Cape Town accused of 'favouring the bosses'

Tony Ehrenreich, the head of Cosatu in Western Cape, has hauled the City of Cape Town to court, accusing it of creating middle-class jobs and discriminating against factory workers.

In papers presented to the Equality Court, Ehrenreich claims that the city spent millions "to promote tourism jobs" through its Design Capital and Table Mountain projects instead of promoting the creation of manufacturing jobs and the purchase of local products.

"This is unequal treatment," Ehrenreich said.

"The lack of purchasing of South African-made products led to the closure of companies. So manufacturing-sector workers are unfairly discriminated against."

He said he had copies of correspondence on the matter between Cosatu and Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille.

Ehrenreich, an ANC city councillor and mayoral candidate, said he wanted the court to force the city to support workers in manufacturing in the "same way in which they support bosses in tourism".

Cape Town became the first African city to earn the World Design Capital title during the International Design Alliance congress in Taiwan in October. The title, awarded every two years by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, promotes cities that use design for social, economic and cultural change.

Cape Town campaigned successfully for Table Mountain to be named one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

The city has until December 27 to respond to Ehrenreich's papers.

But Solly Malatsi, De Lille's spokesman, dismissed the case as political grandstanding and a waste of money.

"This is yet another example of Councillor Ehrenreich's glaring lack of knowledge of the city and how the council works. The whole case is based on flawed economic logic.

"The city is doing a lot of good work to create the enabling environment to attract investment and create jobs. This case is a complete waste of the time of a state institution that could better use its time and resources resolving serious cases rather than dealing with cases fuelled by political grandstanding," Malatsi said.