City of Cape Town Executive Mayor, Alderman Patricia de Lille, has announced the formation of a multi-sectoral task team in preparation for the signing of the Host City agreement for the World Design Capital 2014 in March later this year.

Cape Town was awarded the right to host World Design Capital 2014 last year. The mother city will now be the focus point for the international design community in 2014, hosting design-related projects and events throughout the year.

The City will be the main signatory of the Host City Agreement. This comes with certain financial and managerial obligations. The City will play a lead role in the hosting of World Design Capital, with the important assistance of key stakeholders such as Cape Town Partnership and the design community which played an important role in securing the award, as well as other private sector partners.

“The Bid Committee members have been invited to form the core of the multi-sectoral task team. With their support, we want to make sure the most efficient and optimum management structure is put in place, to ensure proper oversight of how ratepayers’ money is spent on this prestigious event.

“I want to pay tribute to the months of hard work and selfless effort put in by Andrew Boraine, Bulelwa Makalima-Ngewana and the team at Cape Town Partnership and the Bid Committee. They helped us win the right to host this event, and I look forward to having them on board, as part of the multi-sectoral task team. As a team we have much hard work ahead of us in hosting such a prestigious event,” said Mayor De Lille.

City representatives will meet with the Bid Committee today to discuss the key managerial steps that will be put in place going forward. The City, along with its hosting partners, will ensure that the World Design Capital 2014 is presented in an inclusive manner and arranged in a way that benefits all Capetonians.

An inclusive stakeholder forum will be held in late February to coincide with the Design Indaba. This will be an opportunity for design industry role-players and other interested stakeholders to contribute ideas to make the World Design Capital 2014 a success that all Capetonians can be proud of.