Among the many successful events the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) played host to in the past year were the Netball World Cup, a sale of yearling horses, a sex expo, a staging of Peppa Pig Live — based on the preschool TV series — and even parliament.
Delivering such a variety with award-winning excellence requires vigilance and continuous innovation, says CEO Taubie Motlhabane.
Motlhabane assumed the position in January 2020, three months before the pandemic, but soon after that, in April, the Western Cape cabinet decided to transform the centre into a hospital.
“This decision was unprecedented and required swift adaptation of our business model,” says Motlhabane. “Our team embraced this challenge with resilience and flexibility, each quickly assuming new roles and responsibilities across the organisation.”
This “profound shift” set the tone for Motlhabane’s term as CEO.
The centre is self-funded and does not receive financial support from the government of the Western Cape. It is owned jointly by the City of Cape Town (72.7%), the Western Cape provincial government (22.2%) and SunWest International (5.1%).
The complex offers versatile and flexible spaces for hosting a range of events on a local and international scale. These include conferences, exhibitions, trade fairs, banquets, film and photo shoots, stage productions, cultural gatherings and other celebrations.
In the 2023 financial year, it reported a R5.7bn contribution to the national GDP and R5.4bn to the Western Cape gross geographic product (GGP). Its cumulative contributions stand at R60bn to the national GDP and R51.5bn to the Western Cape GGP.
Motlhabane says all this was made possible by the centre’s versatility, flexibility, work ethic and excellent customer service (it is rated for each event).
Motlhabane grew up in Rustenburg, where both her parents were mathematics teachers. Her father named her after actress and impresario Taubie Kushlick, of whom he was a fan. He died when Motlhabane was five and her mother was left to bring up three young daughters.
“I was brought up by women — grandmothers, aunts, my mother,” Motlhabane says. “It has shaped who I am today.”
She adds: “For many people who are being raised by a single mother, with no father in the house, life becomes very difficult. But I had an inspirational childhood.” She remains close to her mother and sisters. They call themselves the “awesome foursome”.
“My mum is absolutely my hero. She is a strong woman who has been an incredible source of inspiration throughout my life. I have learnt invaluable lessons from her that continue to guide and motivate me today.”
The centre is self-funded and does not receive financial support from the government
Motlhabane graduated from North West University with a bachelor of arts degree, and obtained a master’s degree in global marketing from Liverpool University. Her career spans involvement in diverse industries, from finance and government to tourism.
She describes her leadership style as collaborative.
“There is a lot that I don’t know, a lot of things that I will never comprehend because I was not born with the capacity to do so. Respecting the expertise of every single human being at the convention centre is very important. I want to encourage people to bring out their innate qualities, aspects in which they excel and were born to understand better than I do.
“I’m also quite strict. I don’t allow people to play smaller than who they really are, to make excuses for mediocrity. If you thrive on mediocrity, you should not be on my team.
“Give yourself the permission to be phenomenal. This is what I demand from my team.”
She says she is fortunate to have an “extremely competent” executive team and board.
The centre won gold at the 2024 Eventex global awards in the two categories African destination: best African events destination, and international meetings, incentives, conferences & exhibitions destination. It scooped silver for the categories of versatile venue and the people’s choice destination.
The centre adheres to various international sustainability standards, including the UN global compact, and measures its operations against the UN sustainable development goals.
In 2023, the centre diverted 600t of waste from landfills. It provides locally produced food and fish on the green lists of WWF and the Southern Africa Sustainable Seafood Initiative. As well as implementing various water and energy-saving initiatives, the centre collaborates with clients to ensure their events follow sustainability guidelines as far as possible.
Motlhabane and her team say the biggest challenge is for the centre to maintain its success. “Key to this is a focus on future-proofing the CTICC so that we secure our relevance for decades to come,” she says.
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