The City of Cape Town has approved a R2 million cash injection in support of the upcoming international Formula E racing event taking place in February 2022 with a further R2 million to be provided in the form of services, subject to the event returning to the city for future tournaments.
A proposal for road infrastructure upgrades in the Greenpoint precinct, amounting to approximately R44 million, have been submitted to Council for the 2022 / 2023 financial year.
According to Mayor Alderman Dan Plato, his team have been working hard behind the scenes over the past two years with the administration and the event organisers, putting together all the requirements needed to pull of an event of this magnitude.
“Approval from council will allow us to begin the civil engineering works on the racetrack and ensure we can finalise all the logistics before the first ever Formula E race on the African continent” he said.
“We have already engaged with residents and ratepayers’ associations who are fully behind this race event coming to Cape Town. They share our belief that hosting this new exciting international event in a time when the events industry has been badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic could assist in the long run in reviving the struggling sectors”.
The City notes that the event will assist in creating job opportunities for residents and business opportunities for local entrepreneurs and the hospitality sector while benefiting communities who are still feeling the economic effects of Covid-19.
“The City’s contribution to this race event is dwarfed in comparison to the return on investment from hosting such an established international sporting event. In the three years that Formula E has been hosted in Hong Kong, it has contributed approximately R1.5 billion to that economy. This benefits a wide range of business in the event chain including manufacturing and service industries” adds Mayor Plato.
“The City notes the various issues raised by local civic and ratepayers’ associations around managing the events impact on residents during such a major event and these will be factored into the events approval” concludes Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security Alderman JP Smith.
