The long-planned R1,4bn expansion of the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) has been put on the back-burner because of unsuccessful protracted negotiations with the Department of Public Works, which owns the prospective Customs House site on Table Bay Boulevard.
 
Rashid Toefy, ceo of Convenco, the CTICC’s holding company, told a Cape Town media briefing the expansion was still on the cards in the next five to 10 years, but that Convenco was now looking at potential alternatives sites adjacent to the existing complex, such as open land at the bottom of Heerengracht Street, that was “potentially up for sale”. 
 
Toefy said although Convenco was in “very advanced negotiations” with the Department of Public Works, there were a number of outstanding unresolved issues and it appeared the department lacked the political will to sell the site at the moment. “We don’t have a willing seller,” he said. He intimated the postponement of the expansion could be a godsend because of the province and city’s current financial commitments towards the FIFA World Cup.
 
Convenco Board chairperson, Andrew Boraine, said the board was looking at any option for expansion. Managing director, Dirk Elzinga, stressed that although there had been an economic crisis-linked drop in average occupancy levels of exhibition halls and delegate numbers during the past financial year, the expansion was still needed for CTICC to remain competitive internationally, particularly with regard to attracting high-yield large international conferences.
 
Elzinga’s tenure ends in June next year when the CTICC’s management contract with Amsterdam RAI comes to an end. Boraine said Elzinga would, however, remain in Cape Town and continue to act as mentor/consultant to the CTICC management team. Toefy would be managing the change and a new chief operating officer (coo) would be appointed to handle the daily operations of the complex.