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Cape Town is miles ahead of the other South African metros when it comes to quality of governance and financial management. Africa Outlook talks to Alderman Ian Neilson, the city’s executive deputy mayor. Writer Ian Armitage Project Manager Stuart Platt
hen it comes to quality of governance and financial management few can claim to be better than Cape Town. The City delivers basic services efficiently, is doing more for genuine black economic empowerment and the upliftment of the disadvantaged than any other metro in the country, and even has a functioning billing system. We recently talked to Alderman Ian Neilson who told us more about the City’s fabulous achievements. Are you making strides in your goal to create a ‘better life for all’? The City aims to create a Cape Town that works for everyone. Since being elected to office, this administration has made great strides in delivering on this promise. We are committed to redress and delivery. As such, our priority areas remain those in which the poor and the vulnerable reside. Good financial management has meant that our budgets are used responsibly, which allows for more money to be used on important projects such as the provision of human settlements, safety, health and infrastructure. We have delivered human settlements to previously disadvantaged communities, have invested in roads and public transport and we have put more police officers on visible patrols.
Our tendering system is constantly streamlined and improved and our staff are committed to the idea that “this City works for you”
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You have five strategic pillars. What are they? And why are those pillars important? The work we do at the City is informed by our five strategic pillars or focus areas. These are the Safe City, the Well-run City, the Inclusive City, the Caring City, and the Opportunity City. The Opportunity City will be one in which conditions attract investment and job opportunities. The Safe City, through community and stakeholder involvement, will mean freedom from fear of crime, and safer streets for all citizens. The Caring City is one where all citizens, particularly those most in need, have access to basic services. The Inclusive City is one where every resident has a say and a stake in the future and where community involvement in decision making is important. The well-run city means a transparent and corruption-free local government, which is receptive to the needs of its citizens. These five strategic pillars provide the framework within which the City aims to deliver a home for all her people: where they see a real future for themselves. Those values are informed by our drive to create a city of economic opportunity that addresses the imbalances of the past through a commitment to reconciliation, redress, delivery and diversity.
The work we do at the City is informed by our five strategic pillars or focus areas. These are the Safe City, the Well-run City, the Inclusive City, the Caring City, and the Opportunity City. These five strategic pillars provide the framework within which the City aims to deliver a home for all her people: where they see a real future for themselves. Those values are informed by our drive to create a city of economic opportunity that addresses the imbalances of the past through a commitment to reconciliation, redress, delivery and diversity�
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CONNECTED TO YOUR WORLD Over the years TNW Data has become an established and reliable supplier and distributor of Networking Products, Electrical Products, Cabling & Accessories.
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Please tell me about your aims, targets and projections for 2012-13 to 2014-15? Will we see a lot of change in the city? Our Integrated Development Plan (IDP) sets out our basic strategy. We consulted with more than a million Capetonians during the drafting of that document. It has helped us craft the blueprint of our designs with the aim of a moving beyond the old straight-jackets of compliance. We crafted it with an expansive agenda in mind that sought to activate the full creative potential of this organisation and the combined potential of the private and civil society sectors. In order to deliver on the strategy, we had to change the way that we work. That is why we have structured the City to deliver on the five pillars as five strategic focus areas. 2012 saw many major transport upgrades (upgrading and expanding public transport interchanges (PTIs) over next five years, for example). Are citizens already seeing the benefits? The geographic lay out of the city means that it is physically impossible to build more roads. The City has taken a policy decision to promote public transport over private transport in all its design decisions. A safe, effective and reliable public transport system means it is easier for people to move from their home to their place of work and for communities from far flung areas to interact with each other. As part of Apartheid’s legacy,
