The Western Cape Property Development Forum’s 11^th Annual Conference will be held on the 8^th and 9^th of May 2024 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).

This year’s full programme of speakers and panellists will once again be looking at the challenges and triumphs of the property development and construction industry in the Western Cape, under the forward-thinking banner of ‘Igniting Growth and Innovation’.

“At our 2023 conference, we saw Western Cape politicians and officials undertake to collaborate with the private sector to ‘get things done’. We all agreed to try new ideas, engage in more results-driven dialogue, and set a precedent for the rest of the country to get the economy going again,” comments Deon van Zyl, chairperson of the WCPDF.

“This year, we’ll interrogate how far we’ve come in the past 12 months. In particular, we’ll be highlight where our own industry has taken the lead, but also how strong collaboration between the public and private sector remains the driving force behind economic investment into our region.”

Key sessions, among others, include:

Mobility = Economic Activity: Along with major road upgrades planned for the Western Cape, this session will look at how bridges can and must be built between the taxi and private property industries, especially when considering the economic strength of the taxi industry and its potential to improve and play a critical role in both public transportation overall and future private sector development.

What does – or doesn’t – make housing delivery possible? Much has been said about the challenges around policy, legislation, and time-delaying public procedures that slow down housing delivery in the affordable market, but in line with the challenges faced across the middle and upper ends of the markets that require housing. This session will look at the progress being made in national land value capture, innovations around public housing, specific challenges around heritage and implementing UDZ policy, and the strides being made by the private sector towards alternative financing, and – not neglecting the market itself – how do we tackle creditworthiness towards enabling home ownership?

The importance of Big Data: Without reliable and regularly updated ‘big data’, town planning decision making becomes a guesstimate, at best. In recognising this, certain municipalities are upping their game to provide information. This session will investigate how real semigration is to the Western Cape; and how do we plan as a province for development in all-important nodes such as the forecasted influx in educational needs over the next few years? Most importantly, how long does it take to accumulate reliable data and what is already available out there for the development community to make plans for future needs and economic growth?

Other sessions will include municipal report backs on infrastructure planning and development from the City of Cape Town, George, Overstrand and Stellenbosch; and energy strategies for both the Western Cape as a whole and in specific the City of Cape Town, as well as the lessons that can be learnt in strategic planning around energy from Gauteng’s Midvaal Municipality.

The conference will conclude with Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and Cape Town Executive Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis answering the most pressing questions remaining from the property development and construction industry to set a path forward for the year ahead. The Premier and Executive Mayor will be in conversation with renowned broadcaster and MC/facilitator of the conference, Africa Melane (Host of Early Breakfast, 702/Cape Talk).

Two highlights of the conference will be the keynote speakers on each day:

With the strong emphasis on micro-development continuing to emerge, the keynote address on Day 1 will be undertaken by GG Alcock, Economic Activist and Author of Kasinomics, on the topic Kasinomics: the massive scale and nature of the informal economy and opportunities for reciprocal engagement with the formal economy for mutual economic growth.

Keynote speaker on Day 2 will be Professor Adrian Saville, Professor in Economics, Finance & Strategy with the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), University of Pretoria. Professor Saville will speak on The South African Economy, the property development and construction landscape, and the confidence drivers that lead to fixed capital investment.

The WCPDF annual conference has become an important event on South Africa’s property development and construction industry calendar. This year will see 400 delegates from across the private and public sector in the Western Cape (and further afield), 18 exhibitors and a record-number of sponsors, all taking part in the important business networking and information sharing that annually takes place at this event.

Property Wheel will provide live coverage for 2024’s conference. Keep an eye on our Twitter feed for regular updates and commentary.