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Eskom load-shedding: 31 May

Eskom customers on Stage 6 from 16:00 on Wednesday until 05:00 on Thursday. Then on Stage 4 from 05:00 on Thursday. City customers are on Stage 4 until 20:00 on Wednesday then Stage 6 from 20:00 until 05:00 on Thursday. Check the schedule and be prepared for outages.

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Registration now open for the 2023 Informal Sector Summit & Expo

The City of Cape Town encourages participants in the informal economy, such as traders, to register for this year's sectoral summit, which will take place on Tuesday, June 13, 2023

The Informal Economy Summit & Expo is an annual event, hosted by the City of Cape Town's Economic Growth Directorate to discuss informal sector policy formulation, strategic intervention, infrastructure planning and review, stakeholder management, and informal trader governance to name a few. The 2023 summit is expanded to include Informal Traders, food system stakeholders and others. Each subsector stakeholder will have an opportunity to discuss and give input to the issues affecting them directly in a breakaway session designed specifically for them. The Summit aims to:<ul style="list-style-type:disc;"><li>Engage the informal sector stakeholders on strategic matters relating to the development and growth of the informal economy.</li><li>Foster closer relations with the informal sector to achieve the City of Cape Town's vision of being a City of Hope.</li><li>Position the informal economy as an economic growth opportunity for all citizens of Cape Town.</li></ul> 'The informal economy is an important provider of goods and services to consumers and communities, and crucially sustains livelihoods. The City will continue to support growth by investing in trading infrastructure, capacity building, improving market management and fostering supportive platforms like the Informal Economy Summit and Expo,' said Alderman James Vos, the City's Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth. To register your attendance at the Informal Economy Summit & Expo, click <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdljJGl44wEYqSHSozKnyIBkOyciETb6ZhGuoNNC2OoQ8yMVw/viewform">here</a>. Informal Economy Summit details:Date: Tuesday, 13 June 2023Time: 09:00 – 16:00Venue: City Hall, Darling Street, Cape Town (Entrance via Corporation Street)Contact: <a href="mailto:events2@calibergroupsa.co.za" target="_blank">events2@calibergroupsa.co.za</a>Whatsapp 065 9965 1002 End

