Ernest Oppenheimer was on to something when he directed the design of Welkom, or Circle City. Its circles are just about the only solid element in a city battered after the decline of gold mining and years of mismanagement ravaged its coffers.
Due to a failure to invest in bulk infrastructure, the city's water pipes have long given in. Residents are used to water outages that last several days.
Welkom is the second-biggest city in the Free State and forms part of the Matjhabeng municipality, which includes Allanridge, Hennenman, Odendaalsrus, Ventersburg and Virginia. This week, it hosted a two-day investment summit to reimagine its future.
Its mayor, Thanduxolo Khalipha, is among the politicians who have risen in the province after the fall of former strongman Ace Magashule. Khalipha speaks a language of revival that seeks to improve municipal performance and investor confidence.
The Thabo Mbeki Foundation is one of the entities in partnership with the municipality in confidence building through events such as the summit.
If Khalipha succeeds it may be a micro-lesson for many leaders in South Africa, including President Cyril Ramaphosa.
This week, business leaders encircled Ramaphosa and would have been happy with several wins after their meeting on Tuesday.
Ramaphosa and his ministers will probably feel suffocated by how business moves in. The business sector has increasingly pressured the government to deal with structural issues that hobble the economy and private enterprise. These include the energy crisis, logistics network frustrations and crime. This week's developments show increasing anxiety from the private sector about government underperformance.
The single biggest structural issue facing South Africa is the state of the state
Another factor lurking in the background is the ANC's succession culture. If the initiatives are successful, Ramaphosa could benefit hugely as they would ultimately save his presidency.
It is possible that one of the considerations is how the ANC would manage a Ramaphosa exit. In many minds, a failing Ramaphosa might not be the worst problem for South Africa. No-one can guarantee that the ANC can manage his exit and still be able to put up a successor who would succeed where he failed.
This week's agreement between Team Ramaphosa and business will see regular meetings being held. It's a case of business moving in powerfully. It may work as ministers will be mindful of the need to table weekly progress updates. In effect, this partnership seeks to achieve what Ramaphosa should be doing every week with his ministers.
It may also fail at the leadership level. I'm told that Thabo Mbeki held regular meetings with Ramaphosa's team individually, in which they took him through their economic policy plans. You have to imagine Mbeki, in his typically impatient manner, listening to Fikile Mbalula talk about transport policy, from rail to the sky, during his time as transport minister.
While business leaders can take a lot of positives from the recent interactions with the executive, the single biggest structural issue facing South Africa is the state of the state.
The government does not have the capacity to handle the required tasks. Many initiatives are not implemented because of a gap between what the politicians undertake to do and what the bureaucrats can achieve.
The timing of the agreements this week is also not good. The politicians are preparing for an election next year and can be expected to focus on the campaign trail. The paralysis that has been synonymous with this government will persist.
Strangely, with all the capacity problems, the shadow state is able to run its own programmes. Government budgets do not go unspent when there is policy paralysis. The civil servant carries on in a merry-go-round, as if driving through Welkom's traffic circles.
The tenderpreneurs are the biggest beneficiaries when the policy lever is ignored, yet “programmes” are funded.
In the new partnership, Ramaphosa can benefit. Or he may be smothered and carry on reluctantly, like the perpetually underperforming employee he resembles. In that case, business will look like a human resources department placing a struggling employee under performance review.
The big question remains: with all its resources, what, realistically, and without micromanaging a disinterested and overwhelmed Ramaphosa, can business do to save South Africa? For example, many business leaders wish to help with the skills or education crisis. How that can be done is a challenge of imagination.
Saving a drowning politician and his direct reports requires skills the business sector still needs to portray.
• Mkokeli is lead partner at public affairs consultancy Mkokeli Advisory
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