Case Study

South Africa’s underperforming business environment is a key barrier to attracting private investment, expanding firm capacity, and enabling job creation. Declining competitiveness and a lack of sustained reforms have worsened business confidence and slowed economic growth. This note draws on global best practice to explore how countries have successfully tackled business environment challenges through institutional coordination, high-level political ownership, and active private sector engagement.

The Subnational Doing Business (SNDB) study, commissioned in 2014, provided a diagnostic of regulatory performance across nine cities and four ports in South Africa, revealing significant variation in local implementation. It also demonstrated that many constraints can be addressed by replicating existing good practices already found within the country. The note highlights how tailored, well-governed reform programmes—with clear goals, private sector participation, and strong monitoring—can create the conditions for inclusive economic growth.

The publication was prepared for the Cities Support Programme at National Treasury, with support from the World Bank Group and SECO.

Efforts to support township industrialists face significant structural constraints in South Africa’s concentrated economy. The case of Soweto Gold, a craft beer brand founded in Soweto by black entrepreneur Ndumiso Madlala, highlights the persistent barriers to entry for new firms – particularly those led by historically disadvantaged individuals. Despite a strong brand, local roots, and initial support, Soweto Gold faced challenges related to access to finance, distribution, routes to market, and marketing – all within an industry dominated by large, vertically integrated incumbents.

While the acquisition of Soweto Gold by Heineken in 2017 expanded the brand’s reach and scale, it also meant the exit of black ownership and township-based production from the mass market segment. The case illustrates the limitations of transformation in the absence of structural change, and the need for development finance institutions, metros, and policymakers to take a more proactive role in enabling genuine market access and competition.

The publication was produced as part of the Cities Support Programme by National Treasury, with research conducted by the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED).

Collaboration and innovation are central to addressing South Africa’s complex urban economic challenges. Cities play a critical role in enabling inclusive growth, yet often face systemic constraints. The City Economic Development Managers’ Forum (CEDMF) offers a vital platform for metro officials to reflect, learn, and develop shared solutions.

This publication highlights key insights from the 2022 CEDMF engagements, with contributions from all eight metropolitan municipalities. It showcases practical responses to pressing issues, including facilitating investment in Nelson Mandela Bay, using public employment to strengthen waste services in Buffalo City, applying spatial economic data in eThekwini, and exploring new finance and procurement mechanisms. These stories reflect a growing recognition of the value of peer learning, data-informed planning, and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

The publication was produced through the Cities Support Programme at National Treasury, with technical input from the World Bank Group and the active participation of city economic development practitioners across the country.

South African cities face challenges such as fragmented efforts, lack of coordination, and trust deficits in urban economic development. “Partnering for Growth” examines how collaboration between public and private sectors can enhance city competitiveness. Piloted in Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane, and eThekwini, the initiative focused on building technical capacity, strengthening relationships, and driving economic projects.

Through learning events, pilot teams, and peer collaboration, the program sought to break siloed approaches and foster collective action. This case study highlights key interventions, challenges, and lessons in creating sustainable urban economic growth through strategic partnerships.

Key Goals

• Strengthen collaboration between government, business, and civil society.
• Improve city competitiveness by driving job creation and economic growth.
• Overcome trust deficits and fragmented efforts in urban development.

Impact

• Strengthened public-private cooperation.
• Initiated city-specific projects in urban development, innovation, and industry.
• Encouraged long-term mindset shifts toward collaborative economic growth.

This initiative demonstrated that structured collaboration can unlock urban economic potential, but long-term success depends on sustained trust-building and policy alignment.

The Towns Action Network (TAN) is a collaborative initiative aimed at revitalising small towns in South Africa through participatory governance, active citizenship, and cross-sector partnerships. Established in April 2022, TAN serves as a nationwide learning and support network connecting changemakers, municipal administrations, and local communities to co-create sustainable solutions for small town regeneration.

This initiative responds to the decline of small towns, which face challenges such as high unemployment, deteriorating infrastructure, and governance failures. By facilitating knowledge sharing, resource allocation, and partnerships, TAN works to address the root causes of small-town decline and build resilient local economies.

Objectives of TAN

• Strengthen small town economies through improved governance and infrastructure.
• Encourage participatory governance by fostering local partnerships.
• Empower changemakers with tools, funding, and support networks.
• Facilitate knowledge sharing to spread successful strategies.
• Promote active citizenship for community-driven solutions.

