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Cape Town vs Pretoria

I spent a week in Cape Town, and this allowed me to explore the city. During this time I noticed one thing - Cape Town city is clean. Everytime I was making comparisons with Pretoria. In Cape Town it appears taxis do not cut right into the centre of the city, and this makes for better traffic management. The businesses unlike in many other cities in South Africa are still in the city making the city centre a vibrant place to be at. One brilliant innovation I noticed was how street vendors had neately packaged their wares in a movable, yet portable stand. The neat and slim stand allows the vendors to remain within their alloted bay on the pavement. The other half of the pavement is then free for walkers.

Pretoria city centre is more congested than Cape Town. There are many taxis that drive into the centre of town causing traffic chaos and littering. These taxis hoot endlessly causing an incredible noise pollution. Pretoria's residential areas are a stone's throw from the city centre,this is probably why you have Pretoria congested. But vendors stands are large and tend to occupy the better part of the pavement. It appears as well that some vendors decide to trade anywhere. The municipality does not seem to have an effective way of dealing with littering.One of the big problems with regards to litter is sticking of bills anywhere. Often even what is being advertised in the bills is problematic, eg., advertisement of "safe arbotions". Advertisers of these "safe arbotions" are usually foreign nationals who trade as bogus doctors.

Unlike Cape Town, business left the city centre of Pretoria except for big banks and government departments. But some government like Science and Technology have moved out of the city centre.

Of course in both these cities transport is still a big challenge. Even though Cape Town has an extensive rail network, moving around the city just like in Pretoria is not regular and easy. People still rely on private taxi operator, especially after hours, who charge an arm and a leg for very short distances.

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