CAPE TOWN CENTRAL CITY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT

MEDIA RELEASE: New Chair of CCID has a broad vision for Cape Town

24 February 2010: Cape Town businessman Rob Kane is to take over as chairman of the Central City Improvement District (CCID), the urban management partnership set up ten years ago to bolster the security and cleansing services provided by the City of Cape Town.

Kane replaces property developer Theodore Yach who stands down from the position after five years at the helm of the CCID Board.

Yach - also known for his numerous Robben Island swim crossings – was a founding member of the CCID as well as the Cape Town Partnership, the collaboration of key stakeholders which was set up to develop, promote and manage the Central City. He has been centrally involved in the Central City for more than 15 years.

Andrew Boraine, Chief Executive of the Cape Town Partnership praised Yach’s leadership and tenacity, citing the successes achieved as being testament to a man who lives his passion.

“Theo’s contribution leaves a very strong legacy to build on” he said. “He has ensured that we continue to focus on getting the basics right and to pay attention to the smallest details. Theo has been instrumental in getting private investors and property owners to buy into a vision of a Central City that is more accessible and open to all the people of Cape Town.”

Yach will remain as a director on the CCID Board and looks forward to being involved on a different level. “I am confident that Rob Kane is going to continue strengthening the existing partnerships between the public and private sectors. The CCID board members and the team who will work with him have the same sense of purpose that we started with and, with Rob’s guidance, the CCID will achieve even more.”

Kane’s experience makes him eminently capable of helping to take the Cape Town Central City forward.  

“I am passionate about Cape Town and believe we can take the Central City to even greater heights,’’ said Kane, who has visited and worked in many different cities during his career – and learnt a great deal about what makes for a great city in the process.

“I am aware that I am stepping into fairly large shoes. Theo has played an important role in the CCID and in the Cape Town Partnership. He has done a great deal for the city. He lives and breathes Cape Town and this is something the city should be grateful for.  Without Theo’s input, the Central City would not be what it is today.”

On the future Kane said: “One of my biggest visions is to make the Central City into more of a 24-hour city. We have gone a long way already to bring more residents into the city, but, I believe it is still too quiet after 6pm. We have the infrastructure to make this a 24-hour people city – and that is what I believe we must work towards. We have to sell that vision to the people of Cape Town.”

Kane qualified as a civil engineer at University of Cape Town in 1984, before working for OVKON (now WBHO) a large contracting company, for two years.  He then spent three years working as a design consultant for Hawkins Hawkins and Osborne, before moving overseas, where he worked as a consultant in London, Cambridge and Birmingham for 18 months and completed his MBA at Bath University. He then joined the large project management consultancy, Kennedy and Donkin in London as a business manager who sought out tenders to win large infrastructure projects in Europe. It was during this time of his career (he worked in 15 countries) that he learnt a great deal about cities. He returned to Cape Town in 1996 and started working for Herbert Penny in investment sales. He then started doing property development in Cape Town and is currently director at Vunani Properties.

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Issued on behalf of the CCID by HIPPO Communications

For further information please contact  Beryl Eichenberger 021 556 8200 / 082 490 6652

For further information contact Petro Mostert, Communications Manager, Cape Town Partnership 021 419 1881