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While Cape Town has been recognised as an "opportunity city", Mayor Patrica de Lille says the true test for the city will be integrating all communities.
"I am encouraged to see that Cape Town is recognised as Africa's opportunity city but, in order for us to stay globally competitive, we need to take the city to the next level and create opportunities for all," she said on Sunday.
She was speaking after PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) recognised Cape Town as the top opportunity city in Africa and placed it sixth among middle-income country cities - behind Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Moscow, Shanghai and Mexico City.
READ: We need to talk more about economic legacy of apartheid - Ben Turok
De Lille said the recognition comes as the Statistics SA latest labour force survey report found that employment in the metro grew 4.8% year-on-year.
"Cape Town is also the metro with the lowest expanded unemployment rate at 22.6%. This figure is far below the national rate of 37.2%."
She said independent data and information collated and summarised in the PwC Cities of Opportunity report showed that Cape Town’s overall "opportunity score" was higher relative to other cities with equivalent per capita GDP scores.
"The report benchmarks Cape Town against 31 of the world’s leading cities across 66 indicators of urban success. Globally Cape Town ranked 24th out of all the cities ranked."
Apartheid spatial planning
However, De Lille said the city would have to decisively address apartheid spatial planning.
"[It] keeps the majority of our residents away from opportunities to jobs, good education and healthcare. We also need to improve safety in these communities and support business development."
She added that challenges still remain with a poor commuter rail system.
"Many of our challenges require the City to work with provincial and national government."
De Lille said that in addition to building a better transport network the city was also delivering on its promise to provide housing to those most in need.
She said that for the first time, Cape Town exceeded its housing delivery target by 62% at the end of the 2017/18 financial year in June.
"Despite many challenges, Cape Town is on track to grow our opportunity city. But, to remain globally competitive, we have to take the City to the next level and bring our residents closer to opportunities."
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