Parking is a major problem, not just at my offices, but just about everywhere one goes.  I cannot tell you how many times I have gone to the Rosebank Medical and Dental Centre or the Rosebank Netcare Hospital and have not been able to find parking.  One goes in, collects one’s parking ticket, drives around only to discover there is no parking, and is forced to look around the area for more parking space.  If it is one word of advice I would give to any business, it is whatever parking you think you will need, multiply that by three or four.  

Of course, part of the problem in South Africa is that we have a very bad public transport system, compared to other countries, and basically you cannot get around anywhere unless you have your own car.  Once people experience the freedom of having their own car, they don’t really want to be part of a lift club, even though that will be better for them, not only from a parking point of view, but more especially from a cost of fuel point of view.  Perhaps part of the answer is for employers to encourage people to form lift clubs and then, if somebody is a member of a lift club and needs to go home early for an emergency or some sort of occasion, have a company car that they can rent at a nominal price – although no doubt that will lead to new complications.  The one thing that is certain is that, apart from the very modern shopping centres, there is invariably not enough parking space in any of the northern suburbs of Johannesburg – whether you are going to a restaurant in Parkhurst, going out in Greenside or visiting a doctor in Rosebank.