Department of Economic Development MMC Leah Knott announced a total of R17,29 billion rand as facilitated investment, at the end of the 2018/19 financial year.
Knott said an internal audit report has revealed that in the preliminary figures the City under-reported by R937, 300,000.00. She added that the reported investment target is made of 47 individual investments that made the total. A breakdown of these can be seen below for each individual quarter.
| Quarter | Investment attracted |
| 1 | R2,590,000,000.00 |
| 2 | R6,332,300,000.00 |
| 3 | R4,844,200,000.00 |
| 4 | R1,570,000,000.00 |
| Urban Development Zone | R1,956,085,992.85 |
| TOTAL | R17,292,585,992.85 |
Knott said since the multi-party government came into office, the City facilitated only R4,4 billion in investments, and this is a great achievement indeed.
“It has been the main task of the City’s Department of Economic Development to ensure that the economy of Johannesburg continues to grow at rapid rate. Investment is an indication that the multi-party administration is well on the path of realising the five percent economic growth, ultimately curbing rising unemployment, by 2021. The audited figures have also shown an increase of 17 277 in the number of SMMEs supported. This is an increase of about 500 from the initial figures in the preliminary report”, she said.
Leah said SMMEs are the backbone of this economy, and creating much-needed jobs. She added that their role as government is to ensure they create an enabling environment for SMMEs to keep growing.
“This has been a great achievement for this administration, with the numbers bearing testament that we are indeed on the right track. To date the City has opened seven Opportunity Centres across the City to assist small business owners to run sustainable business that will create jobs. These Centres operate as one stop shops, offering various free services including mentoring workshops, assistance with business registration and compliance, and advice from qualified business advisors”, she said.
Knott added that they have received numerous success stories from their opportunity centres in Alexandra, Diepsloot, Klipfontein and the Inner-city. She said it is clear that entrepreneurs and jobs seekers are finally linked to real opportunities.
“The objective of this multi-party government is restore hope and to ensure that every citizen is afforded an opportunity to participate positively in the economy of Johannesburg, bringing Diphetogo to the residents of our City. As a collective, we are able to turn around this City and ensure our children inherit a better Johannesburg than we did”, she said.
