YEAR IN REVIEW: COVID-19

The year in review has been tumultuous, characterised by the chaos that swept the world due to the coronavirus pandemic. The country’s economy buckled, and with it the economies of its main metropoles. The Cape Town Central City, the area in which we operate, was deeply affected. Here we give a brief overview of the CCID’s Covid-19 year.

The CCID’s new financial year, which started on 1 July 2020, coincided with the start of Level 3 lockdown which was not as onerous as levels 5 and 4 in the previous year. This was a welcome relief and heralded some economic recovery. However, the CBD was facing an exodus of tens of thousands of office workers thanks to the Disaster Management Act decree that anyone who could work from home, should do so. The alcohol and cigarette bans were in place and only food deliveries and collections were allowed.

While the city centre had reduced foot traffic, the CCID’s operational departments – which had nimbly adapted to the unusual business environment – continued to deliver on their mandate of keeping the city centre safe and clean. Safety & Security protected property, people, and possessions. Urban Management changed their shifts and focussed on daytime cleaning while Social Development collaborated with NGO partners to ensure homeless clients had access to essential services. Communications continued to effectively communicate the work of the CCID’s operational teams, inform stakeholders on the status quo, promote retailers and get ready to embark on an unprecedented campaign to reinvigorate the CBD economy.

After months of doom and gloom, a ray of light appeared in September when the country moved to Level 1 lockdown. Travel restrictions eased, but most retailers traded at 50 % capacity with alcohol sales being allowed from Monday to Friday between 09h00 and 17h00, as well as onsite consumption. With this window of opportunity, the CCID launched a multi-dimensional, five-month Come Back To Town Campaign to encourage employees, businesses and local, national and international visitors to return to the Central City. Communications also continued to highlight the extraordinary resilience of stakeholders in adapting to the “new normal”: businesses not only survived but reinvented themselves. While some stakeholders closed down, many others opened their doors for the first time.

• Level 3: 1 June – 17 August 2020 • Level 2: 18 August – 20 September 2020 • Level 1: 21 September – 28 December 2020 • Level 3: 29 December 2020 – 28 February 2021 • Level 1: 1 March – 15 June 2021

• Level 3: 16 June – 27 June 2021

• Level 4: 28 June – 25 July 2021

The second wave of Covid-19 infections, which hit in Quarter 4 of 2020, were driven by a new, highly contagious variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This resulted in another tightening of lockdown restrictions in late-December with the country back to Lockdown Level 3, scuppering hopes of a good Festive Season in the CBD. Beaches were closed, and alcohol sales were banned once more. Hopes for the revival of the hospitality sector were dampened, and further losses were suffered by hotels in the Central City.

The final six months of the year under review, from January to June 2021, saw the country go from Level 3 to levels 1, 3 and 4 respectively. With vaccination numbers increasing, and the Central City playing host to the Vaccination Centre of Hope at the CTICC, the financial year ended on a high with restrictions easing to Level 4. It was also encouraging to note that economic activity in the Central City picked up, with visitors enjoying the buzz of the CBD at weekends, office workers starting to trickle back to work slowly but surely, and property developments continuing unabated. According to the CCID's economic publication State of Cape Town Central City Report 2020 – A year in review [Covid-19 edition], the estimated value of property developments completed in 2020 was R972 million with those under construction valued at R2.9 billion.

ABOVE and RIGHT: A CBD under seige: the effects of the coronavirus pandemic could be seen in the inner city during 2020/21.