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many people were relegated to the margins of the City. We know that, in order to redress this, people need to be able to take advantage of the economic and other opportunities of the central City. Design decisions in the past tried to keep people apart; modern day design must undo those mistakes of the past and bring people closer to each other. The use of public transport and travelling on the city’s roads forms a large and necessary part of the daily lives of Cape Town residents and it is the City’s mandate to ensure that commuters can travel in safety and with dignity. The City manages over 200 public transport interchanges (PTIs) and law enforcement is a primary focus area as part of our commitment to being a Safe City. Security at PTIs is currently provided by various private security companies and supported by the City’s Law Enforcement, Traffic
The City has taken a policy decision to promote public transport over private transport in all its design decisions. A safe, effective and reliable public transport system means it is easier for people to move from their home to their place of work”
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Alderman Ian Neilson, executive deputy major
About 3.5 million people live in Cape Town
South Africa and Cat6a 10 Gbase-T Data Cabling Over the years Cape Town-based TNW Data has become an established and reliable supplier and distributor of Networking Products, Cabling & Accessories, Networking Products and Electrical Products. Schalk Bothma, the firm’s managing director, discusses how to approach Cat6a 10 GbE (10 GBase-T) Data Cabling in South Africa. South Africa is not unique in that it is a predominately “UTP” country – as most of our data cabling installations are “Unshielded Twisted Pair” installations and so is most of the United States. Integrators/Installers are trained for UTP installation and most sites do not have adequate bonding and grounding infrastructure for grounded FTP or STP installations. In South Africa we use a lot of PVC skirting and most buildings do not have a dedicated earthing system for the data cabling infrastructure. So what is the problem? “UTP” has been working very well for us and most of the United States of America for a very long time... Well, shielded cabling is almost mandatory to fully comply with the IEEE 802.3an cabling standards and to truly obtain the necessary performance to run 10 GBase-T over copper twisted pair cabling. As we know 10 Gbase-T applications are a reality and the hardware to run these applications are already available. Data cabling infrastructure is a long term investment and needs to be able to service equipment for at least 10-15 years into the future. The cost to replace the horizontal/sold cable within a structured cabling installation is extremely high and needs to be kept in mind when choosing the appropriate solution at installation. Again – so what is the problem, we will just install fully shielded systems when we remove the current Cat5e and Cat6 network cabling systems? Well, specific to South Africa we have the following challenges to deal with when looking at installing “Grounded” Shielded Cabling Systems: 1. Most of our current infrastructure is only for “UTP” installations and does not have the necessary grounding and bonding equipment in place. To get the correct grounding and bonding equipment in place is extremely expensive and time consuming making it sometimes almost impossible. And if shortcuts are used to do grounding and bonding – it will be more harmful and problematic than not using it at all. 2. Most of our current installers/integrators are not trained to do fully shielded installations. 3. The cost of the fully shielded equipment and the actual cost of installing fully shielded systems are very expensive when compared to “UTP” systems. OK – We have Cat6a “UTP” systems available locally and internationally, so why not just install them? Also with Cat6a “UTP” systems there are inherent problems with the technology, examples below: 1. Cat6a “UTP” horizontal/solid installation cable is extremely thick, due to the need for separation of the pairs in the cable and the cables themselves to combat Alien Crosstalk. This means that current pathways and cable trays will most probably not be able to accommodate the “UTP” Cat6a cable and will certainly not be able to accommodate growth. This means upgrading the path ways, which in most cases will cause long delays, down time and huge infrastructure costs, and might even not be possible at all. 2. Performance – Cat6a “UTP” solutions are generally on the very edge of the IEEE 802.3an standard for 10 Gbase-T applications and is very susceptible to bad installations. 3. With the Cat6a “UTP” system being so close to the edge and being susceptible to problems, installations tend to take longer with more problems over the life time of the installation making the cost of maintenance much higher. 4. According the standard for Cat6a “UTP” also needs to be tested for ANEXT. This is a complex and time-consuming process where all possible wire-pair combinations need to be tested for ANEXT and far-end ANEXT. It can take up to 50 minutes to test one link in a bundle of 24 CAT 6A UTP cables.
