Cape Town mayor capitalises on Joburg’s woes as Lesufi apologises to Ramaphosa [VIDEOS]

Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has capitalised on Gauteng’s problems and asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to move the G20 Leaders’ Summit to Cape Town.

On Thursday, Ramaphosa expressed his disappointment with the state of Johannesburg during his meeting with Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi’s government and the municipality’s leaders at the Joburg city council.

The meeting focused on finding urgent solutions to Johannesburg’s many service delivery issues ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in November when world leaders arrive in the city.

Joburg’s poor state

Ramaphosa expressed frustration with the poor state of the Joburg metro.

“One or two meetings of the G20 that I attended here were not very pleasing. The environment that one observed was not a pleasing environment. I say this so that we can improve immensely.

“As South Africans, we are proud people, and let us get that pride that we have, self-pride, lift us up so that we do present a G20 that will wow people, so when people look at what we offer and present, they must just say wow, this is how South Africans do it,” Ramaphosa said.

Watch President Cyril Ramaphosa speaking about the poor state of Johannesburg

[WATCH] President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his disappointment with the atate of Johannesburg.

He says it was disheartening to witness the city in disarray during the G20 meetings held there last week. @JusstAlpha pic.twitter.com/uPpCB4UfBD

— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) March 6, 2025

ALSO READ: ‘Not very pleasing’ – Ramaphosa’s tough talk to Gauteng ahead of G20 Summit

Cape Town ready

With Lesufi now having his hands full to get Johannesburg to the “wow” status Ramaphosa mentioned, Hill-Lewis took the opportunity to entice the president to consider hosting the G20 summit in the Mother City.

“Mr President, you can be assured that Cape Town is ready at any time to host the G20 Leaders’ Summit and represent South Africa with pride on the global stage. This is a City with a thriving Central Business District offering working traffic lights, neat roads and sidewalks, unmatched natural beauty, and excellent conferencing infrastructure,” he said in a post on X.

‘Hope for Joburg’

Last month, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting was held in Cape Town.

Hill-Lewis said South Africans want to see Johannesburg become a world-class city.

“The decline of Joburg breaks my heart, and it is bad for the future of South Africa. But I believe there is still hope to save it! “

ALSO READ: Ramaphosa chairs inaugural meeting of Presidential Economic Advisory Council

Lesufi apologises

Following Ramaphosa’s comments on the state of Johannesburg, Lesufi apologised to the president.

“I committed on behalf of the government that we will not have the situation that the president has come here to find. We have already put together a team. If you check, they have already put up CCTV cameras. We have had a joint meeting with the mayor to deal with this situation. However, we are not dealing with these issues specifically for G20. We need a legacy programme that can be enjoyed by all South Africans.

“I apologise to the president that he had that particular experience, and we felt that we identified venues for other meetings. It will identify areas that will leave a lasting impression and a lasting legacy to those that are visiting our country,” Lesufi said.

[WATCH] Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has apologised to President Cyril Ramaphosa for Johannesburg’s appalling conditions.

This after Ramaphosa expressed frustration over the poor state of the city. @JusstAlpha https://t.co/CHBMttiSR0 pic.twitter.com/aPjKYh3iH4

— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) March 6, 2025

Pothole crisis

Last week, Joburg mayor Dada Morero faced backlash for saying the city’s clean-up campaign would prioritise G20 routes.

“We have prioritised certain routes within Johannesburg, which are G20 routes, to ensure that at least we can make them at the standard at which they should be. No potholes, no traffic signals that are not working.”

He later backtracked on patching the potholes before the G20 Leaders’ Summit in November.

Morero said he used the “wrong language” when he said the city would prioritise repairing potholes and traffic lights on G20 routes.

The G20 summit is scheduled to kick off in Johannesburg on 22 November. South Africa assumed the presidency of the G20 in December last year, taking over from Brazil.

ALSO READ: SA to prioritise food security, economic growth in G20 presidency, says Ramaphosa