The City of Cape Town’s draft budget for the 2018/19 financial year was tabled at Council on 28 March 2018, and is now available for public comment.

The City’s Transport and Urban Development Authority’s (TDA) draft operating budget for the period 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019 amounts to R3,6 billion, and the draft capital budget amounts to R1,74 billion. The bulk of the capital expenditure will be spent on new housing developments, public transport infrastructure related to the roll-out of Phase 2A of the MyCiTi service to Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, and new roads to relieve traffic congestion.

Most of these capital projects are located within the city’s urban inner core.

The urban inner core includes areas adjacent to the N1, N2, N7, and M5 highways; along the R27 to the north and Main Road to the south; along major arterials linking the Metro South-east with Bellville and Kuils River; and the Cape Town International Airport.

This is in line with the City’s Built Environment Performance Plan which states that the City will prioritise public investment and incentivise private investment at public transport nodes and corridors within the city’s urban inner core. As such, the City will implement dense and transit-oriented development (TOD) by promoting higher residential densities and mixed-land use patterns, as well as regulatory reform, in support of spatial transformation.

Given the dire need for housing – be it for affordable, inclusionary, social, emergency or state-subsidised Breaking New Ground housing – the TDA proposes to spend R2,1 billion on the development of new housing opportunities over the next three financial years, with R585 million being budgeted for 2018/19 alone.

The bulk of these housing opportunities will be developed on well-located land close to public transport services and job opportunities. As such, the TDA proposes to spend R105 million on the acquisition of land in the next financial year.

The draft capital budget provides a list of 36 housing developments which are either in the planning phase, already underway, or in the process of being finalised. These projects are situated in  Nyanga, Atlantis, Heideveld, Fisantekraal, Grassy Park, Somerset West, Scottsdene, Hangberg, Durbanville, Bardale, Belhar, Delft, Gugulethu, Manenberg, Strand, Blue Downs, Dido Valley in Simon’s Town, Macassar, Harare, Imizamo Yethu, Valhalla Park, Masiphumelele, Brown’s Farms, Beacon Valley, Salt River, Sir Lowry’s Pass Village, Langa, Vrygrond, Retreat, and Ottery, among others.

In addition, at least R201 million will be spent on the upgrading of hostels in Langa, with R19 million being budgeted for the 2018/19 financial year, and R75 million and R107 million for the following two financial years, respectively.

An amount of R816 million has been budgeted for the infrastructure needed for the roll-out of Phase 2A of the MyCiTi service between the Metro South-east and Claremont and Wynberg. This money will be spent over the next three financial years on the upgrade of Stock Road in Philippi, and Jan Smuts Drive (M17) in Plumstead; and on the construction of a new bus depot.

Similarly, a total of R371 million has been allocated for the construction and upgrade of public transport interchanges in the inner city, Bellville, Retreat, and Somerset West; and for new minibus-taxi facilities in Dunoon, Masiphumelele and Makhaza from 2018/19 until 2020/21.

The TDA will spend a proposed R232 million over the next three financial years to rehabilitate and to reconstruct roads across the city; and R369 million to rehabilitate existing concrete roads in Hanover Park, Heideveld, Gugulethu, Bonteheuwel, and Bishop Lavis. A further R327 million will be spent on facilities for cyclists and pedestrians, such as universally accessible sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, and walkways in Eerste River, Elsies River, Mitchells Plain, Blaauberg, and in the northern suburbs from 2018/19 until 2020/21.

As far as congestion relief is concerned, the TDA has allocated R481 million over the next three financial years for the construction of new road infrastructure to address traffic congestion. Some of the projects that are already under way are the dualling of Kommetjie Road in the Far South; Belhar Main Road and Erica Drive in Belhar, and Langverwacht Road in Kuils River.

Spatial transformation must bring jobs closer to people and people closer to jobs. Lower-income households living on the periphery of the city spend on average almost half of their monthly income on transport. These residents, situated in dense, predominantly informal areas, travel at great cost to less densely populated areas of Cape Town where jobs and services are located.

The high costs of transport and long travel distances for low-income communities to their places of employment within the urban core are an apartheid legacy which we must reverse.

We also need to densify because the demand for housing is increasing rapidly. Although our population increased by 7% between 2011 and 2016, the number of households increased by 18% because households are getting smaller. We need more smaller houses and we must change our spatial form to ensure resource efficiency and sustainability.

We need more housing opportunities close to where people work, more work opportunities close to where people live, and more affordable housing for all.

Where people live matters.

Our draft capital budget mirrors our commitment to develop new housing opportunities on well-located land.

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