Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis tabled Cape Town’s R76,4bn draft budget for 2024/25 on Wednesday, 27 March 2024. The City’s ‘Building for Jobs’ budget proposes a record infrastructure investment of R12,1bn in 24/25, and nearly R40bn over three years. Find the full budget speech here.
In an address to City Council, Mayor Hill-Lewis said the scale of Cape Town’s infrastructure spending – worth R120bn over ten years – will far surpass other cities, as the metro prepares to overtake Johannesburg as South Africa’s most populous.
‘Our mission is to make Cape Town work by investing, on an unprecedented scale, in the city’s infrastructure. Because when Cape Town works, Capetonians work.
‘The City’s R39,7bn investment in infrastructure over the next three years will create around 130 000 jobs, purely based on construction alone.
‘This is a budget that will set us on a path towards the kind of job-creating economic growth that will truly make Cape Town the City of Hope. That’s why we’ve called this 2024/25 Budget the “Building for Jobs” Budget.
‘Since the start of this term of office in November 2021, Cape Town has added 363 000 new jobs, according to StatsSA. Our economy is robust, growing fast and creating jobs. Factories are hiring more people, call centres are hiring, entrepreneurs are taking the plunge and starting businesses.
‘People are moving their lives and businesses here from around the country knowing that, in the words of the President, “at least there is one province and one city that works,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
Infrastructure spend targets lower income households
Mayor Hill-Lewis said that 75% of the City’s infrastructure spending would directly benefit lower-income households and areas.
‘We are acutely aware that our determination to build a City of Hope will only ring true if that hope is experienced by all Capetonians.
‘That is why our investments target Cape Town’s fastest-growing, and poorest areas, with infrastructure projects that will, over time, unstitch the unjust legacy of our country’s past.
‘For many people in Cape Town – and throughout South Africa – hope comes from living in more dignified conditions. Dignified housing, dignified sanitation services, dignified neighbourhoods, streets and public spaces.
‘So we are racing to upgrade bulk sewer lines and wastewater treatment works, to quadruple the amount of sewer pipes we replace, to expand our world-class MyCiti bus service to new routes, to put more Capetonians families into affordable housing and to deploy even more law enforcement officers to high crime areas.
‘With deep love for our country, with boldness of vision and firmness of belief, we know that Cape Town can show that it is possible to roll back poverty, that we can overcome the long shadows of our past, and that our country can still realise the society dreamed of in the founding document of our democracy, the Constitution,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
Social package
Cape Town’s 2024/25 Budget includes a R4,8bn social package made up of R2,2bn in rates rebates and R2,6bn in indigent relief.
‘Our R4,8bn social package has increased by over R1bn since the first full budget of this administration in 2022/23.
‘If yours is one of the 192 500 properties in Cape Town valued at under R450 000, or if your household income is below R7 500, your monthly benefits will include 100% rebate for property rates and refuse removal, 15kl of free water, 10,5kl of free sanitation and up to 60 free units of electricity.
‘More pensioners and social grant recipients will benefit from rates rebates, from the raised upper qualifying limit since 2023/24, from R17 500 to R22 000 total monthly household income,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
Despite Cape Town’s record infrastructure investments surpassing other cities, the City’s annual property rates increase has been limited to an inflation-related 5,7%, and water and sanitation to 6,8%.
The City has further reduced Eskom’s 12,72% electricity increase to municipalities to 11,78% for City customers.
‘Most importantly, today we include a significant price reduction for larger families or backyard dwellers who use more than 600 units on the Lifeline tariff.
‘I’m pleased to announce that our Lifeline customers using over 600 units will now pay 44% less – that’s R1,89 less per unit. This is to help larger households, backyard dwellers, and those using more electricity in winter.
‘You will remember that last year we raised the number of units that could be bought by Lifeline customers on the cheaper tariff from 350 to 600 units a month.
‘Thanks to these changes, Lifeline customers using 600 units in a month, will pay R113,94 less compared to two years ago in 2022/23. No other city has reduced the price of electricity for indigent households over the last two years.
‘And now Lifeline customers can buy cheaper units above 600 units too, as long as they continue to qualify for the Lifeline tariff,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
Ending load-shedding
Mayor Hill-Lewis said the budget includes R480m this year towards the City’s plan for four stages of load-shedding protection by 2026.
Over three years, the City estimates it will spend an estimated R722m on independent power purchases, and R4bn on upgrading Cape Town’s electrical grid to ensure it can cope with a dynamic, decentralised energy future.
The City will further invest heavily to make service delivery load-shedding proof, with a budget of R680m over three years.
This includes making our municipal buildings more energy efficient, installing small-scale embedded generation at City facilities, developing our ground-mounted Solar PV plant at Atlantis, as well as various investments in generators, inverters, battery storage and UPS for hundreds of traffic signals.
R5,5bn to make Cape Town safer
Mayor Hill-Lewis said the level of violent crime that South Africans are subjected to is not something that belongs in a modern democracy.
‘The increasing infiltration of organised crime into more and more of ordinary life is of profound concern.
‘And while policing is still a function of the national government, this does not mean that we will stand by and watch as criminals run rampant.
‘We allocate R5,5bn to Safety and Security in this budget, and we intend to make every cent of that money work hard to keep Capetonians safer,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
Over the next three-years, the City plans to invest R610m in safety technology, with an additional R200m already invested in the current financial year.
This includes R29,7m on CCTV cameras, R83,5m on SA’s biggest dash and body cam rollout, R94,5m on aerial surveillance, R10m on gunshot detection, R15m on drones, and R355 million on our overall EPIC digital coordination across safety services for smart policing.
The City is further training new metro police officers to act as force multipliers for our operations, and to assist SAPS in the fight against crime.
‘In this year’s budget we have set aside R34m to train 1000 new Metro Police candidates who will be critical force multipliers for our policing operations in the coming years. We’ve also set aside R138m to procure new vehicles over the three-year period,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
More Building for Jobs Budget highlights
Improving public transport, over 3 years:
- R6.28bn MyCiTi new route (Khayelitsha / Mitchells Plain etc)
- R668m on MyCiti buses,
- R221m on MyCiti bus stops, and
- R176 million in upgrades to 65 Public Transport Interchanges
Better Roads and Streetlighting:
- R764m for repairs to streetlights in 24/25 alone
- R826m for road maintenance and pothole repairs in 24/25
- R735 million on road upgrades over three years
- R444m in congestion relief projects over three years
Community facility upgrades over three years:
- R138 million for sports facilities
- R41 million for swimming pools
- R76 million for community and recreational facilities
- R149 million for parks and public spaces
- R120 million in library upgrades, equipment, and books
R3.7bn in informal settlement upgrades over three years:
- R126m for new water, sanitation and waste installations,
- R36m for electrification,
- R1 billion in bulk services, serviced sites, roads, super-blocking and emergency
- R2,5 billion for fully subsidised free housing.
How to comment
Comment on the Building for Jobs Budget 24/25 from 28 March – 30 April 2024, visit: https://bit.ly/3Ts73SI
