Cape Town opens more ways for residents to shape the City

15 April 2026

This Monday, 13 April 2026, the City of Cape Town’s Innovation and Customer Insights Branch partnered with the City’s Citizen Interface Department to host this year’s Future Cities Dialogue on community engagement and what it means for residents across the metro. The dialogue brought together a diverse group of senior City officials, key stakeholders and the City Manager, Lungelo Mbandazayo, who reiterated the importance of inclusive and diverse engagement approaches that ensure every resident has a voice in how the City is run. The panel also featured international guests from Go Vocal, a digital engagement platform that works with more than 600 local governments worldwide.

‘Public participation is not only a legislative requirement, but something which the City of Cape Town takes very seriously. We have a dedicated public participation unit who engages with communities at all levels. We are a caring City that takes services directly to our diverse communities. Nobody should be left out. I want to encourage every Cape Town resident to take part in our mobile office visits, basket of services offerings, public participation processes and surveys because each and every resident’s voice matters. It directly helps shape the services and opportunities we deliver in communities,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services, Alderman Theresa Uys.

The City of Cape Town’s Future Cities Dialogues are held bi-annually, each time focusing on key issues that shape how the City evolves and improves service delivery for residents. The City recently completed its long-term vision, the Cape Town 2050 Long-term Plan.

‘For this latest instalment of the Future Cities Dialogue, the focus was on community engagement. A high-level panel, made up of international and local partners, explored how the City of Cape Town can strengthen its engagement with residents, build trust and co-create solutions with communities. This is critical to ensure that the outcomes we are working towards, including dignity, access to economic opportunities and ultimately becoming a City of Hope, are realised for all who live in Cape Town,’ said the City’s Executive Director for Future Planning and Resilience, Gareth Morgan.

In attendance were City of Cape Town staff from various departments, including representatives from the City’s Organisational Effectiveness and Innovation unit, as well as officials involved in public participation, community engagement and subcouncils.

Also in attendance and on the panel, were Wietse Van Ransbeeck and Jelena Gregorius, both from Go Vocal, a digital engagement platform working with cities like Copenhagen, Toronto, Cambridge, St. Louis and Cape Town to support ideation, proposals and participatory budgeting to give residents more direct influence over decisions that affect their daily lives.

‘In Cape Town, we recently launched the City’s Online Engagement Platform, known as the Collaboration Platform, with the aim of reaching Cape Town’s five million residents. The idea behind an online engagement platform is to create a single, accessible space where residents can actively engage with their city. One can explore projects in their area, filter by their subcouncil, ward or interests, and share ideas, comments and suggestions. One does all of this knowing that their input will be seen and considered,’ said Go Vocal’s Senior Government Success Manager, Jelena Gregorius.

The City’s online Collaboration Platform allows residents to share ideas, participate in public consultation processes and propose innovative solutions that directly influence how services are delivered. The platform is accessible on: www.capetown.gov.za/collaborate

The Future Cities Dialogue audience also had the opportunity to engage with the panellists and participate in a closing interactive session, facilitated by Innocentrix’s Henra Mayer.

Some of the inputs advocated for inclusive and the active inclusion of underrepresented voices.

The value of face-to-face participation was also highlighted, recognising that direct human interaction often leads to more meaningful and impactful engagement, in a South African context. There were also calls for more co-creation, radical transparency and forward-thinking on what community engagement could look like by 2035 and how residents themselves will help shape that future.

'We are going to take the inputs we have received today and use them to strengthen how we engage with residents across Cape Town. Our goal is to build a more inclusive, responsive and trusted system of community engagement; one where every resident feels heard and can see the impact of their participation in their communities,’ concluded the City’s Innovation and Customer Insights Manager, Bridgette Morris.

Caption 1: The Future Cities Dialogue panel (Left to right): Delyno Du Toit (City), Wietse Van Ransbeeck (Go Vocal), Jelena Gregorius (Go Vocal), Alderman Theresa Uys, Paul Plantinga (HSRC) and Gareth Morgan (City).
Caption 2: City Manager, Lungelo Mbandazayo, reflecting on the day’s proceedings at the Banquetting Hall in the Cape Town Civic Centre on Monday, 13 April 2026.

Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office