2023-05-30T22:00:00Z

A Budget that builds hope for all

Budget Vote Speech

Speaker ColleaguesMembers of the public and guestsMembers of the media Good Morning, Molweni, Goeiemôre, Assalamu alaikum. I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of the children who tragically lost their lives in the vehicle accident in Mitchells Plain yesterday morning. I pray that you find strength and comfort in these difficult times. Speaker, it is my pleasure and my honour to table today, for adoption, the City of Cape Town's Budget for 2023/24. This follows two months of extensive engagement with City stakeholders, partners, residents, the business sector, NGOs and religious organisations. When I tabled this draft Budget at the end of March, I said that this is a budget with which we can build hope in Cape Town. At just over R70bn it is, by some distance, the biggest budget in our city's history, and the scope of future planning that this enables will set Cape Town on a path of growth and progress for many years to come. Our budget team, which includes some of the smartest and most hard-working people in the City, managed to strike a perfect balance between ambitious forward planning, the immediate needs of the city's most vulnerable residents, and respect and understanding for the increasing pressures felt by ratepayers. While many other metros and municipalities are struggling to keep up with service delivery demand and the substantial investment in infrastructure that this requires, we have just tabled a record R11bn capital expenditure budget, and we have clear plans and targets to stay ahead of the rate of population growth and urbanisation in Cape Town. I have mentioned this before, and I will do so again because it is significant: We are spending considerably more on infrastructure than the other two big cities, Johannesburg and eThekwini. In fact, over the next three years we will invest more in infrastructure than those two metros combined. And we will spend more on infrastructure than the five smaller metros – Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo City, Mangaung, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni – combined. And, importantly, our spending is picking up momentum and increasing year-on-year. This year's R11bn infrastructure budget becomes R14bn next year, and then R18bn the year after that. Just the water and sanitation portion alone will grow from R2,3bn this year to R7,8bn in 2025/26. That is why we can take on mega-projects right across the metro. That is why Cape Town will be ready for the future. We are doubling, and then doubling again, our sewer pipe replacements. We are massively expanding our budgets for pump station upgrades, for sewer jet cleaning, and for bulk sewer upgrades. We are expanding our MyCiti bus service to link Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain with Wynberg and Claremont. We are expanding our Metro Police training college and we have budgeted for 85 new Metro Police officers this year. We are expanding our city's crime-fighting technology with R860m worth of cameras, drones and gunshot-tracing tech over the next 3 years. We are expanding our City-run Safe Space transitional shelters. We are expanding our land release for social housing and our budget for "no-cost" transfers of rental housing units, and what a pleasure it was to visit Leonsdale yesterday where 90 of these homes have been transferred already, with 190 to go. And, importantly, we are expanding our interventions to end load-shedding in Cape Town to the tune of R2.3bn over the next three years. We are expanding all of these things because our city is expanding, and at a rapid rate. And if we want that to be our strength rather than a crisis, we need to get ahead and stay ahead of that growth. This budget will let us do just that. But, Speaker, I know that South Africans everywhere – including here in Cape Town – are very concerned about the future of our country, and about their own financial situations. In the two months since the draft budget was presented to this council, our country's situation has deteriorated. The rand has lost a lot of value, our energy situation has become even more precarious, and our place in the world has come under scrutiny, further threatening our trade with some of our most important global partners. All of these things have placed a suffocating grip on our economy, which shows no imminent signs of recovery. Food prices continue to climb, fuel prices continue to climb, and South Africans are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. Eskom's massive 18 and a half percent increase to the electricity tariff is going to further deplete household budgets that are already stretched to breaking point, and the latest hike to the interest rate will compound the pressure for those paying off home loans and other debt. That is the situation we face as we head into winter – unsure of Eskom's ability to sustain electricity supply, unsure of what will happen to the price of a basket of basic food items, and unsure of our country's future in the eyes of the world. Again, South Africans have been told to tighten their belts, but for many there is no more tightening to be done. Poor households across the country are already on the brink and don't want to be told, by a national government living it up on taxpayer-funded perks, to tighten the belt. They want to hear that there is a plan to ease some of the burden – a plan to expand relief measures and to help put some rands back in their pockets every month. Speaker, that is one of the goals we set out to achieve with this budget, and I am proud to table a budget that does more for the poor – by every conceivable metric – than any other city in the country. I know our city's poorest residents will still struggle in these tough times, but I also know that they will get far more protection against cost-of-living pressures through this budget than residents of any other city or town. Our total social support package has gone up by more than half a billion rand this year to R4,3bn, of which R2,37bn will be for free basic services and R1,96bn will go towards rates rebates. Cape Town continues to offer the highest allocation of free water at 15kl, the highest allocation of free sanitation at 10.5kl and the