Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has urged Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana not to impose any cuts to municipal funding or infrastructure allocations when he tables the national budget this Wednesday.
Hill-Lewis warned that balancing the national budget must not come at the cost of essential local services.
“While billions may be needed to balance the budget, this should never be done by slashing municipal allocations or infrastructure funding,” he said.
He stressed that these allocations are vital for delivering basic services and upgrading infrastructure, especially in poorer communities.
In 2023/24, over R107 million was cut from Cape Town’s grant funding as part of national reductions.
Hill-Lewis noted that the metro has consistently spent at least 99% of its grant funding since 2020, using it to upgrade informal settlements and support free housing for the poorest.
He argued that national government should first cut “waste and excess” within itself before reducing municipal budgets.
“The national government can’t bemoan the state of cities, and then continuously slash municipal infrastructure and service delivery allocations whenever they need to find money,” he said.
The mayor also called for Cape Town to receive its fair share of funding based on updated census figures. As the metro approaches five million residents, it could potentially overtake Johannesburg as the country’s most populous city.
Hill-Lewis warned that without equitable funding aligned to population growth, the burden would shift to local ratepayers.
“As it stands, the City and its ratepayers must already absorb the impact of a R243 million decrease to Cape Town’s Equitable Share for 2025/26 compared to what was gazetted in the Division of Revenue Act in 2023/24,’ he said.
Hill-Lewis also urged Godongwana to honour President Cyril Ramaphosa’s SONA 2024 commitment to introduce new infrastructure funding schemes for cities.
Cape Town is set to invest a record R39.7 billion in infrastructure over the next three years, with 75% of that benefiting low-income households, said Hill-Lewis.
“We need to do even more,in fact, we need to given the urgency of investing in sustainable water, sanitation, electricity, roads, and other infrastructure,” said Hill-Lewis.
He also called for simplified regulations and reduced red tape to enable faster delivery.
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