SA should consider building a new smart city with skyscrapers, schools, universities, hospitals and factories, President Cyril Ramaphosa suggested on Thursday.
SA has not built a new city in the 25 years of democracy.
“I dream of a South Africa where the first entirely new city built in the democratic era rises, with skyscrapers, schools, universities, hospitals and factories,” Ramaphosa said as he concluded his state of the nation address.
He also spoke of a dream of a a bullet train linking all major cities in SA up to Musina.
“This dream has been fuelled by my conversations with four people: Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Dr Naledi Pandor, Ms Jessie Duarte and President Xi Jinping, whose account of how China is building a new Beijing has helped to consolidate my dream,” the president said.
Ramaphosa said 70% of South Africans are going to be living in the urban areas by 2030.
“The cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane, Cape Town and Ethekwini are running out of space to accommodate all those who throng to the cities. Has the time not arrived for us to be bold and reach beyond ourselves and do what may seem impossible? Has the time not arrived to build a new smart city founded on the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution?"
“I would like to invite South Africans to begin imaging this prospect.”
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