AFRICA – The Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) is celebrating its 10th year of operations with a record high of figures, contract wins and key appointments.
CTICC CEO Rashid Toefy (pictured) said that for the 2012/13 fiscal year, the centre achieved a net profit before tax of R27m (US$12m), the highest in the centre’s 10-year history.
“More importantly, the centre continued to make a valuable contribution to driving job creation and skills development in South Africa,” he said.
The centre’s planned expansion is going ahead as scheduled despite recommendations by the City of Cape Town in September that it cancel the R700m tender.
Outgoing Chairman Ashley Seymour said there were no sufficient grounds to overturn the tender at a media briefing. “We concur with the city’s finding that there was no corruption or collusion by any staff member or individual involved in the tender process, or by any of the bidders,” Seymour said. “We furthermore agree with certain key findings of the city’s report in respect of flaws in the tender process. We have concluded, however, that there are not sufficient grounds to overturn the tender award.”
The centre has added R2.99bn to the national economy and R1 billion to the Western Cape’s coffers, and generated revenue and other income in excess of R158m, an R18m increase from the R140m of last year.
Through the centre’s activities more than 7,500 direct and indirect jobs were created nationally during the 2012/13 period. The centre held a total of 537 events, compared to the 514 in the 2011/12 financial year, and reached another milestone, when it generated over 1.3m delegate and visitor days.
“This is a 15 per cent increase from 2012 and is the highest figure recorded over the past 10 years. Visitor numbers are expected to increase to over 1.7m over the next five years,” said Toefy.
The centre has secured a sustainable series of forward booking and large scale international conferences until 2020. These include the 35th International Geological Congress in 2016, the World Congress of Internal Medicine in 2018 and the International Apicultural Congress – APIMONDIA in 2019.
In addition to its financial performance, the CTICC achieved an Unqualified Clean Audit for the fiscal year and was also awarded a Level 2 BBBEE certification for the second consecutive year.
“Achieving a clean audit is therefore a huge accolade for Cape Town and the Western Cape. This is the highest commendation that a municipal entity can receive and means that the centre’s processes and procedures adheres to the highest standards of corporate governance,” said Toefy.
Earlier this year, the CTICC appointed Gary Fisher, Head of Public Works for the Provincial Government of the Western Cape, as the new CTICC Chairperson.
In addition to his role as Head of Public Works, where he is responsible for overseeing and managing the efficient and effective use of the 6,000 properties that comprise the Western Cape Government Portfolio, he serves on the board of the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID).
“It is an exciting time in the centre’s history as the expansion kicks off and I am privileged to be at the helm of a company with such a sterling track record,” said Fisher.
Over the past decade the CTICC has contributed over R22bn to the country’s GDP and over R7bn to the Western Cape Gross Geographical Product. “It is our goal to add a further R22bn to the country’s coffers over the next five years and in doing so realise our vision of becoming the best long-haul international convention centre by 2020,” said Toefy.
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