CJP Citichat 1 August 2002

CITICHAT 30/2002 - 1 August 2002


CJP 10 Years

Anniversary reminiscences!

Had to start this week’s Citichat yesterday so that I could legitimately use the 1st August date! Ten years ago, on the 1st August 1992, the Central Johannesburg Partnership (CJP) opened the doors of its first home on the 44th floor of the Carlton Centre. Whilst lots of water has flowed under the bridge during this past decade, the Inner City, that has so often been pronounced in its terminal stages, has not only outlasted many of its critics but its pulse is undoubtedly stronger than before, and on the ascendancy. The doom and gloom brigade still exists but they are typical of the many who, whilst happy to earn their living from its soil, have never a good word to say for the city or country of their birth or adoption.

Whilst the 1st August 1992 was the CJP’s day of birth (following an eight and a bit months gestation period) its conception was over a two day ‘affair(e)’ on the 24th and 25th November 1991. The occasion was a workshop entitled “Strategic Initiative for Central Johannesburg.” The midwife was Richard Bradley, then President of the International Downtown Association, now Executive Director of Washington DC’s Downtown DC Business Improvement District. Rich was ‘assisted by’ Cliff McMillan, now in Canada I believe, and Diana Mayne -haven’t heard from Diana in years!

Whilst I opened the doors as Executive Director on 1 August 1992, I actually wasn’t present at the workshop so I dug up the files in our archives. It makes interesting reading given what has transpired since then. The stated aims of the “Strategic Initiative for Central Johannesburg” were:

1.To share and exchange views on our vision for the future – what city centre do we want?

2.To identify the major problems of the city centre, achieve consensus on key issues

and establish priorities.

3.Decide on the structure and resources necessary for implementation.

Judging from the list of 164 delegates, the workshop appears to have been well attended but the business sector names today read as a ‘who’s who’ of the northern suburbs business elite. Only 4.25% of the delegates were female and 13.5% black! Of the six city councillors present none remain in that capacity today - although one has ‘graduated’ to Provincial Government, whilst not one of the 20 senior council officials listed as delegates (19 of whom were white) are with that body any longer!

With such parentage it is a miracle that we have survived at all but I guess that the numbers and proportions reflected those times, white, male and illegitimate!

Our early ‘childhood’, 1992 to 1995, was not a particularly happy one but then it was quite a dysfunctional family from the beginning. We were established as a tri-lateral organisation which means that we had three parents, Business, Community (I think ‘emerging community’ would be a more appropriate name given that there was little cohesion at that time from what was essentially a disparate group of political activists) and of course a non-democratic city council. Whilst all three sectors pledged unity of purpose, my take was that the agendas on the table were vastly different. Business, understandably ‘to protect and enhance my assets’; Community, understandably ‘to use the opportunity to accelerate democratic change’ and Council, equally understandably given our history, ‘to make sure no-one usurps our role’. This last was interestingly during a period when local authority political paralysis was prevalent – it was as though a decision had been taken that no action from the council at all would cause the least acrimony at a time when politicians were having to come to terms with a future vastly different to the one they had historically enjoyed. For me, ’92 to ’95 were therefore more to be used as a period for research and learning. Research into where the city was and why, and learning about the forces that that make ordinary cities disasters and the forces that make ordinary cities into great cities.

With the first local authority democratic elections in the history of the country in 1994 and in the history of the city in late 1995, the CJP’s three parents agreed to a divorce. Each would now take on an independent but co-operative role. Many of the community leaders associated with the CJP were absorbed into various levels of government. Nearly all the council officials and elected councillors rode off into the sunset and the CJP became a non-profit organisation representing business interests. In that role it was certainly more effective than as the ‘ham in the sandwich’ over the prior three years.

This business representative role was however only to last for a further two years until a further restructure was implemented in early 1996 and which still exists through to today, that of independent or private non-profit. From 1997, business interests were restructured into a Section 21 company, ‘The Johannesburg Inner City Business Coalition’ (JICBC), which the CJP manages on an arm’s length basis. Our income is generated from numerous activities which include private urban management activities through the establishment and management of city improvement districts (CIDs), urban research; managing various city related non-profit specialist companies, undertaking city projects co-ordination as well as acting as a catalyst for the development of projects and processes that we believe are in the city’s best interests. It is those last five words, “in the city’s best interests” that I believe have been critical in the CJP’s continued existence. Because we ‘belong’ to no single faction or persuasion, we have for the past six-and-a-half years, from 1996 to today, been able to maintain our role as an independent participant in the city’s exciting ‘long walk back’ to normalisation, politically, structurally, socially and culturally

In all three of our roles, tri-lateral, business representative and finally private non-profit, we have had successes and failures, such is the nature of any undertaking. But I do believe that the CJP has been a very real part of the city’s revitalisation process through one of the most critical periods of the history of the Inner City. But then I’m biased!

PS Support the Mayor’s clean up campaign 3rd August 2002 so that Joeys can do the previously unthinkable and win the Gauteng Province’s Bontle ke Botho Cleanest Metro, Cleanest Ward and Cleanest Schools Competition. See you on the street!

Regards, neil