Since the Witwatersrand gold reef was discovered more than 120 years ago underneath what is now Johannesburg, the city has had a reputation as a harsh, get-rich-quick and violent place with little to recommend it beyond its fabled money-making opportunities.

Born and bred Jo’burgers have long bridled at this image – and Jimmy Manyi, the head of the Black Management Forum, the lobbying group for black business people, and group executive, corporate affairs of Tiger Brands, South Africa’s biggest food producer, is no exception.

As a Sowetan by birth who has since the end of apartheid become one of the leading lights of the new black middle class, he knows Johannesburg and its environs as well as anyone. Every weekend he visits his family in Soweto but his home is in one of north Johannesburg’s fancy white-dominated suburbs and during the week he is part of the business elite flitting between the smart hotels and restaurants visiting executives frequent.

“I am a Jo’burg inzile,” he says contrasting himself with those who fled into exile under apartheid. “As a child [in the 1960s and 1970s] coming in from Soweto was like going to a foreign land. We’d come in borrowed time, do business transactions and then get out,” he says. It has become a lot friendlier since then and there’s a lot more racial tolerance than before.”

Hotels

To get the buzz of the place he suggests the Hyatt (011 280 1234) in Rosebank. “You’ll see a lot of Johannesburg’s business community coming together and a lot of BEE [black economic empowerment] deals are crafted there.”

He also recommends the Michelangelo (082 782 3142) in Sandton which has a similar deal-making reputation, and the Melrose Arch, one of Johannesburg’s newer hotels, which he appreciates for its African themed décor. Then there is the Westcliff (011 481 6000) which perches on a ridge and has a spectacular vantage point looking out over the city.

Restaurants

Johannesburg’s restaurant scene has so diversified and expanded in recent years that Mr Manyi finds it hard to pick any favourites. He cites Number Ten Bompas, a boutique hotel (011 325 2422) where we meet and hwhere e regularly has business appointments. Just south of Sandton, it has a spacious garden and a relaxed and even rural feel that defies the hubbub of the busy street outside. He also recommends Auberge Michele, (011 883 7013) in Sandton, for its “five-star” cuisine.

Then, somewhat counter-intuitively, he urges visitors to wangle a lunch invitation to the Rand Club, (011 834 8311). Founded by Cecil Rhodes and other early Randlords, as the mining magnates were known, it was modelled on London gentlemen’s clubs. It occupies a magnificent Victorian building in the city centre. The food has a distinctly old-fashioned club feel – including, of course, a tendency to serve heavy puddings.

What to do (on an afternoon off)

Mr Manyi, 44, is not a golfer and says he hardly ever has time to “chill”, but he highlights Johannesburg’s reputation for some of the best golf courses in South Africa, in particular the course at the Johannesburg Country Club.

A “must” is the Apartheid Museum, which has a permanent and highly-acclaimed exhibition guiding visitors through South Africa’s troubled past. He also strongly recommends one of the organised tours of Soweto.

How to get about

Business visitors should rely on taxis.

Special events

Cape Town, Johannesburg’s dreamier rival city, is better known for concerts and exhibitions. But there are always good plays at the Market Theatre, the centrepiece of the vibrant and revamped arts centre in Newtown, on the edge of the city centre.

What to avoid

There is only one word: crime. Johannesburg has long been known as one of the most violent cities in the world. Mr Manyi concedes this is a big issue but says business and the city authorities are doing their best to address it now, installing more security cameras.

If there’s a group of you, “you will be fine. It is just you would be advised not to walk alone – which is perhaps no different to some other major cities”.

Jimmy Manyi worked as a geologist at Anglo American, the mining group, from 1985 – 1994. After a stint at Harvard’s senior executive programme, from 2000 to 2003 he was head of marketing and business at Nedcor’s short-lived People’s Bank. Since 2006 he has been group executive, corporate affairs of Tiger Brands