most free electricity units of all the metros linking social relief to property value. A full 40% of households in Cape Town will receive water and sanitation services free of charge – by far the highest in the country. Speaker, households are also facing Eskom's massive, unjust 18,49% Eskom tariff hike. The City has absorbed as much of this as possible – lowering it to 17,6%, and we are working as hard and as fast as we can to move away from our dependency on Eskom's unreliable, expensive electricity. There is, however, good electricity news in this budget for lower-income households on the Lifeline tariff. They will receive special protection, paying 50% less for electricity in the 350 to 450 unit monthly usage band. This amounts to R1,84 per unit, instead of R3,71 without City protection. In addition to this, we've also upped the property value criteria to qualify for the Lifeline tariff, from R400 000 to R500 000, because we know that property values have grown and we still want all those Lifeline customers to qualify. Another big intervention to ease the burden on struggling household budgets is the 50% increase on the rates-free portion of properties under R5m. That rates-free portion used to be R300 000, but now you'll pay no rates on the first R450 000 of your property value. This has already been unanimously endorsed by Council. There is also no more stepped rebate – everyone under the R7 500 monthly income threshold will get a 100% rebate for property rates and refuse removal. We're talking about 192 500 households across Cape Town. And we have raised the qualifying income limit for pensioners to R22 000, enabling many more pensioners to benefit from rates rebates in Cape Town. So whether you go by property value, or whether you go by monthly income, no metro offers more indigent relief than we do. I want to encourage Capetonians to find out whether they qualify for indigent benefits, and to then make use of this important financial assistance. So I now want to speak directly to Capetonians who could get help but may not know how to access all the help we are offering. If you are: <ul><li>A pensioner with a household income of less than R22 000 per month</li><li>Living off social grants</li><li>Have a household income of less than R7500 per month</li></ul> Then you qualify for indigent relief or pensioners relief which includes totally free rates and steeply discounted service charges. All you need to do is visit your nearest municipal walk-in centre, or you can contact your ward councillor or subcouncil office, or you can fill in the forms on our website and email them to <a href="mailto:rates.rebate@capetown.gov.za" target="_blank">rates.rebate@capetown.gov.za</a> If you do go to a walk-in centre, there are a few documents you will need to take along with you. They are:<ul><li>Your ID card.</li><li>A bank statement for the last three months</li><li>A bond statement for the past three months if you have one</li></ul> If you are employed, you'll also need to take along your latest payslip or a letter from your employer stating your income. Indigent support and rates relief are there to help Capetonians get through the month with some money to spare for necessities. I urge you to find out if these measures apply to you. I also remind all our residents who have built up debt with the Council that dates back to Covid lockdown or even before Covid, that you may qualify for debt write off under Cape Town's debt assistance programme. I'm pleased to report that over 63 400 Capetonians have received partial or full debt write-off under this programme so far. That is great news. But we still have many families who can benefit from this programme, and I encourage them also to make their way to a walk-in centre to discuss it with one of our client care professionals. Speaker, this is a budget that cares for the vulnerable and protects the poor from the worst blows of our struggling economy. Not all the blows – life will still be hard for many until our economy recovers and more people can find work – but certainly the worst blows. On top of these measures to shield low-income households in Cape Town from ever-increasing cost of living pressures, Cape Town also continues to offer its ratepayers by far the biggest bang for their rates and tariffs buck of all the metros with the lowest property rates for both residential and commercial properties, based on the cent-in-the-rand rate. You might wonder how all of this is possible. How can we table the biggest infrastructure spend of all the metros, the biggest indigent relief of all the metros and the lowest property rates of all the metros? The maths shouldn't work. Yet it does. And it works because our metro works. Investors are attracted to where they have confidence in the future. In Cape Town they see a safe bet. They see a City planning far ahead and investing in the critical infrastructure that will make this a viable place to run a business decades into the future. They see a City working hard to remove bureaucratic obstacles, rather than impose them. They see a City that cares for all its residents and is building a shared prosperity. Investors are attracted to this kind of good governance, which leads to increased revenue, which keeps rates in check, and which then allows for higher spending on services and infrastructure. It's a virtuous cycle that raises the quality of life for all who live here. That is what this budget represents. It is the result of many years of clean and responsible governance, and I am truly excited about what it will achieve in the coming years for this metro. I want to thank everyone who worked tirelessly for months to make it happen – our CFO and his budget team, our excellent policy unit, my Mayoral Committee, the city's Executive Management Team, and every councillor and official in this administration. You deserve a lot of credit for the critical work you have enabled in the metro through this budget. And finally, I want to thank our city's ratepayers for their loyal support for our mission of building a City of Hope for all. I assure you, we will always strive to be responsible and accountable with your valuable rates contributions. Speaker, Cape Town's 2023/24 annual budget is hereby tabled for adoption and implementation. Thank you.

