The power to solve this crisis is not something that lies outside our country, but within. We have the power to make this change and bring about real freedom, for freedom exercised in poverty is freedom unrealised.

A recent report from McKinsey said that a city should decide “what [it] wants to be known for”. As the DA mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, I want the city to be known as South Africa’s city of opportunities. Opportunities built on the platform provided by good government and realised by capacitated citizens who, like me, are committed to making this city the greatest on the continent.

My slogan, “If Johannesburg works, South Africa works”, is not a mere political slogan, but one grounded in solid data.

Let’s take the opportunities first. In India – a good global South peer comparison – McKinsey research estimates that cities could generate 70 percent of net new jobs created up to 2030, and about 70 percent of the Indian GDP. That’s seven in 10 new jobs in what might be the world’s most dynamic economy.

How do our peers do it? If you have called an international bank, an airline, or perhaps a hotel chain, there is a high chance that your call will have been routed to one of the outstanding call centres in the subcontinent. You will have noticed the cheerful and can-do manner. You are not put on hold or passed from one office to another. Indian computing and finance employees are being aggressively headhunted globally for their professionalism and work ethic. This has had a tremendous effect on the Indian national spirit and the productivity of its workplaces.

I’m fed up with the mediocrity, endless conferencing and pomposity that the ANC has institutionalised in South Africa. Above all, if elected in Johannesburg, the DA will ensure that our administration will be run with business-like efficiency – citizens and investors alike will know that we are open for business and will work hard to create an enabling environment for economic growth.

We will spend more time getting down to work than speaking about doing work in vacuous conferences.

Governments do not create jobs – they create the conditions for businesses to create jobs.

If we determine that we want Johannesburg to be known as the city of job opportunities, we can reimagine economic development in a new and exciting way. Coupled with our “Service with Pride” culture that will be installed on day one, the business community as a whole will be viewed as a client. Economic development will be all about making that client successful, and they will be treated with the professionalism of a London, New York, Shanghai, or Rio office.

Johannesburg currently lacks a coherent offer to would-be investors. I’ve never heard Mayor Parks Tau make a straightforward case for: “Why Johannesburg?” Instead, South Africa has a notorious reputation for stipulating onerous requirements and conditions to set up a business. Business investors often tell me that they have footloose capital on their balance sheets waiting to be invested somewhere, but they just don’t have confidence in the city.

What can take months in Johannesburg is done in days in Kigali and elsewhere.

I have one simple question for investors: what will you do to create jobs? And when they ask me the same, I will tell them how we have reduced red tape, how informal traders receive trading licences within a few days, how properties are rezoned in a matter of weeks instead of months, how billing is accurate and how we are developing water, electricity and sewage infrastructure to accelerate growth.

We need sound economic policies that speak to solid data. We need government departments and agencies committed to serving their society and everyone who lives in it. Their focus must be the betterment of our city, not themselves. We need every public official doing everything within their power to innovate and make this city work. We need to review and scrap the unnecessary by-laws that hinder economic growth.

McKinsey says is important is to establish the city’s competitive advantages and then construct a winning offer to businesses that makes economic sense for the city. One way cities can do this is by supporting businesses and by connecting them to talent and business resources. In the global South, the DA-led Cape Town and Bogotá do so by providing a one-stop shop for investors, including help with permit applications and training. These welcoming and bright offices are in the centre of both cities.

It’s all about doing the basics right.

In our businesses, my partners and I plan for cost-efficiency. We try to assess and manage expenses well, and we’re always looking out for the best quality services at the most competitive prices. I guess you won’t be surprised if I tell you that we most often find that the smaller businesses live up to those demands.

If elected, the DA will seek out the small businesses and the women and men who want to break through. We will strive to increase our procurement from township businesses and use zero-based budgeting (in which the budget is built from scratch and every line item must be approved).

We’ll trim all the fat. The days of ANC-aligned tenderpreneurs skimming large government contracts will end the day I assume office.

Cities are as dependent on their reputations as you and I are. Word gets around. Corrupt-free cities that pay their suppliers on time enjoy a good reputation. A late payment can push a small family business into the red within weeks. Businesses are adverse to cities tainted by corruption.

Another critical element is to plan for the future and address the threat that cities pose: emitting 80 percent of greenhouse gases. Successful cities anticipate how economic growth will influence the changing needs of the city.

Environmental management should be integrated into the plan.

If we do not develop an integrated public transport system now, we not only wreck economic freedom, we bequeath an expensive and environmental time bomb to our children. Do not believe for one moment that our addiction to the car is true freedom. Many cities have had to take expensive action to fix problems that could have been prevented. It is much easier to follow a vision than to retrofit a vision.

I have a proven track record as a job creator. My party equally has a track record of quality service delivery. Together we run the most efficient administrations, create the best environment for businesses to thrive, and have the highest economic growth. DM