Mashaba eyes Jhb Inner City revival as small business launchpad

Newly elected Johannesburg executive mayor Herman Mashaba on Tuesday vowed to breathe life back into Johannesburg’s Inner City and create a platform of opportunities for smaller businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive. In what is a rapidly transforming urban space of mixed development types, which served for decades as the central business district of the sprawling metropolitan area, opportunities abound. With an unemployment rate of 31%, leaving 800 000 of the City of Johannesburg’s residents without jobs, a new ten-point plan has been drawn up, aimed at tackling the most pressing issues, including corruption, unemployment, stalled economic growth and housing, as the new administration works to rebuild a decayed “inheritance”.