2023-05-30T22:00:00Z

Cape Town passes the ‘Building Hope’ Budget for 2023/24

City Council has passed Cape Town’s ‘Building Hope’ Budget for 2023/24 today, 31 May 2023.

'Our budget team, which includes some of the smartest and most hard-working people in the City, managed to strike a perfect balance between ambitious forward planning, the immediate needs of the city's most vulnerable residents, and respect and understanding for the increasing pressures felt by ratepayers. While many other metros and municipalities are struggling to keep up with service delivery demand and the substantial investment in infrastructure that this requires, we have just tabled a record R11bn capital expenditure budget, and we have clear plans and targets to stay ahead of the rate of population growth and urbanisation in Cape Town,' said Mayor Hill-Lewis. <figure class="subtopic-fullsize-img"> <img src="https://resource.capetown.gov.za/cityassets/Media%20Images%202/speechvote1.JPG" class="responsive" alt="" style="width:949px;" /> </figure>The budget includes the most comprehensive social package of metros linking indigent relief to property value, with a 100% rates rebate for all properties valued under R450 000, 15kl of free water, and up to 60 free electricity units monthly.Lifeline electricity customers will also pay 50% less in the 350 – 450 unit usage band, and the City has managed to reduce Eskom's 18,5% to 17,6% for all customers. The budget further makes it easier for more pensioners and social grant recipients to get rates rebates by raising the qualifying threshold to R22 000 monthly income. Cape Town's ratepayers will also benefit from the lowest rates for residential and commercial properties of South Africa's metros based on the cent-in-the-rand-rate, with the first R450 000 rates-free on all properties valued under R5 million. The City's new Building Hope Budget positions Cape Town for economic growth and job creation, including: <ul><li>A R2,3bn end load-shedding plan</li><li>40% bigger infrastructure budget, surpassing even the World Cup investment at a record R11bn</li><li>Big increases of 100% or more for better sanitation networks to meet the needs of a growing city</li><li>R2,2bn for new water sources, R2,6bn for better roads, </li><li>And R860m in Technology to Make Cape Town Safer, including CCTV, drones, and dashcams</li></ul>Based on an analysis of tabled budgets for each of the metros: <ul><li>Cape Town will spend more on infrastructure than Johannesburg and Durban combined over the next three years</li><li>Adjusted per capita, Cape Town is spending 105% more on infrastructure in 23/24 than Joburg – SA's largest city by population</li><li>Roughly 73% - or R8bn - of Cape Town's R11bn capital budget goes towards critical infrastructure servicing lower-income households in our city. </li><li>Despite much higher infrastructure investments than the rest, Cape Town is also SA's metro with the lowest rates for both commercial and residential properties in 2023/24 based on the cent-in-the-rand rate, a statutory measure to calculate property rates. </li></ul> <figure class="subtopic-fullsize-img"> <img src="https://resource.capetown.gov.za/cityassets/Media%20Images%202/speechvote2.JPG" class="responsive" alt="" style="width:949px;" /> </figure>Residents may qualify for indigent support if they:• are a homeowner• earn R7 500 or less per month• own only one property• are the full-time occupant of the home• use the home mainly for residential purposes• are a child who lives in the home of a parent who has passed away• received the house in a divorce settlement• depend on a pension or a social grant for their livelihood Applicants will need:• proof of identification (ID book/card or passport)• a bank statement for the last three months or a sworn affidavit stating that they do not have a bank account• a bond statement for the last three months or a sworn affidavit stating that they do not have a bond account• a copy of the estate documents if the applicant has inherited his or her house If residents are employed, they must also include:• latest salary/wage pay slip or a letter from an employer stating their income• a sworn affidavit if they are self-employed stating how much is earned per month• proof if a disability grant, maintenance grant or pension is received If residents are unemployed, they must include the following in the application:• a sworn affidavit stating that they are unemployed• a sworn affidavit stating that they have no other source of income Useful contacts and information: For rates or services relief• Visit: <a href="https://www.capetown.gov.za/City-Connect/Apply/Financial-relief-and-rebates/Individuals/Apply-for-indigent-rates-relief" target="_blank">https://www.capetown.gov.za/City-Connect/Apply/Financial-relief-and-rebates/Individuals/Apply-for-indigent-rates-relief</a> or a City customer office. • Email: <a href="mailto:indigent.relief@capetown.gov.za" target="_blank">indigent.relief@capetown.gov.za</a> Pensioner rates relief• Pensioners 60 years or older and people who receive social grants amounting to no more than R17 500 may qualify for a rates rebate of between 10% and 100%. They are invited to go to the nearest City customer care office or send an email to <a href="mailto:rates.rebate@capetown.gov.za" target="_blank">rates.rebate@capetown.gov.za</a> • For more information on how to apply for pensioner support: <a href="https://www.capetown.gov.za/City-Connect/Apply/Financial-relief-and-rebates/Individuals/Apply-for-senior-citizen-support" target="_blank">https://www.capetown.gov.za/City-Connect/Apply/Financial-relief-and-rebates/Individuals/Apply-for-senior-citizen-support</a> For payment arrangements• Visit: <a href="https://www.capetown.gov.za/City-Connect/Pay/Municipal-accounts/Electricity/arrange-a-payment-plan-for-debt-collection" target="_blank">https://www.capetown.gov.za/City-Connect/Pay/Municipal-accounts/Electricity/arrange-a-payment-plan-for-debt-collection</a> • Email: <a href="mailto:Payment.arrangements@capetown.gov.za" target="_blank">Payment.arrangements@capetown.gov.za</a> For a list of the City's Cash Offices and Walk-in Centres, please visit: <a href="https://www.capetown.gov.za/Explore%20and%20enjoy/See-all-City-facilities/Our-service-facilities/Walk-in%20centres" target="_blank">https://www.capetown.gov.za/Explore%20and%20enjoy/See-all-City-facilities/Our-service-facilities/Walk-in%20centres</a> Caption: Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis addresses City Council on the City's Building Hope Budget for 2023/24 on 31 May 2023. End

