
20