I have stepped into the rather large shoes of Anthony Davies to head up the Claremont Improvement District. A whole host of other metaphors about being humbled at the opportunity and standing on the shoulders of a giant in the field of urban management come to mind. If truth be told, I have very definitive ideas around what the work of urban improvement districts entail and the practice of implementing them. These are highlighted in my emphasis on the building blocks of improvement districts, namely security, cleansing, social development and marketing and events. The first month and half have thus flown by in a flurry of activity in trying to implement ideas around security and social and urban management, gleaned from my 9 years in the field of urban management at the Cape Town Partnership.

The hubris of a new broom, however, has been tempered by a quality which I have found in the staff of the Claremont Improvement District Company, its consultants, as well as the contractors used to implement the Improvement District Project. It is a passion and caring for the space called Claremont and making it a better place for all who pass through it, be it shopper, reveller, worker or casual passer-through.

This passion and caring is also found in the board members of the CIDC, of which we welcome a new member, Neil Gardner, Deal Originator at Old Mutual. This same passion is found in our Community Police chair, Robert Maydon, with whom I have already had the pleasure of working, as well as our Claremont Station Commissioner, Jayce Naidoo.

The passion is also evident in the myriad of services we receive from Council, particularly from Claire McKinnon and Denver Stevens in Solid Waste, Robert Hector from the Roads Department, Paul Williamson and Richard Holdstock from Business Areas Management, Sean Smith from Law Enforcement, Eugene Trussel from Traffic Police and Neil Fortes of City Parks, all who have already come forward to offer their support to the new vision and to extend hands of welcome.

Passion and care, however, are not easy qualities to define, but what I have observed in all of the people whom I have met within my first days, is their willingness to serve the stakeholders of Claremont, often without payment - as with our board members - or beyond the service delivery expectations of their jobs, as with the SAPS members and Council officials. They all believe the urban space could be a better place to enjoy, 24 hours a day, than what currently exists. It is this care and passion, coupled with the high ethic of service to all Capetonians, which I humbly wish to tap into.

It also behooves us, in the spirit of care, to wish Claremont’s most passionate servant, Chris Drummond, our CIDC Chairman, a speedy recovery from a serious car accident en route to his Benguela Cove development in Hermanus. I would also like to thank everyone, including our previous Executive Manager, Anthony Davies, for making my first month a very welcoming one.

Abdul Kerbelker
CIDC Executive Manager