NEWS & VIEWS
Tackling extreme heat events
Cape Town’ s first Chief Heat Officer, Albert Ferreira, who serves as the City’ s Manager for Resilience and Climate Change, was appointed to raise awareness about heat and extreme heat events, which are expected to become more frequent due to climate change.
In the hottest months, many areas in Cape Town experience temperatures exceeding 35 ° C, and being heat smart is becoming increasingly important.
The City launched its first Beat the Heat programme in summer 2024, targeting vulnerable communities in areas where summer temperatures often exceed 35 ° C, such as Atlantis, Mamre, Dunoon, Joe Slovo, and Sir Lowry’ s Pass Village. However, the highest temperature recorded in 2024 was 44.6 ° C at the
Royal Yacht Club in the Foreshore area – the highest temperature ever recorded for Cape Town.
“ The City’ s Climate Change Action Plan tackles various climate hazards, including droughts, fires, flooding, surges, storms, and heat waves affecting the city. The specific focus on extreme heat as an increasing public health and urban planning challenge emphasises the need to treat it with the same urgency as other climate hazards," said Ferreira.
“ This appointment is part of our international membership of the International City Champions for Heat Action( CCHA) initiative in 2024, and he joins other Chief Heat Officers around the world. They aim to unify their city governments’ responses to extreme heat through internal activism, accelerating existing heat protection efforts and starting new initiatives to reduce the risks and impacts of extreme heat, especially for heat-vulnerable communities,” said Gareth Morgan, Executive Director for Future Planning and Resilience.
New CEO announced for GBCSA
GBCSA
Green Building Council South Africa( GBCSA) announced at its annual Green Building Convention in Cape Town, that Georgina Smit will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer, effective May 2026.
Lisa Reynolds congratulates Georgina Smit
Georgina Smit will succeed Lisa Reynolds, who has led the organisation since 2020. Under Reynolds’ leadership, GBCSA has solidified its position as the country’ s leading authority on the green built environment which includes building certification, sustainability training, and advocacy for climate-resilience within this space.
Smit is an awardwinning sustainability leader who obtained her undergraduate and Master’ s degree in Sustainable Development Management and Planning from Stellenbosch University. During her 10 years working with global consultancy Arup, she pursued a further Master’ s degree at Cambridge( UK).
Smit moves into the CEO role after more than five impactful years within the GBCSA as Head of Technical and Executive Director. During this time, she led certification, training, and research initiatives that delivered measurable change across the property sector. A respected thought leader and regular speaker at industry events, Smit champions practical, locally relevant solutions that advance green building adoption.
Reynolds expressed her confidence in the leadership transition:“ Georgina is a person who recognises a need, and she goes out and makes things happen – and she does it phenomenally well.”
André Theys, current GBCSA chair says:“ Lisa( Reynolds) saw opportunity where others might have seen only uncertainty, and her leadership turned challenge into stability and progress. Her legacy will continue to shape GBCSA’ s path forward. We say thank you to Lisa, and we warmly welcome Georgina.”
10 summer 2025-26 | www. tobuild. co. za