City of Cape Town executive mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis is on Wednesday expected to address the metro council on expanded rates relief measures and other changes to the proposed budget, after an uproar from residents over “unaffordable tariff hikes” meant to come into effect on July 1.
The proposed budget includes increases in water, sanitation and cleaning tariffs and a standard R339.89 fixed electricity charge regardless of usage. According to stakeholders, it would worsen the already high cost of living.
Under the new system a household with a property valued at R750,000 will reportedly see a 5.97% increase in rates and taxes, for properties valued at about R3m the increase rises to 13.62%, and homes worth R6m could face a nearly 23% hike.
“We’ve listened carefully to Capetonians and will propose expanded relief measures to further soften monthly bill increases in addition to the major electricity price relief for all households,” the metro’s media office said at the weekend.
The public would have an opportunity to comment from May 28 to June 13 on proposed changes to the city’s “Invested in Hope budget for 2025/26”.
“Cape Town has tabled a South African-record R40bn infrastructure budget, the widest social relief net of any city, and next week we’ll table measures for even further relief on monthly bills, which are already the lowest of SA’s cities despite Cape Town delivering better services and public value compared to other metros,” the municipality said.
Hill-Lewis said his mayoral committee recently considered a report on public participation including a petition calling for the raising of residential electricity prices instead of a citywide cleaning charge.
“Our modelling shows this will negatively impact households and that it is better to pursue other relief measures. It is also not feasible to phase out critical and urgent infrastructure upgrades as the petition requests. Cape Town will not follow the path of decline seen in other cities and there are no non-urgent major infrastructure projects in our capital budget,” he said.
The City of Cape Town Collective Ratepayers’ Association, which represents about 40 ratepayer organisations, said it was disappointed with the budget.
Spokesperson Bas Zuidberg said it is “perplexing” that the city made changes to the draft three days before the public participation deadline. A petition signed by about 10,000 people was ignored, he said.
“Though the city rates calculator was updated with the changes, we believe that ratepayers are entitled to all the details since we are paying for a large part of the budget, and that we shouldn’t have to run the calculator 100 times to see the effect in each category and utility usage scenario. We should also have been given time to react to the full breadth of the changes.
“We are not interested in hearing how bad other metros are. We live here and we cannot afford the increases,” said Zuidberg.
Build One SA (Bosa) spokesperson Roger Solomons said the party welcomed the metro’s decision to table expanded rates relief measures and other changes to the budget during Wednesday’s council sitting.
“This requires opening of a second round of public participation on its proposed 2025/26 budget, an important step in acknowledging the widespread public outcry against unaffordable tariff hikes,” he said.
“This move by the city is a direct result of sustained pressure from Capetonians who have made their voices heard through submissions, meetings and public advocacy. It is a victory for participatory democracy and a clear sign that when residents speak out, government must listen.”
Solomons described the extension as a win for Capetonians. “It proves that civic action works and that no budget should ever be forced through without meaningful consultation.
“Despite this step forward, Bosa maintains that the proposed increases in electricity, water, sanitation and refuse tariffs remain unjustifiable and will worsen the cost-of-living crisis. The introduction of new tariffs, coupled with above-inflation increases, risks entrenching inequality and overburdening struggling households.”
Solomons called on the metro council to “go back to the drawing board and deliver a budget that is affordable, equitable and prioritises cutting waste before cutting deeper into residents’ pockets”.
With Financial Mail
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