The Johannesburg Inner City
Partnership extends a very warm welcome to their new CEO, Ms Mpolai
Nkopane.

Mpolai brings with her a wealth of experience and expertise in the
fields of social development, strategy development, project management, systems
development and organisational management.

In her previous job as Head of
Development and subsequently Acting CEO at the Johannesburg Social Housing
Company (JOSHCO), Mpolai constantly walked the Inner City looking for buildings
to purchase for the purpose of renovating and converting into social housing
units.

“What always struck me, and
struck me hard was the bad state of not only buildings, but the Inner City at
large, in terms of amenities, crime, traffic and the general state of muckiness
of the City. I always thought that the Inner City needed a concerted and
comprehensive approach in order to be properly rejuvenated. In my official
capacity, I was always part of conversations within the City of Johannesburg to
clean up and change the state of the city.

When I was offered an opportunity
to apply for the position of CEO of the Inner City Partnership, it meant I
could contribute to the work already being done to revitalise the City.   I am thrilled to have been offered the
position, as it means I can contribute to this important cause.” Mpolai
Nkopane.

The CID Forum stakeholders wish Mpolai all the best in her new role as CEO.

About the Johannesburg Inner City Partnership (JICP)

The JICP has spent
the past two years building a foundation for all the
Inner City private sector stakeholders to forge closer working relationships
with the City of Johannesburg (CoJ).

The support of COJ has extended to full council
approving the JICP’s Terms of Reference, which in turn ensures a structured
relationship between COJ and the private sector, as outlined in the Inner City
Regeneration Road map. Strong support has been given to the partnership by the
Executive Mayor, members of the Mayoral Committee and many senior officials,
noticeably MMC Ngobeni and Thabo Maisela.

The JICP and COJ have already signed MOUs with the Department of Environment
Infrastructure and the Department of Social Development, enabling ease of
partnership development.  An MOU with the department of Health and Community Development is
scheduled to be signed at the next Partnership meeting.

The
work facilitated by the JICP has been made possible with the financial support
of Standard Bank , ABSA, First National Bank, TUHF, AFHCO, The Johannesburg
Land Company, The Chamber of Mines, Redefine Properties, Cityprop, Jozihousing
and J-Prop.

Continuing in the
role as an incubator, advocator, enabler and initiator” the JICP has;

·        Strengthened its relationship with tertiary institutions,
noticeably WITS and UJ.

·        Continued to facilitate
The Johannesburg CID Forum, which is now a thriving collaborative association
of the Johannesburg communities engaged in voluntary urban management
initiatives partnering with the local authority in the management of their
“Place”. This voluntary association has become a founder member of the Association of Managed Precincts SA, and
is currently working through AMPSA to network, share best practice, engage with
other associate organisations and National government on raising awareness and
professionalism of those involved in Urban Management in both the private and
public sector.

·        Supported theJohannesburg Heritage Register, led by James Ball, in building the website in
strong collaboration with other Heritage organisations and with CoJ.

·        Facilitated theUrban Agriculture Initiative led by Dr Michael Magondo of WIBC which partners CoJ,
the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD), SEDA, UJ, JPOMA, AFHCO,
and many other Inner City stakeholders. This project is an extraordinary
example of successful collaboration leading to job creation, small business
development, food sustainability education and practice.

·        Supported the CoJ
submission to the International Horizon 20/20, City Agriculture Tools for
Sustainability (CACTUS) project led by Nickey Janse van Rensburg, of the
University of Johannesburg with support from the Urban Agriculture Initiative
team.

·        Appointed Tanya Zack
to deliver a critical piece of research on Cross Border Shopping led by AFHCO,
together with many Inner City stakeholders, including but not limited to, Jozihousing,
JHC and TUHF.

Going forward the JICP wishes to collaborate across a wide
range of Inner City sectoral interests.   The JICP will seek out organisations in order to
support work in areas such as homelessness, access to information, the
provision of low cost housing, community development, business attraction and retention,
job creation and skills development. This approach will not only benefit the
Johannesburg and the Inner City, but South Africa as a whole.