Cape Crawl goes mainstream – time to consider the “remote” model

By Alec Hogg

Every South African racing enthusiast knows about the Cape Crawl – the canter-then-sprint which is often a feature of races at Kenilworth. The term deserves a wider application nowadays. Ask anyone who has experienced Cape Town’s treacle-like traffic.

It took us an hour and a half to get from the City Bowl to the airport yesterday, even though we started before the afternoon rush began. Were it not for the marvel called Waze – which guided us through a less busy route – we would surely have missed our flight. As doubtless many visitors to Cape Town have done.

At RMB’s annual Global Markets investment conference last week, I chuckled along with 400 others when Wesgro’s MD Tim Harris told my pal Bruce Whitfield he was the reason for the Cape’s terrible traffic. Harris says like Whitfield, another 150 000 former Gautengers have semi-grated to the Fairest Cape, clogging up the roads.

Tim was only half serious. But perhaps it’s time for him – and other Cape business leaders – to promote a “remote” business model. Not sitting together in the same office every day brings challenges. But Cape office serfs can easily spend 10 hours a week driving to and from work. And given the relative excellence of the province’s political governance, those roads aren’t going to get quieter anytime soon.

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