City launches ‘Made in Cape Town’ movement

STATEMENT BY THE MAYORAL COMMITTEE MEMBER FOR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES AND ASSET MANAGEMENT, ALDERMAN JAMES VOS

As part of our high growth sector support by means of our Special Business Partners, the City of Cape Town is proud to be a founding member of the ‘Made in Cape Town’ movement which will showcase locally made products and services.

The ‘Made in Cape Town’ movement is managed by the Craft and Design Institute (CDI) in partnership with the City of Cape Town’s Enterprise and Investment Department. It aims to demonstrate the strength of what can be achieved when public and private entities come together to stimulate the local economy.

To support local businesses across the board, from one-person SMMEs to corporates, the City has joined forces with the CDI, other private and NPO stakeholders to initiate a ‘Made in Cape Town’ movement that will celebrate the many things that have a Cape Town origin.

I am confident that the ‘Made in Cape Town’ message will amplify the City of Cape Town’s own economic initiatives to boost the economy, despite the national lockdown, and galvanise both local businesses and supporters within all Cape Town communities.

In just the past month, the City has launched a number of programmes to drive our economy. We recently announced a 200-step Inclusive Economic Growth Strategy (IEGS) to make opportunities more accessible for all who live in Cape Town and, in particular, to create jobs. 

Other recent City of Cape Town initiatives have included detailed destination readiness plans which highlight how the city is preparing to safely welcome visitors over the holiday season.

This links in with Cape Town Tourism’s (CTT) new international ‘Find Your Freedom’ campaign, which converts potential travellers in key source markets to actual visitors to the Mother City, and CTT’s ‘Captivating Cape Town’ campaign showing the accessibility and affordability of Cape Town.

I am happy to announce that the first private sector entity to pledge its support for the ‘Made in Cape Town’ movement is the V&A Waterfront. Supporting small creative businesses in the Watershed, the Retail Readiness Living Lab (RRLL) programme, provides training and mentorship to foster retail expertise and readiness as the economy ramps up.

The craft producers, which I had the distinct pleasure to visit, located at designer/artist Heath Nash’s ‘Our Workshop’ at the Gugu S’Thebe Centre in Langa, are participating and benefitting from the opportunities being offered in the RRLL programme.

Visit the Made in Cape Town Facebook (@MadeNCapeTown) and Instagram (@madeincapetown) pages for updates on the movement and for the public at large to have a say about what excites them about Cape Town.

Now is the time to come together and show our love for all things local!