Cities are SA’s main potential growth nodes: Nene

FINANCE Minister Nhlanhla Nene said the biggest potential to grow the economy was in the cities, since all projects and business activities took place in their municipal areas.

Nene was speaking at a business breakfast at the weekend organised by accounting and auditing firm Morar Incorpor- ated in Pietermaritzburg.

He said the cities have the biggest potential since the infrastructure and logistics are also located at that level. “If we can take advantage of that and the cities themselves are able to attract investment they would be the biggest drivers of our economy,” he said.

The country’s approach to economic activity must be informed by the reality that economic activ- ity must be local. “All economic activities take place within the boundaries of the municipality. It is therefore crucial that efforts by government are duplicated, if not complemented, by initiatives at local government level,” Nene said. “With cities’ support programmes of working with nine of the largest municipalities to improve their performance to match that of the best performing South African ones on each metric, we would be more competitive.”

Nene said National Treasury was working with the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs to turn around the finances of many municipalities that were in bad shape.