Cape Town for Amazon

IN JULY 1994, a few months after the birth of a democratic South Africa, Jeff Bezos started a small company that we now know as Amazon. Situated in Seattle, Washington, it started off as an online bookstore, but grew into the largest internet-based retailer in the world.

Last year Amazon brought in about $136 billion in revenue. That’s about R1.8 trillion and many more rand than our entire country collected in taxes last year.

Now, Amazon is looking for a second headquarters, and more than 100 American and Canadian cities are rushing to be the chosen one. We think Cape Town should also be considered. And why not?

Amazon will spend about $5bn on the project. That’s about R65bn, or a lot more money than the city plans to spend in the current financial year. What’s more, Amazon plans to create 50 000 jobs.

ANYONE who works in Cape Town will agree that it is the best city in the world to live in, and we meet most of the criteria:

● We have a population of more than a million people.

● We easily have 50 000 job-seekers.

● We have an international airport with more than enough capacity.

● We have good air quality and the perfect climate.

● We have sufficient urban and suburban areas to attract and retain a suitable workforce.

Cape Town prides itself in being the best-run municipality in the country, the most aesthetically beautiful and full of job opportunities.

Perhaps this is another accolade to place in the City of Cape Town and Western Cape government’s cap.

It’s a good start. But to be a worldclass city we need to do something big. And you don’t get bigger than Amazon.

The deadline for bids is October 19, and the clock is ticking.