By Marica

Congratulations Cape Town we did it! It was announced this morning at the International Design Alliance (IDA) Congress in Taipei that Cape Town will be the World Design Capital for 2014! This is such a great honour and achievement for South Africa and I am SO immensely proud of the Cape Town Bid Committee, Creative Cape Town and all the other players that made this possible (ek kry sommer ‘n knop in my keel). I’m frantically waving the yellow flag today and super proud to be a Capetonian! Can’t wait for 2014 and the build-up to South African design awesomeness!

Now, there is currently another very important voting process in progress – The New7Wonders of Nature and for those that do not know, Table Mountain is in the running. However, the current trends and statistics have shown that Table Mountain is falling behind in votes – a travesty we can not allow! Table Mountain is such a beautiful, awesome and extraordinary natural phenomenon and it’s inclusion in the New7Wonders of Nature can attract many a potential tourist to Cape Town and South Africa.

I read a report on Cape Info regarding the benefits and according to Grant Thornton, South Africa could benefit by R1.6 billion a year, equivalent to over US$ 1 billion for the first five years, if Table Mountain is chosen one of the Official New7Wonders of Nature. Tourism to Cape Town would increase by up to 20 percent annually, with 70 percent of the visitors expected to come from overseas. “This would support around 11,000 employment opportunities in South Africa,” the Grant Thornton report said. Amazing!

Archbishop Desmond Tutu had earlier emphasized the importance of voting for Table Mountain by saying: “It is important that South Africa wins as it’s important for our psyche. And this vote is apolitical – Table Mountain belongs to us all – let’s show we can win. If we win, we will all have a spring in our step.”

The small town of De Rust has even thrown down the figurative voting gauntlet by challenging other small towns to do the same and beat their 600 + votes.

We too are challenging you – Table Mountain desperately need YOUR vote! Please, please cast your vote – only 15 days remain till the New7Wonders are announced. The New7Wonders will be announced on November 11, 2011 and we need your help to ensure our place in the history books. You can vote for Table mountain in the ways shown below, please comment on this post after you have voted to let us know – we hope to see A LOT of comments. Pass on this post to inform your friends – every vote counts! Let’s see how many comments we can get on this post before the 15th.

Vote for Table Mountain online,

via MXit

or via SMS as often as possible. SMS “Table” to 34874. Each SMS costs R2. 

You can also vote via Facebook.

 Check out the Vote for Table Mountain website: here.

Related articles

• Vote for Table Mountain – NEW 7 WONDERS OF NATURE (jeuneafriqueza.wordpress.com)