After encountering an "accumulation of micro-aggressions" on the streets of Cape Town, Duma Gqubule, director of the Centre for Economic Development and Transformation, vowed he would not return - and for many years he didn't. "I've been to Harare, to Mount Kilimanjaro and to Dar es Salaam more than I've been to Cape Town," he said. He is one of many black professionals happy to give the Mother City's lifestyle a pass. Their experiences were tainted by an undercurrent of perceived racism, manifesting in the representation of patrons at restaurants or choice of language spoken in boardrooms. "I've had a lot of friends in financial services that go to Cape Town for a few years to get ahead in their companies. But they always return to Joburg when they are recognised," Gqubule said. According to Statistics South Africa the number of black professionals working in Cape Town has shrunk from 26,000 in January 2015 to 17,000 this year. Valerie Tapela, an MPhil in coaching management from t...
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