The City of Cape Town has been approached by the Cape Town Formula E Consortium about the possibility of bringing the Formula E to the city.
Formula E, sanctioned by the International Automobile Federation (FIA), is a class of motorsport that uses only electric-powered cars and has been operational since 2014.
Supported by the City, the consortium will undertake a feasibility study this month in order to test the practicality of hosting this event in Cape Town.
‘While we are excited to present this event to the residents of Cape Town, we have not yet taken a decision and our residents will be asked to give their input once the feasibility study hopefully confirms that we can indeed host Formula E in our beautiful city. We will follow all the stringent procedures and requirements that we have in place for events to ensure that all those who will be affected are satisfied with the process,’ said the City’s Executive Mayor Alderman Dan Plato.
In the three years that Formula E has been hosted in Hong Kong, it has contributed approximately R1,4 billion into that economy.
‘An economic injection and the accompanying job creation opportunities for our local communities are just some of the benefits of bringing Formula E to Cape Town. The cars run on 100 percent renewable energy and having such an event here would also assist us in raising awareness and taking action against air pollution,’ added Alderman Plato.
Cape Town has already proven its capability to host motor sporting events with the success of the FIA Rallycross Championship at Killarney over the last two years, as well as the annual Drift City at the iconic Grand Parade.
‘Hosting the Red Bull Cape Town Circuit this past weekend was another feather in our cap. However, motorsport is not the only sector we are looking into. As a city lined by two oceans, Cape Town has made full use of this environmental resource by staging various events including the Volvo Ocean Race and the ITU Triathlon World Cup, among others. This is the touch of the shore as we plan to explore the City’s growing potential to host events that optimise the natural environment.
‘We are already in discussion with some organisations about possibly bringing more ocean-based events to Cape Town. An announcement on these developments will be made in due course,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
Partnerships between the City and a group of talented event organisers led to Cape Town being voted the World’s Leading Festival and Event Destination for 2018 at the World Travel Awards.
Today, the City is officially launching its events e-permit system – an online tool which allows event organisers to submit their permit application without the fuss over paperwork. This forms part of the administration’s efforts to modernise events bookings and to enable the ease of doing business for the event organisers.
By the end of March 2019, the Events Office had issued 1 047 event permits. The number is likely to exceed the 1 277 permits issued in the previous financial year.
‘Our support of events – whether through financial means or services – is also increasing every year. In this financial year, we have already supported 120 events. If one thinks back to 2012, when we first established the Events Department and adopted the Integrated Events Strategy, we only supported 28 events.
‘The department has a budget of R50 million a year to support these events, but the return on investment is exponential each year. The top eight events in Cape Town generate over R3 billion of economic activity and every new event creates the environment for many new sustainable jobs in our city,’ said Alderman Smith.
Highlights for the 2018/19 financial year:
- Cape Town voted the World’s Leading Festival and Event Destination for 2018 at World Travel Awards
- Cape Town Stadium and Cape Town Sevens shortlisted for Event of the Year at the Stadium Business Summit
- Cape Town named Africa’s Leading Festival and Event Destination for 2019 (second consecutive year)
- Cape Town announced as host city for 2023 Netball World Cup
