Johannesburg – President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday lashed out at the state of the country’s biggest city Johannesburg, due to host the G20 summit later this year.
Known as the city of gold or Jozi, Johannesburg is South Africa’s financial capital and home to the richest square mile in Africa.
But certain areas have fallen into a state of disrepair, a legacy of years of mismanagement in the city of nearly five million people.
“One or two meetings that I attended here were not very pleasing,” Ramaphosa said during a two-day visit of the city.
“The environment that one observes was not a pleasing environment,” he said. “I say this so that can improve immensely.”
The city last month hosted the G20 foreign ministers meeting at an exhibition centre near a stadium that hosted the 2010 World Cup final.
While the country boasts of some of the best infrastructure on the continent, potholes on city roads and traffic light failures are a common feature.
Ramaphosa called on the province to address the “governance failures, financial mismanagement, crumbling infrastructure, crime and lawlessness and unreliable service delivery” that plague the city.
“As South Africans we are proud people and let us get that pride to lift us up so that we do present a G20 that will wow people,” he said.
But the city of Cape Town, a tourist magnet with picturesque nature, issued a swift rejoinder and offered to host the G20 leaders in November.
“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,” said mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
Just say the word Mr President @CyrilRamaphosa, and Cape Town will be ready and delighted to host the G20!
We will make sure it does South Africa proud 🇿🇦 🇿🇦 https://t.co/zGs8utoPD2
— Geordin Hill-Lewis (@geordinhl) March 6, 2025
“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.
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Source: AFP
Picture: X/@MandelaLetters
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