Captains of industry have called on South Africa’s biggest metropolis to model the concept of a 24-hour city in a bid to unleash the endless opportunities inherent in the night economy.

Local investors are urging the City of Johannesburg to leverage the notion of a 24-hour local government to improve efficiency, economic growth, and employment prospects in the municipality.

Stakeholders from the private sector met with the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Finance, Cllr Julie Suddaby, for a post Budget Speech Engagement session this week, in which the business sector urged the municipality to re-imagine a 24-hour working City to unlock economic opportunities. The discussion was facilitated by Landiwe Mahlangu, Chief Economist from Amazwe Holdings.

Captains of industry said Johannesburg can model other first-world cities such as New York, Buenos Aires, or Tokyo, which are benefiting from the night-time economy. Residents and tourists in these cities enjoy twenty-four-hour cafés, supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, public transport, and government services.

MMC Suddaby said Johannesburg has a population of roughly 6.2 million people, 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,” she said.

Cllr Suddaby emphasised that the City needs to collaborate with the private sector if the staggering unemployment rate and the high levels of poverty are to be brought down.

Vuyiswa Ramokgopa, the Chairperson of the National Property Practitioners Council, said Johannesburg was the heartbeat of South Africa’s economy.

“Johannesburg must work; we have no choice. It’s imperative for the government, business, and relevant stakeholders to realise the urgency of correcting things. We need to start to think about the multi-use function of buildings in the inner-city. We need to start moving to a 24-hour city. There are so many former industrial areas, with abandoned factory buildings that we need to start thinking about how we can re-use them,” Ramokgopa said.

Aubrey Tshalata, the President of the National African Federation for the Building Industry, said as business stakeholders they support the City’s Golden Start initiative, aimed at repairing broken infrastructure and growing the local economy.

“Business welcomes the budget allocation to City Power to ensure the electricity grid is stable. However, the increase in property rates, water and electricity are going to put more pressure on small businesses,” said Tshalata.

Peter Baur, Associate Professor at the University of Johannesburg’s School of Economics, said the City should look into intensifying the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) to fix both the broken infrastructure and lift people out of poverty.

“The kind of EPWP that was used by the United States during the Great Depression managed to pull the country out of economic depression. That’s the model we need to follow. We need to pay those enrolled in EPWP decent salaries, not stipends. We need to spend more on infrastructure repairs to grow the economy,” said Professor Baur.

He added that the art industry was a good export for the country and could 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.

“We want to collaborate with the City. We are asking that you hold us [business] accountable as much as we hold you [the City] accountable,” said Pollock.