A Cape Peninsula estate agency MD Lanice Steward of Anne Porter Knight Frank is quoted as saying recently that “there is a growing confidence that the Western Cape will be efficiently run, that it will not only spend the money allocated to its various departments but will do so with wisdom and insight into the needs of the communities it serves.”  Does the Western Cape deserve the positivity expressed by Steward?

Without concerning ourselves with party politics or getting caught up in comparisons, perusing of some of the vital signs of the province does indicate health. It may be that there is a proactive air about the Western Cape. Getting beyond some of the more obvious signs like the provinces’ record of intent with regard to fighting crime and corruption, there is, it seems, to be a genuine striving toward service delivery. But there are other tell-tale indicators of a culture of intent.

Investment indicates a positivity and confidence within one’s own market.  The Western Cape Investment and Trade Promotion Agency reports cautious optimism for investment projections for 2012. “The growth in global projects over the past five years was an indicator of appetite for investment and was likely to have a positive impact on Western Cape foreign direct investment (FDI) projects going forward”, said Wesgro IQ head JacynthaMaclennan. The Western Cape's FDI into Africa grew by 73.3% year-on-year, with the province accounting for the lion’s share (74%) of South African investments into Africa, revealing a distinctly outward focus.

Wesgro’s CEO Nils Flaatten says that The Western Cape’s strong investment into Africa was largely due to property development projects and financial services.

In addition to this Cape Town was found to be most popular city in South Africa for FDI between 2007 and 2011. The Western Cape was noted as the second most popular provincial FDI destination. The Western Cape took two of the leading 15 FDIs into South Africa in 2011. They were both capital investments going for more than R350-million in the field of communications.

Engineering News reports that the top three sectors in the Western Cape for FDI from 2007 to 2011 were software and IT services, with 17% of all; business services, holding 12% of projects; and communications, capturing 9.4%; renewable energy attracted only 2% of projects.

So much for FDI, is the Western Cape investing in itself? As it turns out Helen Zille announced directly after the President’s state of the nation speech, what she calls “game-changing” infrastructure plans.

"The most powerful economic lever in the hands of a provincial government is the ability to build growth-creating infrastructure," Zille told the opening of the provincial legislature in Cape Town.

Four regeneration projects have been announced: the Founders' Garden/Artscape precinct, the development of a government precinct and the further development of the Somerset Hospital precinct. The Cape Town International Convention Centre is to be doubled in capacity.

Zille said the province would launch a road network improvement project to support the Saldanha Industrial Development Zone initiative.

She also announced plans for a project to provide broadband internet access to every citizen, school and government facility in the province. The goal was to connect 70% of government facilities and every school by 2014. Within the next two years, Khayelitsha, Mitchell's Plain and Saldanha Bay would ideally all be connected, Zille said.

Rightly stated, Zille points out that no government can achieve economic development on its own, hence the creation of the Economic Development Partnership (EDP). The intention is for all stakeholders in the economy to meet and work on a shared agenda for development and economic growth. The steering committee would consist of members from business and government.

Viewing from the property side is the Western Cape Property Development Forum which was established to interact with the City “to address existing processes, practices and policies to ensure that systems are streamlined and effectively integrated to deal with issues that might impede development “they announced.

Having been formally established in 2008, the WCPDF has been operational since 2007. An example of one of its events was the hosting and facilitating of World Planning Day – with the theme Planning for a Low Carbon City. The event brought together architects, town planners, developers, economists and environmentalists with the view to improving interaction between these vital role players.

The Western Cape has had its fair share of dereliction challenges but Cape Town has led the way in coming to terms with this common urban phenomena. When it became clear that a blanket approach was necessary a Problematic Buildings Unit was created to end the rot.

The unit was formed to focus on and deal with derelict properties, which were contravening regulations, including those relating to fire and health.  This move is a partnership with the city's Human Settlements Department, the unit has now come up to speed with the city’s most severely affected buildings.

A bylaw was passed last year initially identifying 280 problem buildings. By half way through the year there remained 160 buildings under investigation throughout Cape Town - in the city centre, Mitchells Plain, Durbanville, Salt River and Camps Bay.

Cape Town also has a dedicated Social Housing Police Unit that is focusing specifically on city council rental properties.  Swift action and intent among lawmakers has resulted in this effective multipronged approach.

Although intent has come from Western Cape Government a hand in hand approach with National Government is also required on some projects. It has been announced by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan that the Clanwilliam Dam wall will be raised in order to provide an additional 10 000 000cubic meters of water a year for downstream farmers. The dam is situated in the middle reaches of the Olifants River, near the Western Cape town of Clanwilliam.

One project which sums up the attitude of a local government wanting to be, or at least seen to be, user friendly, is the Red Carpet Call Centre. Small businesses in the Western Cape can now call a provincial hotline to lodge and request assistance for their red tape-related issues or for any general information on starting and growing a business.

The Call Centre, which arose out of the Department of Economic Development and Tourism's Red Tape to Red Carpet Programme, reflects the Western Cape Government's intention to create and maintain an enabling environment for business.

Time will prove whether the way things appear is how they actually are. But the Western Cape Government keeps appearing in the news for all the all right reasons, at least a good enough measure of the time to warrant a heads-up for property investors who are discerning that it’s more than just the Cape’s natural beauty and bounty that’s cause for the property market to blossom.

Letting Lanice Steward have the final say: “Our upcountry buyers see it (Western Cape) as likely to forge ahead economically and it has to be said that this perception is largely based on the feeling that the administration is more competent than that of other provinces.”