JOHANNESBURG - Adrian Gore, co-convenor of the Government-Business Partnership and chair of Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), set a clear condition for private sector engagement with the City of Johannesburg on Thursday: the metro’s leadership must first be settled by November’s local government elections before any meaningful collaboration can begin.
Gore outlined this timeline following the launch of Phase 3 of the partnership in Sandton. The event drew President Cyril Ramaphosa, key cabinet ministers, and more than 100 leading CEOs and business executives, signalling the scale of institutional commitment behind the initiative.
The partnership, supported by Business for South Africa (B4SA) and allied business organisations, reflects growing frustration among major corporations about the metro’s deteriorating service delivery. “We, as big business, are vexed about the state of City of Joburg. But it can and must be saved, because it is SA’s economic hub and biggest city, representing around 16% of the country’s economy,” Gore told Moneyweb.
At the centre of the accountability question is a straightforward grievance: ratepayers and companies contribute substantially to the city’s coffers but receive inadequate services in return. The partnership’s Phase 3 commitment includes a pledge from the private sector to deepen involvement in Johannesburg’s governance and operations, contingent on the existence of what Gore called “a credible counterparty in the city.”
The election timing creates a hard practical constraint. “The City of Joburg can only be dealt with as an issue for business post the elections,” Gore explained. “The best time to try to intervene and assist as business will be post the elections, once there is more certainty around the city’s leadership and we have a counterparty that we can work with.”
BLSA and B4SA have already identified three senior executives to lead this engagement once a new municipal administration takes office. They are Jason Quinn, CEO of Nedbank; Estienne de Klerk, group CEO of Growthpoint Properties; and Itumeleng Mothibeli, managing director of Vukile Property Fund and current president of the South African Property Owners Association.
De Klerk reinforced the post-election timeline in his own remarks to Moneyweb. “It is still very early stages in these discussions. With the elections in November, we are only likely to get going with this proposed partnership between organised business and the city in the new year. We hope that the city comes to the party and works with business as a key stakeholder,” he said.
Meanwhile, the private sector is not waiting passively for formal arrangements to materialise. Business-backed initiatives already operate across Johannesburg’s landscape, addressing service gaps the municipality has failed to fill. Discovery Limited’s Pothole Patrol programme and OUTsurance’s traffic pointsmen initiative exemplify this shadow-service model. City improvement precincts, including the Sandton Central Management District, similarly demonstrate private capital stepping into public space management where municipal oversight has fallen short.
The Government-Business Partnership itself represents an escalation of business engagement with state institutions. Phase 1, launched in 2023, focused on stabilising critical national systems: energy supply through Eskom, transport and logistics networks, and crime and corruption. Phase 2 concentrated on sectoral reform. Phase 3 now targets four sectors identified as growth drivers: infrastructure, mining, tourism, and agriculture.
Gore emphasised the scale of untapped potential. “The country has considerable potential. But it’s kind of latent, we’ve got to drive it up and drive jobs and growth. So we see agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, and mining. When you do the analysis, the potential is massive. We’ve got to unblock things, push hard and get these sectors to really grow to their potential,” he said.
The tourism sector’s inclusion in Phase 3 marks a recognition of its long-neglected status. Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, welcomed the shift. “We have been working on this and calling for the tourism sector to be taken more seriously for over a decade now, and are glad that we are finally being heard and recognised. Tourism is a huge growth lever for SA and needs to be leveraged,” he said.
The partnership’s structure reflects a deliberate alignment between business expertise and government mandate. Over 120 CEOs have committed resources and knowledge to address systemic constraints on economic performance. Whether the November elections produce a municipal administration capable of functioning as a genuine governance partner, and on what terms that partnership would be held accountable, remains the open question on which the entire Johannesburg intervention rests.