Businesses agree to work with MMC for Finance to increase employment in the City
Businesses think the economy of the City can be increased with more hours working a day.
The property sector, investors and business industry say a 24-hour working City of Joburg has the potential to unleash endless opportunities for efficiency, growth and employment in the biggest metropolitan city.
The MMC responsible for Finance, Julie Suddaby, hosted a post-budget stakeholder engagement session on June 13, where businesses urged the city to re-imagine a 24-hour city to unlock opportunities.
The discussion was facilitated by Landiwe Mahlangu, the chief economist from Amazwe Holdings.
The captains of industry said Johannesburg could model other first-world cities such as New York, Buenos Aires or Tokyo that are benefiting from the night-time economy. The residents and tourists in these cities enjoy the 24-hour cafés, supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, public transport and other services.
Suddaby said Johannesburg has a population of roughly 6.2 million residents, matching cities such as New York, Hong Kong and London.
“Johannesburg has an unemployment rate of 40% and the youth unemployment rate is a devastating 55%. Our poverty rate is 52% and only 71% of households have access to electricity,” said Suddaby.
She emphasised that the city needs to work with the private sector if the unemployment and high levels of poverty were to be brought down.
Vuyiswa Ramokgopa, chairperson of the National Property Practitioners Council said Johannesburg was the heartbeat of the South African economy.
“Johannesburg has to work, we have no choice. It’s imperative for the government, business and stakeholders to realise the urgency to correct things. We need to start to think about the multi-usage of buildings in the inner city. We need to start to move to a 24-hour city. There are so many former industrial areas with abandoned factory buildings. We need to start thinking about how we can re-use them,” said Ramokgopa.
Aubrey Tshalata, national president of the National African Federation for the Building Industry, said as a business they support the city’s ‘Golden Start’ initiative aimed at repairing the broken infrastructure.
“Business welcomes the budget allocation to City Power to ensure that the electricity grid is stable. However, the increases in property rates, water- and electricity tariffs are going to put more pressure, especially on small businesses,” noted Tshalata.
Professor Peter Baur, an associate professor at the University of Johannesburg School of Economics, said the city should intensify the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) to both fix the broken infrastructure and lift people out of poverty.
“The kind of EPWP that was used by the US during the great depression managed to pull the country out of economic depression, and that is the model we need to follow. We need to pay those enrolled in EPWP decent salaries, not stipends. We also must spend more on infrastructure repairs to grow the economy,” said Prof Baur.
He said the art industry was a good export for the country and can create jobs.
Neil Pollock, the chairperson of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) said they were committed to working with the city to fix the broken city.
“We want to work with you MMC and the city. We are asking that you hold us, as business, accountable as much as we will hold you, the city accountable,” said Pollock.
