Cape Town spends R9.4bn on infrastructure

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis hails 'South African record infrastructure investment'

23 August 2024 - 16:27 By Nhlanhla Mabunda
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Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis delivered his city council address this week.
Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis delivered his city council address this week.
Image: City of Cape Town

Cape Town has invested R9.4bn in infrastructure during the 2023/2024 financial year. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis revealed this during his city council address this week.

On Thursday Hill-Lewis said the city had set a “South African record for the largest single-year infrastructure investment”. He said this was based on verified data for the 2023/24 financial year ending June 30.

“In total, a full 94% of the city’s infrastructure budget was spent or contractually committed for 2023/24,” said Hill-Lewis.

He said the city’s energy directorate was the top performer in the “Billion Club” of directorates with infrastructure budgets of more than R1bn. The energy directorate spent R1.1bn — 94.25% of its overall budget.

“The two other directorates in this category also performed impressively, with water and sanitation spending R3.3bn (93% of budget spent or committed), and urban mobility spending R1.bn (92% spent or committed),” he said.

Other top performers included:

  • safety and security, which spent 99.2% of its R444m budget;
  • human settlements, which spent 98% of its R960m; and
  • corporate services, which spent 96% of its R655m.

 

“This is not only a City of Cape Town record but also a South African record infrastructure investment. To achieve these numbers in a responsible manner requires an extraordinary effort right across the entire Team Cape Town — and we are just getting started,” Hill-Lewis said.

“At a combined R39.5bn for the next three years, our infrastructure budget is 80% bigger than the next biggest city — Johannesburg — and almost 100% bigger than the third biggest, Durban. The vast bulk of this spend — a full 75% — is earmarked for projects that will directly benefit our metro’s lower-income households.

“And while the obvious benefit will be the improved sanitation, better water security, better energy security, expanded public transport, thousands more affordable housing opportunities, safer communities and cleaner public places and waterways, there is also an important job benefit to this investment. We estimate that just the construction industry jobs alone resulting from this three-year R39.5bn infrastructure spend will be in the region of 130,000. That’s a huge employment boost for our city.”

Hill-Lewis called on the National Treasury to increase Cape Town’s conditional grant and equitable share funding in line with the city’s growing population.

“The city estimates that for every additional R100m in national funding received, a further R800m can be leveraged in infrastructure loan financing where needed, given the city’s strong financial position and improved credit rating.

“The census clearly shows major growth in Cape Town, which is set to become South Africa's largest city. We continue to engage in correspondence with National Treasury, expressing the urgency of bringing our allocation of grants — particularly housing grants — as well as our equitable share in line with the latest census data.”

TimesLIVE


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