The “Golden City” promise fades as Johannesburg’s poor services, power outages, and crumbling roads tarnish its world-class image.
Our government or quasi-government marketing experts have come up with slogans which, to be very kind, do not age well.
Remember South African Airways (SAA) and how it arrogantly promised that it was “Bringing the world to Africa, taking Africa to the world?”
The real African airlines which ate SAA’s lunch – including Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways and even RwandAir – are all laughing into their balance sheets as our national carrier is a shadow of its former self.
But even better, in terms of slogans that turn around to bite you in the rear end, is the one the City of Joburg conjured up about being a “world-class African city”.
Our power outages, sewage flowing in the streets and potholes show we are not only nowhere near worldclass, more and more African cities are overtaking us.
That’s why it is with a certain bit of cynicism we view today’s praise-singing for the city done by one of its communication employees on our pages.
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She claims, quite rightly, that Joburg’s electricity is cheaper than Cape Town’s. For an average household, that is less than R300 extra a month, according to MyBroadband. However, the other reality is that Cape Town rates are 30% less than those in the “Golden City”. And ratepayers actually get services there.
Our municipal imbongi crowed about Joburg being the number one place in the world for cheap, large properties.
The reason for that?
Because our municipality, through its failure to deliver services, its neglect of infrastructure and its abysmal treatment of its ratepayers, has destroyed the value of property in Johannesburg.
While most other cities and towns across South Africa have seen house prices increase in the past 10 years, Joburg’s have stagnated, or gone backwards.
So, no. The roads of Joburg are not paved with gold. They’re just not paved at all.
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