Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, fellow Capetonians, members of the media. 

Welcome to a very exciting occasion, as we unveil a vision for one of the most important pieces of Cape Town’s future. 

For a city like ours, the Foreshore should be one of the places that defines us. Cape Town is one of the world’s great port cities. Everything about our identity is shaped by the sea.  

With our city centre wedged into this relatively small piece of land between mountain and ocean, the geography that makes Cape Town so beautiful and so memorable is also one of our greatest constraints. There is very little room for the CBD to expand.  

But not all of that constraint is natural. Some of it is man-made.  

The elevated highway bringing people in from the N1 and N2 – including the famous unfinished freeways – have cut the city centre off from the ocean.  

This road infrastructure has sterilised the last available inner-city land and left Cape Town with a physical barrier between city and sea, effectively separating us from our maritime identity.  

Today, we are setting out a way to change that – a proposal to reconnect Cape Town with its harbour, to create a far better movement of traffic into the city and to unlock 15 hectares of precious inner-city land that has been lying dormant for more than fifty years.  

So this is not simply a big transport project. It is not just a property development plan. It is about rethinking what the centre of Cape Town can be.  

This is an historic day for Cape Town. Every one of us who has grown up in Cape Town has looked up at these big unfinished bridges time and time again and wondered what happened, why they were never finished, and when they ever would be.  

We’ve all heard ten different urban legends about why they weren’t finished. Most Capetonians today can't remember a time when they weren’t here.   

Well, today I am excited to unveil this vision for a new Foreshore precinct that will see these legendary bridges being finished at last. We’ve been working on this project for the last few years in detail, but in truth, we’re getting the ball rolling on finishing some 50-year-old unfinished business!   

And these are not just bridges. They will help address some of Cape Town’s biggest congestion headaches, while unlocking huge investment, job creation, and more affordable homes for Capetonians.  

The project will transform Cape Town’s unfinished highways into a new link bridge and tunnel to relieve inner city congestion and fix the connection between the foreshore and the seaboard.   

And most importantly, over the decades ahead, a brand new vibrant Foreshore neighbourhood will be unlocked, including affordable housing, walkable streets, and a tree-lined promenade along the harbour’s edge all the way to Sea Point.  

The one thing that unites all the truly great cities of the world is this: they are ambitious and optimistic about the future, and they are not daunted by doing big things to build that better future.   

We want Cape Town to be the City of Hope in South Africa. That means doing bold things, and that’s exactly what we are doing today.   

Not since before the 2010 World Cup has Cape Town enjoyed major public road and transport upgrades. Now we are doing two – the expansion of the MyCiti bus network to Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain, which is under construction along all 42km of that project; and now this Foreshore Precinct project.  

Now, there is still a lot of work to do and a long way to go.   

Today is the beginning of the public facing phase. Today we are releasing drawings to begin a process of public consultation. Then the final designs will be turned into detailed engineering designs, before procurement can begin and eventually, construction.  

But since the public will soon be consulted on these plans for the first time, now is the right time to make public what we’ve been working on behind the scenes.  

So as not to cripple the city’s traffic with construction, the proposal is to do the project in two halves.   

During the first phase of construction, an iconic new bridge will be built over Buitengracht Street, and the incoming elevated freeway will be widened, linking the inbound freeway directly to Helen Suzman Boulevard. This will include a big new public park and public spaces below.   

This means everyone heading from the foreshore towards Green Point, Sea Point and beyond, will effectively bypass the CBD. This will make a big difference in alleviating congestion. 

The bridge itself will be a beautiful civic landmark – a signature structure welcoming people to the city, with a park and public spaces beneath it.  

This phase will also see new lanes added to the incoming highways, bus priority lanes across Buitengracht Street and the construction of a new canal linking to the V&A canal.  

In Phase 2, we propose a new outbound link bridge and a tunnel built on the vacant land between the Port and Customs House, and continuing alongside Duncan Road to connect with the outbound highways.  

Once that system is in place, the existing outbound elevated freeway can finally be removed. And that is when the real opportunity opens up. We can then take the land that has been sitting beneath and between these structures and give it back to the city.  

We can extend the streets of the CBD towards the harbour and create a new promenade that will run the full length of its edge. We can create new parks and public spaces.  

We can create many homes, including affordable accommodation.  

We can create space for businesses, restaurants and shops.  

And we can create a neighbourhood where walking, cycling and public transport are not afterthoughts, but central to how people move around.  

Most importantly, we can reconnect Cape Town and its people with the sea.  

Imagine being able to walk from the heart of the CBD to the harbour without the barriers that have stood between the two for generations.  

Imagine streets where people live and work, where visitors spend time, where children can walk, and where cyclists can move safely. That is the kind of city we should be planning for.  

This is also about creating a better gateway to Cape Town.  

The Foreshore sits at the meeting point of the CBD, the port, the V&A Waterfront and the Atlantic Seaboard. It is where major routes enter and leave the city. It should be an efficient connection between these parts of Cape Town, but it should also be a place in its own right. 

A gateway should not simply move people through a city – it should introduce them to the city. This proposal gives us the opportunity to do both.  

If all goes as planned, construction of the first phase will begin in the next term of Council.  

There will be detailed planning, funding decisions and extensive public participation along the way. And that participation is important. This is Cape Town’s future – it must be shaped with Capetonians, not simply presented to them.  

But today is about taking that first step: putting a clear vision on the table.  

Every generation has a responsibility to think beyond its own immediate needs and prepare the city for the generations that follow. We have a wonderful opportunity to do that here.  

To imagine what comes after the unfinished highway: A city centre that can grow; a harbour that is part of Cape Town and that people can reach; a neighbourhood that is walkable, cyclable and people-centred.  

And a Cape Town that finally makes full use of its extraordinary position as one of the world’s great port cities, uniquely located between mountain and sea. 

This is our opportunity to unlock the Foreshore. And in doing so, to unlock a new chapter of Cape Town’s future.  

Thank you.