Um, yeah I don't buy it. The once grand JHB CBD is still, by and large a complete dump. There are small enclaves of 'hope', funded largely by private money. But the crime and filth still infiltrate - look at the shooting in Maboneng recently. 

I used to work in Maboneng, and had to take the Joe Slovo offramp off the M2. It was a dice for my life every morning, with smash and grabbers standing in plain sight waiting for their opportunity. Every morning, someone from the office was either smashed and grabbed or mugged.

Outside of the miner's 'golden mile' of Main St (Anglo etc), it still remains a 3rd world dump, and opinion pieces like this are irresponsible.