"Cape Town and Durban are basically villages."

[Balsak]

I don't believe the comparably higher infrastructure spending in Gauteng is unfair in any way. No one would rightly dispute Gauteng's status as the country's economic backbone. Without the region and the people who drive it we would all be worse off.

Gauteng's contribution to the national GDP simply overshadows that of the other provinces. Macroeconomic theory dictates that increases in total spending leads to increases in demand, which in turn leads to increases in production and concomitant increases in income. Higher income leads to increased spending and the whole process repeats itself. This is nothing new and it simply means that those who contribute and perform are rewarded many fold.

Driving around in JHB suggests that we should be spending even more on infrastructure in Gauteng. I know other cities, especially Cape Town, also have major problems with traffic congestion, but it is on a much smaller scale than we are dealing with in JHB and PTA.

Also, business deals are made on the golf course, at the pub, after church, over dinner. New opportunities come from meeting new people and the Internet just doesn't cut it as far as quality of networking goes, so I understand the desire to be close to your existing / potential clientele.

As far as lifestyle goes, few would argue that Table Mountain is pretty. The air is fresh and life is slow. Some, however, prefer the pace of JHB. The culture and the people are different - Cape Town is slow but pretty, in Durban people can't speak / understand anything but English, but their beaches are first class, in Bloemfontein nothing really happens but the people are friendly. So which city is better?