2023-05-30T22:00:00Z

City cautions against housing scammers

The City urges residents to remember that they do not need to pay for a housing opportunity and to be aware of scammers.

'If you are asked to pay to register on the City's Housing Needs Register for a government housing Breaking New Ground (BNG) opportunity or a plot of City-owned land, you are being scammed. If the opportunity is advertised as a 'RDP house', you are being scammed. If a BNG house has been built within the past eight years and the new homeowner tries to sell it, you are being scammed. In government housing, there is a restrictive clause prohibiting the sale of subsidy housing within the first eight years of ownership. This is in an effort to reduce the risk of beneficiaries moving back to informality, as the City would like to improve the living conditions of beneficiaries. <figure class="subtopic-fullsize-img"> <img src="https://resource.capetown.gov.za/cityassets/Media%20Images%202/Scammed%20final.png" class="responsive" alt="" style="width:802px;" /> </figure>'These types of cases happen far too often and impact the most desperate, vulnerable residents. If you think that you might have been the victim of a housing scam, please report it to the SAPS for investigation. 'We have been made aware of a number of these cases taking place in areas across the metro and we encourage our residents and beneficiaries to also contact the City should they be concerned this is the case. Qualifying beneficiaries are registered on the Housing Needs Register at no cost to them. The Register, which is protected, updated and audited, is necessary to prevent queue-jumping and to provide opportunities in a fair, ordered manner. This is important given the acute need for housing opportunities across the metro,' said the City's Acting Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Alderman James Vos. Residents are encouraged to visit this link to update their details on the Housing Needs Register: <a href="https://web1.capetown.gov.za/web1/HWL2012Online/" target="_blank">https://web1.capetown.gov.za/web1/HWL2012Online/</a> Anonymous tip-offs welcomed to help the City protect its projects and operations and residents are encouraged to call: 0800 1100 77 End

2023-05-30T22:00:00Z

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Website maintenance: 3 July	<div class="ExternalClass5320280925774850A99FBE47B6D0A503"><p>You may experience intermittent connectivity to the City's website and online services between 18:00 - 22:00 as we undergo maintenance. We apologise for the inconvenience.</p> </div>
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e-Services unavailable: 3 - 6 June	<div class="ExternalClass4AC56888E33D4D80B7ABCBAA1B25D9E6"><p><a href="https://www.capetown.gov.za/Media-and-news/e-Services%20unavailable%203%20-%206%20june%202022">e-Services will be unavailable</a> from 18:00 on Friday, 3 June until 07:00 on Monday, 6 June 2022 due to necessary maintenance.</p></div>

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