South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he plans to set up a group comprising business, government, labour and civil society to resuscitate Africa’s richest urban center, Johannesburg.
The model was already used in eThekwini that includes the eastern port city of Durban, where there’s been a visible turnaround in the city’s performance.
“Working with these stakeholders and the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, led by Mayor Cyril Xaba, we were able to unblock several challenges,” including fast-tracking water supply agreements and refurbishing critical infrastructure, Ramaphosa said Friday.
“We are proposing” a similar model for Johannesburg, he said in a speech in the city council chambers.
“This would bring in all levels of government and the expertise of our stakeholders to accelerate service delivery, stabilize the city’s finances and operations, and enable economic growth and job creation.”
Johannesburg has experienced years of mismanagement, with power changing hands between shifting coalitions, and residents contending with crumbling roads and other infrastructure, water and electricity outages, a lack of basic services and violent crime.
“Johannesburg faces enormous challenges,” he said.
“Investors are only attracted when they see progress, cleanliness, a crime-free environment. Then they come in their thousands.”
Ramaphosa on Thursday urged the city to resolve the myriad of problems dogging it ahead of a summit of leaders from the Group of 20 nations in November.
He called on it to demonstrate over the coming months that he hadn’t made a mistake in choosing Johannesburg as the venue for the G20 gathering, the first of its kind to be held in Africa.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said on Thursday he apologized to Ramaphosa and assured him that the provincial and local government would address Johannesburg’s shortcomings, with a team already in place to lead the process.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis invited Ramaphosa to relocate the G20 summit to his city.
The tourism hub is controlled by the Democratic Alliance, the second-biggest party, and is widely regarded as the best-run of the country’s main metropolitan areas.
“As South Africans, we absolutely want to see Joburg rise to be the world-class African city it should be,” he said.
“But if the challenges prove insurmountable between now and the November G20 summit, you can count on Cape Town.”
BLOOMBERG