Portsmouth looks to link up with South African city
It could be twinned with Cape Town
Discussions are being held around the potential for Portsmouth to establish sister city status with Cape Town in South Africa – the first partnership it would have with any African city.
Portsmouth City Council has proposed a link with the coastal city, which is one of the country’s capitals, in a bid to increase business and to promote cultural and educational links.
Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, the leader of the council, said there were ‘many similarities’ between the two cities and that a partnership was ‘logical’.
‘Cape Town has South Africa’s largest naval base, a major port and shares many of those traditions we have here,’ he said. ‘In Portsmouth we have a port which is expanding and can handle extra trade – this would be a great benefit for both of us.’
He said technological advances in recent years had made it much cheaper to create and maintain these links. ‘You don’t have to send the lord mayor there any more, you can do everything on Zoom,’ he added.
Portsmouth is twinned with Caen in France and Duisburg in Germany but also has links with 11 other towns and cities on every continent except Africa and South America.
Plans are still at an early stage with formal talks with Cape Town officials yet to start, however cabinet member for communities Chris Attwell will be asked to progress them at his decision-making meeting on Friday (November 4).
A report says a new link, which would be Cape Town’s first with a British city, would ‘reflect the shared common history’ between the two and have benefits in the wake of the UK leaving the EU.
‘Post-Brexit, we are keen to ensure that we have links and opportunities for working with other parts of the world and not rely solely on our established European links,’ it says. ‘Establishing a new link with a Commonwealth country in a post-Brexit period would help to balance out any challenges with European trade in the short term.’
‘We wish to establish a link with South Africa to support new relationships, encourage business growth through partnership routes and ensure our city links reflect both Portsmouth and the university’s communities of growing diversity,’ it adds.
On top of the maritime connection between the two cities – which includes the 1917 sinking of the SS Mendi off the Isle of Wight with the loss of more than 600 South African soldiers, many of whom are buried in Milton – there is a link between the cities’ best-known waterfront developments with the design of Gunwharf Quays based on the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town.