Warning to South Africa’s richest city

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa warned officials in Johannesburg to resolve a myriad of problems dogging the city ahead of a summit of leaders from the Group of 20 nations in November.

Africa’s richest urban center has experienced years of mismanagement, with power changing hands between shifting coalitions.

Residents contend with crumbling roads and other infrastructure, water and electricity outages, a lack of basic services, and rampant violent crime.

“The environment that one observed was not a pleasing environment. I say this so that we can improve immensely,” said Ramaphosa, who met with leaders from the central Gauteng province in the Johannesburg city council chambers on Thursday.

“If we do not move with speed to address the critical challenges identified, we risk undermining the progress we have made thus far.”

The president added that local officials will need to demonstrate over the coming months that he hadn’t made a mistake in choosing Johannesburg as the venue for the G-20 gathering, the first of its kind to be held in Africa.

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said he had apologized to Ramaphosa and assured him that the provincial and local government would address Johannesburg’s shortcomings, with a team already in place to lead the process.

“We are not dealing with these issues specifically for G-20,” he said. “We need a legacy program that can be enjoyed by all South Africans, and that’s the approach and the orientation that we are taking.”

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis invited Ramaphosa to relocate the G-20 summit to his city. The tourism hub is controlled by the Democratic Alliance, the second-biggest party, and is widely regarded as the best-run of the country’s main metropolitan areas.

“This is a city with a thriving central business district, offering working traffic lights, neat roads and sidewalks, unmatched natural beauty and excellent conferencing infrastructure,” Hill-Lewis said in a statement.

“As South Africans, we absolutely want to see Joburg rise to be the world-class African city it should be, but if the challenges prove insurmountable between now and the November G-20 summit, you can count on Cape Town to perform ‘country duty’ and host a successful summit.”