So now what, should we install Cat6a UTP or Grounded shielded systems? According to many experts in the world, the answer to all the problems above is to install a Cat6a “Ungrounded” U/FTP System using a floating shield around each pair to resolve the alien crosstalk problem in both the horizontal/solid installation cable and work area and path cords. The only difference being that the shield is not grounded or connected anywhere in the installation, and both the keystone and RJ45 connectors in the solution are “UTP” based with no metal parts to connect to the shield. So the horizontal/solid installation cable and cords are “individually shielded” the actual physical installation is done as a “UTP” system. In tests concluded by two well-known international vendors and other experts in the field, the following was proven through extensive and intricate testing: 1. The Ungrounded shield of a U/FTP cable DOES NOT act like an antenna, in actual fact “UTP” cable acts more like an antenna than an ungrounded shielded cable does. The antenna affect is a myth in the industry. 2. Even if the shield is not earthed, it still protects the cable from alien cross talk, in the tests it was clear that even when the shield was not earthed, the shield stopped interference on the pairs inside the cable, and makes the cable more than fully compliant to the IEEE 802.3an cabling standards for 10 Gbase-T. 3. The shield does not cause heat build-up in the cable, in actual fact the cable with the shield tends to be cooler than “UTP” cable during tests. The U/FTP cable will then in actual fact work the same if not better in a POE environment. These tests concludes that an ungrounded shield (U/FTP) on a shielded cable will not create problems in the system and will eliminate alien cross talk to enable the cable to outperform the standards required by the IEEE 802.3 for 10 Gbase-T applications. What do these tests mean to us when it comes to choosing a Cat6a solution? It resolves all problems associated with “UTP” Cat6a solutions AND grounded fully shielded Cat6a solutions for South Africa. When choosing an “Ungrounded” Cat6a solution the advantages are: 1. No need for grounding and bonding, replace current “UTP” Cat5e or Cat6 systems as is with no need for additional costs. 2. Install like a UTP system, no special training or resources needed to install “ungrounded” Cat6a system. 3. Quicker and easier to install – cost saving on actual installation time and slightly cheaper than fully shielded system. 4. Cat6a U/FTP cable is significantly thinner than Cat6a U/UTP cable, making current pathways and cable trays adequate and installation much easier. 5. Cat6a U/FTP cable outperforms Cat6a U/UTP cable on all parameters and makes for much better headroom on a Cat6a installation, the cable is also more robust and less problems occurs during installation. 6. With larger headroom available after installation when compared to U/UTP, there will be lower maintenance costs during the lifetime of the installation. When taking all of these facts and information into consideration and based on the situation in South Africa, it makes a lot of sense to consider an “Ungrounded” U/FTP Cat6a solution for your next installation. Contact Schalk Bothma Managing director schalk@tnwcape.co.za www.tnwdata.co.za
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The City is committed to redress aid delivery
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Services and Metro Police and the South African Police Services (SAPS). The City has also introduced a specialised Law Enforcement Unit - the Transport Interchange Unit - which deploys dedicated officers to various major PTIs, focusing on Joe Gqabi, Bellville and the Cape Town Station Deck. This has seen a marked reduction in crime and vandalism, through the enforcement of the City’s By-Laws. One of the biggest threats to the safety of commuters is vandalism and anti-social behaviour. Daily patrols by the Transport Interchange Unit ensure that PTIs are monitored and that every effort is made to maintain and improve the commuters’ overall experience of public transport in Cape Town. Are you happy with what you’re doing/have achieved? Cape Town is miles ahead of the other South African metros - Johannesburg in particular - when it comes to quality of governance and financial management. Why is that? What do you do differently? Our public accounts committee – a key oversight committee, with the responsibility of ensuring that the public’s money is spent responsibly – is chaired by a member of the opposition. Our tendering system is constantly streamlined and improved and our staff are committed to the idea that “this
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City works for you�. Our Council meetings and portfolio committee meetings are open to any member of the public wishing to attend them. This administration is committed to transparency and accountability and this has gone some way in making us a better run metro. More must be done and challenges remain. The City delivers basic services rather efficiently, is doing more for genuine black economic empowerment and the upliftment of the disadvantaged than any other metro in the country - and even has a functioning billing system. Are you proud of that? Again, how are you able to do it when so many other struggle? We are very proud of our track record but there is always more to do and more people that need our help. Our nation’s history is one of discrimination and it would be foolish for anyone to think that the legacy and effects of apartheid can be undone in a short space of time. We have made huge strides in this task by creating confidence in our governance structures. This confidence means that more businesses are investing in the city which creates more opportunities for everyone who lives and works here. To learn more visit www.capetown.gov.za.
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E n q u i r i es Tel (UK): +44 (0) 1603 559 151 Tel (SA): +27 (0) 21 527 0053 ben.weaver@outlookpublishing.com
S U B S CRI P TIO N S Tel (UK): +44 (0) 1603 559 144 ian.armitage@outlookpublishing.com
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12th Floor Cape Town Civic Centre Hertzog Boulevard Cape Town Tel: 021 400 9538 Fax: 021 425 2685 Email: kholekile.ntame@ capetown.gov.za
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