Key Lessons Learned

1. Tailored approaches are essential—each town’s needs are unique.
2. Government and citizens must collaborate for effective change.
3. Trust and cooperation take time to build.
4. Hope and local leadership drive sustainable action.
5. Networks like TAN strengthen and scale local regeneration efforts.

TAN supported community-led projects in Theewaterskloof and the Karoo, focusing on heritage tourism, cultural preservation, and local economic growth. By fostering transparent governance and grassroots action, TAN provides a scalable model for sustainable small-town revitalisation in South Africa.

Partnering and collaboration are essential elements for improving public transport, particularly in South Africa, where urban mobility challenges require multi-stakeholder solutions. The City of Tshwane’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, A Re Yeng, exemplifies how partnerships between government, private sector, and communities can drive sustainable and inclusive transport solutions.

There are many ways to partner, yet as with any structured process, successful collaboration requires fundamental principles that can be refined and adapted over time. This case study highlights key elements of success and lessons learned from the implementation of A Re Yeng, serving as an inspiration for future transport initiatives.

Key Objectives:

• Enhance urban mobility through a structured, integrated BRT system.
• Foster multi-stakeholder collaboration to drive infrastructure development.
• Improve transport efficiency, safety, and sustainability.
• Promote economic inclusion and accessibility for commuters.

This case study demonstrates how strategic partnerships and community engagement contribute to sustainable public transport solutions. For a deeper understanding of the approach, challenges, and outcomes, refer to the full case study available from the National Treasury’s Cities Support Programme.

The case study examines efforts to revitalize industrial spaces in Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, and eThekwini. Declining infrastructure, poor service delivery, and mismanagement threatened economic activity and jobs. A phased, collaborative approach was implemented to improve urban management, reinvest revenue, and engage local communities, ensuring long-term sustainability.

The revitalisation efforts focused on:

• Transversal Collaboration: Promoting integrated planning and cooperation across various government departments and stakeholders to enhance service delivery and urban management.
• Recognising Economic Importance: Acknowledging the significant contributions of industrial spaces to local and national economies, thereby prioritising their revitalisation.
• Building Capacity and Institutional Models: Developing effective management structures and building capacity within municipalities to oversee and sustain industrial spaces.
• Reinvesting Park Revenue: Ensuring that revenue generated within industrial parks is reinvested to maintain and improve infrastructure and services.
• Community Engagement: Fostering positive relationships with neighboring communities to support and protect industrial spaces.
• Phased and Integrated Approach: Implementing revitalisation in stages, focusing first on essential services and infrastructure before advancing to more complex interventions.

The case study underscores the importance of collaborative, area-based, and integrated planning in revitalizing industrial spaces to enhance economic performance and inclusivity.

Partnering and collaboration are essential elements for food system change, particularly in South Africa where the mandate for food is scattered across government departments, and the food system is largely driven by market forces rather than nutritional needs. There are also many competing approaches to addressing food security, which include providing food aid as a safety net to the poor, increasing food production, prioritising rural development, strengthening consumer agency and government regulation, and improving nutrition and diet.

There are many ways to partner, yet as with any recipe, a partnering process starts with the basics and can be adapted and improved over time. This guide reflects the outcomes of a Recipes for Partnering workshop – held under Food Dialogues 2022 – which brought together government and civil society representatives working to improve food security in the Western Cape. The four case studies included here highlight key elements for success, which we hope provide inspiration for future collaboration. 

The publication was produced in partnership with the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership (EDP), African Centre for Cities, Southern Africa Food Lab, and the South African Food and Farming Trust.

Like many global cities, South Africa’s cities grapple with high volumes of waste and shrinking landfill sites. Small-scale waste recycling centers and informal waste pickers offer a powerful solution: by sorting waste efficiently and economically, they ease the pressure on the city’s waste system while creating local employment.

However, these smaller entities face many challenges when it comes to integrating into the formal recycling economy. Chief among these is navigating government procurement processes, which favor larger companies that can steer through the complex tender processes and meet the stringent requirements.

This means that contractors are slowly displacing local entities already operating in many neighborhoods, while the smaller players are prevented from bringing their real value to the metro areas and citizens alike.

There is hope however. Though four unique case studies developed from field research and interviews with experts, practitioners, city officials in Drakenstein Municipality, eThekwini, Cape Town, and Worcester, the consultancy Local South on behalf of the EDP has identified three innovative ways of successful, safe and legal procurement with small entities.

These case studies provide other African cities with potential models as they pioneer their own approaches toward bringing small businesses into the circular economy. They will be of interest to local, national, and international practitioners, given the huge lack of global research in this area.